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Shadowrun Returns Review for PC

Shadowrun Returns Review for PC

It’s Wizzer!

What happens when magic suddenly awakens in a dystopian, cyberpunk future? A lot of craziness results, and the way magic has integrated into a high-tech world is the basis for the Shadowrun role-playing setting. While there have been a number of attempts to bring Shadowrun from the pen-and-paper world into video gaming, few have been successful in the minds of fans. Thanks to the independence granted by Kickstarter, though, Harebrained Schemes’ Shadowrun Returns manages to be both faithful to the setting and fun to play.

With only a couple million dollars raised towards the production of the game, the developers wisely chose not to attempt a sweeping epic, opting instead to design an interesting series of missions kicked off by a murder mystery. The player portrays a Shadowrunner, a mercenary who lives in the shadows of society, doing the dirty work for whoever pays best. When an old comrade turns up dead, the player’s customized main character chooses to investigate his murder, be it for loyalty, money, or both.

Shadowrun Returns Screenshot

The game’s writing, save for a few typos here and there, is quite good, with interesting characters and situations that push the plot forward well. There are even a number of touching moments thanks to strong character design. Many details of the setting, such as Shadowrun’s unique slang and the various factions that populate the world are replicated faithfully. There are even a number of references to the 1993 Shadowrun game on the Super Nintendo, the previously reigning favorite video game amongst setting fans.

Although the story is fairly linear, the player is presented with plenty of dialogue options that allow for role-playing, a few story-altering choices, multiple possible solutions to some puzzles, and a number of side-quests to complete along the way. Although it’s not incredibly lengthy, the campaign is well designed enough to feel satisfactory, leaving the player wanting more in a good way. I consider it a good value for a twenty-dollar game.

Shadowrun Returns Screenshot

The meat of Shadowrun Returns is in its character customization and combat systems. Although players have the option to start off with a basic class-oriented template, there are no class-based limitations as the player earns karma points that can be spent on any skill trees they desire. Want to play an uzi-wielding Mage or a Decker (hacker) with ninja skills that can also summon shamanic spirits? No problem, although there’s a limit to the total number of karma points available. For most missions, the player is able to hire a party of fellow Shadowrunners to fill in any skill gaps, and finding a good party balance for a particular mission is part of the game’s strategy.

Not all of the skill trees are perfectly balanced. Shamanic totems aren’t worth the risk and cost involved until you gain access to high-level ones, and melee characters take a lot more damage than ranged ones without gaining enough corresponding advantages. Mages with healing spells and Deckers are invaluable party members, while other kinds of character builds feel unnecessary or interchangeable. Still, it’s fun to experiment with different builds, and the game is short enough that it’s fun to play through more than once with different main characters.

Shadowrun Returns Screenshot

Combat itself is turn-based, with strategic elements based on smart skill usage and taking cover behind various objects. It’s fairly easy on the game’s normal difficulty, so RPG pros looking for a strategic challenge should feel free to crank up the difficulty level. There’s not a lot in the way of forced tutorial gameplay, so players will want to either use the in-game reference material or experiment freely with the various combat options in order to learn the ropes. As the game progresses and characters gain more abilities, the challenge and fun factor in combat both increase. Fights move fairly swiftly, but that also means they can be rather lethal, and careful strategy is definitely needed at higher difficulty levels.

A few design choices, which were apparently made due to programming and budgetary constraints, weigh Shadowrun Returns down. There’s almost no loot to be found, which makes it difficult to boost the amount of nuyen (money) made on missions. This can be frustrating, as nuyen is needed in large quantities for buying supplies and hiring teammates. The game hands out a reasonable amount of money along the way, but there’s little satisfaction in making it since it feels largely out of the player’s control.

Navigating the non-combat areas of the game can be a bit tricky, as available paths aren’t always clear, and the icons that denote interactive objects can’t seem to decide whether to stay persistently visible or not. It can also be a bit too easy to accidentally leave side-quests undone, as they disappear if the character advances the main story even a touch too far.

