When I reviewed Devolver Digital’s Shadow Warrior 2 for PC last year, I found it to be a fun, rewarding, and occasionally overly cheesy follow-up to Flying Wild Hog’s debut adventure, featuring a smart-ass warrior named Wang slicing and dicing his way through human and demon armies, either with his magnificent blades or some kind of skin-shredding firepower. That said, there were some setbacks that were too easy to notice, though that didn’t get in the way of turning some poor sap into sashimi.
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This week, the game finally makes its way to consoles, after what seemed like an eternity sitting in the approval process. This is actually the version I’m a bit excited for, mainly because, well, I thrive on console play – that, and, well, I know more people through the PS4 anyway, and that means putting together an easier co-op team to mow down the baddies.
I’m pleased to report that, a few slight frame rate issues aside, Shadow Warrior 2 is just as beastly as its PC counterpart, filled with carnage, mayhem and the kind of one-liners that make you think you’re watching a really bad kung fu film. In a good way, of course – no nightmarishly bad video game adaptation here. It’s all about the carnage you raise and the quotes you quip along the way.
Weapons Of Choice
As you might recall from the original review, Shadow Warrior 2 is all about dealing with trouble. Those bothersome Oni have made a return, along with a whole lot of demons and even a few gunrunners for good measure. Teaming up with a rather spiritual partner (and one, surprisingly enough, that can put up with Wang’s terrible sense of humor), it’s your job to complete tasks, earn some new weapons, and deal with the odds, ranging from dynamic samurai warriors to high-tech machinery that won’t hesitate to go all Terminator on your sorry butt.
The game utilizes an open-world hub in which you can pick and choose missions, whether it’s following your master or doing something for other folks around town. Whisking into a mission is as easy as selecting it on a map, doing a spiritual wave of your hands (what, we’re not driving?!) and getting to work. Now, how you dispose of these baddies is up to you, whether you feel like a few well-timed shotgun blasts, or taking care of business with a chainsaw that never seems to run out of gas. (And good thing, too, because, man, we have a lot of enemy trees to cut down.)
There are some missions that are better than others, as some put you against near impossible odds as you get easily ambushed. Thankfully, the combat never gets dull, and watching an enemy explode into bloody chunks with a well-timed blast is incredibly satisfying. (Just maybe don’t eat before you play, yeah?) There are times that enemies on the ground can slip beneath your aim, but, thankfully, your blade – or other melee weapon of choice – can get them just fine.
Single player is pretty good, especially when you cut down eight enemies in a few sword swipes, but Shadow Warrior 2 really gains traction with its co-op. Here, you can team up with three additional players and really clean house, watching as wave after wave of enemies fall upon your feet. The sessions I took part in were a lot of fun, even though there were some players that didn’t “get” the idea of teamwork. Ah, well, at least the other two knew how to operate chainsaws fittingly enough.
Up-To-Par Performance For This Wang
As for the PlayStation 4 translation of the game, it’s not quite as smooth as the PC version we tested a few months back. It runs at a slightly lower frame rate (about 30 FPS, sometimes slower if the screen gets crammed), and a tiny bit of visual detail is lost in some stages. That said, the game still looks very good, with dynamic lighting effects (especially in stages where you see ambient lighting from trees to get a good look at enemies), a mostly solid performance, and, again, those brilliant, bloody effects when an enemy crumbles to your feet. If you slice ’em a few more times, surprise – they turn into even more pieces.
Then there’s the audio. The music is still quite good when it comes to setting the mood for frivolous combat, and some of the voicework isn’t bad. Wang, though, is off and on with his comments, as some of them are real zingers, while others have jokes that land with a thud. (For instance, we probably could’ve done without his take on Robert Goulet’s “A Few of My Favorite Things”.) At least it’s fun enough to keep you involved, but don’t be surprised if you opt to blare your own soundtrack, just to drown Wang out after he makes the same joke for the fifth and tenth times.
While the PC version of Shadow Warrior 2 is still the champ when it comes to performance, the PlayStation 4 version – and probably the Xbox One edition as well – is still up to snuff, especially when it comes to getting down with the slice and dice. The co-op is tremendously fun also, as you can team up on bosses and really show them just what a good squad – or a mildly above average one – is capable of. If a console is all you have, don’t worry – this Wang won’t let you down.
Man. Now I’m making the damn cheesy jokes.
RATING: Four out of five stars.
Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the publisher.
Up-To-Par Performance For This Wang
As for the PlayStation 4 translation of the game, it’s not quite as smooth as the PC version we tested a few months back. It runs at a slightly lower frame rate (about 30 FPS, sometimes slower if the screen gets crammed), and a tiny bit of visual detail is lost in some stages. That said, the game still looks very good, with dynamic lighting effects (especially in stages where you see ambient lighting from trees to get a good look at enemies), a mostly solid performance, and, again, those brilliant, bloody effects when an enemy crumbles to your feet. If you slice ’em a few more times, surprise – they turn into even more pieces.
Then there’s the audio. The music is still quite good when it comes to setting the mood for frivolous combat, and some of the voicework isn’t bad. Wang, though, is off and on with his comments, as some of them are real zingers, while others have jokes that land with a thud. (For instance, we probably could’ve done without his take on Robert Goulet’s “A Few of My Favorite Things”.) At least it’s fun enough to keep you involved, but don’t be surprised if you opt to blare your own soundtrack, just to drown Wang out after he makes the same joke for the fifth and tenth times.
While the PC version of Shadow Warrior 2 is still the champ when it comes to performance, the PlayStation 4 version – and probably the Xbox One edition as well – is still up to snuff, especially when it comes to getting down with the slice and dice. The co-op is tremendously fun also, as you can team up on bosses and really show them just what a good squad – or a mildly above average one – is capable of. If a console is all you have, don’t worry – this Wang won’t let you down.
Man. Now I’m making the damn cheesy jokes.
RATING: Four out of five stars.
Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the publisher.
