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Well, I suppose it depends on if you know Shadowrun. Like Battletech, which was created by the same designers, it is a very venerable IP which has been around for decades by now. Primarily a pen&paper roleplaying game, which recently made it into its 5th edition, it has also seen a number of novels and a few videogames - though Microsoft had the franchise burn hard when they released a really, really crappy Counterstrike-style shooter a few years back. Well, perhaps it's not that the game itself was bad, it just had very little in common with Shadowrun. Anyways, that pretty much marked the end of Shadowrun's presence in videogames for about a decade, until the kickstarter-ed Shadowrun Returns literally Returned Shadowrun onto our screens.

The setting itself is a mix of sci-fi, cyberpunk and fantasy - the latter bit being what sets it apart from most similar franchises and gives it a fairly unique place. Aside from man and machine you also have magic, and various fantasy races to boot. The explanation for all of that is that the world is periodically going through phases where magic ebbs and flows, and in the year 21st century, magic returned, beginning with a portion of human children suddenly being born with elven ears and so on. About simultaneously, corporations begin to amass ever more influence and power, with the most important change being the granting of extraterritoriality to some larger companies, essentially transforming them into enclaves with their own laws, security and military. Fast forward a few decades of racial riots, magic-induced paranoia and utter chaos at the appearance of actual dragons, and you arrive in the game's "current" era, where the human majority must share its world with elves, dwarves, orks and trolls, and everything is controlled by a dozen megacorps. Everything, that is, apart from the fringes of society, which is where the Shadowrunners thrive. Part mercenary, part spy, the Shadowrunners act as "deniable assets", hiring out their services to corporations and private persons alike, taking jobs ranging from kidnapping to industrial sabotage to outright assassination.

It's an interesting world specifically because it is very dystopian, though unlike 40k it contrasts the gakky life in the streets with the shining power of the corporations, whose wageslaves live comfortable if dull and exploited lives in their towers of glass and steel. Think the world of Robocop on steroids and you get the idea. That you also have magic and fantasy races in there only adds to the exotic feeling of an otherwise average cyberpunk scenario. Shadowrun is about the worst trends of humanity - unbridled corporate greed and devaluing of human life (organlegging is a thing in Shadowrun .. as is brainwashing via digital drugs; there's a reason bunraku prostitutes are called "meat puppets") - and mixes it up with thrilling gunfights and magic. Whether the player characters are heroes running against the system, or just sell themselves out to the highest bidder, is up to the players alone.



Now, Shadowrun Returns in particular is nothing but an old-school RPG set in specifically this setting, with classy turn-based combat and an active modding scene that uses the editor that comes with the game to publish new modules to play. Also, I daresay it has excellent writing, which more than makes up for its lack of cutscenes.

Shadowrun Online on the other hand will also be turn-based, but instead of singleplayer campaigns you'll get an online world where you'll run with other human players. Since it is using the Unity engine, I expect it to be played via browsers (similar to Jagged Alliance Online, another game of the studio developing this title) rather than its own client like SRR.

But ... there should be more than enough reviews and previews for both. I for one loved Shadowrun Returns, and am very much looking forward to SRO.

That looks pretty awesome. Sheesh your overview of the game seems kind of like you copy/pasted a Wikipedia entry. I was never really aware of the original but it all sounds pretty cool.

I've never heard of this as a pen & paper game. I think I'd be interested in playing it if somebody would be up to the task of inviting a newbie some time.

I never knew that picture on the top that you showed before somewhere was 'shadowrun'. I've kind of lost track of all the dystopian and cyberpunk (which is pretty much dystopian by default) settings you like. I'm kind of surprised I've never heard you talk about judge dredd though maybe that was less cyberpunk and more dystopian post-post-apocalyptic if ever there was such a thing (which is part of what attracts me to its universe)

So I just got my Steam key for early access. Can't wait for Monday!

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/03/28/shadowrun-online-infilitrates-steam-early-access-next-week/

flamingkillamajig wrote:I'm kind of surprised I've never heard you talk about judge dredd though maybe that was less cyberpunk and more dystopian post-post-apocalyptic if ever there was such a thing (which is part of what attracts me to its universe)

I did, but only once or twice to criticise the new Dredd movie...

Said criticism was based on the pictures they released, which showed a uniform very different from what I was used to (from the comics and the Stallone movie) as well as a rather cheap-looking urban environment that didn't look like Mega City 1 at all. Combined with other recent remakes of movies and games having seriously disappointed me, thus giving rise to a strong prejudice, that killed off my interest in the movie early.
Having actually seen the entire movie by now, however, all I can say is ... boy, was I wrong.
Everything worked out fine in the end, I got used to the new style fairly quick, and the acting and pacing was almost perfect, keeping me hooked throughout the entire movie. Staging most of the movie inside a single building was also a clever move to evoke the cramped environments associated with the original Mega City, largely avoiding the limitations that came with the (probably budget-based) unspectacular outdoor visuals.
Goes to show how important (and dangerous) first impressions are. Here's hoping for a sequel.

