Shadowrun Returns Review (Switch)

Shadowrun has been a massively underutilised franchise when it comes to the world of video games. There are countless Dungeons and Dragons titles but only a handful set in the murky shadows of mega corps and monsters.

Of the four games before this revival, one of them was a Japanese only Mega CD title and another is a team based shooter which doesn’t really keep the ethos. The ones fans will remember are the excellent SNES version which saw Jake Armitage taking on a Dragon and the Genesis title that never made it to European shores. To say we've been starved of Shadowrun fun is somewhat of an understatement but now the three most recent PC title have made it to Switch all that is about to change.

Shadowrun Returns is a turn based strategy game set in an isometric viewpoint and is about as old school feeling as a new game gets. It’s very close in mood and graphical style to the SNES game and benefits immensely from it. The areas of the city are dank and polluted and neon tinged signs cast light over the many citizens that walk the streets in this imagining of a dystopian future. 

Conversations are carried out via dialogue trees with pictures of the characters face to the side of them. There is no voice acting or animation here but it doesn’t really detract from the game and if anything adds to the retro feel. Although, the text could be bigger fir handheld mode. 

The story goes that your friend has been murdered and now it’s up to you find out who the killer is. At first it seems a fairly standard tale but there are a few decent twists to keep you on your toes and what starts out as a neo-noir thriller will soon go off into all sorts of strange and gruesome directions.

You can build your character from scratch from five races and a host of different class types which at least on the surface adds some depth and replay value. In practice we found the classes that deal with robots or computers had their skill sets somewhat underused (especially in the beginning), with the combination of magic and guns often the best way to proceed. This is something future instalments amended.

The game is split into three different sections. There’s the part where you run around the area talking to people and looking for clues, the turn based combat sections and parts where you enter the matrix. The first part plays out like a point and click adventure, all be it in a confined area.  Combat can occur quickly and it’s always best to be prepared and ready. When combat does occur your characters are given a number of action points to move, shoot and cast spells. It’s not ground breaking but it works simply and effectively enough. You also have to keep an eye on characters strengths with Trolls and Orcs better at taking damage than Elves for instance.

Most of the time you’ll have a team of four and your missions will generally be to get into somewhere, retrieve a person or object and get out. Sometimes you just have to kill people but it becomes a step by step process of running to cover, concentrating fire and carefully moving forward. Mistakes in the original pc game could be costly and if you die you would start the whole sequence again. This is one of the flaws that has now been ironed out as you can now save during missions. 

There is still a slight issue with picking sensible gear as being auto-saved into a difficult place means there may be no way to get out alive if you haven’t brought the right supplies or team. This can be somewhat frustrating considering you won’t know what you need until you get there.

The matrix sections of the game are also a little dry. They play out in much the same way as normal combat with the Decker moving around a virtual system setting up combat programmes and fighting drones. It would have been nice to distinguish this more from the normal combat but it works.

Overall, Shadowrun Returns is a positive return to form for the series. It’s not perfect but everything is in place and built upon by the later releases. The game as it stands is solid, well written and will provide a good few hours of gameplay. A few more side quests and a bit more variety wouldn’t have gone a miss but it’s an easy world to get drawn into and any fan shouldn’t be disappointed. It’s a streamlined turn based strategy game set in an interesting world and is quite unique for the Switch.

Overall 6/10

* There is currently a game blocking bug late in the game. It is due to be patched. Keep this in mind when purchasing.

Shadowrun: Dragonfall (Switch)

Starting out as the first major piece of DLC for the original Shadowrun Returns, Dragonfall went on to get a fully functioning solo upgrade of its own soon after.  It changes the setting of our murky world of magic and science to the streets and shadows of Berlin and does things a little differently than before and is all the better for it.

Having fled Berlin after a betrayal, your new character soon finds themselves on a job described as a ‘milk run’ with an old friend. In Shadowrun things are never usually as simple as they seem and predictably things go wrong quickly and keep getting worse. You soon uncover a dangerous secret and by then it’s too late to back out. Just remember – never cut a deal with a dragon.

One of the areas where Dragonfall differs from the original in that you now have a consistent pool of runners to choose before going into each mission. This means that the writers have been given more scope to build up the personalities of your team who occupy the now expanded hub area. More team members can be picked up during missions as well and it means players are rarely faced with situations that they are completely unequipped for. Instead, the missions become more about how you want to go about completing them which removes a lot of the frustration found in Shadowrun Returns where you could find yourself grinding through with a poorly chosen team.

