Available on PC (version tested), PS4 and Xbox One. Like its much-loved predecessor, Shadow Warrior 2 seems to take us to an alternative universe where Halo and Call of Duty never happened and the. Shadow Warrior 2 is the stunning evolution of Flying Wild Hog's offbeat first-person shooter following the further misadventures of former corporate shogun Lo Wang.

Released last year, Shadow Warrior 2 on the PC remains one of the best-looking first person shooters on the platform. With its gorgeous HDR-enabled visuals and lightning fast performance, Shadow Warrior 2 represents the best of the PC platform. And now, you can play it on consoles, but the question is - should you?We were especially looking forward to this one, because developer Flying Wild Hog did a good job with its prior consoles ports on the first Shadow Warrior, way back in 2014. It had its quirks, such as screen-tearing during heavy combat, but it managed to deliver PC quality visuals at a moderately stable 60 frames per second. We were hoping for the next step up from the sequel, but three years on, Shadow Warrior 2 feels like a retrograde step in some ways.We should stress that it's still a beautiful game, perhaps even one of the best-looking shooters on the market today, but it has several issues that keep it from reaching its full potential.

Upcoming d&d books 2020. The most obvious loss compared to the previous game is frame-rate. With visuals this sumptuous, it's not entirely surprising that 60fps gameplay is off the table but after seeing impressive results in games like Doom or Battlefield 1, we still had hope- especially when the developer expressed the intention of hitting 60fps on consoles when I met them back in Gamescom 2015.The reality is that the final shipping version of Shadow Warrior 2 on consoles runs at 30fps. While this is certainly disappointing bearing in mind how good it feels on PC at twice the frame-rate, it should be noted that the 30fps implementation is sound. Frame-rate drops are virtually non-existent on both PS4 and Xbox One (though there is some minor tearing on this platform), while frame-pacing is adhered to scrupulously. When combined with the excellent motion blur, the game still manages to feel smooth, but with the high speed of the action, it's certainly a step down from the blazing fast PC release.

For performance reasons alone, if PC is an option, we'd recommend sticking with that version. Other omissions in the console version are somewhat puzzling. For one thing, Shadow Warrior 2 was one of the very first PC games to offer support for high dynamic range output. It was gorgeous - one of the best implementations of last year. This seems like a no-brainer for the console releases, but alas, it is completely absent.

Considering that all available consoles aside from the original Xbox One support HDR, this is a disappointing oversight.Then there is the PS4 Pro support - or rather, the complete lack of it. You get the same exactly experience on PlayStation 4 Pro as you do on a standard PS4. With the Pro having been on the market for the better part of six months now, it seems ridiculous that high profile titles like this and Bethesda's Prey should ship with no Pro features whatsoever.Other issues aren't so fundamental to the experience, but definitely feel a little rough around the edges considering the developer's proven technical prowess. Disparity in the quality of the texture work is an obvious example.While we can't expect the entirety of the PC version's highest quality textures to make their way across to the consoles, we're still left with some wildly variable texture quality. In one area, you might run across some intricate ground textures with gorgeous brickwork using parallax occlusion mapping. Then you turn around and get much lower quality ground textures that stick out like a sore thumb - something you simply don't see on the original PC release. The opening level looks great across all three platforms with image quality taking the most noticeable hit on consoles.

Scene complexity stacks up well against PC's highest setting with only minor reductions visible here. Ambient occlusion on consoles exhibits huge black globs around all objects at proximity.

It's clearly way overdone. Texture resolution also takes a huge hit in this scene. The futuristic environments on offer look excellent across all systems but the PC version sports slightly sharper reflections and more refined texture work here. This scene showcases higher resolutions textures and refined ambient occlusion available in the PC version. The ground texture appears noticeably blurry on consoles.That's not to say texture work is bad for the most part but the weird mix of high and low quality textures appears jarring.

