Shadowrun Series

A great transition of the Pen and Paper board game into the PC, Shadowrun brought a new spotlight to both, its universe and the pen and paper games. With the first game launching at.....oh shit, 2013.....I guess it is not -that- old, however, considering the way things are thrown into the retro bin....ah well.
So what is the Shadowrun series? The Shadowrun series are three games launched by Harebrained Schemes and Paradox Interactive, set in the dystopian cyberpunk universe of Shadowrun. So lets begin with what is Shadowrun?

Shadowrun is a dystopian game set in our universe. Around 2012, magic was re-awakened in the world, which naturally caused everyone to go ape-shit since orcs, dragons and magic re-appeared in modern society. After years things settled down, corporations managed to become so powerful that they could impose their own laws within company owned holdings, giving rise to a different form of corporate espionage. Using anonymous, un traceable and (off course) exposable, mercenary agents, called shadowruners, the world kept on going on in a cyberpunk dystopia.

The three games work as additions, with each having their own story, theme and new mechanic they introduce, as with each version of the game you could see improvements or changes to fit the unique style.
The first game, Shadowrun Returns, puts us in Seattle, where we will have to do some detective work in a very, Jack the Ripper meets Lovecraft story, which is used to introduce the mechanics and the universe. To me, that was the hook.

Then we have Shadowrun Dragonfall, set in Berlin the second installment of the series, has more freedom in the way missions work, and this time you have a solid gang of shadowrunners you can interact with, each with their own skills and personal quest. With many graphical, UI and mechanic polishing, this game goes around a more traditional Shadowrunner experience, which for me served as the line. And finally we have

Shadowrun Hong-Kong, my favorite game and the last of the series. Though it offered a change in the way spirits looked that I did not like (despite matching the game), this game builds up from the other two. Better polished, expanded in just the right places, with a combination of a strong story driven campaign with the freedom of having story-impacting choices, companions with their own personalities and personal quests, this game to me was the sinker.

Let us break them down as a series and see why, despite not being so Oldies, those games are definitively goldies.

A top down role playing game at its heart, the game has everything you have come to expect from games such as Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Divine Divinity 2, Titan Quest etc. With interesting and fun dialogue options, plenty of texts and lore (I mean it -is- a roleplaying game), the gameplay is pretty basic until we reach combat.

The game handles combat in the turn based style, first re-introduced in XCOM, where each character has a number of action points that he can spend to move, attack or cast a spell. With a simple user interface, a very flexible leveling up system allowing the player to do whatever he/she wants, the combat feels fluid, entertaining and (most importantly) engaging.

As anyone that knows me can say, I love myself some XCOM, but the combat might get bothersome after a while. I found however that in Shadowrun, it felt a lot less like a hassle, taking my time away from what I wanted to do. With the leveling up system feeling so freeform, I always looked forward to the fights, since I would want to test that new ability, or that new weapon/spell I just got.

Finally, with a -perfectly- balanced and well thought out sequence of story and combat, you never get too tired of either one. Add to that, a few fun (if a bit simplistic) mini games and multiple routes to perform the objectives and you have a game that gives you exactly enough freedom to wiggle, while keeping the story focused and driven.

I wont lie folks, I do not have a steady opinion on this, so lets break it down.

Sound wise, the game, to me, was perfect. It had enough simplicity in its sound effects to give that retro vibe, with enough polish in them to make it immersive and intense. Explosions make you nervous, guns sound different depending on their type, the neon flashes and electric buzzing is on the spot. And then we have the music.

The music, is an odd subject for me. Overall I do not like it that much. Spare for a number of 2-3 tracks (mostly from Hong Kong), I would much rather put on some cyber industrial music of my own than listen to the soundtrack. But, at the same time, I know that it is not that bad. I mean, I liked it enough to buy the soundtrack, and there will be days that I will actually want to turn the music up while playing, but other days I just wont.

One thing I can say for sure, is that the sound and music is not the strong cards those series have.

We cant talk about an RPG without addressing the story. Real talk folks, I first got Shadowrun Returns on a steam sale for like 3-4 Euros after I saw my favorite Youtuber of all time, Totalbiscuit may he rest in peace reccomended it, without expecting much. You see, I am not a Diablo like, top down RPG fan, so I figured that this would be like all the other top down RPG's I have played, in which I lose interest fast, like Baldur's Gate. I literally just bought it because it had Mod Support, so I figured that at the very least I have a cool looking game that has mods and taps into the science fiction genre which everyone knows I LOVE.

Holy shit was I wrong! The story is the ace in Harebrained Schemes's sleeve. I remember playing the first 10 minutes and already I was thinking "A Jack the Ripper story with guns in cyberpunk? SIGN ME UP!".

Little did I know, that it only got better from there. You see, the games manage to depict the world perfectly, both it's good and its bad. You will be faced with moral dilemmas that you simply cannot have in a classic Fantasy setting, where good and evil are clearly defined things. The world of Shadowrun is a world with morals of every color on the spectrum, and no choice you will have can be put into the "Good" or "Bad" category. The only thing you can (and should) worry about, is whether or not the consequences will be "good" or "bad" for -you- as a player.

It only got better from there. All three games feature SO different stories from each other, you might as well consider them independent releases. The only thing tying them together are a few mentions in lore tidbits and "the network" which, a) is awesome and b) perfectly shows how, in an era so full of information, the truth is something actually hard to get.

20/10 story folks. I am a guy that loves the sea, and the fact that I found myself one summer eagerly waiting to progress the story of those games rather than being on the beach says a lot.

It also says a lot about me, but SHH