Shadowrun Returns

 PC
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1042 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 638 out of 1042
  2. Mixed: 273 out of 1042
  3. Negative: 131 out of 1042

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  1. Morgenstern72
    Jul 26, 2013
    5
    At first look this game looks nice and polished and as a Kickstarter backer I was happy that they delivered this good. The story is well written and I decided to play a brutish Troll Adept. I bullied people, took their money, was unfriendly....and it hat no influence on the game or any character. When I did meet a character again for the first time, he even introduced my brute as a friend!At first look this game looks nice and polished and as a Kickstarter backer I was happy that they delivered this good. The story is well written and I decided to play a brutish Troll Adept. I bullied people, took their money, was unfriendly....and it hat no influence on the game or any character. When I did meet a character again for the first time, he even introduced my brute as a friend!

    Then I realized that nothing I do or say does matter in any way.

    The city itself looks nice but is soulless. As good as no interactions.

    The tactical fight is very shallow. I had no problem to swipe through my enemies lie a scythe, bare hands only against machine guns and spells.

    This game leaves me baffled: so much could have been done, so much was done really good, but the essence of an RPG, the interactions and the consequences of them, the tactics in fights and the looting are non existing.

    One can only hope, that the community will be able to spice this game up, since they have a editor delivered with the game.    … Expand
  2. LordLothair
    Jul 26, 2013
    7
    Well, let's start with what it is: This is a CRPG, based around the Shadowrun universe (which was one of my favorite tabletop games). It allows you to jump into the life of a Runner for a few days and deal with some drek that just keeps piling on. It is, IMHO, a nice single player tabletop-like experience if your GM likes to keep tossing more and more on you.

    What it isn't: This is    Well, let's start with what it is: This is a CRPG, based around the Shadowrun universe (which was one of my favorite tabletop games). It allows you to jump into the life of a Runner for a few days and deal with some drek that just keeps piling on. It is, IMHO, a nice single player tabletop-like experience if your GM likes to keep tossing more and more on you.

    What it isn't: This is not Fallout or FO: Tactics, this is not FF, this is not Diablo. If that is what you are looking for you will be disapointed.

    The Good:
    1. The writing... oh wow, the writing. You can tell that the game was put together by a team that loves the world, and knows how to write a campaign. It's one of those stories that remind me of sitting with game designers at GenCon playing their favorite modules or testing out a new story line.

    2. Atmosphere. They nail the dark and gloomy of SR's Seattle, the inter-species/racial tensions of the world, and the socio-economic politics that go along with it all. You deal with Corps, Johnsons, Riggers, Trolls, Shamans, etc, etc, etc. A good taste of a little bit of everything. Pre-rendered background art that works well with decent sprites keeps you interested in the world and makes you want to look around. Subtle and nice music keeps things flowing (when it isn't choppy). Portrait art is very reminiscent of the game art from the books, and helps keep you in the world (think Baldur's Gate).

    3. Tactics. Yup, they've got that down rather nicely. Mild inventory management, but more of a time management game (think original X-Com). You pick your team of runners, you spec out your own kit, and then you run your crew. Positioning, cover and flanking, saving some time for Overwatch fire, or popping off a spell with a long cooldown early, you have lots of options in combat.

    4. Character. This is a hit and a miss for me. You have a fully open character sheet to spend your Karma (XP) as you will. Want to have a Mage with high strength? Sure, uhm, you could do that. Your outfits are rendered on the sprite so it's neat to see the new armored trenchcoat you just bought actually on the character. Sadly, we're all a little spoiled by Bethesda when it comes to creation customization for looks, which is something you have very limited control over.

    The Bad:
    1. Check-point only saves, seriously? What PC developer does this? Massive negative. You can not save the game at any point in time. Only at the beginning of levels does the game auto-save. Should you have a power failure, need to hop off the game to tend to RL stuff, etc. You get to replay the whole area you just did.

    2. Levels. Now, let me clarify, since I said the writing was one of the best things, what I mean here is the linear nature of the story and the follow the arrows map design. The good memories I have of running or playing module based tabletop RPGs is tempered with my hatred for straight from the book GMs. SR:R is definitely a pre-made module. It is a linear story line with only a few minor choices to make, and a handful of hidden rooms. That doesn't mean the story itself is bad, just that it is extremely limiting. Of course, the GM toolkit and futher expansions will mean that this may not be a massive issue given time.