The mechanics themselves are pretty much the same as before. The core rule set of the original game was always decent and here you get to see how flexible it can be as you now have specifically designed characters to use in levels created for their skill set. Level design is also of a higher standard for the most part with more optional objectives and a better way of picking up and identifying side quests that helps to build the illusion of player freedom.

Unfortunately, the matrix sections are still dull and uninspired. These needed a complete overhaul from pretty much the first day of the PC release and have got no better with age. The series really would benefit from taking these sections back to the drawing board though as they seem to drag on endlessly and lack pace and excitement. One other minor criticism is that Berlin looks an awful lot like the Seattle of the first game. It would have been nice to give it more of a visual identity as it’s certainly an iconic city.  People at least talk in a German accent for the most part.

On top of this the Switch version has some quite nasty bugs. From our experience these seem to be mainly restricted to the hub area between missions, but we wouldn’t bet on everyone saying the same. The frame rate skips badly here, and players seem to teleport around. You also lose the lock on information for both objects and people which then involves a little dance as you try and interact with what you want to. The game also locked a couple of times when changing areas and once we completely lost the camera which just refused to follow our movements. We should highlight this was restricted to the hub area, during missions we found this didn’t happen which at least meant we never died because of it but maybe that’s just us. It also suffers a bit from handheld play with some small text and no improvement with regards to colourblind users since the original game, something that was always a bit of an issue.

Dragonfall is basically more of the same but refined and improved in a number of key areas. If you liked Shadowrun Returns then you should love this as just about every aspect from story to mission design is improved. It does need a patch though as the hub area does just about all it can to break the immersion currently. If you can put up with that there’s still a lot to like about Dragonfall, it’s just not the game it was on PC currently.

Overall 7/10

*since this review was written a patch has been issued which does stabilise the frame rate. 

Shadowrun: Hong Kong Review (PC)

Shadowrun Returns was a welcome revival of the magic and technology based series and Dragonfall was a further improvement as the development team focused its level design around a pre conceived group of runners. Shadowrun: Hong Kong has arrived with a little bit less of a fanfare but we still had high hopes that the third outing into the murky world would build on the success of the first two games.

Hong Kong’s story is one of mystery and it builds an excellent tale for players to try and unravel. Out of the three games this is the one that feels most like a Noir thriller and the neon skyline associated with the city certainly gives it a bit of a Blade Runner feel. You start out with a message from your adopted father to meet him in Hong Kong as soon as possible. Upon arrival you meet your brother at the docks and then everything goes wrong very quickly.

If there is one criticism of the plot it’s that it can be a bit wordy at times. Characters will have seemed to have finished what they are talking about only to go onto something else on too many occasions and it stops you getting to the heart of action for a little too long. That said, it certainly helps to build the world and the story is strong overall. However, It would have been better to cut out some of the exposition and show more through characters action as this would give a bit more pace to things.

In terms of the general flow of the game very little has changed for the most part. You still wander around locations looking for clues by clicking the mouse and combat remains turn based. If you sneak up on enemies you can now position yourselves and fire on them first before they see you though. This adds another small layer of strategy to the game but most of the time combat is initiated as a result of conversations anyway so it isn’t used as much as it perhaps could have been.

The biggest area which has changed is when you are inside the matrix. Now instead of everything being turn based you start out by having free movement. The enemy defence programmes cycle around set patterns and if you are skilled enough you can dart around between them without initiating combat. If you do get seen then it changes back to the traditional format found in the previous two games. 

The matrix sections of all the games are the thing that really holds them back and they need a complete overhaul. Replacing combat at street level with boring combat inside computers is not great and for the series to progress something else needs to be done with it. Both the Super Nintendo and Mega Drive games treated the matrix differently from the main game and it’s something that really needs to be done with the new games as well.

Matrix grumbling aside there isn’t really much else to complain about. There’s the odd difficulty spike (mainly matrix related and especially noticeable late on), but on the whole everything is how you would want it to be. There’s a wide variety of shadowrunners to enlist and a sizable amount of side quests to get involved with. The locations fit the Hong Kong setting well and the characters are interesting and diverse. The setting is rich with atmosphere as well with a simply outstanding soundtrack accompanying the neon-lit Cantonese designs of the buildings and street layouts.

