Shadow Warrior 2
Shadow Warrior 2
Game
Game2013
Shadow Warrior
Developer Flying Wild Hog
Shadow Warrior is a 2013 first-person shooter game developed by Flying Wild Hog and published by Devolver Digital. The game is a reboot of the 1997 original of the same name, developed by 3D Realms and published by GT Interactive, licensed out by Devolver Digital. It features the same character Lo Wang and a modern era setting with East Asian mythology elements, all of which were redesigned with modern, full 3D… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
296 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 2, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
81
LovedLoved
151 positive · 35 negative
95% range 75–86%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 151 | 35 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 19 | 12 | 73 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 3 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
12,004 of 12,964 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
82% recommend · 156 yes, 34 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 190 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (24,603 of 26,774 positive).
Players praise the satisfying katana combat and fast-paced action. [1][2][3] Some find the humor and Lo Wang's one-liners hit-or-miss but memorable. [1][3][4] Several reviewers note the game becomes tedious and repetitive over time. [5][6][7]
Liked
Representative posts
- [6]
Tedious and repetitive. All ranged weapons suck. No vertical mobility, insane fall damage. Pathetic enemy variety, boring boss battles. Maps are too big and hard to navigate, expect to be lost. BUT Melee combat is great, very gory and fun. Story is quite enjoyable, characters are pretty cool. Beautiful graphics and particle effects despite the game's age. Likeable protagonist, the funny badass type, surprisingly not …
- [1]
Shadow Warrior is at its best when you’re dashing around the arena, juggling demons with the katana, then switching to a shotgun or SMG to finish the job. The combat feels fast and aggressive, especially once you start mixing in upgrades and actually using the dash instead of just face-tanking everything. Fights can get chaotic in a good way, and carving through a group cleanly never really gets old. Lo Wang’s …
- [5]
Eh, this is the "worth it in a bargain bin" kinda deal. As far as I can tell after playing this one and Evil West, Flying Wild Hog games tend to start really strong and then they just drown themselves in tedium. Shadow Warrior starts with a great art style, fun katana slicing and dicing, and surprisingly enjoyable buddy-movie banter between Lo Wang and his demon friend. Gorgeous vistas and Hoji are basically the …
- [3]
I came for the swords and stayed for the Wang jokes. Shadow Warrior doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it slices it clean in half with a katana. The combat feels incredibly satisfying once it clicks. You're dicing demons while cracking jokes that would make your dad groan and your mom concerned. Story exists if you squint hard enough. The gunplay is solid, the swordplay is even better and Lo Wang is genuinely charming …
- [2]
Shadow Warrior is basically what happens when someone decides that a normal FPS isn't ridiculous enough and adds a katana, demons, one-liners, and a protagonist who desperately needs a filter. The gunplay is enjoyable, but the sword is what really makes the game stand out. I honestly didn't expect the swordplay to be this good. Most FPS games treat melee as something you use when you're out of ammunition, but Shadow …
Summarised from 34 of the 274 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Shadow Warrior sits at 81% positive across 186 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Shadow Warrior received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. M Randy of Destructoid said of the PC version, "Impressive effort with a few noticeable problems holding it back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash." GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd favorably compared the same PC version over other modern reboots in terms of gameplay and humor, particularly against another former 3D Realms series Duke Nukem that "unlike Duke's return in Duke Nukem Forever, Lo Wang's reappearance isn't a sad and outdated one", also noting the variety in the combat segments, finding "that magical sweet spot where you feel as if you overcame the…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 296 · most liked first📢 Anytime, anywhere, Guilty Gear🎮 "GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- Nintendo Switch Edition" is now on sale! Introducing the "Technical Shadow Warrior" Zato=1 🖤 Purchase Here⬇️ www.arcsystemworks.com/game/guilty-... #GGSTSwitch
neutral · AI labelView post →Ohhhh Shadow Warrior...there's so many things like that in this game
positive · AI labelView post →This track is called "Access"! Ion Fury was an awesome game! It was a modern game (released in 2019), and it used the Build Engine, which was used for games like Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior! It made the engine feel modern, and was a ton of action and crazy moments! It was a really fun game!
