This image, provided by publisher Devolver Digital, is a slightly sweetened shot of in-game action, but it pretty well represents the kind of chainsaw fun you’ll have in Shadow Warrior 2. (credit: Devolver Digital)

Shadow Warrior: You either remember it as “another one of those Duke Nukem-y games from the ’90s,” or you worship at its altar thanks to memories of it being one of your earliest first-person shooter experiences. That memory probably wasn’t swayed much by the series’ 2013 reboot from Polish game developer Flying Wild Hog—a solid, budget-priced reimagining that neither reinvented the FPS wheel nor proved delightfully faithful to the original. It felt simultaneously too new and too old—a nostalgic rehash, not a nostalgic delight.

What a difference three years makes. Any surprise that the so-so reboot got a sequel will vanish as soon as you lay eyes on Shadow Warrior 2—the kind of game that the 2013 edition should have been in the first place. The baddies are bigger; the guns, swords, and launchers are more plentiful; the customization, loot, and crafting systems are hookier; and the giant battles take place in more colorful, wild levels that shine particularly well in co-op—especially if you help friends play through levels you’ve already beaten.

Party tricks, blood-and-guts style