(Classic) Shadow Warrior vs Duke Nukem

[BFG10K]

So I just finished Shadow Warrior and the two expansions (Steam Classic Redux version). Back in the day I only played the demo, so this is the first time I've experienced everything.

I have to say that I prefer Shadow Warrior over Duke Nukem.

The levels seemed better designed and more engaging. The weapons and enemies were more fun, too. I particularly liked the grenade launcher, railgun, and the nuke, plus the katana was much cooler than Duke's foot.

Also the Japanese Estate/Outdoor Monastery type levels with the flowing water and greenery were nice. They actually looked aesthetically pleasing despite the technically dated graphics.

So, which game did you prefer, and why?

 

[Martimus]

Who want's some Wang?

Shadow Warrior was better. I played that game over and over again because it was just plain fun. Duke Nukem was fun too, but it just wasn't as fun as the super awesomeness that was Shadow Warrior. Plus the new Shadow Warrior is much better than the new Duke Nukem!

I would suggest playing Blood if you haven't yet. It is another 2.5D game that came out at the same time as Shadow Warrior, and is similarly awesome.

EDIT: The nuke was one of the coolest weapons I have ever used in a video game, and it was genuinely fun chopping everyone in half with the katana!

 

[BFG10K]

I would suggest playing Blood if you haven't yet. It is another 2.5D game that came out at the same time as Shadow Warrior, and is similarly awesome.

I'm waiting for a Blood source-port so in the meantime it's very much an ancient Chinese secret.

 

[Rakehellion]

Shadow Warrior was a newer game made by the same company using the same engine, so I'd expect it to be better.

 

[PingSpike]

As Rakehellion said, Shadow Warrior was a newer engine and the team making it must have had plenty of experience under their belt at that point. I liked the laser trip mines in Duke3D better than the sticky bombs however.

 

[Anarchist420]

dont like either but i loved duke3d back in the day even more than i liked quake, but as i got older i liked quake a lot more.

 

[Rakehellion]

How does the new Shadow Warrior compare to the old one? It has the be better than Duke Nukem Forever.

 

[cleggholdfast]

Duke 3D wins for me. I've played through it multiple times and also Dukematched a lot (over null modem and kali). Gameplay just feels more solid to me and I overall prefer Duke’s weapons to SW’s. I love Shadow Warrior too, a very fun romp with improved tech (as others have noted). I would give the nod to The Mighty Foot over the katana, though …

As for the follow-ups, I realize I’m in the minority, but I truly enjoyed my experience with Duke Nukem Forever. It delivered for me – one of the very few games in recent years I played through in a matter of days. Also logged in quite a bit of time in Dukematch. I guess it comes down to tastes … and avoiding the load times of the console release, apparently.

I am currently playing the Shadow Warrior reboot and it is excellent. It does seem more like a reboot than a sequel but it is very well done and humorous in its own way. I don’t see myself replaying DNF or Shadow Warrior 2013 like I do the older games, though. Speaking of, I have both Blood and Redneck Rampage from GOG, thus completing the build engine quadrilogy, hehe. Just started playing both of those too. Blood is as good as advertised but Redneck Rampage also has some appeal. Reminds me a bit of Outlaws, the Lucasarts classic (another fav of mine).

 

[DaveSimmons]

Blood is better than either

I only played the SW demo so I can't judge it properly. Maybe it really is better than the awesomeness of lighting people on fire with a flaregun. "It burns!!"

 

[cleggholdfast]

Blood is better than either

I only played the SW demo so I can't judge it properly. Maybe it really is better than the awesomeness of lighting people on fire with a flaregun. "It burns!!"

I forgot to mention I played through the Blood shareware/demo multiple times back in the day. My brother played through the full game and loved it. Not sure why I haven’t played it yet. I even bought and played through several levels of the much-maligned Blood 2 (1). That was probably more of product of me finishing Shogo and needing some more lithtech goodness …

 

[devhda]

Duke Nukem! always!

 

[werepossum]

Liked them both, but Shadow Warrior was best. Just as funny and better game play.