Shadow Warrior 2 Review: Four-Player Chaos and a 70-Weapon Arsenal

Flying Wild Hog’s Shadow Warrior 2 puts Lo Wang back to work as a hired sword, five years after he shattered the alliance between his old boss and the gods of the shadow realm. His attempt to wipe out the darkness corrupted the world instead, and humans and demons now share it. Devolver Digital published the game for PC in October 2016, with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions following in May 2017.

Trailer, via IGDBcom.

Lo Wang and the Temple of Longing

The setup is a Yakuza errand. Wang retrieves an ancient trinket from the Temple of Longing, then takes a second job from Mamushi: rescue Kamiko, the boss’s daughter, from Zilla’s labs. The Kyokagami Twins inject her with Compound 61. Smith moves her soul into Wang’s body until he can finish a cure, and the story runs from there into a black ooze, the Outer Gates, and Mezu’s armour.

Four Players, One Lo Wang

Co-op is the headline change. Four players can run the campaign together, and each one plays as Lo Wang while seeing the others as anonymous ninjas. It is a strange solution to a familiar problem, and it works better than it should.

Randomized Ground and 70 Weapons

Levels are more open than the 2013 reboot’s, with wall climbing and double jumping added for exploration. Missions can be replayed to level Wang’s skills, and a hub area holds quests and upgrades. Every mission except story events generates its layout, enemies, terrain, buildings and weather at random. The damage system lets players cut limbs off enemies. More than 70 weapons, firearms and blades, level up through kills and take gems that add elemental properties and buffs.

What Holds Up

1. The four-player co-op, which turns a solo shooter into something louder and looser.
2. The weapon count and gem system, which give the loot loop real weight.
3. The procedural damage, still the most satisfying thing in the game.
4. The randomized levels, which wear thin faster than the combat does.

Where the Loot Loop Slows

The randomized landscapes keep missions moving but rarely make them memorable, and the detour through Compound 61 and the Outer Gates is busier than it is gripping. Co-op and the arsenal carry the game. What the score reflects is a shooter whose best ideas are mechanical, not narrative — and one whose four-player mode is the reason to return after the campaign ends.

Key facts
– Release: October 2016 (PC); May 2017 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
– Developer: Flying Wild Hog
– Publisher: Devolver Digital
– Platforms: Linux, PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
– Weapons: over 70
– Co-op: 4 players
– Score: 7.8/10

Shadow Warrior 2 scores 7.8 of 10.

co-op shooter · Devolver Digital · Flying Wild Hog · game review · loot shooter · Shadow Warrior 2