    3. Strategy. The game has tactics, the game does not have strategy. You can't really customize your Runners, or establish a regular team. You don't have the option to just do off-site hacks or sneak in through a vent... sure those things are there, but only when the game gives them to you. Yes, you can get out of some combats by having the right skills set or stat, or picking certain dialogue options, but really you are playing the game the way the GM wants it played.

    4. Optimization. Odd graphic glitches, weird music stutters, and the occasional hangup on a load screen came make things annoying and make you worry that you'll have to replay things. No massive game breakers, but enough that it is rough.

    Did I like it? Hell yes, Chummer! Was it worth the money to get it on Steam? I think so, but I'm a fan of the game and look forward to designing my own campaigns and seeing what others will make available.

    If you miss doing runs for Mr. Johnson, you can again, but you may be left wanting more. With only the one linear campaign available right now, you're looking about about 12 hours of game. Granted that's game with wonderful writing, but you need to understand what you're getting into. There is no voice acting, you will be reading (oh quit complaining, we had these things before tablets and iwhatsits called books), you wont be getting Mad Lootz from enemies you'll bring in your gear to the fight and hope it's enough. You wont get to wander around and take jobs from the different Corps, you'll do what your GM tells you to do.

    If you want to Run in the Shadows, I say get this game. If you want to play Diablo or Skyrim in the SR world, you're out of luck.    … Expand
  3. fenrir77
    Jul 27, 2013
    5
    Okay, heres the deal on Shadowrun Returns folks:

    Let me first say that I have always been a big fan of the top-down, party-based classic rpgs like Fallout 1 & 2, Baldur's Gate, etc. That is why I was disappointed and surprised by some of the inexplicable decisions that the design team made with Shadowrun. Let's get to the disadvantages first: Disadvantages: -No save game!? Are    Okay, heres the deal on Shadowrun Returns folks:

    Let me first say that I have always been a big fan of the top-down, party-based classic rpgs like Fallout 1 & 2, Baldur's Gate, etc. That is why I was disappointed and surprised by some of the inexplicable decisions that the design team made with Shadowrun. Let's get to the disadvantages first:

    Disadvantages:

    -No save game!? Are you kidding!? This is so annoying and is utterly inexplicable why they would do this. In an rpg, you like to try out various choices, conversation options, etc. Because you cannot save, you have go back all the way to a start of the chapter just to choose a different conversation option.

    -Stupid inventory system. You can only carry a couple items and everything else goes in a stash you can only infrequently access. Totally annoying, and once again inexplicable. Why not use the tried and true inventory system and save game system of Fallout and other classic rpgs?

    -Virtually no tracking of side quests in Journal. I did several side quests that never appeared in the Journal. The Journal is very poor overall.

    -The game is absolutely linear. There is no freedom at all but to progress forward in a straight line. You cannot travel, for the most part, to any place you have visited before. The only place you can travel to is the next hop along the main mission. If you happen to miss something, tough luck, unless you want to do the whole chapter over again.

    -I have other issues with the game, like a lack of any voice talent which should have been available with the money they raised and a lack of being able to manipulate items in the enviroment, but these were the main ones.

    Advantages:

    -ShadowRun Returns advantage and saving grace is that it has a good story. The story is good and keeps your interest. The story has many elements of a murder mystery, which is unusual and refreshing to find in an rpg. The dialoge is good and the npc's emotions seem geniune. I just wish they had some voice talent to voice them.

    -The graphics are acceptable, and the music was actually pretty good.