We also noted a problem with ambient occlusion on consoles too - it's so thick that it often looks more like there's a black cloud around your hands. It's a strange choice here, for sure.Flying Wild Hog has demonstrated in the past that it's mastery of PC and console technology is impressive, and we do recommend checking out the video on this page to see how close the general look of the game is to the PC original. Lush forested areas are rich with blowing foliage and intricate detail while the rain soaked cityscapes are filled with screen-space reflections and vibrant neon lights galore. Animation work is generally excellent and the weapon models are fantastic. The subtle blur applied to the edge of the weapon is always a nice touch. There's little doubt that Shadow Warrior 2 remains a big step up from the previous game in terms of its core visual feature set.It may not quite match the PC version when looking closely at the details but the overall sense here is that it looks close enough during gameplay. The sacrifices made to the visuals, aside from texture quality and ambient occlusion, are relatively minimal.

In terms of the basics like resolution, it's the usual 1080p/900p divide between PS4 and Xbox One - the same resolutions used in the previous Shadow Warrior. It's also good to see that anisotropic filtering is set to a reasonable level on both machines. All the info on the next Call of Duty, in one convenient place.In the end, how good this port is depends on your expectations - and your hardware. If you're running a standard Xbox One or PlayStation 4 console on a 1080p display, the largest complaint is the frame-rate which despite being lower than we'd like, is at least consistent and properly implemented.

The lower resolution textures and ambient occlusion issues are visible but they aren't deal-breakers either.However, if you have an HDR-capable 4K screen or a PS4 Pro, Shadow Warrior 2 feels like a missed opportunity. Coming from the HDR-enabled PC version running at a higher resolution and frame-rate, it feels like a huge step back. Coming from a studio known for its technical prowess, it's genuinely surprising that these features are absent.PS4 Pro's additional horsepower could perhaps have been deployed on restoring the higher frame-rate, but the complete lack of support is baffling.

None of this is to suggest that Shadow Warrior 2 isn't a good game, it's just that the experience is simply so much better on PC - and for now at least, that remains the definitive way to play the game.

Originally posted by:Haha console peasant you deserved itI don't understand you logic.In what way is a console player a peasant?Because I prefer another system?Because I've spent more on my stuff than you?Because i prefer not sitting at my computer all the time?So because of this I deserve a buggy game?Are you mentally challenged? Because you spend more on your stuff for a lower quality.You sit on a couch I sit on a chair don't act like there is a huge difference which makes me an antisocial and makes you a social relaxed 'Gaymer'.If you are a proud console peasant go elsewhere for your problems there are a lot of console forums.

Originally posted by:I don't understand you logic.In what way is a console player a peasant?Because I prefer another system?Because I've spent more on my stuff than you?Because i prefer not sitting at my computer all the time?So because of this I deserve a buggy game?Are you mentally challenged? Because you spend more on your stuff for a lower quality.You sit on a couch I sit on a chair don't act like there is a huge difference which makes me an antisocial and makes you a sociable relaxed 'Gaymer'Has absolutely nothing to do with that comparison.It has to do with ONE thing, and ONE thing alone.I prefer a different system/platform than you and you feel the need to come here calling me a 'peasant' like a god damned child without even knowing who I am or what kind of person I am.I sure as hell am not a 'sociable relaxed Gaymer' because i choose to sit where i sit. The two does not correlate. Lol guess ya should've just bought it on Steam.About the co-op part tho, I think most of the people who bought this were really buying it for just the single-player (and probably have played the first remaster so they wanted to play the scond) and the first one was so great that all it really needed was co-op in some type of way, so that's what they did here. Darklings as other characters. At least the clients keep their karma and whatnot for their character. They did add the Trials which makes the co-op experience a bit better. Originally posted by:lol guess ya should've just bought it on Steam.About the co-op part tho, I think most of the people who bought this were really buying it for just the single-player (and probably have played the first remaster so they wanted to play the scond) and the first one was so great that all it really needed was co-op in some type of way, so that's what they did here.

At least the clients keep their karma and whatnot for their character. They did add the Trials which makes the co-op experience a bit better.Fair enough.I played the first remaster on both pc and ps4 and I loved it, so I naturally bought this one in the hopes of a similar experience, unfortunately this is not even close despite being a really cool game and all.In what way do the trials improve on the co-op?I am genuinely curious since I havent tried them out yet.