Compared to the last two games in the Shadow Warrior reboot series, this is a bit of a mixed bag.

It continues the evolution of the shooting mechanics and feel - Doom Eternal borrowed some of its feel from SW2, and SW3 returns the favor and borrows a lot from Doom Eternal. An excellent progression from Shadow Warrior 2 in terms of handling and controls, everything is intuitive, and unusually for a game built on UE, it feels extremely snappy to play.

The feel and handling is good enough that I was able to start out at the highest difficulty and feel like I had the control I needed to survive, and deaths were my own fault.

As I said, this is unusual for a UE game - even the best examples of shooters built on UE (Amid Evil is top-tier example) still have a slushy, sloppy feel to them. Shadow Warrior 3 plays almost as well as an idTech shooter.

The voice actor change for Lo Wang is a non-issue. Neither is memorable or distinct. If it makes a few people happy that the role is no longer whitewashed, fine. It would be debatable if the previous actor brought something interesting and unique to the role, but that wasn't the case.

Graphically, the game is spectacular. Thanks to DLSS being available, the performance is excellent on nVidia cards. The game lacks HDR support, which is almost inexcusable for a 2022 release. Although, that's probably better than the abominable HDR implementation in Shadow Warrior 2.

I've only put a bit over an hour in, but based on story progress, I'm going to anticipate that the complaints about the length of the game are on point.

I don't miss the looter-shooter aspect of the previous game. I don't miss the hub-based pseudo open-world. The linear arena format lifted right from Doom Eternal works extremely well here, and many of the enemy gimmicks are fun to learn and play around.

All in all, if this were a full $60 new release? Hell no. It's worth the $40 launch if you're the kind of person who pays launch prices. I'd say that anywhere in the $10-$25 range, it's a solid buy for any modern/retro hybrid shooter fan.

Overall, 6/10. Above average, saved in large part by excellent responsiveness and gorgeous graphics. Not a ton of substance, but still worth it at a reduced price.

It also says a lot about my thoughts of 2022 game releases that I nominated this game - a solidly mediocre 6/10 game - for GOTY.

Compared to the last two games in the Shadow Warrior reboot series, this is a bit of a mixed bag. It continues the evolution of the shooting mechanics and feel - Doom Eternal borrowed some of its feel from SW2, and SW3 returns the favor and borrows a lot from Doom Eternal. An excellent progression from Shadow Warrior 2 in terms of handling and controls, everything is intuitive, and unusually for a game built on UE, it feels extremely snappy to play. The feel and handling is good enough that I was able to start out at the highest difficulty and feel like I had the control I needed to survive, and deaths were my own fault. As I said, this is unusual for a UE game - even the best examples of shooters built on UE (Amid Evil is top-tier example) still have a slushy, sloppy feel to them. Shadow Warrior 3 plays almost as well as an idTech shooter. The voice actor change for Lo Wang is a non-issue. Neither is memorable or distinct. If it makes a few people happy that the role is no longer whitewashed, fine. It would be debatable if the previous actor brought something interesting and unique to the role, but that wasn't the case. Graphically, the game is spectacular. Thanks to DLSS being available, the performance is excellent on nVidia cards. The game lacks HDR support, which is almost inexcusable for a 2022 release. Although, that's probably better than the abominable HDR implementation in Shadow Warrior 2. I've only put a bit over an hour in, but based on story progress, I'm going to anticipate that the complaints about the length of the game are on point. I don't miss the looter-shooter aspect of the previous game. I don't miss the hub-based pseudo open-world. The linear arena format lifted right from Doom Eternal works extremely well here, and many of the enemy gimmicks are fun to learn and play around. All in all, if this were a full $60 new release? Hell no. It's worth the $40 launch if you're the kind of person who pays launch prices. I'd say that anywhere in the $10-$25 range, it's a solid buy for any modern/retro hybrid shooter fan. Overall, 6/10. Above average, saved in large part by excellent responsiveness and gorgeous graphics. Not a ton of substance, but still worth it at a reduced price. It also says a lot about my thoughts of 2022 game releases that I nominated this game - a solidly mediocre 6/10 game - for GOTY.