In Shadow Warrior 2 you have free reign to build your character. Each time you level up you will earn 1 Skill Point that can be spent on a wide variety of skill upgrades that have a potentially.

Shadow Warrior 2 is a first-person shootervideo game developed by Flying Wild Hog and published by Devolver Digital. It is the sequel to the 2013 Shadow Warrior, the reboot of the 1997 original. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in October 2016, and for PlayStation 4, Xbox One in May 2017 and Xbox Game Pass in December 2018.

Gameplay[edit]

Shadow Warrior 2 can be played in single-player mode or in a new 4-player co-op mode.^[1][1][2][3] In co-op mode, each player experiences the narrative as Lo Wang but sees other players as different anonymous ninjas.^[2][4]

The level environments are more open and nonlinear than in the previous title. New traversal mechanics have been added such as climbing walls and double jumping to allow for more exploration.^[2][4] The mission structure in Shadow Warrior 2 is less restricted than its predecessor, and players can now revisit earlier missions to re-engage past enemies in order to upgrade Wang's skills. The game features a hub area where the player can acquire quests and upgrade their abilities before beginning a mission. Every mission, except for story-specific events, features a randomly generated level design and content, including randomized map layouts, enemy positions, terrain, buildings, and weather conditions.^[2][5] The game utilises a procedural damage system that allows players to cut and blow off enemy limbs and body parts.^[3]

The game features over 70 different weapons, varying between firearms and blades.^[3] Killing enemies will level up weapons and reward the player with gems to augment their equipment with element properties and buffs.^[2]

Plot[edit]

Lo Wang gets a task from Yakuza to retrieve an ancient trinket from the Temple of Longing. Wang accepts the task and travels to the temple where he retrieves the artifact. After speaking to Mamushi, the second in command of Yakuza, he gets a new task to rescue Kamiko, Yakuza's leader's daughter from Zilla's labs. He finds Kamiko tied to a table with the Kyokagami Twins inside the room and Zilla watching her through a monitor. The Twins inject Kamiko with compound 61 and she begins to hallucinate. Wang then reveals his presence and the Twins run off to catch him, while huge forces of ZillaCorps soldiers attack. Eventually, Wang reaches Kamiko and brings her to Smith. Smith decides to transfer Kamiko's soul into Wang's body until he figures how to heal her body. Lo Wang then retrieves the ingredients needed to make the cure for Smith.

In the meantime, Mamushi Helka tasks Lo Wang with finding the source of black ooze that is spreading in the wildlands. She gives Wang the coordinates to the location of the supposed source.The source for the black ooze turns out to be the Outer Gates with Mezu's armor holding them locked. Wang finds Mezu still guarding the gates as before. Wang is then contacted by Master Smith asking him to go back to the mountain as ZillaCorps have attacked it.

Lo Wang is transported to wildlands and tries to reach Dragon Mountain, encountering huge forces of ZillaCorps. When Wang reaches Smith, who was gravely injured during battle, he reveals that he has finished the cure. In his dying moments, Smith puts his soul in a Soul Well. As Wang goes to administer the cure to Kamiko's body, the body attacks him, now in a horribly mutated form. After a tough fight, the corrupted body escapes. Suddenly, Ameonna contacts him and urges Wang to meet her in Shadow Hills. He meets Gozu guarding the entrance to the temple, who lets him in. When Wang meets Ameonna, he asks her to reverse the soul binding, but first he must retrieve Kamiko's body and return it to its original form.

In order to perform the soul joining ritual Ameonna needs Ancestral Chi, that can be found in a weapon that belonged to Kamiko's father. Kamiko reveals that Mamushi Helka carries around a wakizashi given to him by her father. With this information, Wang seeks out Mamushi. After a brief talk, Mamushi takes her own life and Wang brings the ceremonial dagger to Ameonna.

Gozu informs Lo Wang that they have located Kamiko's body and marks the last known whereabouts. Wang travels to the top of Devil Mountain, where the body has been feeding on Black Rain and has mutated even more. After a tough fight, the body tries to escape, but is captured by ZillaCorps. Wang then returns to Gozu to inform him about the situation.