More importantly, Shadowrun Returns lacks a save-anywhere feature. It has a somewhat opaque auto-save feature, and that’s sufficient early in the game. As mission areas become longer and more difficult in the late game, however, the ability to save at will is sorely missed. It would be particularly useful during several missions in which a Decker character needs to run around in the digital Matrix while the rest of the party attempts to protect that character from waves of physical enemies. An unexpected enemy or stroke of bad luck can easily finish off the poor Decker, and with limited resources to work with, the player will generally need to reload the entire mission segment at that point. This is frustrating enough that it will turn some players off the entire game, which is a shame.

Although it’s beyond the scope of this review to go in-depth with Shadowrun Returns’ included editor, I’d be remiss not to mention it. There are already numerous mods and adventures available on the Steam Workshop, with the promise that talented community members will create interesting content that greatly expands on the game’s play value. We likely won’t see the best of what the community can do for months, however.

Shadowrun Returns Screenshot

The game looks surprisingly good for something composed of modular tilesets built with the same editor that was released to the public. The lighting effects are particularly nice, lending a lot of atmosphere to the game’s different areas. Character models and animations are a bit archaic looking, though. Character portraits fare a lot better, conveying a lot of personality. Many of these portraits are based on photos of Kickstarter backers, which means the characters represent people (and elves, dwarfs, trolls, and orks) of a variety of ages, races, and body types rather than the idealized artist-created images we usually see. It’s rather refreshing, and most of the portraits work well with the game’s setting.

The music is also appropriate to the setting, although more tracks would have been nice. The sound effects are noticeably low budget, but the voice acting sounds professional and isn’t overly hammy. The game isn’t fully voice acted, but that was probably a wise decision due to budget constraints and to allow for player-created mods and adventures to fit better into the overall game. There’s nothing worse than a mod that contains horrible, amateur voice acting because the creator felt that adding voice was necessary.

Shadowrun Returns is an entertaining RPG that does a good job bringing the world of Shadowrun to life. Although its design weaknesses keep it from becoming an instant classic, the game as it is provides a great starting platform for future player-made content and official expansions. Hopefully Harebrained Schemes can find a way to smooth over some of the game’s rough spots in future patches, giving it broader appeal. In the meantime, Shadowrun fans and RPG enthusiasts who loved the late-’90s isometric games from the likes of BioWare should definitely check it out.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.5 Graphics
Nice tilesets and character portraits, but models and animations feel somewhat archaic. 3.5 Control
Combat is fun, but a few poor design decisions drag the overall experience down a bit. 3.4 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
There’s a good but sparse soundtrack, and the voice acting won’t make you retch. 4.0 Play Value
The well-written story and the character development system provide strong value for the game’s price. 3.8 Overall Rating – Good
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 – 1.9 = Avoid 2.5 – 2.9 = Average 3.5 – 3.9 = Good 4.5 – 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 – 2.4 = Poor 3.0 – 3.4 = Fair 4.0 – 4.4 = Great 5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

  • Gripping Tactical Combat: When you’re running the shadows, every turn matters. Choose your actions wisely – move to better cover, charge into melee, or lob a fireball into a crowd of enemies. With the variety of weapons and spells at your disposal, every turn is filled with meaningful choices. A successful run requires commanding a team of runners with the right balance of combat, tech, and magical abilities.
  • Skill-Based Character Progression: Choose a starting character archetype and build from there! Street Samurai and Physical Adepts use advanced combat skills to dominate the battlefield, Shamans and Mages summon powerful allies and cast deadly spells, while Riggers and Deckers provide critical technological support, projecting their consciousness directly into drones and computer systems. Shadowrun Returns’ classless skill system allows you to grow your character in any direction you choose. Want to start summoning spirits as an ork Shaman and evolve into a cybered-up weapon specialist? Do it!
  • Engaging 2D/3D Art Style: Shadowrun Returns mixes dynamic 3D characters and lighting with a vibrant, hand-painted environment. Illustrated character portraits bring every conversation to life. Explore a world filled with detail, from the slums of the Redmond Barrens to the extravagant offices of powerful corporations.

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