    I hope this review is of use.    … Expand
  4. MacrosTheBlack
    Jul 26, 2013
    5
    This is a decent adventure with a fairly well spun story. I love the hand drawn backdrops and they convey a pretty good atmosphere. I also love the music!

    but there are a few major issues with my gaming experience; 1) it's one of the most linear games ever and really just catapults you from one event to the other, without any freedom. You also do not, at any time, feel that your    This is a decent adventure with a fairly well spun story. I love the hand drawn backdrops and they convey a pretty good atmosphere. I also love the music!

    but there are a few major issues with my gaming experience;

    1) it's one of the most linear games ever and really just catapults you from one event to the other, without any freedom. You also do not, at any time, feel that your choices have any real impact on the game world. This is more of an adventure game setup then a RPG setup as such.
    2) The character development is really basic and does not apply to your followers. as such, there's no real RPG element here
    3) The UI was clearly designed with tablets in mind and it's a double facepalm for PC users. You have to click on *everything*, which is annoying and slow
    4) Too little inventory slots, no loot.
    5) The save game issue

    So, my conclusion has to be that in the current state this is not an RPG. This is a very linear tablet adventure and as such I can only call it "mediocre".

    HOWEVER, I do have hope for this game yet as including the editor is a stroke of brilliance and modders will hopefully be able to deliver new campaigns which improve the gaming experience, but I fear the engine has too many limitations to ever become an EPIC experience.

    Sad puppy out.    … Expand
  5. Cytokinesis
    Jul 25, 2013
    5
    The main word I have to describe Shadowrun Returns is "dissapointing". I have a massive problem with the way the game was designed and created in that this is more or less an ios style game. Whether or not that's what they are going for the interface is completely abhorrent and everything that relies on it as well. The save system is atrocious and the game would have gone up at leastThe main word I have to describe Shadowrun Returns is "dissapointing". I have a massive problem with the way the game was designed and created in that this is more or less an ios style game. Whether or not that's what they are going for the interface is completely abhorrent and everything that relies on it as well. The save system is atrocious and the game would have gone up at least another point if it didn't have this godawful save system. WHY? WHY? Why did they have this atrocious checkpoint system in a game like this? It makes NO SENSE. The dialogue is a mixed bag from horribly written to passable to good although most of it is not good and was seemingly written by a teenager. It is just so immature in relation to the maturity of the world, it doesn't fit at all. Gameplay is meh but that really isn't the allure of a game like this. Overall I am greatly dissapointed and the only thing I like is the artstyle. Which also shows another glaring error when playing at high resolutions: the character models. The environments are gorgeous but the characters look extremely bad at 2560x1400. They are pixelated around the edges, especially when besides cover (even with 8x aa one) and the detail on them is horrendous. All I could think about while playing this game was that this was a phone game that wasn't properly ported to the PC and technical issues are what hurt it the most. Animations, character graphics, the awful UI it all makes a pretty good game horrendously average. It could have been a solid 8/10 but I don't know. Maybe they needed more time.… Expand
  6. giskarduk
    Jul 26, 2013
    5
    Whilst the game has its own charms, what it basically boils down to is a wall of text with choices lead to the same result no matter what you pick. Also there is very little action, with little interaction. For example entire streets are eye candy, just something to walk down, with nothing to do in them. The game play seems extremely linear and the lack of a save function means readingWhilst the game has its own charms, what it basically boils down to is a wall of text with choices lead to the same result no matter what you pick. Also there is very little action, with little interaction. For example entire streets are eye candy, just something to walk down, with nothing to do in them. The game play seems extremely linear and the lack of a save function means reading the wall of text again due to lost progress becomes a reason not to reload the game at all. Whilst the story is interesting, I think reading a Shadowrun book would be a lot cheaper and more fun than playing the shadowrun returns game.… Expand
  7. Soeverein
    Jul 26, 2013
    5
    Kickstarted this game from day 1 as it's A) Shadowrun which I love in PnP B) The editor they promise reminds me of the good old NWN heydays. And while I don't regret backing (15$ was it?), I can't say I'm satisfied by the game.

    As it is right now sadly it does not deliver. Pros: - The modding function appear to be nearly as powerful as promised - The story is so far very enjoyable    Kickstarted this game from day 1 as it's A) Shadowrun which I love in PnP B) The editor they promise reminds me of the good old NWN heydays. And while I don't regret backing (15$ was it?), I can't say I'm satisfied by the game.

    As it is right now sadly it does not deliver.