Ameonna reveals that Kamiko's father should be in the vicinity of Outer Gates. Lo Wang travels there and finds Mezu. Mezu reveals himself to be the Oyabun, leader of the Yakuza and father of Kamiko. He then travels to Mamushi's former office, while Wang returns to Ameonna. Ameonna reveals to have known about Oyabun's identity and was setting everything up so Kamiko would die. She then orders Gozu to kill Wang, but the former evades the attack and must then fight Acolytes. During the fight Gozu and Ameonna escape. He returns to Dragon Mountain and speaks with Mezu. Mezu says that he wanted to use Kamiko to seal back the Outer Gates and Wang reveals that her soul is inside his body. They together form a temporary alliance.

Mezu says that Xing will help them to locate Kamiko's body, but Lo Wang must meet him in person. After Wang reaches Xing, he reveals the story behind the Outer Gates. Eons ago, Ancients raged war with chaos. Eventually, demon armies led by Xing managed to push the chaos into the void. Hoji then constructed a set of gates to keep them out of the Shadow Realm, while Mezu used Ameonna's soul to seal the gates. Unfortunately, they still needed the power that derived from chaos, so they used Ameonna to channel it, through her tears. For centuries, Enra, Mezu and Hoji used the power for their own desires and then isolated her as to protect the flow of energy. Loneliness and sorrow slowly drove Ameonna mad. Enra's and Hoji's deaths were the last straws for her sanity, hence the behavior. Xing then gives the location of Kamiko's body.

With the location of Kamiko's body, Lo Wang breaks into Zilla's HQ. Wang then confronts Zilla, and after a brief chat Zilla gets inside a mech and attacks Wang. Wang manages to get the upper hand in the fight and defeats Zilla. Suddenly, Ameonna appears and steals the body. Zilla gives Wang a weapon and they make a temporary alliance in order to stop Ameonna.

Lo Wang meets with Mezu, who reveals that Gozu has already transferred Ameonna's soul into Kamiko's body. This caused the body to mutate even more. Wang then faces off against Ameonna, knocks her out and uses Smith's antidote on the body. Mezu comes, but before he can extract Ameonna's soul, Lo Wang kills her. Seconds later, Xing and Zilla arrive on the scene. Kamiko decides to seal the Outer Gates open using her living soul and rectify the two worlds. She then flies to the gates, shattering them. Out of the gates, a giant dragon emerges (implied to be Kamiko) and then swallows Lo Wang.

Development[edit]

Shadow Warrior 2 was developed by Flying Wild Hog, the studio that previously developed the 2013 reboot of the 1997 original, using their in-house Road Hog Engine.^[3] On 11 June 2015, publisher Devolver Digital officially announced the title.^[6] The game was released for Microsoft Windows on 13 October 2016, and for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in May 2017.^[7]

Reception[edit]

Shadow Warrior 2 received 'generally favorable' reviews, according to review aggregatorMetacritic.^[8][9][10]

Zack Furniss's score of 7/10 on Destructoid said that 'Solid and definitely has an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.'^[11]

Jonathan Leack of Game Revolution awarded it 4 out of 5 stars saying that 'Shadow Warrior 2 is in position to become Fall 2016's premier sleeper hit as not many gamers are talking about it, and there certainly isn't much in the way of a marketing campaign. Even then, its gameplay dynamics are so well executed that it could walk among this year's biggest games. If you're looking for a fun online co-op game to play with friends, this might just be the game for you. Just don't go in expecting a satisfying story.'^[13]

IGN's Leif Johnson gave the game a score of 8.6/10 with the consensus 'Wang's stupid wisecracks kept me smiling from start to finish, and the variety of melee and ranged combat and the loot that dropped from it was satisfying enough that I came back with friends for more. It's great fun in solo or in co-op, and its small degree of randomization is enough to keep the action fresh for at least a few runs.'^[15]

78/100 was James Davenport's score on PC Gamer and said 'Shadow Warrior 2’s combat is gleefully expressive and varied, but undermined by tired, dated humor.'^[16]

Carli Velocci's 5/10 score on Polygon stated that 'Shadow Warrior 2 is a game about slicing and shooting through hordes of monsters and soldiers. It’s about as classic a setup as the shooter genre has in that regard. A player itching to hack up some demons could do a lot worse. But everything else about Shadow Warrior 2 feels hollow. The characters are lifeless, the jokes aren’t funny, the story is worthless, and the levels are repetitive. There might be a place for a 1997-style game in 2016 — something simple with a narrow focus that plays on many of the boring, sexist, and lazy traditions that gaming has left behind — but Shadow Warrior 2 isn’t nearly enough.^[17]