neutral · AI labelView post →The unlicensed Duke3d engine game Liquidator uses up-scaled, blurred sprites from Shadow Warrior (the uzi) , and while watching a friend play it, I decided to do another sprite paint over...
neutral · AI labelView post →35 years ago, MM featured a Shadow of the Beast cover. Top reviews: Mega Drive Sonic the Hedgehog (92%), Star Control (86%), and Zero Wing (91%), NES Captain Skyhawk (91%) and Shadow Warrior (90%), Game Gear Shinobi (90%), and SNES Sim City (94%). Holy mackerel. What a month!
neutral · AI labelView post →Back in the ’90s, we brought Apogee games to Mac users too! Fun fact: Mac game sales were only about 1% of PC sales. Did you ever grab a Mac version of one of our games, like Shadow Warrior?
neutral · AI labelView post →Hot take: Roguelikes are cool if the procedural generated level design fits the story or theme (Hades, Shadow Warrior 2), but games that are literally just "procedurally generated version of X genre" feel like lazy cash-grabs that makes the game "vibe code" its own level design.
neutral · AI labelView post →Rolled credits on Shadow Warrior! Up next is one of my favorite little retro games that I technically started playing last year, but I want to finish it. Let’s play a game… if you can guess the game, you can pick a free Steam key from my giveaway list! I’ll leave 3 hints in the thread…
neutral · AI labelView post →whenever I play an old game some boomer shooter enthusiast recommends me it's either one of the best games I've ever played (Blood, FEAR) or it's total dogshit (Shadow Warrior, ROTT)
negative · AI labelView post →I’m on the final level of Shadow Warrior! This’ll be my first game beat in 2025 and will have me tied for the number of games I finished in 2024 🤣
neutral · AI labelView post →There are some new faces here, so I’ll share some stories. In 2016, I got really into Shadow Warrior 2, a game developed by the Warsaw studio Flying Wild Hog (published by @devolverdigital.com). I made this piece, which caught the eye of @zooltar.bsky.social, who was working at FWH at the time.
neutral · AI labelView post →If Evil West 2 is going to suddenly pivot to co-op ARPG gameplay like Ruiner 2 and Shadow Warrior 2 then we can truly speak of some latent curse that has befallen Polish action game development
neutral · AI labelView post →Shadow Warrior is at its best when you’re dashing around the arena, juggling demons with the katana, then switching to a shotgun or SMG to finish the job. The combat feels fast and aggressive, especially once you start mixing in upgrades and actually using the dash instead of just face-tanking everything. Fights can get chaotic in a good way, and carving through a group cleanly never really gets old. Lo Wang’s nonstop one-liners are hit or miss, but they definitely give the game its…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i'm a big boom shoot guy but i never got the appeal behind Duke Nukem 3D i think that game doesn't feel anywhere near as good as Doom, Shadow Warrior and especially Blood and the levels and music are all pretty boring to me, idk what it is
negative · AI labelView post →Fallen Aces is everything I loved about games like Duke Nukem 3D, Blood & Shadow Warrior, but with a film noir coat of paint and a lot of fantastic new mechanics & enticements to encourage you to vary up your play style There's real love & thought going into this game, I can't wait for more
neutral · AI labelView post →Took me 7 years to beat an over 13 year old game XD It's really fun and really aggravating with the controls. I get what they were going for with the sword and magic stuff but having to input a small code to do everything was a little irksome in the middle of intense fights that cost me my life many times XD Still, if you haven't at least tried it yet. It's fun for sure. Especially cutting down the human mobs. Wish there were more opportunity to cut them up later in the game as they were…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Decent remake of the classic. Shooting part is good - lots of guns and nasty humanoid monsters. Gameplay is mostly gun blazing but swords can also be used. Avoid attacks by dodging in each direction. Levels involving a bit of platforming. Overall decent ninja with guns mayhem.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finished #ShadowWarrior 3 on #PlayStation5. A fun hectic game with really good gameplay but that is a bit below the previous entries. Good thing is that it's short and doesn't overstay its welcome. All three games are really cool and different enough to have a good time.
