This Shadow Warrior was never going to be an easy sell for me. An enormous fan of the 3D Realms original, I was an instant skeptic when news of a more "modern" reboot first hit. My '90s PC elitism kicked in, my fingers went into my ears, and I yelled "na na na na na I can't hear you" in a desperate attempt to avoid sullying my nostalgia for Lo Wang's first epic journey.
You see, I have an unnatural (probably unhealthy) love for Lo Wang. If PC gaming in the '90s was a lawless frontier, then Lo Wang was its Billy the Kid. Even more unrefined than his not-so-distant relative Duke, Wang was little more than a vehicle for penis jokes, potty humor, and awful Asian-stereotyping; and I absolutely adored him. And like anybody who loves something, the thought of anyone messing with the object of my affection made me throw a fit. Why would you change what is already perfect?!
And then I got up off the floor and actually played the damn game. And while the '90s might not beback, this game gets us pretty damn close.
