Shadow Warrior (DOS, 1997)

Why are good things sometimes so short-lived? Duke Nukem 3D was the first major game to use the excellent Build Engine, Shadow Warrior was already one of the last. And that is really a pity, for the Build Engine was good, good as in…well, good. It may have used tricks to allow rooms above rooms (Daggerfall's XnGine and the Quake engine are sometimes quoted as the first true 3D engines in gaming history, but really were predated by the engine used in the Ultima Underworld games), but it did, and thus the Build Engine games had meaningful architecture instead of DOOM's stairways leading nowhere just for show.

The game itself—well, let's have a look at the official blurb first:

Lo Wang. Master ninja assassin for 20 years. A Shadow Warrior. Shadow warriors are the best of the best, and Lo Wang was the best of the Shadow warriors. Every top company in Japan had a shadow warrior… a protector, a negotiator, a cleaner.

Lo Wang worked for Zilla Enterprises, a conglomerate with control in every major industry. Too much control. Power corrupts, and Master Zilla's corporation was corrupted to the core.

Lo Wang discovered Master Zilla's demonic scheme to rule Japan, using creatures summoned from the dark side. A man of honor, Lo Wang quit. But one as powerful as Wang either must be on your side, or on no one's side. Master Zilla unleashes his creations for their first test: to kill a single man, a shadow warrior… Lo Wang!

Wait a moment…a ninja assassin called Lo Wang? Does Japan import ninjas lately? Strange, strange. And indeed the concept of an FPS with ninja weapons proves just as strange. The S simply stands for shooter, and starting out with a katana in a shooter isn't that much fun. But still Shadow Warrior has its own fascination, it just isn't another Duke Nukem 3D.

And it does have this priceless name for multiplayer: Wang Bang.

Shadow Warrior

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