The new Dredd movie was awesome.
Karl Urban is also awesome.

I really enjoyed the new Dredd movie too. The outfit was different to the comics but I think it worked better for film than an exact copy would have.

Here's just hoping that 2000AD manages to gain enough support through their campaign to raise interest in the next movie then. America was a great arc in the comics. I'd love to see it and the whole democracy element of the series in film. ...That and if it does well the third film would be including the Dark Judges.

But on Shadowrun Returns. I've only just reinstalled the game after my computer tanking just after completed Dead Man's Switch. I'm playing Dragonfall right now and its fun to be back in the game. Anyone have any recommended mods out there? I'm on the GoG version of the game (my stand in computer's so crap it blue screens when downloading the Steam version), so I'd be downloading them from the Shadowrun Returns Nexus. I've seen a few campaigns which have been rated well, like Shadowrun Unlimited, but preferably I'm looking for ones which are actually complete. =/

I finally got around to starting Dragonfall. It is so much better than Dead Man's Switch and I am just beginning.

@Manchu (who's comment's displaying oddly. Weird)

Something to think about with Dragonfall. In Dead Man's Switch playing the nice guy all the time seemed to always make a situation work out for you (well barring the odd bit where you'd wind up with more cash if you were a git and extorted people). In Dragonfall people will call you out for being such a goodie two shoes. Rather being snarky, or at least not being a complete butt kisser will win people's opinion over a few times. Overall though I don't think what you say in the long term relationships you develop (ie with companions rather than mission only NPCs) actually matters however. Though that's only based on my single playthrough. Maybe if I'd not been so nice to people they'd have given me different dialogue at the end, but I have a feeling that it wouldn't.

Bah, there isn't enough Mass Effect style character progression. Hey that one guy I told to go shove it at the start of the game. Yeah I want someone to comment about it ten runs later and for him to come back and call me an ass in the epilogue.

Certain aspects of Shadowrun Returns feel too cheap. The complete lack of voice acting is one example, albeit a superficial one. After all, I'd rather read good a story than listen to a bad one. More problematic is the structure of NPC interaction. I strongly suspect there are only two real options: hear more or shut them up. I've created saves to re-navigate various instances of party dialog only to find the results are nearly identical. The net result feels more like collecting audio diaries than having companions.

It makes me wonder whether HBS and similar KS-fueled studios have any real ideas; you know, besides recycling decade(s?) old gameplay in slicker (but hardly that slick) wrapping.

That said, Dragonfall's story has really entertained me so far. I also like the story structure, collecting enough cash to move forward with the main plot, even if that also feels a bit old-fashioned. I just wish that this had the glitz of a BioWare game. OTOH, the stories coming out of BioWare since ME1 have been trash.

I would agree that Shadowrun Returns is a little on the cheap side, it is more or less an indie title.

I would love a AAA title set in the shadow run world.

 Manchu wrote:
Certain aspects of Shadowrun Returns feel too cheap. The complete lack of voice acting is one example, albeit a superficial one. After all, I'd rather read good a story than listen to a bad one. More problematic is the structure of NPC interaction. I strongly suspect there are only two real options: hear more or shut them up. I've created saves to re-navigate various instances of party dialog only to find the results are nearly identical. The net result feels more like collecting audio diaries than having companions.

It makes me wonder whether HBS and similar KS-fueled studios have any real ideas; you know, besides recycling decade(s?) old gameplay in slicker (but hardly that slick) wrapping.

That said, Dragonfall's story has really entertained me so far. I also like the story structure, collecting enough cash to move forward with the main plot, even if that also feels a bit old-fashioned. I just wish that this had the glitz of a BioWare game. OTOH, the stories coming out of BioWare since ME1 have been trash.

I actually love the not having voiced actors thing, but I do agree that it'd be cool if the dialogue choices had more bearing. I feel like Dragonfall was a pretty good step forward over DMS in that some of your choices actually got different responses - and I loved that being overly nice or sappy generally gets sarcasm back from your teammates. It was really just a huge step forward across the board.

Sorry if this has been mentioned over and over again but have they ever addressed the whole "save at any point" thing? I find that with a toddler, I really need the ability to save games at any time and pick it up again when things are less hectic.

Has anyone gotten the game to work by sideloading it onto a kindle fire of any kind? I haven't seen the game on the kindle marketplace and unfortunately don't have access to google play without rooting the tablet (not interested) so sideloading would be the only option.

Redeemer31 wrote:
Sorry if this has been mentioned over and over again but have they ever addressed the whole "save at any point" thing? I find that with a toddler, I really need the ability to save games at any time and pick it up again when things are less hectic.

