Devolver Digital just dropped the first look at Shadow Warrior 3 in action and judging from the gameplay trailer it’s looking like a bloody good time.
Last week, developer Flying Wild Hog and publisher Devolver Digital broke the news of Shadow Warrior 3, the next installment in their popular first-person shooter series, vowing to show off some long-awaited gameplay footage during the “Devolver Direct” event.
The publisher made good on its promise, releasing a minute and a half long adrenaline-fueled gameplay trailer filled with peculiar enemies, goofy weapons, some grappling hook action, and buckets upon buckets of blood and entrails.
Breaking down the mayhem
The “Way to Motoko” gameplay video starts off series’ antihero Lo Wang’s (kind of annoying) voice as he kicks down a pair of Chinese temple-style doors and proceeds to demonstrate some of the upcoming sequel’s wall-running feature.
While most of the trailer is indeed gameplay, the devs made sure to throw in a humorous short cinematic of Wang rubbing his—uh…wang—on a suspended corpse before back-flipping off of it and giving fans their first look at the grappling hook in motion.
Here the developers introduce the first enemies in the video, mole-like beasts with buzz saws for hands and a drill for a head that have the ability to burrow and move underground. Gamers also get a quick look at a single-shot shotgun-esque weapon with a pretty badass dragon design towards its butt.
Shadow Warrior 3 revels in its weirdness
Next up, Flying Wild Hog shows off one of the weirdest enemies ever, an accordion-looking creature that has arms and legs and a face that not even a mother would love. The accordi-clown spends its time springing across the stage like a slinky while Wang tries to take it down with his six-shooter loaded with exploding rounds.
That’s pretty much it for the oddball enemies as the next couple of baddies include a triple blade-wielding warrior capable of deflecting bullets, and an ogre-like giant with a maul that ends up taking the business end of its weapon to the face.
What follows is a glorious montage of some pretty precise katana slicing and dicing, a few spectacular environmental kills, and a crazy-looking weapon that shoots out fireworks like a Gatling gun.
The gameplay video as a whole also does a great job of demonstrating the different uses of the grappling hook, be it for navigating the environments, maneuvering past enemies in combat, or even setting off traps against foes.
So far, Shadow Warrior 3 is shaping up to be one of the more interesting first-person shooters slated for next year. It’s looking like a cross between Bulletstorm and the more recent Doom games, with a bit of Mirror’s Edge mixed in. Definitely a title to keep an eye on.
Images [1], [2], and [3] courtesy of Shadow Warrior