Now here's a game with balls. Shadow Warrior was 3D Realms' last Build Engine game, and it simply rocks. You play Lo Wang, a ninja assassin that gets fucked over buy his boss, who's name is Zilla (pronounced Zirra, of course hehe). Through 14 levels (18 if you include the shareware episode that kind of sets the stage for the whole thing), you'll be killing ninjas, demons, and a plethora of other…things to make sure your ex-boss gets his in the end.

Graphically, the game is okay…well, for a build game, it looks astonishingly good. The brights are bright, the darks are dark, and there's no contrast. And the game is normally very dark and grimy. There are a lot of cool graphical effects though, like the enormous blood sprays and gory death animations, and as usual, a lot of things are very breakable. The game also introduces something never before seen in a Build game: transparent water. And, it looks awesome. Go figure.

The weapons are just cool. They range from your standard ninja fare (fists, shurikens, and a very mean-looking katana) to some more standard fare (4-barreled shotgun, uzis, rocket and grenade launchers) to enemy body parts (Guardian Head, Ripper Heart), so it's arsenal is fairly innovative. Also, some of the weapons have multiple fire-modes, such as the rocket launcher, which fires normal, heat-seeking, or my personal favourite, nuclear warheads. Baaaaannnzaaaaaaaiiii!!!!!!

Enemies are as ugly as they can get, from the ninjas to the bosses. And, like Duke 3D, none of your enemies are humans…just humanoid. Bosses are also like Duke's in that they can take a HELL of a lot of punishment…simply emptying the rocket launcher into one won't kill it, and one nuke is not enough to kill it, which surprised even the hell out of me!

Level design is solid, as usual, and the beginning of one level usually relates to the end of the one before it. However, I've no clue how the last level of the shareware episode in any way relates to the beginning of the full-version episode, Rising Son…Meh, who knows…

Features. Shadow Warrior has got a shitload, including vehicles and stationary gun mounts. You can use boats, tanks (mua ha ha ha!!) and a forklift in the game as well as mounted machine guns and even a mounted rail gun. That was just tha shit…killing two birds with one stone…err…slug. There's also way more gore…not that I need say anything, but…meh…and also remote switches to control little remote control cars or something of the like.

Shadow Warrior also takes advantage of Redbook CD Audio, and the music is just great, from the opening track to the Lo Wang Rap at the end, which is absolutely hilarious. Also, the one-liners are WAY better than most I've ever heard in an FPS, and still are.

Although this was too little too late thanks to that piece of shit game Quake (sorry iD, but I just hate that goddamn game) in regards to technology, it is far more than just adequate in regards to gameplay. Although the graphics were considered dated, the level design was excellent, and there were many gameplay enhancements that were added that certainly spiced the game up and made it a lot more than just a Build game. 3D Realms, I tip my hat to you…If I had one, so I will simply nod in your general direction.

NWC