neutral · AI labelView post →My wife said if this review gets 50 likes and 5 awards, she will buy a case of beer, guys help me out.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As I'm waiting for my GOG game installers folder to copy over from one backup drive to another via USB, I'm reminded that...Shadow Warrior sure was a thing they were trying to bring back for a while, huh
neutral · AI labelView post →Ion Fury: Aftershock: If you ever grew up with the likes of Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior or Sin, this (and of course the main game) is the juice. Utterly ridiculous levels of effort and detail squeezed out from a 30+ year old game engine.
neutral · AI labelView post →"We'll just use AI for things you won't notice, like concept art or in game advertisements and-" Shadow Warrior has a fairly racist caricature of main character and most of the memorable in game artwork is random images from hentai webrings and this eclipses everything you will ever make for the-
neutral · AI labelView post →this was fun. A good, stupid fps about playing Lo Wang. Nowadays there's way better games, but I had fun. I pirated this game when it first came out. Forgive me.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Eh, this is the "worth it in a bargain bin" kinda deal. As far as I can tell after playing this one and Evil West, Flying Wild Hog games tend to start really strong and then they just drown themselves in tedium. Shadow Warrior starts with a great art style, fun katana slicing and dicing, and surprisingly enjoyable buddy-movie banter between Lo Wang and his demon friend. Gorgeous vistas and Hoji are basically the only two reasons I even made it to the end, because the combat got very stale…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shadow Warrior is basically what happens when someone decides that a normal FPS isn't ridiculous enough and adds a katana, demons, one-liners, and a protagonist who desperately needs a filter. The gunplay is enjoyable, but the sword is what really makes the game stand out. I honestly didn't expect the swordplay to be this good. Most FPS games treat melee as something you use when you're out of ammunition, but Shadow Warrior makes the katana a major part of the experience. Cutting through…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I came for the swords and stayed for the Wang jokes. Shadow Warrior doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it slices it clean in half with a katana. The combat feels incredibly satisfying once it clicks. You're dicing demons while cracking jokes that would make your dad groan and your mom concerned. Story exists if you squint hard enough. The gunplay is solid, the swordplay is even better and Lo Wang is genuinely charming in a very stupid way. It won't blow your mind, but it will absolutely cut…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really do enjoy this game. I compare this game with the darkness 2 as both are FPS games, dark comedy and 18+ type video games. The dark comedy in this game in my opinion is better than the dark comedy of the vendetta's campaign in the darkness 2. As for the satisfaction of violence, fun and relaxing feel than the darkness 2 does it better than shadow warrior ( 2013 ). I really enjoy the katana, the powers, the badass guns and Lo Wang's personality. Lo Wang's jokes ( alongside Hoji's own…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A very enjoyable shooter, which, paradoxically, requires a lot of sword-fight in the higher difficult levels, because its much more useful than guns. A worthy successor of the original 90's Shadow Warrior. Well done, guys! Well done! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Un shooter muy divertido, que, paradójicamente, requiere de un uso desmedido de la katana en las dificultades más altas, porque resulta ser mucha más efectiva que…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Started playing Shadow Warrior 3. Yeah, this game is sick asf, it really feels like they took inspiration from Doom and Doom Eternal to make the sword and gunplay chaotic, rapid and so fucking satisfying. I genuinely am having a blast with it and i am so ready to keep going
positive · AI labelView post →Compared to today's gaming standards, Shadow Warrior may feel a little lackluster. But if you can see past that you'll be in for one of the most badass experiences in gaming. You're a sarcastic and immature samurai (Lo Wang) with a cool sword, magic powers, and powerful guns who befriends a mischievous demon (Hoji) as they try to find the fragments of a powerful sword. The hilarious relationship between those two -as well as the humorous tone of the game overall- are definitely the highlights…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Don't know why I skipped it back in the day. Today it feels like a breath of "fresh" twelve-year-old air. It's a bit stale, but smells like freedom and unapologetic fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like sword – that's a personal weapon! ~Lo Wang, Shadow Warrior (1997) Shadow Warrior never had sequels. It was a game beloved by many, sure, but it was also obvious that it was the end of the era. The Shareware model started to feel ancient, and so did its engine—the so-called Build Engine. In a moment, Build managed to compete with the most advanced thing for the time—Quake engine. But while Quake kept evolving (and even gave us Half-Life in its modified version), Build was a dead end. In…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Doom 2016 always get the credit of kickstarting the old school shooters revival era still going on today, but I never see people also bring up how Shadow Warrior 2013 and Wolfenstein The New Order doing just that before that game did.
