What is it?
Shadow Warrior Classic is an first-person shooter by 3D Realms. Master assassin Lo Wang discovers his former employer, Zilla, has called upon an army of otherworldly creatures upon Japan in order to overthrow the entire country. He must slay them all in hopes of thwarting his former boss’ plans.
Platform(s)
PC
Pros
Cons
Great graphics and hilariously silly one-liners.
Challenging and rewarding gameplay. Levels are more complex on a technical level.
A lot of cool weapons, some of which have handy alt-fire modes, including launching nukes!
You can climb ladders, ride vehicles and use turrets.
Epic, Eastern-themed soundtrack by Lee Jackson.
Some annoying enemies, like hornets, suicide-bombers, and hordes of hit-scanners.
Weapons like the shurikens, rail gun and grenade launcher really suck (the latter’s splash damage is insane).
Inventory items aren’t as useful as those in Duke Nukem 3D.
Platforming is a pain, doubly so since you’ll receive fall damage from even the slightest of drops.
Armour is rare and gets chewed up by damage incredibly quickly.
Verdict:
Shadow Warrior Classic does have a few grievances with a few dodgy weapons and aggrivating foes, but, the great levels, challenging combat and extraudinary soundtrack should promise a memorable retro FPS experience. Best of all, the classic DOS version is free and widely available!
Score:
