"Intimidation is the tool of the fearful heart," said the dude across from me, trying hard to live into his sensei role.

"Hey, better than being the fool of the tearful fart," said Lo Wang, "hero" of Shadow Warrior 2

I was already giggling at that point, and even more so when Wang's chatmate remarked on what a "deeply stupid" reply that was. Sure, it's kind of a "You had to be there" thing, but you can safely take it is as a test of how much you'll get out of Wang's ever-extending story. There's satisfying combat beyond all that and great co-op fun, but it's stuffed with hours of penis-shaped swords on display stands, penis constellations in the sky (which must be the "high wang"), and a mountain of off-color quips. It's crass and juvenile, and it reminds me a little of Duke Nukem in his better moments. But Duke never managed to make me laugh quite like this.

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“ Wang's remarks are violently stupid, but there's a hint of genius about them.

You got a lot of that in 2013's Shadow Warrior reboot , too, but Shadow War 2 goes well above and beyond that game. Shadow Warrior embraced linear level design, but Shadow Warrior 2’s roughly 12-hour single-player and co-op campaign thrives on roomy, open zones that are accessible through quick-travel points on a world map presented before each mission.

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Its environmental diversity and consistent attractiveness surprised me to the end. Within the space of an hour or two, Wang's adventures could find him in steampunky cities awash in glowing neon or Japanese gardens where stoic torii stand guard among light-splashed forests, and the transitions between them always seem to somehow make sense. They offer a good mix of the horizontal and the vertical, offering numerous chances for Wang to leap up on rooftops and bound about the terra cotta. Some of the secondary mission areas even boast a degree of procedural generation for the sake of replayability, although this somehow also creates long stretches where I didn't find any enemies at all.

“ Shadow Warrior 2 plays like Doom with a potty mouth and Japanese decor.

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But it's melee that shines the brightest here, thanks to the ability to precisely lop off arms, legs, and heads with precise katana slices using the mouse and keyboard or gamepad thumbsticks. It encourages jumping into the thick of things, complete with upgradeable abilities that let Wang cut demons down like a steel tornado or skewer them from afar.

“ It's weapon variety that keeps Shadow Warrior 2 entertaining.

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Many battles rely on an intense juggle, switching between favorite weapons with the tap of a button. One time, on the glassy decks of a soaring skyscraper, I battled with a named robot that looked like a sleeker cousin to Robocop's ED-209, staying out of the firing arc of his guns by swatting at its legs with dual katanas. When I’d cut him down to 50% health he went into a shield mode, spitting out floating spherical drones which made my swords feel like ineffective fly swatters. So out came my shotgun, felling each with two blasts a piece. Just for a bit of flair, I finished it off with a rocket launcher.

“ Far too many bosses rely on the same shielding design.

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“ Replaying levels in groups is renewed fun.

Dead enemies drop loot, and loot is in fact king in Shadow Warrior 2 – a strength it borrows from the likes of Borderlands and Diablo. The vast majority of said loot comes in the form of weapon mods, which add effects such as an extra crit chance or flame damage. Around five hours in, you can use the ones you haven't used to craft new and better mods. It's a smart design because the relatively rare weapons are always a joy to find, but the more common items still have value.If there's a drawback to the co-op design it's that some of the enemies end up feeling like bullet sponges due to the greater health pools needed to absorb punishment from four players at once. Even so, I found myself enjoying the way most enemies responded to my attacks in some way, particularly when slicing them up with twin swords that fire energy rays or giving them a rough back scratch with Wolverine-like claws. A little more variety in demon types would go a long way, though.