Overall, the third game in the Shadowrun series keeps up the overall quality we have now come to expect from Harebrained Schemes. The formula is still working for the most part and though the format is getting a little tired it’s hard not to get lost in such a rich world. This is also undoubtedly the best mystery of the three games and we found it very difficult to put down. Fans of the other games and the franchise as a whole will have little to complain about and for newcomers to the series there’s nothing here that will alienate you. Another job well done but those matrix sections really need to be changed now as they are stopping the series reaching true greatness.

Overall 8/10

Shadowrun: Dragonfall Review (PC)

The first major piece of DLC (you’ll need the original game to play it), for the recent Shadowrun Returns changes the setting of our murky world of magic and science to the streets and shadows of Berlin. A standalone campaign set around the same timeframe as the original game, Dragonfall does things a little differently than before and is all the better for it.

Having fled Berlin after a betrayal, your new character soon finds themselves on a job described as a ‘milk run’ with an old friend. In Shadowrun things are never usually as simple as they seem and predictably things go wrong quickly and keep getting worse. You soon uncover a dangerous secret and by then it’s too late to back out. Just remember – never cut a deal with a dragon.

One of the areas where Dragonfall differs from the original game is that you now have a consistent pool of runners to choose before going into each mission. This means that the writers have been given more scope to build up the personalities of your team who occupy the now expanded hub area. More team members can be picked up during missions as well and it means players are rarely faced with situations that they are completely unequipped for. Instead, the missions become more about how you want to go about completing them which removes a lot of the frustration found in Shadowrun Returns where you could find yourself grinding through with a poorly chosen team.

Another major addition (which has also been added to the base game), is the ability to save anywhere. Having to repeat large sections of dialogue or dying at the end of a mission and having to restart an hour’s worth of play are now long gone. This may remove some of the tension but it helps the flow and pace of the game no end, something that should be celebrated in what is a story heavy affair. 

The mechanics themselves are pretty much the same as before. The core rule set of the original game was always decent and here you get to see how flexible it can be as you now have specifically designed characters to use in levels created for their skill set. Level design is also of a higher standard for the most part with more optional objectives and a better way of picking up and identifying side quests that helps to build the illusion of player freedom.

Unfortunately, the matrix sections are still dull an uninspired. Without a complete overhaul of how these play we can’t see how jacking into computers will become more exciting in the future. The series really would benefit from taking these sections back to the drawing board though as they seem to drag on endlessly and lack pace and excitement. One other minor criticism is that Berlin looks an awful lot like the Seattle of the first game. It would have been nice to give it more of a visual identity as it’s certainly an iconic city.  People at least talk in a German accent for the most part.

Dragon Fall is basically more of the same but refined and improved in a number of key areas. If you liked Shadowrun Returns then you should love this as just about every aspect from story to mission design is improved. It’s a highly promising start for the first piece of DLC and it makes us genuinely excited about the potential for more in the future.

Overall 8/10

Shadowrun Returns Review (PC)

Shadowrun has been a massively underutilised franchise when it comes to the world of video games. There are countless Dungeons and Dragons titles but only four set in the murky shadows of mega corps and monsters.

Of the four games, one of them was a Japanese only Mega CD title and another is a team based shooter which doesn’t really keep the ethos. The ones fans will remember are the excellent SNES version which saw Jake Armitage taking on a Dragon and the Genesis title that never made it to European shores. To say gamers have been starved of Shadowrun fun is somewhat of an understatement but that could all be about to change.

Shadowrun Returns is a turn based strategy game set in an isometric viewpoint and is about as old school feeling as a new game gets. It’s very close in mood and graphical style to the SNES game and benefits immensely from it. The areas of the city are dank and polluted and neon tinged signs cast light over the many citizens that walk the streets in this imagining of a dystopian future. 

Conversations are carried out via dialogue trees with pictures of the characters face to the side of them. There is no voice acting or animation here but it doesn’t really detract from the game and if anything adds to the retro feel.

The story goes that your friend has been murdered and now it’s up to you find out who the killer is. At first it seems a fairly standard tale but there are a few decent twists to keep you on your toes and what starts out as a neo-noir thriller will soon go off into all sorts of strange and gruesome directions.

You can build your character from scratch from five races and a host of different class types which at least on the surface adds some depth and replay value to the game. In practice we found the classes that deal with robots or computers had their skill sets somewhat underused (especially in the beginning), with the combination of magic and guns often the best way to proceed. We’re hoping future instalments will flesh these classes out a bit more as the basic rule set is solid.

