New Shadow Warrior from Hard Reset devs - out now

[MaskedMan]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/255520/

 

[Eyeball]

Finished the game. Actually very enjoyable, but still a bad game. Swordplay is pretty badass and several of the weapons are actually meaty and satisfying once you spend a few thousand dollars on upgrading them. It got pretty samey towards the end and I had to force myself to complete the last two levels, even though the return of the sword-wielding dudes from the first levels was a highly welcome change from chopping up demons.

It's sad, because this could very easily have been a GREAT game if they'd had some proper level and enemy design (fewer demons, more evil Ninjas) and had the same zany chop-socky setting as the original. With some tongue-in-cheek Wangness and the original voice actor, the game would have been a rollercoaster of hilarity as you chopped your way through hundreds of evil Ninjas and kung fu movie cliches while spouting one-liners. As it is, they clearly thought of some epic samurai drama between immortal demigods and then somehow inserted the completely unsuitable character of Lo Wang into this.

I rank it maybe 6/10. I enjoyed it, but I won't replay it and I doubt it shall be the last thing I recall on my death bed.

 

[DalekFlay]

The Shadow Warrior Redux version of the original now has a Y-axis lock. That together with the "retro" texture setting makes it by far the best version of the original game, since there was no real sold source port.

Having fun with it.

 

[Markman]

Bumby bump.

Played the first 4 levels. Its like Serious Sam but with shitty level design. Its a corridor shooter with some open areas where you derp around for secrets. those bamboo walls. No puzzles either, some "keys" to find that spawn monsters after you destroy em but thats it.
Shooting is ok, its fun going in full retard and strafing around with lightning speed with the Uzi and katana. I actually like the combat but I dont really know what can they throw at me that I cant handle. I can heal, move really fast, buy ammo from the menu and have a pretty nasty OP sword.
So its kinda old school and new school in a good and bad way. Gonna play more before the final verdict.

 

[Lhynn]

Hard Reset was a shitty Painkiller ripoff. Why should I be excited about this?

Because it was a shitty painkiller ripoff and not a shitty call of duty rip off.

 

[DraQ]

Y-axis lock.

?

 

[DalekFlay]

Y-axis lock.

?

??

Not sure how else to say that. Perhaps flipping the words... locking the y-axis? Games weren't intended for mouselook, not you can play them as intended.

 

[DraQ]

Y-axis lock.

?

??

Not sure how else to say that. Perhaps flipping the words... locking the y-axis? Games weren't intended for mouselook, not you can play them as intended.

Ah. Fuck you then. You can enable and use mouselook in build engine games using entirely built in functionality, you can even have crosshairs.
Blood and and SW are actually notable for retaining their difficulty for modern players used to mouselook and dynamic tactics when played with mouselook, unlike early games actually designed for mouselook, like Q2.

Using a shitty fuckwad interface/input device and and claiming it makes your FPS better puts you in camp, no matter if it's KB only in a respected antique 2.5D shooter or gaypad in a modern console popamole.

 

[DalekFlay]

...

Oh what are you on about. I played these games back in the day with mouse and keyboard, but without looking up and down. The defaults for all these games are with some auto-aim on, and without y axis looking. They play best that way and play the most like I played them as a kid.

 

[DraQ]

...

Oh what are you on about. I played these games back in the day with mouse and keyboard, but without looking up and down.

And it's presumbaly the right way of playing them even though they do have binding for looking up and down, right?

The defaults

Are something I usually change before I even start playing.

 

[DalekFlay]

And it's presumbaly the right way of playing them even though they do have binding for looking up and down, right?

I never said you couldn't play them with full mouselook, warped graphics and all. I said they were built to play the default way, and that's how I played them as a kid. Be as snooty as you like, doesn't change my opinion. I know people who insist keyboard only is the way to play them, so obviously opinions differ.

In any case adding the y-axis lock as an option is a good thing. Options are good is the mantra of PC gaming.

 

[DraQ]

I know people who insist keyboard only is the way to play them, so obviously opinions differ.

I've seen people claim the console FPSes are better because aiming with pad is harder and requires more skill.

 

[Ninja Destroyer]

I know people who insist keyboard only is the way to play them, so obviously opinions differ.

I've seen people claim the console FPSes are better because aiming with pad is harder and requires more skill.

That is why they mostly have some built-in aiming assist. And yes - playing on pad is harder, because it wasn't designed for such games. But at least attacking more blindly makes a better game.

 

[DalekFlay]

I've seen people claim the console FPSes are better because aiming with pad is harder and requires more skill.

Yeah. I get that slower aim might more accurately represent reality, but that doesn't account for the horrible acceleration and lack of precision. Also: they're video games.

In any case I played pre-Quake 2 shooters as a kid the way I played them, and am grateful I can mimic those settings in the re-releases.

 

[DraQ]

I've seen people claim the console FPSes are better because aiming with pad is harder and requires more skill.

Yeah. I get that slower aim might more accurately represent reality, but that doesn't account for the horrible acceleration and lack of precision. Also: they're video games.

In any case I played pre-Quake 2 shooters as a kid the way I played them, and am grateful I can mimic those settings in the re-releases.

And I'm glad when they adopt to my improved skills and improved input methods without all their difficulty turning out to have been fake all along.