    Pros:
    - The modding function appear to be nearly as powerful as promised
    - The story is so far very enjoyable

    Cons:
    - Lack of Save system
    - Lack of Loot/inventory system
    - Poor implementation of PnP Shadowrun rules (classless system where you can be the perfect hero in every possible skill. Yay Elder Scrolls vomit)
    - Other various UI annoyances like switching weapons/scrolls/matrix programs
    - Lack of consequences for the choices you make

    What flaws there are to the campaign isn't all too important to me, as I still remember NWN1's horrendous single player campaign, and it's still my favourite game after spending 6 years on UGC.

    What really ticks me off is the flaws that sadly can't be fixed by plain modding. Granted, I haven't looked completely in depth yet. But as it seems the game as a whole does not support saves, is built for an iPhone UI instead of a Desktop UI, and has a wack implementation of PnP rules the core itself is damaged and probably unfixable by modders.

    I doubted for a long time what score to give this game. But in it's current state, I can't possible go any higher than a five. I hope in a few months custom content and patches by the developers will convince me otherwise.    … Expand
  8. RyuMaster
    Jul 25, 2013
    6
    I'm a gamer for more then 15 years. I always believed, then in our days AAA studio makes crap games, because all they care about are money. But not indies. They are different. I've waited for Shadowrun as the triumph game of the year, 1.2 mln budget on kickstarters could something like Fallout dev team ever dream about it?

    And so we have this game, its just average. Boring, linear. It    I'm a gamer for more then 15 years. I always believed, then in our days AAA studio makes crap games, because all they care about are money. But not indies. They are different. I've waited for Shadowrun as the triumph game of the year, 1.2 mln budget on kickstarters could something like Fallout dev team ever dream about it?

    And so we have this game, its just average. Boring, linear. It was supposed to have nice story, but how can I enjoy it, when my choices doesn't matter? Somethis is wrong with this game in so many ways, like developers just care about getting salary, game has no soul, nothing, its empty. Meh, it could be so much better then this. It has quite potential, hopefully community mods are going to bring something fresh into it. Still, spending so much money for such a poor game has no excuses. It is so hard to enjoy it.    … Expand
  9. kuehnau
    Jul 26, 2013
    5
    Shadowrun Returns is a PC platform, role playing game that takes on the rules, themes and likeness of the popular table top role playing game Shadowrun.

    Besides some minor likenesses of the game, you are going to discover that this game is incredibly stiff, limiting and lifeless. The tabletop edition of the game was ALWAYS about player decisions and interactions with the game world,    Shadowrun Returns is a PC platform, role playing game that takes on the rules, themes and likeness of the popular table top role playing game Shadowrun.

    Besides some minor likenesses of the game, you are going to discover that this game is incredibly stiff, limiting and lifeless. The tabletop edition of the game was ALWAYS about player decisions and interactions with the game world, rules were always secondary.

    In this game, very few choices are made and the ones you do make are mostly in dialog and usually have the same end result. The game is strictly story driven and during this time they refuse to allow you actually leave the path they've written for you.

    I don't know if it's based on the engine or the campaign that came boxed with Shadowrun, but the system is very limited, you cannot even back track into old zones unless the system decides the story needs you to. Sides quests are also very few and far between.

    There's almost no side quests, one of the big things in Shadowrun was running missions, but I am finding that besides the ones that directly effect the campaign itself, the side missions are few and far between.

    The NPCs are pretty much lifeless, it wouldn't even matter if they were there unless they are for a quest or something.

    The game is incredibly restricting and limited. And the length of the campaign that comes with the game game is practically unacceptable.

