
Shadow Warrior 3 ups the tempo once more by placing the whole game in tightly packed linear corridors that open into arena-style areas specifically designed with fluid fast-paced combat in mind. Where Shadow Warrior 1 took a more methodical and standard first-person shooter approach, Shadow Warrior 2 upped the tempo by making the game more of a horde style shooter in larger more open environments with a fairly balanced emphasis on combat and exploration. The lighting and shadows look vivid and it's impossible to not occasionally take a minute to just perch on a ledge and take in the game's beautiful fusion of dreamscape meets ancient Japanese scenery. They include nicely detailed textures both up close and in the distance with a number of destructible items and collapsible structures that add a level of visual carnage that goes hand in hand with the hectic nature of the gameplay. You will traverse through a number of wonderful environments that are exceptionally easy on the eye. The first thing to note here is the beautifully crafted scenery and attractive graphics. Once you pass the introductory section you will be plummeted, quite literally, into the game’s 8 or so hour campaign. Shadow Warrior 3's opening moments are refreshing and more akin to games of old which allow you to learn on the job. Long laborious introductions with arduous tutorial systems are part and parcel of most modern titles simply due to the nature and complexity of modern AAA games. This is always my preferred way of starting games. The game allows you to figure things out by means of throwing you into the action. The tutorial system is brief and doesn't hold your hand too much. As far as game introductions go, this one is a swift and painless process. The opening sequence cuts between introducing the game's narrative and flashbacks of gameplay which introduce you to the game's mechanics. With the main character named Wang, you would have thought that by the third offering all phallic jokes would be, for want of a better word, milked.
#Shadow warrior chapter 3 series
You are immediately reintroduced to the tongue in cheek, off-colour humour that the series has been known for. Shadow Warrior 3 starts out with a wonderfully animated piece to camera from a Lo Wang fraught with distress over his recent escapades. Where the game excels is in its frenetic gameplay. Fortunately, Shadow Warrior 3 doesn't do its talking through the story.

It feels like the narrative was more of an afterthought that would have been better placed as DLC for the previous title. Aside from Lo Wang and Orochi Zilla, there are just two more story characters in the whole game.

It’s definitely a downgrade in the quality of storytelling from the previous two installments. It’s an exceptionally one-dimensional story and that’s about as deep as it gets.

The clumsy katana-wielding ninja has inadvertently unleashed an ancient dragon from its eternal prison, and now it's up to him and his former employer turned nemesis turned sidekick Orochi Zilla to embark on an improbable mission to recapture the dragon. Despite the very ambiguous ending to Shadow Warriors 2, Lo Wang is in fact alive and well. Something that hasn’t changed in Shadow Warrior 3 is the main character Lo Wang.
