Remember that friend you had and every time you would invite him over he stayed far beyond his welcome, ate your pizza and you always ended up waiting awkwardly for him to get out of your house and leave you alone? Shadow Warrior is that friend. The game's playtime massively outstays it's welcome. After about 4 hours nothing really happens and you learn you are less than 1/3 through the game. The game spends so much time meandering between poorly designed and repetitive enemy encounters. A good action game is one in which every enemy encounter has a purpose and poses an interesting challenge and require a mastery of the mechanics to perfect, Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising among such games, but Shadow Warrior is anything but. The game's length is incredibly padded by repetitive enemy encounters. It might be worth a recommendation if it was 10 bucks and a couple of hours long for a little bit of dumb fun, but 16 hours of flaccid sword combat and bland levels is just too much for anyone to endure.