    It's an alright game, but something I and many other people weren't expecting. We were expecting more. This software conversion of the role playing system does it no justice or service. My advice? Take the money you were going to use to buy this game and get a copy of the SNES game instead.    … Expand
  10. KaiHohiro
    Jul 26, 2013
    5
    Shadowrun Returns has good ideas, pretty visuals and a great atmosphere, but ultimately falls short.
    It is fun while it lasts, but it is a very short and incredibly linear experience and offers little else other than storytelling that ranges from interesting noir to groan worthy cliches, interspersed with combat that offers little challenge.
    While the game and editor offer potential, I    Shadowrun Returns has good ideas, pretty visuals and a great atmosphere, but ultimately falls short.
    It is fun while it lasts, but it is a very short and incredibly linear experience and offers little else other than storytelling that ranges from interesting noir to groan worthy cliches, interspersed with combat that offers little challenge.
    While the game and editor offer potential, I have to judge the game on it's current value, which leaves a lot to be desired.    … Expand
  11. Azurim
    Jul 31, 2013
    7
    The game has an interesting plot. However there isn't much you can do to affect the plot, as it seems. The RPG system is actually very nice and original in my oppinion, as are the game mechanics (decking, spells e.t.c.). The graphics are old-school, but they are pleasant for the eye. I would give it a 8-9 if it was a bit more polished. It's a good game but don't expect it to be somethingThe game has an interesting plot. However there isn't much you can do to affect the plot, as it seems. The RPG system is actually very nice and original in my oppinion, as are the game mechanics (decking, spells e.t.c.). The graphics are old-school, but they are pleasant for the eye. I would give it a 8-9 if it was a bit more polished. It's a good game but don't expect it to be something extra-ordinary.… Expand
  12. vanvalhir
    Jul 28, 2013
    5
    I started to play the game with hope, but overall I am disappointed.

    The things I liked: - storyline written by some Shadowrun writer, enjoyed it - decking reality real time combat - music Things I disliked : - totally linear, your conversation choices are mostly neglected, lack of freedom you cannot even go through the city as you want, just game takes control. - no    I started to play the game with hope, but overall I am disappointed.

    The things I liked:

    - storyline written by some Shadowrun writer, enjoyed it
    - decking reality real time combat
    - music

    Things I disliked :

    - totally linear, your conversation choices are mostly neglected, lack of freedom you cannot even go through the city as you want, just game takes control.
    - no saving, just checkpoints which can make you to lose 20-30 min of gameplay. What is "Rewind and copy!?"
    - short, taken me roughly 10h to finish.
    - static terrain and actors (the background is very tidely drawn though)
    - no voice acting, not even the major characters (like in Neverwinter nights 1)
    - extremely simplified no ammo,    … Expand
  13. karkarias77
    Jul 31, 2013
    7
    The Good: Atmosphere, variety of character options, decent music, good story, nice writing and, presumably, future community made content.

    The Bad: Character options, whilst varied, don't seem to matter much in terms of gameplay. Very limited and basic combat with no real strategy available or indeed needed. No exploration. Poor A.I. Finally, there's no challenge even on hardest    The Good: Atmosphere, variety of character options, decent music, good story, nice writing and, presumably, future community made content.

    The Bad: Character options, whilst varied, don't seem to matter much in terms of gameplay. Very limited and basic combat with no real strategy available or indeed needed. No exploration. Poor A.I. Finally, there's no challenge even on hardest difficulty setting since I stumbled around like a clueless fool and still only died once.    … Expand
  14. theline1982
    Sep 11, 2013
    7
    I haven't had much to do with the Shadow run universe however this brought back fond memories of when an RPG was actually that, it told a story and it told it well.
    PROS
    -I didn't have any bugs with this game which was refreshing -Storyline was great -Map editor and community access greatly enhance a games capabilities, looking forward to the custom content and user content CONS    I haven't had much to do with the Shadow run universe however this brought back fond memories of when an RPG was actually that, it told a story and it told it well.
    PROS
    -I didn't have any bugs with this game which was refreshing
    -Storyline was great
    -Map editor and community access greatly enhance a games capabilities, looking forward to the custom content and user content
    CONS
    -Seemed to easy to go down some character paths, this may be inline with the Shadowrun universe I don't know
    -Didn't seem to be any real outcomes from your decisions so from that perspective it seemed to linear

    Good start in my opinion, i got my moneys worth.    … Expand
  15. greywolf00
    Jul 26, 2013
    7
    Like every game, this isn't for everyone. The default campaign is short (took me slightly north of 10 hours without skipping sidequests), it has a check point system instead of save anywhere, lack of lootable corpses, and no voice acting. If none of that bothers you, it's worth a look. The story isn't bad, and there's a lot of dialog.