Blood, or SW (to a lesser degree) can still kick you in the balls if you play them with full mouselook and experience with their more modern brethren and I respect that.
No need to torture myself with sub-par input interface I used back then because I didn't know any better.

 

[Correct_Carlo]

I'm on the last few levels of this now and really liked it. Of course, I liked "Hard Reset" way more than others around here seemed to, but I think "Shadow Warrior" is a much better game than HR was in most respects. The melee is awesome and I love the "street fighter-esque" inputs required for special moves. Plus, the karma system (which rewards you for dispatching enemies in the most creative ways possible) ensures that there's always some variety to gameplay as you are penalized if you just do the same things over and over (it reminded me a lot of "Bulletstorm's" Skillshot system, in that way). My only complaint regarding the melee is that I wish there were more battles where you fight enemies with swords. There are only two enemy types that have swords, which is disappointing as sword vs sword fights can be challenging and fun but the game doesn't use them nearly enough. The opening scene of the game where you fight a bunch of humans with swords was a blast, kind of like playing a video game version of the Crazy 88 fight in "Kill Bill Vol 1," I just wish there was a bit more of that before all the crazy demons show up.

Anyhow, it's waaaaaay easier than Hard Reset, but I also think it has way more gameplay variety and more room for unique strategy. Plus, it's still plenty hard if you play on Insane (honestly, there aren't many games out there as difficult as "Hard Reset" played on Insane is......especially when you consider that "Hard Reset" has check points, unlike "Shadow Warrior's" save anytime system).

My biggest complaint, though, is that it's kind of ugly. I thought "Hard Reset" had awesome art design and it really nailed the "Blade Runner" aesthetic more than any other FPS I can think of (even if it overdid the post processing effects at times). "Shadow Warrior" has greater variety in the look of its levels, which is a welcome change, but alot of the effects are still annoyingly distracting. I ending up having to just turn mirrors and bloom off because I found them distracting in battles. Plus, the story isn't anything great, but it gets the job done (and is a MASSIVE improvement over Hard Reset's, which didn't make any sense at all due to piss poor localization).

As to level design, the levels start out really linear, but as the game progresses they open up (there's some pretty huge levels towards the end that are as intricately designed as anything in the original "Shadow Warrior"---at one point the protagonist actually complains about the "old school" nature of one massive level which has you searching for various colored statues to unlock doors centered around a central circular arena, which was kind of funny. That level in particular is very 90s FPS--although there are a few flaws which keep them from achieving the heights of some of the original's level design, chief among them being that they use the same graphic for openable doors that they use for unopenable doors. Which is kind of annoying as it forces the player to try to open every door just to see which one's might contain secrets, while also forcing the designers to rely a bit to heavily on their lazy "follow the door that's glowing to find your way around" guidance system). It's just kind of odd that they saved these larger levels for the end and had more generic, linear, levels at the start....especially since one of the complaints in some of the reviews I've read is the purported linearity of the levels.

Anyhow, it's one of the better, new, FPS's I've played in a while. And over all I think it strikes the right balance between keeping everything that was good about 90s FPSes (the difficulty, some of the more intricate level design), while adding some of what's good about modern FPSes (atmosphere, story, variety). It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's lots of fun and definitely worth playing if you like the original. Especially if you can get it on sale (I got it for 10 dollars in the last steam sale, and it's more than worth that).

 

[Luzur]

this is like what that machine told me earlier...

"I have stood knee deep in DRM and Quest Markers, and filled my mouth with Mtn Dew. I have seen Sony Servers fall. I have lain with Xbox One and copulated with the Playstation 4. I have dug trenches for the Old School refugees; I have murdered Kickstart Projects where the ground never thaws, and starved the PC masses into faith. A PC Gamer's shadow burnt into the Computer Screen. A house of Graphic cards in the trashbin. The PC Crowd, the PC Crowd, Codex! trod and bled and denied GTA and starved and beaten and murdered and enslaved. This is your coming century! They will eat them Codex! they will make console casuals of you all and they will bury their gamepads into your ribs and they will eat your hearts!"

 

[Irenaeus]

I just bought this on 70% sale. Not really enthused after reading the thread, but it's been years since I played an FPS since popamolization started in 2006. We'll see.

 

[zerotol]

I played this game for like an hour or 2 and did not finish it, it just got boring.

 

[Daedalos]

dat tags

 

[Turisas]

dat tags

Heh.

 

[warpig]

Anyhow, it's one of the better, new, FPS's I've played in a while. And over all I think it strikes the right balance between keeping everything that was good about 90s FPSes (the difficulty, some of the more intricate level design), while adding some of what's good about modern FPSes (atmosphere, story, variety).

But the athmosphere and story in this game are total shit.

 

[DalekFlay]

Story is shit, atmosphere starts strong but gets repetitive fast.

The reason to play this game is the well done first-person melee combat.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

It's the best story I've seen in an FPS since Stalker. Sure, not really saying much, but it's certainly much better than shit like Bioshock Infinite. Really cool ending as well.

 

[Eyeball]

Nope, story was pretty terrible and completely unbecoming of the name Shadow Warrior. It was en epic samurai drama epos, which is all well and good, but epic samurai drama eposeseses do not need a main character named Lo Wang.

Still an enjoyable game for the swordplay, but not worth more than a fiver.