Shadowrun Returns by Harebrained Schemes.

For as long as I have been reading reviews here, I never noticed that the site has the option to do a video game review. I know, I know, I failed my perception check. Anyway, I figured I’d do a review of the newest digital addition to the Shadowrun family: Shadowrun Returns. Confession time, I backed this on Kickstarter so I’m obviously a fan. Thus, I’ll keep this review relatively short and try not to include too much bias.

First: a light touch of history.
For the uninformed: Shadowrun combines the dystopian outlook of cyberpunk with fantasy characters and the return of magic and dragons. Shadowrun Returns is a computer game with based on that concept. How this computer game got made is a bit of a story in and of itself. The original pen-and-paper RPG was created by FASA Corporation which was founded by Jordan Weisman and Ross Babcock III. Later, the rights to Shadowrun were sold to WizKids which was founded by Weisman et al. Wizkids then licensed the rights to print new Shadowurn RPGs first to FanPro and then to Catalyst, who still holds that permission (5th Edition is out). FASA Corporation didn’t go bankrupt – contrary to what I believed in college – but rather became an IP holding company which did the aforementioned selling of rights. However, prior to ceasing active operations, the electronic gaming side of FASA – creatively named FASA Interactive – was sold to Microsoft which still holds the rights to electronic games based on the IP. Coming full circle, Jordan Weisman – one of Shadowrun’s creators – had to go to Microsoft to get the rights to produce an electronic game based on his own ideas. Even that’s not the full story. The rights were granted to Smith and Tinker – another Jordan Weisman company but Shadowrun Returns was published by Harebrained Schemes (yes, another Weisman company) with the backing of the Kickstarter crowd. Thus, I wish any forensic analyst luck with teasing apart that mess. Enough history, on to the game review.

Shadowrun Returns is set in a previous incarnation of the Shadowrun world. It’s sometime during the early 2050’s which is approximately equivalent to 2nd Edition for those keeping score. (The Steam game info says the year is 2054.) As the player, you take on the role of a down on his luck shadowrunner. Really, is there any other kind? Anyway, said runner gets a prerecorded call from his old friend Sam. Sam’s recording explains that he’s dead and that he’s hiring you to dig into the cause. Assuming old friendships aren’t enough, Sam’s saved up one hundred thousand good reasons why you should take up the case. While this setup may seem a bit cliché, it's a fitting beginning to any video game from the early 90’s; after all, the SNES Shadowurn game (1993) contributed more than a little of its DNA to this version.

I won’t get into the story for two reasons. One, it could spoil the few twists and turns the game has available. (Not that you won’t see most of them coming – especially if you’re a veteran Shadowurn player.) Two, it’s the typical Shadowrun story: complicated and messy. In the end, the story really isn’t all that important.

Character creation boils down to: pick gender, pick race (human, elf, dwarf, orc or troll), pick archetype (street samurai, mage, decker, shaman, rigger, physical adept). Then you get the chance to spend a few points of karma to improve things based on the archtype and start the game. There is an option under archetypes for those more experienced with the karma engine but I haven't found it all that helpful. I finished the game with a decker, completed the first two thirds with a shaman and have created and played through the fist few fights as a mage character.

There is no way to buy gear, items, spells, etc. during character creation. This leads to some issues in the opening fight nee flashback – which serves as the closest thing we get to a tutorial. Why, you ask? Because a mage just isn’t as effective if she has no spells to use. If you invested all your karma into being good with a SMG, you won’t be as effective with a pistol. It’s a minor nit-pick as the fight is basically the opening act and none too difficult, but it’s still annoying.

Attributes serve as an absolute cap on skills. Similarly, some skills are gateways to others. For example the Ranged Combat Skill (which sits under Quickness) serves as a cap on sub-skills such as Shotgun.

Improving skills ranks opens up additional character options as well as making you better at whatever they do. For example, upping the pistol skill allows for a greater to-hit chance as well as opening up options such as aimed shot or double tapping the target.

Thus, much like its PnP origin, you are rewarded for getting really good at a particular skill. There has been some chatter in the review community about Charisma not being valuable; however, I disagree. It has value; however, that value is lessened due to the scenarios presented in this story. (Basically, this story really leaves a lot to be desired by way of subtlety and/or nuance.)