neutral · AI labelView post →Shadow Warrior (2013) is currently on sale on GOG for $3 so please go get the game there: www.gog.com/en/game/shad... Also read this guide to know how its Karma Bonus and scoring system works because the game fails to teach you so: steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/...
neutral · AI labelView post →Who wants some Wang?! Shadow Warrior is Japanese-themed Build engine game where we play Lo Wang in a fight against Master Zilla. Apart from powerful weapons and beautiful levels the game stood out for its fully controllable vehicles. 🔥 💿 Shadow Warrior (1997) ~ 3D Realms
neutral · AI labelView post →Post a video game gif from the year you were born This game kept getting reprinted because it featured a digitized photo of Sonny Chiba from the movie Shadow Warrior, and boss battles against Rambo, Godzilla, and Spider-Man They had zero respect for international copyright law, lol
neutral · AI labelView post →While I do enjoy it for the most part, I struggle giving it a positive review. The whole game is your typical 2010s shooter with RPG character progression, linear level design with hidden secrets that, when discovered, reward the player with points for upgrades to their weapons, new abilities or passive character upgrades. The arsenal is also a bit boomer shooter-ish, with shotguns, rocket launchers, grenade launchers etc. The enemy roster is great, however. While the grunts are very simillar,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Much much better than the successor. Way less grindy and less focused on beeing a game for multiple players compared to Part2. Challenges are also very funny - its where i spent most of my 93 hours playtime. I did finished the game twice though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I know it will never exist, but a proper Boomer Shooter Shadow Warrior remake where you fight Cthulhu critters with Good Chinese Magic/Heavy Weapons like some kind of hard r action game version of Jackie Chan Adventures would rock.
neutral · AI labelView post →Shadow Warriors starts off with a bunch of ♥♥♥♥ jokes and raunchy comedy. But the game turns serious when you befriend a demon who helps you disembowel his own kind. I laughed. I cried. I blew demon guts all over the floor. If you like Doom-style gameplay, this game fits like a glove. KICK DEMON ASS/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Flamethrower shenanigans in Shadow Warrior. This is game is awesome, man. Absolute chaos. 😅
positive · AI labelView post →The current discourse of the past few years that context doesn't matter is one of the problems. Context absolutely matters. Eg: no way to do a game review of the original Shadow Warrior without sounding like a complete dick today. Context.
neutral · AI labelView post →one of my video game hot takes is that this Reboot of the shadow warrior franchise much like its predecessor is a 10/10 must play. the combat is very engaging, was extremely unique for 2013 and served as the next evolution in the boomer shooter remake market. I would find it hard to believe if DOOMs reboot didn't take inspiration from Shadow Warriors. 10/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I will leave this cat here, so that everybody who passes by can pet it and give it a thumbs up and awards ／＞ フ | _ _ l ／` ミ＿xノ / | / ヽ ﾉ │ | | | ／￣| | | | | (￣ヽ＿_ヽ_)__) ＼二つ This cat thinks this game is meow good <3
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pros - Good graphics and world building - Decent story - Decent playing time - Secrets - Delightfully violent - Adequate weapon roster - Good perks system Cons - Humor is about as funny as a burning orphanage - Too many shield enemies - Running down stairs will kill you - Berserkers aren't necessarily hard - just tedious and not particularly fun with the sole weak spot being on their backs - A secrets counter in the main HUD would be nice - Enemies are on the spongy side
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Four Games that hold special memories for me I avoided any from the same series or else I'd also include Medieval 2 etc. Anyways- 1: Rome Total War 2: Fallout new vegas 3: Shadow Warrior (the original) 4: Star Wars: Republic Commando #Videogames #Fallout #TotalWar #StarWars #Republic #LoWang
neutral · AI labelView post →Apart from the European version of Fallout 2 where the kids were immortal, invisible, broke several questlines and could softlock the game for you. Almost as good as the Eu version of Shadow Warrior having darts instead of shurikens.