Sales[edit]

Flying Wild Hog announced that Shadow Warrior 2 quadrupled its sales launch compared to 2013's Shadow Warrior reboot, saying 'We could not be happier with the reception of Shadow Warrior 2. [..] That our fans and critics have largely applauded our efforts means the absolute world to us'.^[18]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abParker, Fork (11 June 2015). 'Shadow Warrior 2 Coming to PS4 Next Year'. PlayStation Blog. Sony Computer Entertainment America. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
2. ^ ^abcdeFillari, Alessandro (17 June 2015). 'Shadow Warrior 2 goes even more over the top with co-op action'. Destructoid. ModernMethod. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
3. ^ ^abcdMejia, Ozzie (19 June 2015). 'E3 2015: How Shadow Warrior 2 provides enough Wang for everyone'. Shacknews. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
4. ^ ^abDay 0 Live From Studio Day 1 #1. Twitch. Twitch Interactive. 15 June 2015. Event occurs at 3:35:03. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
5. ^Lemon, Marshall (4 May 2016). 'Kill demons like it's 1997 all over again in Shadow Warrior 2'. GamesRadar. Future plc. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
6. ^Matulef, Jeffrey (11 June 2015). 'Shadow Warrior 2 announced for PS4, Xbox One and PC'. Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
7. ^Orry, James (2 September 2016). 'Shadow Warrior 2 launches for PC on October 13, but PS4 and Xbox One early in 2017'. VideoGamer.com. Candy Banana. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
8. ^ ^ab'Shadow Warrior 2 Critic Reviews for PC'. Metacritic. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
9. ^ ^ab'Shadow Warrior 2 Critic Reviews for PlayStation 4'. Metacritic. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
10. ^ ^ab'Shadow Warrior 2 Critic Reviews for Xbox One'. Metacritic. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
11. ^ ^abFurniss, Zack (14 October 2016). 'Review: Shadow Warrior 2'. Destructoid. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
12. ^Gwaltney, Javy (4 November 2016). 'Stabbing, Shooting, Stumbling - Shadow Warrior 2 - PC'. Game Informer. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
13. ^ ^abLeack, Jonathan (13 October 2016). 'Shadow Warrior 2 Review'. Game Revolution. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
14. ^Paget, Mat (13 October 2016). 'Shadow Warrior 2 Review'. GameSpot. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
15. ^ ^abJohnson, Leif (13 October 2016). 'Shadow Warrior 2 Review'. IGN. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
16. ^ ^abDavenport, James (14 October 2016). 'Shadow Warrior 2 review'. PC Gamer. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
17. ^ ^abVelocci, Carli (19 October 2016). 'Shadow Warrior 2 review'. Polygon. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
18. ^'Shadow Warrior 2 is 4X times more successful than its 2013 reboot'. dsogaming.com. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.

External links[edit]

Released last year, Shadow Warrior 2 on the PC remains one of the best-looking first person shooters on the platform. With its gorgeous HDR-enabled visuals and lightning fast performance, Shadow Warrior 2 represents the best of the PC platform. And now, you can play it on consoles, but the question is - should you?

We were especially looking forward to this one, because developer Flying Wild Hog did a good job with its prior consoles ports on the first Shadow Warrior, way back in 2014. It had its quirks, such as screen-tearing during heavy combat, but it managed to deliver PC quality visuals at a moderately stable 60 frames per second. We were hoping for the next step up from the sequel, but three years on, Shadow Warrior 2 feels like a retrograde step in some ways.

We should stress that it's still a beautiful game, perhaps even one of the best-looking shooters on the market today, but it has several issues that keep it from reaching its full potential. The most obvious loss compared to the previous game is frame-rate. With visuals this sumptuous, it's not entirely surprising that 60fps gameplay is off the table but after seeing impressive results in games like Doom or Battlefield 1, we still had hope- especially when the developer expressed the intention of hitting 60fps on consoles when I met them back in Gamescom 2015.

