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jp's Shadow Warrior (PS4)

[July 6, 2020 04:04:23 PM]

I've played 5 hrs or so and have decided not to play anymore, but I'm glad I did in the first place. The (for me) most interesting thing about this game is that it really integrates the touch pad on the PS4 controller for lots of special moves/powers that you really want to use. Strangely, I found it much easier to use the touch pad than the buttons/sticks on the controller - even if I did often forget which swipe+button press was needed for which power.

Here's my bullet list of "interesting things" about this game in no particular order and just for my future self to be able to reference:

a) I think I might have played the original Shadow Warrior back in the day for a few hours at most. I was surprised by how much this version leans on the original (in good ways) - the game even kicks off with a video playthrough of the original (or some area/level) of the original. It's a fast paced shooter - but you have a sword too - in the same style of those 90s shooters (and of the Doom remake too). So, this was surprising and fun - the hectic past-pased action is something I sometimes miss.

b) In the same vein of 90s shooters - there are TONS of secrets and things to find in each level. And finding many of them is critical for making progress. By this I mean advancing in the game's progression system, more on this later. Oh, the secrets include areas that are rendered as if they were from a 90s version of the game (which makes me wonder if this game is a remake of the old one? Same general idea for the levels?)

c) Keycards are back! Still in the 90s design ideas - there are color-coded gates you need to destroy a same-colored lantern in order for them to unlock. So, it's colored key cards, but they're not actually key cards.

d) Enemies spawn in all over the place! The game is very much designed around combat moments - during which enemies will spawn in and such, but once you've killed them all you can wander around and explore. However, the enemies literally spawn in wherever (pre-determined, not random) - which can be a bit annoying. However, combat usually takes place in large-ish open environments, so moving around is really important (just like Doom!)

e) The game has two main progression systems tied to "things you do in the game". Technically there's a third, but it's much rarer for you to advance - so I'm not really including it. The first is tied to cash - you use it to buy upgrades for your weapons (and ammo if you're low). You find cash in the environment, but AFAIK, it never spawns more. So, spending cash on ammo is a bad idea, because you'd potentially be unable to purchase all the upgrades. The other system I think is called the powers (the 3rd is skills, but I'm not sure which is which right now). So, there are 4(?) different "power" types and each has a bunch of powers you can purchase with ki points. Some have pre-reqs, but mostly you want these to get skills and improve your chances of survival. I really like that they're tied to yakuza-style tattoos. So, you're character's body becomes increasingly tattoed as you buy these skills. I think you get a ki point for every 10,000 ki. AND, the way to get ki is to basically kill enemies in wild, mixed-up ways (more variety of styles of kills, using different weapons, etc.) gets you bonus ki. You can rarely find these chalices with blood for ki, but mainly its from combat. So, there is a strong incentive to "score chase" during combat to get more points so you can upgrade more. I was able to unlock all of the healing powers (and more) in my limited playthrough of the game.

f) Many of the unlocks are special powers - that do more damage, use ki energy (not tracked), and have two ways of pulling off: button combos or swipe + button. They're pretty clever with four main swipes (up, down, left and right) and then a button (always(?) an R or L button.

g) The game is really crass and over the top gory - so, still 90's. It's a 3D Realms game - so I wonder if this was originally the same team as Duke Nukem 3D? It's the same style - but here the protagonist is asian and I think the game takes place in Japan? It's all pretty unclear to me - but it does feel like Duke Nukem in Japan with sword and less shooting (I only unlocked 3 more firearms, not sure how many there are in total).

h) One of the reasons I decided to stop playing is that it seems there isn't much more variety - I skimmed some guides and the rest of the game looked basically the same in terms of environments - so, I'm sure there will be a few more enemy types and such, but not enough variety for me to keep on going.