Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 297 sampled Steam reviews (256 positive / 41 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing26% mention it
- Combat15% mention it
- Visuals & art11% mention it
- Performance10% mention it
- Difficulty & balance7% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Story & writing24% mention it
- Combat22% mention it
- Grind & repetition20% mention it
- Progression & loot15% mention it
- Visuals & art10% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
71%
59 reviews
5-15h
91%
115 reviews
15-40h
85%
93 reviews
40-100h
100%
24 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 76 | 8 |
| Creator reviews (1 tracked) | – | 62 | 0 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 92% | 86 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 83 | 28 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 89% | 83 | 18 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 52 reviews sampled · 42 total reviews in window · weighted 34.6 up / 4.2 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (64)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 80
“Shadow Warrior is a surprisingly good game, proving that classic shooters are still needed. I haven't had so much fan while playing an FPS in a very long time. And speaking of long time - it's a really lengthy game (15-17 hours is a lot by today's standards). If you're a fan of this kind of games and you like gore and crude humor, you simply need to buy and play the new Shadow Warrior.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“I kept going back to it this time and found myself getting swept up in cathartic violence and juvenile insults for hours at a time.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“This is all that Duke Nukem Forever could and should have been. A nostalgic blast, with gameplay that is fast and fun, comedy which while cliché actually delivers laugh out loud moments, and a story which is surprisingly engaging. Definitely, one title worth picking up in order to get ready for the upcoming sequel.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“Shadow Warrior is more than just puerile jokes and demons, there are some quite interesting technical faults in there as well. The personality of the game is enough to recommend to those that enjoy old-school shooters, but it comes with a warning: Wang should probably be taken in small doses.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Nevertheless, Shadow Warrior is a highly-polished fun FPS that realises that while being old-school is great there’s no reason why you can’t still be innovative. ”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Shadow Warrior is great for both fans of the original and anyone looking for something fresh in the genre. There isn’t much else out there quite like Lo Wang and his sword.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Shadow Warrior isn't free of some design flaws that can take away from the experience, but as an action game, its combat is solidly put together. While not the easiest to use, the various weapons and sword fighting combos you have really make you feel like a badass warrior whenever you pull off a gruesome decapitation.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“As a smarter-than-it-looks nostalgia trip, then, Shadow Warrior delivers, and as long as you keep that in mind - and consume it in moderation - it's an easy recommendation.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“If you're going to remake a game known for its tacky humor, this is the way to do it. The crassness is here, but it's merely seasoning in a colorful old-school first-person shooter that allows excitement to build organically from the way its systems interact.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“A fantastic reboot that keeps the spirit of 90s First Person Shooters.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“For a game obsessed with OTT violence and knob gags this is a surprisingly charming and likeable shooter, if an unavoidably shallow and repetitive one.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“No matter which way you slice its solid shooting mechanics, it still doesn't feel like Shadow Warrior. [December 2013, p.90]”
GRYOnline.pl
Nexus Hub
Cubed3
Push Square
GameWatcher
ZTGD
The Escapist
Eurogamer
GameSpot
GameSkinny
Metro GameCentral…and 52 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.5.0 is live!Mar 31, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.5.0 is live!Mar 31, 2015
- Upcoming Shadow Warrior 64-bit update.Mar 25, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- Upcoming Shadow Warrior 64-bit update.Mar 25, 2015
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.1.2 is live!Mar 14, 2014
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.1.2 is live!Mar 14, 2014
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.1.1 is live!Jan 27, 2014
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.1.1 is live!Jan 27, 2014
- Update 1.1.0 | Survival Mode & ROTT ExcalibatDec 18, 2013
- Update 1.1.0 | Survival Mode & ROTT ExcalibatDec 18, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.9 is live!Oct 24, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.9 is live!Oct 24, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.8 is live!Oct 16, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.8 is live!Oct 16, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.7 is live!Oct 14, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.7 is live!Oct 14, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.6 is live!Oct 11, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.6 is live!Oct 11, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.5 is live!Oct 7, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.5 is live!Oct 7, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.5 is live!Oct 7, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.4b is live!Oct 5, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.4b is live!Oct 5, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.3 is live!Oct 1, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.3 is live!Oct 1, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.2 is live!Sep 30, 2013
- Shadow Warrior Patch 1.0.2 is live!Sep 30, 2013