Common Sense Media Review
By Marc Saltzman
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Bloody fun shooter and slasher -- but a flawed adventure.
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Shadow Warrior 3
What's It About?
SHADOW WARRIOR 3 is the third installment in the over-the-top 25-year-old action game series. Taking place after the events of 2017's Shadow Warrior 2, mercenary warrior Lo Wang bands together with former employer and antagonist-turned-sidekick Orochi Zilla to find and destroy an ancient dragon that has left the world in ruins. The only other supporting characters are a sorceress named Motoko and a banished spirit named Hoji (who also helps in the Shadow Warrior reboot from 2013). This is a first-person shooter, with plenty of big guns, but also supports melee combat (mostly with a razor-sharp katana sword), and powerful magic attacks. There are platformer-style gameplay elements, like running and jumping over chasms, swinging from a grappling hook, climbing up some walls, and minor puzzle-solving (mostly environmental obstacles you need to figure out to escape an area). As with its predecessors, the gameplay balances gunplay and swordplay, with mayhem including cutting off heads (or crushing them with your bare hands), ripping off limbs or a spine (and in some cases, using these body parts as a weapon), and other grotesque finishing moves.
Is It Any Good?
If you like absolutely ridiculous amounts of blood and gore, and cheesy one-liners, then you'll enjoy blasting away at demons in this fast-paced first-person adventure. Shadow Warrior 3's controls are easy to pick up, the graphics are colorful, and some of the boss fights are memorable. But it has some assorted issues, though, and it doesn't try anything new or interesting to push the genre forward. The lack of included multiplayer is also unfortunate. But for unadulterated fun, or as a means to blow off some steam at the end of a bad day with Lo Wang's six weapons and grappling hook mechanic, there are far worse games to play than this digital download.
The speed (including double-jumps and strafing) and platform-like elements are fun, and the demons are laughably crazy-looking. It's fun to play around with all the ways you can kill these creatures using a combination of guns and explosives, katana slices, and some magic abilities (like slowing down time). How they die is equally over-the-top, not to mention the cringy Mortal Kombat-like finishing moves – but from a first-person perspective. Those who like to explore to find hidden goodies will be disappointed in Shadow Warrior 3, as there are only a couple of ammo or upgrade boosts you can discover. That means you won't like be incentivized to look for these extras much. You'll kill a bunch of demons in an arena, make your way to the next area, and repeat the process (though the maps are mostly cleverly designed). On a related note, this game is also linear, which means you can't go back to collect items to bump up Lo Wang's arsenal. One last issue: the game is only about five hours long. But if you can get past its brevity, gameplay that doesn't push the envelope, and Lo Wang's repetitive jokes, you'll have a good time with Shadow Warrior 3. So long as you don't take it seriously – and you shouldn't – this mature-rated gorefest is fun... while it lasts.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence in video games. Is the impact of the violence in Shadow Warrior 3 affected by the the over-the-top, ridiculous nature of the gore in the gameplay? Will players understand this is supposed to be a gratuitously bloody game if they've never played its predecessors? Is it even more realistic than previous games?
Is there a reason to include gratuitous profanity in gameplay? Does it add to the story, or is it mainly a distraction because it's constantly being used in dialogue? Is there a way to justify using this language in gameplay or a story?
Game Details
- Platforms : Xbox One , PlayStation 4 , Windows
- Pricing structure : Paid ($49.99)
- Available online? : Available online
- Publisher : Devolver Digital
- Release date : March 1, 2022
- Genre : First-Person Shooter
- Topics : Adventures , Fantasy
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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