The game is split into three different sections. There’s the part where you run around the area talking to people and looking for clues, the turn based combat sections and parts where you enter the matrix. The first part plays out like a point and click adventure, all be it in a confined area.  Combat can occur quickly and it’s always nest to be prepared and ready. When combat does occur your characters are given a number of action points to move, shoot and cast spells. It’s not ground breaking but it works simply and effectively enough. You also have to keep an eye on characters strengths with Trolls and Orcs better at taking damage than Elves for instance.

Most of the time you’ll have a team of four and you’re missions will generally be to get into somewhere, retrieve a person or object and get out. Sometimes you just have to kill people but it becomes a step by step process of running to cover, concentrating fire and carefully moving forward. Mistakes can be costly and if you die you’ll start the whole sequence again. This is one of the flaws of the game as missions can be around an hour in length and you’ll often have to go through all the dialogue and adventure part of the game again if you die.

A quick save would have been pretty useful as well in case you need to step away from the PC, but as it is we only have the auto save which kicks in at the start of each new area. Just make sure you are sensible with your gear as being auto-saved into a difficult place means there may be no way to get out alive if you haven’t brought the right supplies or team. This can be somewhat frustrating considering you won’t know what you need until you get there.

The matrix sections of the game are also a little dry. They play out in much the same way as normal combat with the Decker moving around a virtual system setting up combat programmes and fighting drones. It would have been nice to distinguish this more from the normal combat but it works.

The game also comes with a detailed level editor and this is what is going to keep it going in the long term. The rule set is solid and there are already a ton of levels available that users have created. There are dedicated projects to bring both the SNES and Genesis games into the game as well. The standard game is a round twelve hours long and it’s likely you’ll be left wanting more so it’s well worth digging into some of the mission packs out there.

Overall, Shadowrun Returns is a positive return to form for the series. It’s not perfect but everything is in place for a bright future. The game as it stands now is solid, well written and will provide a good few hours of gameplay. A few more side quests and a bit more variety wouldn’t have gone a miss but it’s an easy world to get drawn into and any fan shouldn’t be disappointed. It’s a streamlined turn based strategy game set in an interesting world and we can only see it getting better and better in the future.

Overall 7/10

Shadowrun Review (SNES)

 

Shadowrun represents the definitive example of a game in the cyberpunk genre. The plot follows amnesia sufferer of Jake who, after being killed by a gang at the very start of the game he is revived by a mysterious women. Jake awakes in the morgue unaware of who he is and why he was killed. Piece by piece you must uncover just what is going on and who it is that's after you.

A number of things set the tone perfectly in the Shadowrun world. First of all, the brooding soundtrack hangs in the air implying danger is only around the next corner- no over exaggeration as the title contains a number of random events and enemies that may or may not occur. Every street is littered with hiding places for snipers all too willing to pick you off as well.

Shadowrun’s story is set among the streets of a large city run by mega corporations, with different suburbs and areas creating the feel of a varied and diverse cityscape to explore. Something which helps to build the impression of a living city is the number of people who are just going about their everyday business. Market sales men, doorman, business men, bar patrons and just ordinary people moving around the streets are in enough of an abundance to make you feel that there is a lot going on outside of your own characters adventure.

The fact all the seemingly unimportant characters found in the game may be fearful of gangs or aware of magic creatures but still go on about their everyday lives as normal is a master stroke by the developers as without it the city would feelcold and dead. Instead it feels alive, and Gangs and creatures there are in abundance with everything from Orcs to vampires stalking the streets.

Shadowrun is a world where technology and fantasy collide to create a unique adventure where these things are excepted by the citizens as normal. Everyone knows that these creatures exist, indeed most of them work openly in the city, the threat comes from the corruption of the mega corporations rather than any pre-conceived fantasy rule set of how creatures should act.

Shadowrun proves that fantasy and sci-fi settings can sit side by side with spectacular effect. During the game you will be able to enhance yourself with technology to gain skills, as well as ‘jack’ into computers to steal money and information, but along side this sits the fact you can create magic spells and have a spirit guide to lead you through the game. 

Technology is technology and magic is magic, there is no attempt to explain away the fantastical in terms of some tacked on technological babble about viruses or mods. When you see a vampire or a dragon, no explanation is given as to why it should exist, as none is given as to why humans should exist, you just except it and because of this Shadowrun becomes a far more rich and rewarding experience without convoluted plot points placed to explain away every aspect of magic.

