The game does build up to a satisfying showdown but ends on a low note, with little indication of whatвЂ™s next for the survivors or where the IP could go next. IвЂ™m assuming it was a deliberate choice to avoid alienating new players, but youвЂ™ll have to dig into unlocked lore entries to fill the gap between Shadow Warrior 3 and its predecessors. Despite the number of cutscenes and plenty of in-game dialogue, the narrative feels shallow and only serves to direct Wang between cool locations. What follows is a 5-6-ish hour adventure as Wang and his вЂњalliesвЂќ вЂ“ including a resurrected Hoji that has ditched all character growth seen in the first game вЂ“ try, fail, and try again to defeat the dragon. Zilla remerges with a plan to use HojiвЂ™s mask to infuse a weapon that could destroy the dragon and, in the absence of any better ideas, Lo Wang sets off with him. A prologue that gets you up to speed on the new gameplay loop recounts WangвЂ™s failed attempts to defeat the dragon, leaving him disillusioned and his mojo lost. The surviving ancients вЂ“ gone Zilla City and its human inhabitants вЂ“ gone the Wang Cave вЂ“ reduced to a wreck perched on top of a cliff. Turns out this giant beast is the egg-laying mother of all the demons you battled in the prior games and swiftly sets about destroying whatвЂ™s left of the world (now the second apocalypse Wang has triggered). If Shadow Warrior 2вЂ™s story managed to hold your attention, you might remember a giant dragon emerging from a portal between worlds and attacking Lo Wang.

The result is a satisfying but short-lived sequel. With Shadow Warrior 3, theyвЂ™ve produced a brisk single-player-only experience, doubled down on the narrative elements, and gone for a razer-sharp focus on arena-style battles interspersed with free-running platforming segments. As a consequence, level design and narrative felt like an afterthought. The sequel went for a cooperative Diablo/Borderlands-ish approach, with a focus on tearing through hordes of enemies in procedurally generated environments (sort-of), with a large selection of firearms to modify. The first вЂ“ and still my favourite вЂ“ is a somewhat dated and overlong corridor-FPS, with a surprising amount of narrative depth, levels packed with secrets, and gunplay that revolves around kiting enemies and picking the right gun for the right foe. The setting, characters, and tone remain consistent between each entry but the gameplay either evolves or devolves вЂ“ depending on your tastes. I can think of very few trilogies that feel as inconsistent as Flying wild HogвЂ™s take on Shadow Warrior.

Shadow warrior game length