The reality is that the final shipping version of Shadow Warrior 2 on consoles runs at 30fps. While this is certainly disappointing bearing in mind how good it feels on PC at twice the frame-rate, it should be noted that the 30fps implementation is sound. Frame-rate drops are virtually non-existent on both PS4 and Xbox One (though there is some minor tearing on this platform), while frame-pacing is adhered to scrupulously. When combined with the excellent motion blur, the game still manages to feel smooth, but with the high speed of the action, it's certainly a step down from the blazing fast PC release. For performance reasons alone, if PC is an option, we'd recommend sticking with that version.

Other omissions in the console version are somewhat puzzling. For one thing, Shadow Warrior 2 was one of the very first PC games to offer support for high dynamic range output. It was gorgeous - one of the best implementations of last year. This seems like a no-brainer for the console releases, but alas, it is completely absent. Considering that all available consoles aside from the original Xbox One support HDR, this is a disappointing oversight.

Then there is the PS4 Pro support - or rather, the complete lack of it. You get the same exactly experience on PlayStation 4 Pro as you do on a standard PS4. With the Pro having been on the market for the better part of six months now, it seems ridiculous that high profile titles like this and Bethesda's Prey should ship with no Pro features whatsoever.

Other issues aren't so fundamental to the experience, but definitely feel a little rough around the edges considering the developer's proven technical prowess. Disparity in the quality of the texture work is an obvious example.

While we can't expect the entirety of the PC version's highest quality textures to make their way across to the consoles, we're still left with some wildly variable texture quality. In one area, you might run across some intricate ground textures with gorgeous brickwork using parallax occlusion mapping. Then you turn around and get much lower quality ground textures that stick out like a sore thumb - something you simply don't see on the original PC release.

That's not to say texture work is bad for the most part but the weird mix of high and low quality textures appears jarring. We also noted a problem with ambient occlusion on consoles too - it's so thick that it often looks more like there's a black cloud around your hands. It's a strange choice here, for sure.

Flying Wild Hog has demonstrated in the past that it's mastery of PC and console technology is impressive, and we do recommend checking out the video on this page to see how close the general look of the game is to the PC original. Lush forested areas are rich with blowing foliage and intricate detail while the rain soaked cityscapes are filled with screen-space reflections and vibrant neon lights galore. Animation work is generally excellent and the weapon models are fantastic. The subtle blur applied to the edge of the weapon is always a nice touch. There's little doubt that Shadow Warrior 2 remains a big step up from the previous game in terms of its core visual feature set.

It may not quite match the PC version when looking closely at the details but the overall sense here is that it looks close enough during gameplay. The sacrifices made to the visuals, aside from texture quality and ambient occlusion, are relatively minimal. In terms of the basics like resolution, it's the usual 1080p/900p divide between PS4 and Xbox One - the same resolutions used in the previous Shadow Warrior. It's also good to see that anisotropic filtering is set to a reasonable level on both machines.

Another positive feature worth mentioning is the options menu. The previous game was one of the first console titles to offer full field of view adjustment and Shadow Warrior 2 continues the trend. On top of that, you can toggle various other graphical effects such as chromatic aberration and motion blur - aspects of the rendering pipeline that some users simply prefer to disable. These are great, forward-looking options in a console release and it's very nice to see them here.

The untold origins of Creative Assembly.

In the end, how good this port is depends on your expectations - and your hardware. If you're running a standard Xbox One or PlayStation 4 console on a 1080p display, the largest complaint is the frame-rate which despite being lower than we'd like, is at least consistent and properly implemented. The lower resolution textures and ambient occlusion issues are visible but they aren't deal-breakers either.

However, if you have an HDR-capable 4K screen or a PS4 Pro, Shadow Warrior 2 feels like a missed opportunity. Coming from the HDR-enabled PC version running at a higher resolution and frame-rate, it feels like a huge step back. Coming from a studio known for its technical prowess, it's genuinely surprising that these features are absent.

PS4 Pro's additional horsepower could perhaps have been deployed on restoring the higher frame-rate, but the complete lack of support is baffling. None of this is to suggest that Shadow Warrior 2 isn't a good game, it's just that the experience is simply so much better on PC - and for now at least, that remains the definitive way to play the game.