Shadowrun represents and original idea executed to perfection, unfortunately it sold terribly and as a result the ideas found in the title where not expanded upon. A great shame as anyone who has the pleasure of experiencing what the title offers will not be disappointed. The recent revivial of the franchise with 'Shadowrun Returns' shows the popularity of the franchise and we hope to see more titles in the future. They will all have to go some to beat this though.

Overall 8/10 

Shadowrun (Xbox 360)

Shadowrun, as many of you will know, started life as an excellent paper and dice role playing game. Over the years, it has remained in relative obscurity (a few exceptions to this rule exist, most notably the excellent Super Nintendo game and a more hardcore Megadrive title); now the license has been dusted off and used by Fasa Studio.

The Xbox 360 is a platform crying out for a decent RPG, so naturally Fasa have made a team-based first person shooter. Let's get this out of the way straight off: Shadowrun, the 360 game, bears only a passing resemblance to anything Shadowrun-related; even the art style is some way off what fans would really expect. The storyline is vaguely the same in that an ancient magic has reawakened and humans start mutating into and giving birth to magical creatures (remember we did say vaguely).

Another thing to be aware of is that this review comes at quite a lengthy period after the initial release and as such we are in essence reviewing Shadowrun V 1.2. Due to the two very good patches that have been made available, the game is a very different place from that of a few months ago.The title itself is designed to be a completely multiplayer affair and, apart from bot matches, there is no single player mode available - something that never seemed to bother Quake 3 Arena too much. The result is a highly focused and highly skillful team-based combat game.

There are two main game types available: 'Attrition' has your team simply trying to wipe out the other team while 'Extraction' is the Shadowrun version of capture the flag, only this time with a magical artefact. A slight variation on Extraction is 'Raid', which has one side trying to remove the artefact while the other team defends the position. Each team has a choice of four different races to choose from: humans are good all-round characters with the added advantage of suffering no penalty to magic when they have tech equipped; trolls have high health and can take huge amounts of damage but little magic power; elves are quick but weak with a lot of magic power; and dwarves have the most magic, need two head shots to kill, are almost impossible to 'bleed out' (thanks to the patch) but are the second weakest race in terms of health.

Each race, when used properly, can be highly effective; on the other side of the coin, in the wrong hands, any race can die within about three seconds of a game starting. As well as the choice of race, players can equip their characters with both magic and tech items which must be bought between rounds. This is where the team responsibility comes into effect; if no one buys a tree of life to heal allies, or resurrection to bring people back to life, chances are you will not last long.The magic and tech can be combined in near limitless ways and can really help to customise a character that suits your playing style.

Already, people online have worked out combinations that may seem a little odd but, when used correctly, are nearly unstoppable. Magic ranges from summoning huge demons to attack your enemies to the very subtle 'Gust' magic used to push your enemy away from you. Tech is equally wide-ranging, spanning devices that let you see through walls, put laser sights on your weapons or use a glider to leap out of harm's way. All require mastery and any can be the difference between life and death.Weapons available are fairly standard items such as shotguns, SMGs, sniper rifles and rocket launchers. The most interesting are the katana which can be used to sneak behind opponents and, if caught unaware, 'bleed' them out. This causes their health to rapidly drain away unless they are resurrected by an ally.

The battle rifle is also worth a mention as not too many games have a highly effective mid-to-long range steady fire rifle. Shadowrun has a fairly small collection of maps, one of which is randomly selected each time a new match begins. It is lucky, then, that all of the maps are of a decent to excellent standard. Even now, ledges and hiding places in the multi-tiered maps are still being discovered. The need to select different weapons, magic and tech depending on the map also remains crucial.

Shadowrun has set aside its heritage and aimed to be a highly flexible, highly skilled team-based online shooter, and it achieves that very well. After the patches, servers are much more stable (though lag does occur a touch too often) and the races have really been levelled out against each other which makes a huge difference to the experience. The biggest problem with a game of this type is that, although the tools may be excellent, there are always going to be some absolute morons online spoiling it for everyone. Thankfully, there seem to be more decent players than annoying ones, but it only takes one idiot to ruin the fun.

The title may seem somewhat limited in terms of options and a general finesse, but what is there works almost perfectly and, in our mind, is one of the finest online multiplayer experiences available. If you look past the tenuous link to the license and the admittedly dodgy art design, you may just find a game that is quite unlike any other, and is excellent to boot.

8

Shadowrun Review (SNES)

 

A review of Shadowrun on the Super Nintendo.