Controversial Shadow Warrior Remake on Its Way

For those of you who remember the video games of the 1990s, you may have crossed paths at a certain point with a strange, violent and blatantly rude first person shooter called Shadow Warrior.

Although widely criticized for racism and cultural insensitivity, the game remains a cult classic. And it’s now getting a makeover for PC and next generation consoles.

Hellish demons and cherry blossom. Definitely no stereotyping in this one.

Initially launched in 1997, Shadow Warrior was developed by 3D Realms and published by Devolver Digital. The game was created much in the vein of 3D Realms’ tacky action title yet smash hit Duke Nukem 3D, but was slammed for representing Asian society and culture in an insensitive and inauthentic manner.

Developers rejected the criticism, maintaining that their game was designed to parody bad kung-fu movies that were already full of racial Asian stereotyping. The criticism however continued and forever tarnished the reputation of the game.

However, Shadow Warrior remains one of the most popular FPS titles of the 1990s, offering a mix of action and supernatural elements spiced up with main protagonist Lo Wang’s tongue-in-cheek humor and insolent one-liners.

And it seems this popularity is what drove Devolver Digital to remaking the game. The publisher will be working with developer Flying Wild Hog on the Shadow Warrior remake, which will see the leading character face more or less the same challenges.

A major change is that instead of battling some corrupt corporate president – Master Zilla, bent on dominating Japan and the entire world, the new Lo Wang will have to track down a legendary blade. But not to worry, he will still have to face dangerous demons from another dimension in order to be successful.

Players will be aided by AI in the form of a banished spirit called Hoji, which will give supernatural abilities to Lo. Like in the original game, Lo will have access to a wide arsenal, starting from his favorite katana and ending with rocket launchers and cool spells.

Developers promised that this version of the Shadow Warrior will not be insulting and announced that more details and a better look of the game will arrive at the E3. The all-new Shadow Warrior will not feature a multiplayer mode and is expected to be released for PC this fall, followed by next-generation console versions in 2014.

Check out the teaser trailer below:

[Image via Getgamesgo]