I dont think they patched it into the original game but you can save anywhere in dragonfall.

 carlos13th wrote:

Redeemer31 wrote:
Sorry if this has been mentioned over and over again but have they ever addressed the whole "save at any point" thing? I find that with a toddler, I really need the ability to save games at any time and pick it up again when things are less hectic.

I dont think they patched it into the original game but you can save anywhere in dragonfall.

No, it's been patched to the original. It's an across the board change that you get even if you didn't buy Dragonfall.

Yes, though some older mods have found that it misses with their scripts a tad. It has improved the gameplay experience a lot though.

I agree that it would have been better if your choices really effected what was going on in the story, not just a boolean "you did the good thing and receive a reward"/ "you did the bad thing and received the reward plus some cookies". That and I feel as though the game was too combat orientated. I thought Shadowrunners were supposed to cause as little collateral damage as possible. The way you go about in the game blasting hordes of mooks would surely piss off the megacorps who have to hire those guys. Sure when roleplaying the game its up to the GM how you play it, but I would have at least liked it if you had the option of being a sneaky git. ...That or have the possibility of just blowing the whole building down and sifting through the rubble for the item you were sent for (or is that too much like a session of Paranoia instead. Hmn, there should be a video game made of Paranoia). =P

I'm working my way through Dragonfall at the moment, It's good.
Of course, my introduction to Shadowrun was the SNES game, and this is a seriously good homage to it.

 marv335 wrote:
Of course, my introduction to Shadowrun was the SNES game, and this is a seriously good homage to it.

Not gonna lie; when Jake Armitage showed up in SR, I 'squeeeed' like a fangirl.

Something odd I noticed when replaying Dead Man's Switch there. In the last level you fight against a load of cultists. However those enemies are using the wrong model. They look like the regular Brotherhood members. However, there's actually a seperate cultist model (red robes with a hood) which is used briefly should the player chose to enter the Brotherhood basement through the front door (rather than the hidden one behind the fridge). I wonder why they didn't use that unique model, it seems more appropriate than generic guys in white uniforms. Still a lot of enemies only appear for one encounter in that campaign, and I suppose the dev's intetion was to give modders as many models to use in their own campaigns as they could (or just to provide variaty, good on them in either case).

So I finally got this game and the expansion during the steam sale and bought both a 2nd time to gift to a friend. We're both enjoying the game and I just finished up the main game with 'dead man's switch'. The story is great but the bugs in the story are pretty camp. Would be nice if there was a screen rotating option. I played as a decker with lots of rifle firepower. Sometimes it was great being a decker but sometimes it sucked since in actual combat you only have one decker ability and then have to rely on other skills. Still it was a fun as hell game. I love the mix of fantasy and cyberpunk and I have to say the fight music is fantastic and catchy.

I'm not sure what i'll try next for classes in the expansion. Considering I heard it's better than the first I'm excited to see it. I can't wait.

 purplefood wrote:
Karl Urban is also awesome.

Yes, he is.

I was very disappointed when Almost Human was announced as cancelled just the other day.

As was I eumerin

Is there any future DLC planned for the game beyond Dragonfall? I had a look at the company's website, but its a bit sparse with information. I'd hope that with how good Dragonfall was they released something else of similar quality.

Right now I think they're working on Shadowrun Online, dunno after that.

Shadowrun Online is a different studio (Cliffhanger Productions).
I have no idea what Harebrained Schemes is up to in terms of SRR - but I know they had plans for multiple expansions, given that comment about "only the first one" being free for Kickstarter backers. I seem to recall them considering which city they would do next, but there has been nothing in terms of more definite rumours as far as I'm aware.

I would so jump at the next DLC, too ...

I'd like to see something involving the ork underground, though anything really will do. The DLC include loads of new content that's just there to be rodder for mods, so no matter what they turn out it'll be useful. They seem to be targeting major events in the Shadowrun timeline, though both the current game and Dragonfall take place around the same time, so the next one may well be something significant around that period. Hmn, something that had a segment taking place outside the sprawls would be cool (though its the question of what's the more deadlier). Ah, and its a pity that the player couldn't turn themselves into a cyber zombie, though that'd change gameplay quite a bit (and probably lead to a non standard game over if they annoyed the mage that was keeping their essence in check too much).

Both stories are pretty good. I'm probably only halfway through on Dragonfall and for some reason I just got kind of bored of shadowrun returns. It's a great game and I spent a lot of hours playing it. I just am not as into it as I was before.

I keep meaning to do another playthrough as some kind of magical character - maybe a melee based adept for added difficulty... I just fragging love deckers too much, and always go back to that. Maybe I'll do a Shadowrun Unlimited game as an adept.

I like cybernetics too much, myself, heh.

Heh. I remember years ago when I first discovered Shadowrun I thought cybernetics were ugly, and tried my best to build streetsams that relied more on non-implanted technical equipment.

Nowadays? Cybereyes and datajack are a given. Arms with built-in recoil compensation and a hidden cavity for spare SMG mags? Yes please! Wired reflexes? Now we're talkin'!