Lo Wang has been working as a Shadow Warrior (a bodyguard and mercenary of sorts) for the powerful Zilla Corporation for years. But when he discovered the evil Zilla's plan to summon monsters from other dimensions and conquer the world, he left in disgust. Realizing that Lo Wang might jeopardize his plans, Zilla sends his assassins after him.

Shadow Warrior is a first-person shooter similar in style and gameplay to Duke Nukem 3D. The game set in a generic "Asialand", which looks like China and Japan conflated together. It features deliberately immature and politically incorrect humor, as well as a protagonist who delivers regular one-liners, commenting upon the situation at hand. Much of the humor is derived from over-the-top, stereotypical portrayals of Asian culture (e.g. scantily clad young women drawn in Japanese anime style).

The player has to complete several levels, fighting enemies and occasionally solving puzzles on the way. Though the game primarily focuses on exploration and combat, puzzle-solving plays a larger role than in most other contemporary shooters. There are also a few sequences that allow the player to drive vehicles, some of which have mounted weapons. Like Duke Nukem 3D, the game's environments are interactive, allowing the player to manipulate or destroy scenery and many objects, often revealing secret areas. On a technical side, the game introduces climbable ladders, true room-over-room situations, and voxels (instead of sprites) for weapons and inventory items.

Enemies include evil ninjas with various weapons, "coolies" which carry a crate of dynamite and blow themselves up when near the player character, female assassins with crossbows, and many more. To combat them, Lo Wang can use a variety of weapons and items. Weapons include: Lo Wang's fists, a katana, shuriken, a riot gun, an Uzi (two of which can be equipped and used at a time), a rocket launcher firing heat-seeking or nuclear missile, a grenade launcher, sticky bombs, a railgun, and even some enemy body parts. Many of these weapons have a secondary firing mode. Lo Wang can also find and use gadgets such as caltrops to leave in the enemies' way, or gas bombs to choke foes who happen to be near it.

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Alternate Titles

"SW" -- Common abbreviation
"Shadow Warrior 3D" -- Working title
"Ninja Master" -- Working title
"Lo Wang is Shadow Warrior" -- Tag-lined title

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Part of the Following Groups

Merchant	Title	Platform	Price
	Shadow Warrior	DOS	$0.01
	Shadow Warrior
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User Reviews

You no mess with Lo Wang!	DOS	YID YANG (162353)
Good game, but the boat had already sailed	DOS	Maw (849)
Wang Bang! A surprisingly fun game despite outdated technology.	DOS	Trixter (8730)
Lo Wang is not the best FPS character around these days	DOS	Katakis (37458)
Who wanted some wang? (The japanese Duke Nukem)	DOS	Depth Lord (946)
Do not play this game.	DOS	Mr. Hapton (11)

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The Press Says

GamePro (US)	DOS	Nov, 1997	4.5 out of 5	90
PC Jeux	DOS	Oct, 1997	82 out of 100	82
Adrenaline Vault, The (AVault)	DOS	Sep 08, 1997		80
PC Gameplay (Benelux)	DOS	Jul, 1997	80 out of 100	80
Meristation	DOS	Aug 18, 2001	8 out of 10	80
Jeuxvideo.com	Macintosh	Oct 14, 2011	16 out of 20	80
All Game Guide	Macintosh	1998		80
GameSpot	DOS	Oct 02, 1997	7.2 out of 10	72
Macworld	Macintosh	Mar, 1998		60
Game.EXE	DOS	Apr, 1997	23 out of 100	23

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Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Intro & Cutscenes?	15	YID YANG (162353) May 09, 2010

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Trivia

Believe it or not there were 2 actual novels based on Shadow Warrior. You Only Die Twice by Ryan Hughes, & For Dead Eyes Only by Dean Wesley Smith. Both were published by Pocket Books.

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This entry was contributed by Trixter

(8730), Scaryfun (11063) and me3D31337 (36822)