Shadowrun Returns Review

Shadowrun Returns contains a robust content creation toolset, gorgeous prerendered artwork in the background tilesets, deep and strategic turn-based combat, and a phenomenally well written main storyline set in the classic 1980's first edition era of the Shadowrun Universe.

At a cool $20, Shadowrun Returns is also much cheaper than even the venerable first edition of the PnP game itself. While SRR does take some artistic liberties with some (okay, many) of the game's mechanics, it does a good enough job translating the tabletop game onto the PC that diehard fans of Shadowrun shouldn't find themselves too heartbroken over them. On the whole, SRR is a great introduction to the Shadowrun universe and how it works.

The combat in Shadowrun is turn-based, with players and their party members having a limited number of actions per turn, represented by AP or action points. Various areas of the environment can be used to provide cover, with simple icons appearing over them to represent how much protection they offer. If you've played X-COM: Enemy Unknown, or remember the Shadowrun game for the Sega Mega CD, then the basic combat of Shadowrun Returns should be old hat.

Like the PnP game, Shadowrun Returns allows the player to choose a class of character to play. You've got the heavily armed Street Samurai, Decker hackers, fireball slinging Mages, spirit conjuring Shamans, drone controlling Riggers, fast and tough Adepts, ect. You can even create your own class from the ground up.

On the downside, the game handles saves through autosaves only, this has rubbed quite a few the wrong way. Additionally, the saves themselves are often bloated with tons of redundant tag data that can really slow down the load times to the point of frustration. Adding to that is a caching issue which can lead to the Unity engine leaving large 2 gigabyte plus sized files on your hard drive.

A patch to alleviate the bloated saves has just been released, with the caching problems still under investigation.

The main plot, while well written, is a largely linear affair, taking notes from the Shadowrun game released on the Super Nintendo. Harebrained Schemes has announced that the upcoming DLC, set in the environs of post-apocalyptic Sixth World Berlin, will be much more open ended like Shadowrun for the Sega Genesis was.

And while said toolset is robust and open ended, most of the content generated by the community are still unfinished alphas at the time of this writing. However, the community is already hard at work finding ways of using the toolset to include things into UGC that Harebrained Schemes hadn't included in the main game. These include random encounters with thugs on the street, random loot tables, and save points.

Finally, the lack of multiplayer is a bit confusing. Shadowrun is a game played in groups, and it would be nice to be able to participate in campaigns with others. Harebrained Schemes is considering multiplayer at some point, but it's not a planned feature in the short term. I'm hoping some intrepid modders can add this functionality, as crazy, crafty group roleplaying is part of what makes the source material so unique to begin with.

In conclusion: Shadowrun Returns is a little rough around the edges. Despite a few flaws and omissions however, SRR remains a fantastic old-school computer RPG whose positives, combined with a bargain price point, make up for the game's issues. If you're a fan of Shadowrun or of games like Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights, and you're jonesing for a good RPG to play with tons of upcoming content and stories to play through, Shadowrun Returns might be right up your alley.