    My main complaints are as an RPG, it's kind of    Like every game, this isn't for everyone. The default campaign is short (took me slightly north of 10 hours without skipping sidequests), it has a check point system instead of save anywhere, lack of lootable corpses, and no voice acting. If none of that bothers you, it's worth a look. The story isn't bad, and there's a lot of dialog.

    My main complaints are as an RPG, it's kind of lacking content. The campaign is very linear, not a lot of tactical depth to combat, no ability to customize anything except a handful of consumables on party members, nearly all hired runners lack any personality, and reactivity is pretty sparse (ie special dialog for race/gender is rare). However, where this game will really shine is future content. It shipped with an ugly but powerful editor that allows modders to fix certain things (more open world questing and lootable bodies for starters). The Berlin DLC is also planned to be more open ended.

    Overall, a shallow but solid default campaign. The best of this game will come to the surface in the coming months.    … Expand
  16. Bobblebeheader
    Jul 29, 2013
    7
    All you need to know: I was a big fan of the SNES Shadowrun game. I had nothing with the table top game, or with Cyberpunk, but I just love everything about it. Now, about 20 years later, I got the same vibe when I was playing Shadowrun Returns. 'nuff said.

    Still, the game itself isn't perfect, and has some small flaws that may or may not be fixed in time. How about a pro/con list?    All you need to know: I was a big fan of the SNES Shadowrun game. I had nothing with the table top game, or with Cyberpunk, but I just love everything about it. Now, about 20 years later, I got the same vibe when I was playing Shadowrun Returns. 'nuff said.

    Still, the game itself isn't perfect, and has some small flaws that may or may not be fixed in time. How about a pro/con list?

    Pro:
    Graphics. While relatively simple, they fit this game perfectly.
    Combat. I'm not a big fan of turn-based combat, but SR makes it work. No hack 'n' slash action here, you need to use a bit of strategy to win some battles.
    Atmosphere. The game feels just like the SNES version, which was awesome. You are playing in the world of Shadowrun, not just pretending to do so. NPCs have soul and character, unlike in most games.

    Cons:
    Linear. The game is EXTREMELY linear, something that just feels a bit outdated in 2013. You are forced to go from one location to the other, with no choice to roam free whatsoever. A shame. This game could have been so great if it was at least somewhat open world.
    Combat. While combat is fun, it can get boring fast. But that's generally so with turned based combat IMO.
    Playtime. The game is short. Before you know it, the game is over. Now I know that this game is just a basic package, and people are encouraged to make their own scenario's, but still. I would have loved it if the main campaign had some extra meat on its bones.
    Save system. The game works with an auto save system, yet it never tells you when it saves. If you suddenly need to quit, chances are you'll lose a lot of progress. Why? Don't know. It's not like a decent save system would wreck the game play.

    All in all a solid, yet relatively simple and short, game. One that players of the original SNES Shadowrun will especially enjoy. Can't wait until more campaigns are added!    … Expand
  17. Gzhindra
    Jul 28, 2013
    6
    Shadowrun Returns conveys the Cyberpunk’s feel very well. The graphical arts and the musics are spot on. On these aspects Harebrained Schemes delivered. Do not expect a great campaign with a breath-taking scenario though. It is mostly a game editor for the community to work with and provide descent content.

    The campaign is short and accordingly the story doesn’t go very deep. It could    Shadowrun Returns conveys the Cyberpunk’s feel very well. The graphical arts and the musics are spot on. On these aspects Harebrained Schemes delivered. Do not expect a great campaign with a breath-taking scenario though. It is mostly a game editor for the community to work with and provide descent content.

    The campaign is short and accordingly the story doesn’t go very deep. It could be a side quest in baldur’s gate 2 actually. It is well written however and enjoyable enough.

    The biggest issues as it is, in my opinion, are the game mechanics and the characters development. It is fairly limited in term of strategy and the class are totally unbalanced. Pure deckers or even mages are not functionals for example and it will be a walk through the park with a character focused on ranged combat.

    If the game mechanics and the characters development can be heavily modified with the editor it could have the potential for great content from the community. Otherwise it will be only a nice story telling tool.    … Expand
  18. Gerinako
    Dec 6, 2013
    5
    Backed it on Kickstarter and have to say i was expecting more.
    I've finished it, tried some of the user content never picked it up again.

