Developer : Devolver Digital and Polish developer Flying Wild Hog
Release date : October 24, 2014
Synopsis :
Shadow Warrior is a first-person shooter game developed by Flying Wild Hog and published by Devolver Digital for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux and OS X. It is a reboot of the 1997 game of the same name, developed by 3D Realms and published by GT Interactive, licensed out by Devolver Digital, featuring the same character Lo Wang and a modern era setting with Asian mythology elements, all of which were redesigned with modern, full 3D graphics and new gameplay features, while also being a throwback to classic first-person shooters. The game was released on 26 September 2013 through digital distribution via Steam and GOG.com with a later retail release. On 31 March 2015 the game was released for both OS X and Linux. Upon its release, the game was met with generally positive reviews from reviewers and critics. A sequel, Shadow Warrior 2, was released in 2016 and a second sequel, Shadow Warrior 3 was released in 2022.
Lo Wang (Jason Liebrecht) is an assassin who works for the powerful Japanese industrial magnate, Orochi Zilla. He is sent to purchase an ancient katana from a collector named Mizayaki for 2 million dollars. Mizayaki refuses the offer and Wang tries to take the sword by force, killing his men in the process. Wang is captured when Mizayaki reveals his bond with a demon named Hoji, and is caged, but escapes when demons attack the compound. Mizayaki is killed in the attack and Wang allies himself with Hoji in hopes of retrieving the sword. Hoji explains that the Nobitsura Kage, as the sword is called, is capable of slaying immortals and is anathema to demons. He also mentions that the Nobitsura Kage is actually three swords, and so Wang seeks them out to merge them into one.
Through the course of the game, Wang comes across “Whisperers”: magical golems which contain a memory (in place of a heart) that one of the Ancients, the immortals that rule the demons, chose to sequester away. The Ancients cannot touch the Nobitsura Kage as just touching the weapon can kill them, but since Whisperers aren’t truly alive, they can touch the blade therefore acting as couriers. By slaying these golems, Wang absorbs their memories and learns of the game’s back-story.
In the Shadow Realm, the home realm of the demons, the rain is fueled by the weeping of Ameonna, the sister of Hoji and the other Ancients. Hoji and Ameonna had an incestuous affair, which made her happy and stopped the rain. This caused a disastrous drought, and when the affair was discovered by Enra, the ruler of the Shadow Realm, Hoji’s other brothers, Gozu, Mezu, and Xing, separated the pair and skinned Hoji’s face as punishment, forcing him to wear a mask. Ameonna accepted her responsibility to the Shadow Realm, which embittered Hoji against both her for her abandonment and Enra for his tyranny over the Ancients. He conspired to poison his sister and take revenge upon Enra, tricking Xing into delivering a tainted potion that put her into an eternal slumber and causing another drought, using this to draw Enra to the temple so that Xing could overthrow him and rule the Shadow Realm in his stead. But the plot was stopped by Mezu, the most loyal of the brothers to Enra. Xing was beheaded by Gozu on Enra’s orders for his role in the plot, which did not kill him, and Hoji was banished to the mortal realm for his treachery. Enra later saw that only the sacrifice of an Ancient could revive Ameonna and save the Shadow Realm, and thus sought the Nobitsura Kage, the only thing in existence which can kill an Ancient. Enra brokered a deal with the mortal Zilla to find and assemble the sword, promising a cure for his paraplegia and the assistance of demons to conquer the Earth.
On his quest for the third piece of the sword, Wang, who originally sought the Nobitsura Kage to deliver to Zilla, turns against his boss, betraying the Kyokagami twins, fellow assassins who also work for Zilla, in order to help Hoji retrieve the final piece of the weapon. It’s discovered that Zilla was holding a Whisperer hostage the whole time, and is in possession of the third piece of the sword. When Enra teleports Hoji back to the Shadow Realm, Wang uses the last Whisperer on earth to travel to the Shadow Realm and learns that Hoji, who originally created the Whisperers, regrets his role in plunging the Shadow Realm into misery and seeks to undo his wrong by creating another Whisperer, taking away his memory of Wang. Wang convinces him that Enra needs to be stopped, and so the two join forces once more, with Hoji seeking to redeem himself by killing Enra and using his blood to revive Ameonna. Upon their return to Earth, Wang confronts Zilla, and cuts off his sword arm. As Wang reassembles the Nobitsura Kage to its full Ancient-killing power, Zilla escapes with the help of the Kyokagami twins.
With the full Nobitsura Kage in his hands, Wang returns to the Shadow Realm with Hoji to confront Enra. Wang is captured by Enra and stripped of the sword. Enra tries to sacrifice Hoji to revive Ameonna by means of using the original Whisperer that Hoji made – which like the others before, can handle the Nobitsura Kage without harm – but Hoji disarms the Whisperer and hands the sword back to Wang, forcing Enra to retreat. But by touching the Nobitsura Kage, Hoji dooms himself. Wang corners Enra, and after a tense battle with Xing’s headless body, Enra allows Wang to slay him, since he is the only sacrificial candidate left. Ameonna awakens, and upon seeing the dead body of Hoji, she weeps, bringing rain back to the Shadow Realm.
Source : Wikipedia
