Shadowrun has not seen a good release on any console or pc in ages. The last time was on the Super Nintendo.
MAN MEETS MAGIC & MACHINE. The year is 2054. Magic has returned to the world, awakening powerful creatures of myth and legend. Technology merges with flesh and consciousness. Elves, trolls, Orcs, and Dwarfs walk among us, while ruthless corporations bleed the world dry. People who need to have something done outside the law, hire Shadowrunners to do their bidding.
The game starts you off on a character creation menu, where the main character is customized to fit into his or her role. After a quick introduction and some exposition, the player is thrust into the world of Shadowrun.
The game is built on a grid, with turn-based combat and a leveling-up system. Where there are objects to interact with, hide behind or demolish.
Each turn of combat the player has a certain number of actions to perform and when those have been executed it’s the next unit’s turn. Though that’s the basis for combat. The game does a decent job of explaining how the mechanics work. The fun stuff involves spell-slinging, summoning a rampaging spirit, or gunning down enemies with drones. At certain parts, there is hacking to be done through the Matrix, not the movie. However, this is a virtual world where the player avatar interacts with the system.
The main character can amongst other things be a kickass kungfu ninja, that also happens to be a 5 feet Troll or a pointy-eared Elf with a sledgehammer and a mean attitude. There is that and more. Aside from combat, there is a lot of dialogue and exposition going on where choices do matter. As the story progress, the player is awarded experience points. These are used to make the character better.
Since there is a lot of customization, there is a lot of re-playability. Since a different background or skill set will alter the outcome and solution to many of the in-game quests.
Since this is based on a tabletop game, there is also a scenario editor, where anyone with a good idea and the patience to make a custom module, can make a new adventure.
The in-game sound effects do a good job portraying the world, but it can feel a bit quest at times. That is why there is also a very good soundtrack. Most of the dialogue is done in silence through text boxes.
The graphics are made up of crisp and clean sprites, that populate an isometric world. It truly looks like a dark and dank world, where unimaginable things lurk in the shadows.
I would personally recommend it since I like this kind of turn-based role-playing game. Though I would not give it to someone who is not a teenager or above, due to mild violence and the heavy dialogue.
For the most part, it is a very fateful adaptation of the rules with a lot of the ambiguity removed due to engine constraints. Besides, the ai would make for a terrible dungeon master.
Njål Sand is a Norwegian Cosplayer with opinions on video games, and a passionate for creating content on YouTube about living in Norway, and gaming!