    Since seeing it's release on the iOS market. And re-analyzing the game.
    I can't help but feel the PC market was NEVER there audience on Kickstarter and the aim was to always make a tablet product.

    Worth a playthrough for $5 wouldn't spend anymore.
  19. Bitter_Boy
    Aug 5, 2013
    5
    I want to like this game, I do. But this game doesn't want to like me. It insists on making me read pages and pages of unskippable, unnecessary dialogue (written by some Hideo Kojima protege), only letting me actually play the game for a few minutes at a time. I usually play a game because I want to PLAY a game, not read a book, 3 sentences at a time, on a 5th grade reading level. TheI want to like this game, I do. But this game doesn't want to like me. It insists on making me read pages and pages of unskippable, unnecessary dialogue (written by some Hideo Kojima protege), only letting me actually play the game for a few minutes at a time. I usually play a game because I want to PLAY a game, not read a book, 3 sentences at a time, on a 5th grade reading level. The whole time I was "playing" this, I kept thinking about how Fallout 2 did this whole thing so much better, and did it so very, very long ago. And Fallout 2 at least had some spoken dialogue, too, and that was practically a DOS game! I get the impression that this thing is more of a nice portfolio padder for Weisman than a game meant for public consumption. Get the game if you love the shadowrun universe. Skip the game if you like games.… Expand
  20. Magnethead
    Mar 18, 2014
    7
    This game succeeds because it captures the spirit of Shadowrun. The balance isn't quite there and sometimes the gameplay feels slightly limited, but it feels like Shadowrun and that's very important. It also succeeds in making an environment to create Shadowrun adventures easily and is a very promising start to something that was probably published in something like a beta state.
  21. karmasleeper
    Aug 2, 2013
    7
    Shadowrun Returns is an isometric tactical RPG reminiscent of classic RPGs like Fallout, Neverwinter Nights, or Arcanum. The game takes place in a cyberpunk Seattle populated with fantasy creatures, magic, and high technology. Right from the start, the game world sucks you in with beautifully detailed levels and characters. Surprising for some, this game features no voice acting.Shadowrun Returns is an isometric tactical RPG reminiscent of classic RPGs like Fallout, Neverwinter Nights, or Arcanum. The game takes place in a cyberpunk Seattle populated with fantasy creatures, magic, and high technology. Right from the start, the game world sucks you in with beautifully detailed levels and characters. Surprising for some, this game features no voice acting. Instead, brief narrations often accompany NPC dialogue which do a great job sucking you into the world. Few modern games have writing as good as this, and yet, your dialogue choices are still lackluster. Every response you can give is essentially a variation of "Alright" with varying degrees of attitude. Player choice is essentially non existent as the game is highly linear. Levels are cramped and there is rarely room for exploration. The few side quests there are are purely optional, but you'd be a fool not to do them as they often provide essential cash. The interface is largely good but certain mechanics, namely spell equipping, could have used more information. The leveling system is fine but Charisma is a largely useless stat. Character class balance could be better but overall isn't bad. Mages often become little more than heal bots unless you're on a higher difficulty and riggers leave a bit to be desired. Deckers (hackers) have limited combat usefulness but can enter the Matrix and hack systems thereby gaining control of turrets, opening locked areas, or shutting off security cameras. Anyone familiar with the recent X-COM reboot will be familiar with the turn based combat. There are varying degrees of cover and you expend AP to perform various actions. The game is considerably less challenging and more forgiving than the classic games it emulates so well, but the game never felt too easy or too hard. Unfortunately, there is no manual save and you are forced to rely on a checkpoint save. Messing up often means restarting an entire mission making playthroughs on higher difficulties more of a chore than it needs to be. The story is interesting though predictable. The saving grace of this game, provided people care to take the time with it, will be the mods. Already on Steam are a few interesting additions to the game and I look forward to see what else the community dreams up. If you're big into classic RPGs some of Shadowrun's design choices will upset you more than a bit, but for everyone else this is an enjoyable (if brief by RPG standards, 9-12 hours) experience.… Expand
  22. Kronos362
    Oct 10, 2013
    7
    I really enjoyed this game and can review it in the context of modern games, without having played any prior shadow run games. RPG elements are a bit light and party dynamics are fairly weak. However there is definitely an immersive environment and story that pushes you forward to play more and more of the game. The thing that detracts however is the length of the game. I was seriouslyI really enjoyed this game and can review it in the context of modern games, without having played any prior shadow run games. RPG elements are a bit light and party dynamics are fairly weak. However there is definitely an immersive environment and story that pushes you forward to play more and more of the game. The thing that detracts however is the length of the game. I was seriously expecting double/triple the size and content, very disappointing and slightly ruins an otherwise enjoyable game.… Expand
  23. Indrigis
    Aug 4, 2013
    6
    There's one thing that needs to be established first. Shadowrun Returns is NOT a game. It's a mission editor with a free sample campaign attached. And it has cost its backers a solid $1.8M to develop.

