


This is a shame as the motions are quite good, yet the action rarely shows how exciting they can be – you just do a few moves and are on to the next area. Platforming sequences usually occur after most encounters, but rarely last more than a few seconds and don’t do much for the player, other than give you a chance to catch your breath before the next brawl. Flying Wild Hog tries to inject variety into the battles with new enemy types in each zone, but relies too heavily on the same grunts, which pose little threat and end up stealing excitement from almost every battle. The carnage is a bit much, and seeing the identical death sequences frequently grows tiring, but some moments bring about humor – more of that is desperately needed to change things up.Īfter an hour of play, Wang says, “Chopping demons to pieces is the one thing I can’t ever get tired of,” and it’s not meant to be sarcastic, but comes across that way given just how frequently the same conflicts erupt. Just like Doom, the action pauses for a gory fatality, like ripping off a giant’s arm and using it as a hammer or tearing off someone’s head and squishing it to juice. When Wang racks up enough carnage, he can direct a finishing move to one enemy.

This run-and-gun action is not for the faint of heart, however: Demons pop like zits to the shotgun, intestines soar through the air like party streamers after sword slashes, and every explosion turns an enemy into a bloody mess. All told, the combat flow feels nice and makes you feel powerful. Some arenas even do the fighting for you, such as spinning sawblade traps that can be activated from afar to chop up foes. With a small yet balanced selection of armaments, chaining together kills can be a lot of fun, especially when adding in the nicely designed environmental maneuvers of double jumping, wall running, grappling, and dashing. Thankfully, the vertically-designed arenas work in his favor, with traversal lines and escape routes liberally littered throughout to create separation from the swarms. If Wang pauses for a brief second, the enemy will likely kill him quickly. He doesn’t stop moving once combat begins, lighting up demons of all sizes with a rattle of machine guns, a flurry of swords, and even using their own weapons against them. Given his move set and overly violent approach to killing, he looks like the understudy of Doom’s Slayer – a strange and mouthy version of him who is a blast to control. Lo Wang remains as unpredictable as everĪfter putting some clothes on and hatching a plan to use dark magic to kill the dragon, Wang shows us he’s no slouch on the battlefield. Shadow Warrior 3 moves away from its predecessor's sprawling design to feature linear levels and a new traversal system.