Combat is tactical and turn based ... and it works. Mostly. Outside combat, the game works much like a point and click adventure game with glowing/flashing icons to alert you to items you can interact with. Combat can start at any time and once it does, the freeform movement stops and the turn based movement begins. This can catch you or your hired shadowrunners out of place. It’s a mild annoyance but can occasionally cause needless deaths. Further, trigger points can be reached IN combat which causes you and or your runners to freeze - even in the middle of actions. More annoying for no good reason. The worst part? You lose any Actions Points spent, even if the character didn't complete the action. In combat, you control you character by clicking with the mouse. Click on a location, move to that location. Clink on an enemy, shoot the enemy, etc. Each action – including reloading – costs a number of Action Points. Reloading is 1, throwing a grenade is 2, etc. Movement in the ¾ isometric view of the world is accomplished by clicking on the area of the “grid.” The grid has a highlighted area showing how far the character can move along with the required number of Action Points to get there. It’s a square grid and I had a little trouble now and then clicking exactly where I wanted to go. Cover is shown as a little shield that is either clear (no cover), half full (half cover), or full (full cover). Rather than offering additional armor, cover reduces your opponent’s to-hit percentage. In some cases, cover is complete and blocks line of sight. This is a double edged sword; it’s great when the enemy mage can’t target you but less than ideal when you can’t shoot the opposition. Not being able to do everything all at once forces you to make decisions. Should you fire off another round or seek cover? Should you toss the grenade and not be able to move or should you fire once and then run for it? Should you shoot twice with a low to-hit chance or move closer and fire once? This nicely pulls in the strategic decision making process and makes combat feel like every decision is important.

The randomness (I don't suppose I can call it rolling dice since the system uses to-hit percentages) happens off-screen but feels fair most of the time. Missing twice with an 80% chance to hit seemed to happen a little more often than I would like; however, I suppose I can take that since I never complained when I made that a few long shots at a 33% chance to hit.

Overall, the game is a bit on the linear side but if you're going to have a story, then there will be linear hoops to jump through. Even the pick-your-own-path books I read as a kid had that problem, so it's nothing new. One potential downside in the current era of video games is the relative lack of a sandbox mode. You pretty much jump from one area to the next but you do get a warning if that is about to happen so if you're going to play around in what passes for the sandbox, you're going to do it within the limited area of the current run and that assumes the programmers thought to leave you a few crumbs to play with. However, since Shadowrun is about clandestine objectives, I have no qualms with this approach. As always, your mileage may vary.

The graphics are a little weak but remember that the company (Harebrained Schemes) has mainly done mobile games. If you set your expectations accordingly, you won’t be disappointed. The music was done by Marshall Parker and Sam Powell who worked on music for the SNES and Genesis titles. It is suitably atmospheric and in places packs a large amount of nostalgia. However, I did tire of the battle theme after a while.

Set aside 10 to 15 hours of game time to finish the run it ships with. You'll edge toward the higher end if you try to take on all the side jobs. I did mention it’s a short game, didn’t I?

Like its SNES predecessor (I never played the Genesis version), you can mix magic and cyberware. I haven’t tried that, so I can’t report on how much, if any, it differs from the PnP game. There are plenty of shout-outs to the SNES game and had I played it, I would imagine there are shout-outs to the Genesis version as well. For long term Shadowrun players, there are shoutouts to older adventure modules as well. You'll recognize them when you see them; however, saying which ones might ruin the story's few surprises.

One complaint that some have voiced revolves around saving the game. It only auto saves upon entering a new map and in some larger maps upon entering a new area. There is no manual save option. While the anit-save-scum crowd might cheer this, others will dislike the lack of flexibility. It has bothered me a few times as I’ve played through, but I can manage. Mostly because I only play after the kids are in bed and the wife is watching something I don't care about on TV.

I've seen a few reviews complaining that the game is too short, too expensive for what it is and/or not pretty enough. To those people I say, "The game is what it is.” Where they see short, I see tight. Where they see expensive, I see infinite expansion - more on this in a moment. Where they see less than stellar graphics, I see less than stellar graphics. OK, two out of three ain't bad. Don't get me wrong, the game's not ugly, just not strikingly beautiful the way many games are these days. However, given that I still love retro games – perhaps because I grew up during that era – it doesn't faze me in the slightest.

The game also comes with an impressive editor as part of the USD 20 package. It's the same editor the designers used to make the game. Yes, you read that right, you can make your own runs and if you're a Steam user, then you can share them globally. Even if Steam isn’t your thing, you can trade fan created files but, you know, practice safe computing. So far, I know of at least one ambitious project: recreating the SNES game. This is what I meant by infinite expansion – or as close as most of us get. The mod community has had the editor for a few months and they are hard at work churning out new material. I did a little searching today and found about a dozen runs in various stages of design. I’ll fill you in if I’m able to do more with them.

Final word: It's a good (if short) little game with some long term promise. For die-hard Shadowrun fans, this is a no-brainer. Enjoy it! For the uninitiated, it's only USD 20, so go have a night in the shadows. Just remember not to cut any deals with dragons.

I give it a 4 for Style. The graphics are nothing special but they are workable and fall in line with the gritty aesthetic. The music takes its proper place as a mood setting device. And hey, I’m going to be biased and say, “It’s Shadowrun!”

I give it a 4 for Substance. While I can see another reviewer giving it a 3 or even a 2 for substance, I’m starting at a 3 with the promise of new runs giving me just enough hope to push it over the line to a 4.