When Shadow Samurai 1 reappeared on the shooter stage in 2013 as a reboot, it won the favor of many people with a unique combat method that combined near and far, supplemented by qigong, and launched the first shot of this classic IP resurrection.
Later, in 2016, the "Shadow Samurai 2" that made great changes attracted more players with new RPG and brushing elements at the same time, so Wang Luo's vulgar, playful and funny Chinese ninja image was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Shadow Samurai 3 has released a number of live demo clips since its release, and some of the details I saw from it made me particularly look forward to this game, and I can be sure after getting a fight through the game in advance:
This time Wang Luo may not be the strongest in history, but he is definitely the most fashionable.
Wang Luo, who never stopped
If the small linear map of The 1st Generation forks in the road, and the 2nd Generation Of Levels box court is annoying due to repeated use, then The 3rd Generation directly solves all the problems: all the levels are a solid book, and you can find the direction to go next at a glance, and the structure of the mission is unified for the alternate between the arena battle of closing the door and the parkour link with a distinct path, and each level also hides a number of secret areas to provide additional upgrade points.
However, the current version has some problems with terrain collisions, resulting in some levels of the touch judgment is slightly strange, and monsters will even be stuck in the ground and unable to move, which is more serious in a parkour level in the later stages.
As the plot progresses, Wang Luo's footprints are all over the place, from Japanese temples to deep caves to fantasy exotic lands to dragon backs, accompanied by different styles of BGM slaughtering demons in unique scenes, and the richness of the levels is guaranteed.
The process of the parkour part is simple and clear, follow the green grass to the end
The optimization of this game is excellent, my 1060 can still maintain 50-60 frames in most scenes at full high quality, and a few scenes have more serious but harmless frame drops. Loading a checkpoint after death takes about 5 seconds. It can be said that it is quite close to the people.
Numerous previous demonstrations have shown that the battles in this game are all composed of arena-style terrain with clear height differences, with environmental killing machines, various elemental explosion barrels and intermittent refresh of supply resources, and expand tactics through parkour skills such as sliding shovels, hook claws, and running walls. Kill or run? Or do I want it all?
Arena levels at a glance
Correspondingly, the combat system of this game has also made great changes. The vast majority of combat resources are born from Wang Luo's attacks and kills. Killing enemies with guns will drop blood packs, and killing enemies with melee will drop ammo. In every arena battle, there is no absolute cover, no gasping for blood, no qigong protection, and the only way to survive is to keep creating killing.
Unlimited refresh of subordinate yokai are a steady supply of resources, and the influx of dozens of elite monsters with different characteristics will exhaust the negligent legendary ninja. It is necessary to constantly think about the position, and then use various weapons to clear out high-threat targets and gain breathing time.
When killing an enemy, a small number of execution points will also be dropped, and when the execution slot is filled, it can consume the corresponding energy to directly kill the designated enemy, restore the amount of health to the maximum and unload one of its body parts to obtain a killing weapon, and use these more special and powerful resources to alleviate the pressure of the battle to a certain extent within a certain period of time.
In the actual play, such a change makes the battle rhythm more compact, keep moving, looking for targets, thanks to the introduction of parkour elements and residual blood protection, the coolness in the high-pressure environment is not reduced, braving the guns and bullets behind the rain to harvest miscellaneous soldiers to replenish physical strength or trigger the execution at a critical moment to return to full health. The relatively simple classification of resources makes the system less heady for players who are trying out old-school shooting for the first time. No more bullets? Find a brother and slash a few knives.
It is worth mentioning that the cutting gun can instantly complete the ammunition loading of the weapon, providing a large number of output bonuses, in fact, the load key has no existential value, and this technique seems to have no relevant hints in the process.
The Legendary Ninja Way of the New Age
The game greatly simplifies the number of weapons and the cultivation elements, but the linkage between each weapon still provides a certain depth and interest, and the upgrade provides different special effects rather than simple numerical bonuses, making the positioning of the weapon quite clear: use the SMG with excellent stop performance to chase high-speed enemies and shoot hard straight and then shoot a howitzer to give a fatal blow, or use a samurai sword to send out a cold sword qi to fix the elite enemy and then take out a shotgun and shoot at the face.
In the second round of the game, I deliberately avoided the weapons and upgrades I liked to use when I first met, and chose a completely different combination of plus points, and I believe that everyone can find a tactic that suits their own style.
The Old King's Arsenal is at your disposal
By completing some technical operations, you can also get additional upgrade points, speeding up the construction of Wang Luo's arsenal. Lao Wang's own upgrades involve melee performance, survivability, combat resources, and environmental kills, and each upgrade provides a good buff.
Unfortunately, the first level upgrade of each ranged weapon only increases the amount of ammunition carried, making the early battles seem boring, and the real charm of the battle can be felt after completing a number of easier challenges to obtain the first batch of additional upgrade points and point out more advanced upgrades. Wang Luo's qigong that shined in the first two works also has almost no sense of existence in this work, and the original various skills have not been reproduced, which is simply reduced to a melee responsibility - pushing the palm and repelling the enemy for a short distance.
The vast majority of challenges can be completed naturally in the process
I'm no doubt quite happy with Shadow Samurai 3's performance: Lao Wang is lighter and easier to use than many of its kind, and strikes a good balance between challenging and mowing.
Honestly, I have some personal opinions about the combat system and weapons and even the design of enemies/levels, such as the ability of an enemy to block ranged attacks only a limited number of times in front of grenades, scene killing and elemental barrels did not play much in my hands, and the hook claw gameplay was slightly more mundane than that of some macho man who slaughtered hell.
In addition to some of the simplifications of the classic system, this game should also be able to do better in terms of depth, adjusting the enemy configuration of the original level card or dismantling weapons and upgrades distributed in the same level to experience self-made may provide stronger staying power, the current hard difficulty can only be said to be unfinished.
But it really brings a full sense of refreshment, living up to expectations.