Geek Citadel Reviews – Shadowrun Returns

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The Shadowrun series has been away for a very long time. Runners were living the life back in the Super Nintendo and Genesis days. Two open world titles allowed players to dabble in the futuristic city of Seattle and explore what the world of Shadowrun had to offer. The series took a nap for a while, until FASA Studios decided it would be best to revive the classic RPG as a shooter. This game failed to meet expectations of fans or practically anyone and smothered out the dwindling flames of the series. Shadowrun Returns hopes to resurrect the cyberpunk RPG and cover up the drek that came before it.

 

You play a runner that has been laying low after a job goes bad. Most of the people you worked with are long gone except for a man named Sam Watts. He leaves a comm message with a specific job that only you can handle – find the person that killed him. You accept the job and delve into a thrilling mystery that may be too risky for the paycheck. Shadowrun Returns has one thing in spades, and that’s an engaging and well-written storyline.

 

The chase to find the killer of Sam Watts turns into a detective mystery involving a series of interesting plot-devices. The story is quirky, witty, and as engaging as a powerful novel. Instead of interacting with the different characters via a cutscene or voice over, the story is fed to the player through descriptive loading screens and character text that nail the distinct personalities of each character better than most voiced titles. The socialites, gangers, shadowrunners, and spiritualists thrive in a believable world that immerses the player in a wealth of history and atmosphere.

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It’s an enriching experience and hands down makes the title as immersive as it can be. The campaign leans heavily on linearity due to the structure of the story. There are optional missions that you can partake in, but they aren’t as robust as similar titles in the genre. Even the dialogue options lack for much change or varying choice to solve a problem without shooting someone in the face. I spent the majority of my play session raising my charisma only to learn that it is under-utilized in the dialogue options for solving problems. I even reloaded the title to see if there were various ways to solve a situation, but to my dismay, the options rarely lead to a decision that filled me with regret or pride.

 

This leads us to the mechanics of Shadowrun Returns. Those expecting an overhaul of the tactical turn-based system will be slightly disappointed. The structure holding up the gameplay is fairly barebones. It’s enjoyable and approachable, but there isn’t much depth to the battle system. You can hide your characters behind barriers for cover, summon elementals, and cast magic at foes. The RPG element allows players to select from a variety of class templates or start from scratch for full customization of the talent trees.

 

There are a wealth of skills and options to invest in, like decking, spirit control, and close combat. Players will spend karma points to upgrade their avatar and tailor them how they see fit. Increasing the talents of a master skill like strength will allow the character of choice to specialize in certain skills. Players will receive innate abilities, but certain spells are only available from vendors.

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Each of the Main stats has its own uses while out on the field. Strength can intimidate people or knock them on their buttocks with a punch. Dexterity is great for picking people off at a distance and ducking gunfire. Willpower makes lightning come out of your fingers. A high intelligence stat won’t teach you Kung Fu, but you will be “The One”. Charisma can’t get you the ladies but it can help earn more nuyen, and dead things will absolutely adore you.

 

Shadowrun’s music and visuals match the distinct cyberpunk style. Hand drawn portraits exhibit the unique personalities in Seattle. The city itself is a dilapidated version of a future gone wrong. The in-game models of the citizens are simplistic to a fault, they lack a breath of life that less complicated titles have in spades. The animation of Maria Mercurial in the original SNES version outshines anything that Returns brings to the table. The soundtrack on the other hand is flat out awesome, and captures the essence of the cyberpunk world.

*This title was supplied to us by the Publisher*

You could be chasing down leads, schmoozing with criminals, or mining data from the matrix. Regardless of the activity involved, you’re going to have a blast delving into the world of Shadowrun. The campaign has a beautifully written script that will motivate players to follow it to its conclusion. It may even persuade a few players to take up the creation tool and design their own deeply engrossing stories.   Shadowrun Returns receives four stars out of five from Geek Citadel. The gameplay follows the elementary model of tactical RPG’s, but the impressive setting, the creation tools, and gripping storyline make it hard to put down.