Definitive editions of games are often done around major milestones or anticipated changes that come to the game. The reasoning for this definitive edition is two-fold. The first is that the game is finally being released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, and the second reason is that there is a new arena mode for the game and new skins that you can unlock.

While bringing the game onto the next generation of consoles is a good reason for this edition, the new updates don’t give much of a reason for anyone on PC to pick up this new version over the original release. However, this new version has replaced the old version and the developers have allowed owners of the original game to get this definitive edition for free. So, is it worth the re-download?

The first things to discuss are the graphics and performance. Sadly, there are no upgrades for graphics when it comes to PC. This should not come as a surprise considering that it has been less than a year since the original game came out. As you can imagine, that is not a lot of time for there to be a major increase in the visual quality of graphics.

Looking at the videos of the game prior to this re-release and reading the review Alexx did on the PlayStation 4 version of the game, there doesn’t appear to be too much of a difference from what I can tell. There were a few times when I noticed that things in this edition of the game would pop in funny or wouldn’t quite line up with an animation which shouldn’t happen on a definitive edition of a game.

The core part of Shadow Warrior 3: Definitive Edition is the new arena mode, which I mentioned previously. I had never played Shadow Warrior 3 prior to this review, but the arena mode intrigued me as something that could be a stress-relieving mode that can provide a few minutes of joy every once in a while.

However, I discovered that I had to complete the entire campaign in order to even unlock and play the arena mode. This allowed me to learn the game mechanics and figure out the jest of what everything is. On the other hand, though, the campaign drained the hype out of me for a few days. When I finally came back to the arena mode, I was a little underwhelmed.

It works similarly to any other arena mode that has appeared in games over the last ten years or so. There are three stages that you can play on where you will face waves of enemies and over time collect a variety of upgrades and additional weapons that can help you in surviving as things get harder. The stages all reflect some of the key environments that you will run into throughout the main campaign. However, they aren’t anything too spectacular compared to the arenas that you run into during the story mode.

The one thing that is working for the arena mode is the way that it quickly throws you into the deep end when it comes to difficulty. This is because the amount and difficulty of enemies tend to ramp up a lot faster than you can get upgrades for your character. This is good news for anyone who is looking for a new challenge from this game.

There are also weapon skins that you can unlock throughout the arena mode by completing various challenges. While I am occasionally a sucker for weapon skins, these are rather bland and don’t do much for me. While some people might certainly be interested in these, I felt like these were not worth the time it takes to complete the challenges associated with them.

However, this should be the perfect thing for completionists who are determined to hop back into this game and one hundred percent it. I am not one of those individuals so I decided to not spend too much time trying to unlock all of the skins.

Everything beyond the arena mode and new weapon skins was the same, so you should check out Alexx Aplin’s review of the release version of the game if you really want to read about the campaign and overall gameplay. To be honest, I wish that there was more to this game, but at least this new version comes free to existing owners and is cheaper than the release version.

A PC review copy of Shadow Warrior 3: Definitive Edition was provided by Devolver Digital for this review

Shadow Warrior 3 Definitive Edition

39.99

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• New Arena Mode
• New Skins
• Cheaper Price

Cons

• No New Graphics
• No Significant Changes to Gameplay
• Campaign Locked Content