neutral · AI labelView post →BLOOD: Honestly my favorite build engine game, I do enjoy Duke Nukem and Shadow Warrior, but man, Blood just oozes with atmosphere, and its such a unique story and setting, plus theres never been another game protagonist like Caleb, hes truly the best
neutral · AI labelView post →1. Shadow Warrior (1997) an overlooked gem not many have talked about, it's a single-player FPS game where you play as Lo Wang. (the protagonist in the game.) it plays similar to Duke Nukem, considering it was developed by the same team! I highly recommend, btw!!
positive · AI labelView post →Leaving Game Pass on August 16th. - Offworld Tradition Company - Airborne Kingdom - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Console and PC) - Shadow Warrior 3: Definitive Edition
neutral · AI labelView post →This is for real in my opinion the *best* kind of modding that gets done. And maybe the most fun. *reliving memories of my besties and I turning Shadow Warrior into a kart game*
positive · AI labelView post →Shadow Warrior was one of the greats of the build engine, released in 1997. I didn't play it and from the descriptions of its difficulty curve I'm not sure I want to. But I had an idea and chose to pay tribute to a classic game. #boomshoot #shadowwarrior #digitalart
neutral · AI labelView post →Good combat, try to pay attention to the story since it's not as simple as you might expect. (It's not that complicated though)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →On my Build Engine FPS inspired bullshit for sure today 🤣 Brainstormed a game based on the major protagonists in the most famous games with this engine (Duke Nukem, Ion Storm, Shadow Warrior, Redneck Rampage, Blood, & Powerslave) teaming up to do badass heroic(?) things in a very explosive world 🤯☠️
neutral · AI labelView post →Second time through and I still maintain this is a fantastic FPS game and a great way to open the series. The jokes, the guns, the swords, the music, the racism - it makes Duke Nukem look even worse.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Here's the final part of Trailin' for @pananning.bsky.social . It's a bit longer than the other four parts. There's a LOT of antics. Even the game breaks. www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Zt... Moving onto Shadow Warrior in editing.
neutral · AI labelView post →It's honestly nothing spectacular for the most part. Just your basic horde shooter, like Doom or Serious Sam, but with a few gimmicks to make it stand out. I can recommend it on a big enough sale. Like I said, in terms of gameplay, it's nothing spectacular, just slashing through hordes of demons with a bunch of ki powers and all that other weirdness. The katana we get is, frankly, overpowered. No reloading, no ammo management, high burst damage with the special moves, healing when dealing…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →We're discoursing indirectly about Uncharted being good or not and I wanna add this: Lost Legacy is the best one. Also all of the following games are better than any Uncharted game: Bayonetta Saints Row IV Horizon 2 Slay the Spire Shadow Warrior 2 Bioshock 2 Guacamelee Gotham City Imposters
neutral · AI labelView post →I used to play a lot of old school Doom and stuff like it (Rise of the Triad, Shadow Warrior lol) but I didn't see anything in that article that was quite as story-forward as Strife. I still love a game that goes highly verbal on me.
neutral · AI labelView post →Tedious and repetitive. All ranged weapons suck. No vertical mobility, insane fall damage. Pathetic enemy variety, boring boss battles. Maps are too big and hard to navigate, expect to be lost. BUT Melee combat is great, very gory and fun. Story is quite enjoyable, characters are pretty cool. Beautiful graphics and particle effects despite the game's age. Likeable protagonist, the funny badass type, surprisingly not annoying. it also contains incest
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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