Lo Wang will soon be back for another adventure in comically exaggerated violence and offbeat humour, with Shadow Warrior 3 in development for a 2021 release.
Polish studio Flying Wild Hog and “the less talented suits at Devolver Digital” are teaming up once again, following the success of the 2013 Shadow Warrior reboot and 2016’s Shadow Warrior 2. A self-aware teaser trailer sees Wang praising the technology driving the new game (“I mean, check out these forearms. Freaking stunning.”) and suggesting that Devolver is “overrated, but they pay the bills.”, before proceeding to dismember some demons and meet the marketing team’s requirements to show off the new grappling hook.
While this first trailer is just a teaser, Devolver has a gameplay reveal planned for this weekend’s Devolver Direct, which kicks off on July 12 at 7am NZST. Hopefully, we might also find out about what platforms Shadow Warrior 3 will be coming to—a PC version is a given, since there’s already a Steam page for it, but I know I’m not the only one wondering if it’ll be making its way to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X as well.
Picking up after the events of Shadow Warrior 2, Shadow Warrior 3 will send Lo Wang and his ” former employer turned nemesis turned sidekick Orochi Zilla” on a journey to recapture an ancient dragon they unwittingly unleashed.
“We are beyond excited to bring Shadow Warrior fans a completely fresh experience, and we can’t wait to show off the new features we have in store for them. We want to make sure that our fast-paced gunplay sequences, razor-sharp melee combat, and spectacular free-running movement, will get their adrenaline pumping and senses thumping,” said Game Director Kuba Opoń.
“But we never forget Flying Wild Hog’s roots and we hope that Shadow Warrior 3 will feel like a homecoming for those fans that have been with us since the beginning. And we can’t wait to introduce new players to Lo Wang, our quick-witted hero with a tongue as sharp as his katana! Shadow Warrior 3 will see him face a threat so huge it may be too big even for him to handle!”
Flying Wild Hog’s Shadow Warrior reboot was an attempt to capture the irreverent tone and exaggerated violence of the 1997 original, but without leaning so heavily on a racist, sexist sense of humour. By many accounts—I haven’t played it myself, so I can’t really weigh in—that’s something it achieved surprisingly well and built upon in Shadow Warrior 2. It’ll be interesting to see where Shadow Warrior 3 takes the series next.