    And as far as the sample campaign goes... It's bad. The interface is clearly tuned for tablets and has no hotkeys. The game mechanics are very simplistic unlimited ammunition, "big"    There's one thing that needs to be established first. Shadowrun Returns is NOT a game. It's a mission editor with a free sample campaign attached. And it has cost its backers a solid $1.8M to develop.

    And as far as the sample campaign goes... It's bad. The interface is clearly tuned for tablets and has no hotkeys. The game mechanics are very simplistic unlimited ammunition, "big" action points that allow you to move or shoot and rather unpredictable cover mechanics where you can't predict if an object will actually give you cover until you are able to move near it. All gloriously copied from the new X-COM, only without love and polish. Add to that pretty ridiculous hacking (it's entirely like normal combat, but simpler and looks like Tron), an absolutely sterile world where you can't enter non-mission related buildings or get some miscellaneous reading (newspapers, datapads et c.) and a godawful stat distribution screen which gives you no hint as to how much benefit each stat gives besides checkpoints that grant new skills. What you get in the end is an unenthusiastic attempt at transferring the pen and paper game to a computer.

    Many famous writers and designers are rumored to have worked on this but Shadowrun Returns shows no love put in it. Not anywhere. At least it's rather cheap so you can buy it and hope for user-generated content on Steam Workshop.    … Expand
  24. Anebriate
    May 8, 2014
    6
    I find it very playable, except that it feels written by someone with an undergraduate in gender studies and a point to prove. A little preachy at times, a lot predictable always, but its heart is in the right place. If the developers had cut a few fewer corners and really tried to make your choices more meaningful, this game would be hugely successful.

    Instead, you get what you pay    I find it very playable, except that it feels written by someone with an undergraduate in gender studies and a point to prove. A little preachy at times, a lot predictable always, but its heart is in the right place. If the developers had cut a few fewer corners and really tried to make your choices more meaningful, this game would be hugely successful.

    Instead, you get what you pay for: a pleasant jaunt through a lovingly crafted setting rife with amateur mistakes and superficial placeholders for something that never got around to being great.    … Expand
  25. AD1980
    Aug 5, 2013
    6
    Shadowrun Returns is an entertaining game, but also incredibly disappointing.
    First the positives:
    The atmosphere is exceedingly well executed. The descriptions and tone is spot on and the developers really outdid themselves here. The music is good. I enjoyed both the story and the combat system generally. Now the negatives: There is zero attachment to the runners you hire. You    Shadowrun Returns is an entertaining game, but also incredibly disappointing.
    First the positives:
    The atmosphere is exceedingly well executed. The descriptions and tone is spot on and the developers really outdid themselves here.
    The music is good.
    I enjoyed both the story and the combat system generally.

    Now the negatives:
    There is zero attachment to the runners you hire. You cannot interact with them. You cannot equip them. You cannot upgrade them. Essentially they act as fodder to be thrown away as needed. Highly disappointing
    It's also completely linear. In fact, it feels like more of a point and click adventure than an RPG at times.

    Deckers are near useless in the campaign with the exception of one mission where you are specifically told you will need one. My first play through I brought a Decker on every run to make sure I had the option. Unfortunately, the game does not recognize if there is a Decker in the group besides yourself. Consequently, I ran into many instances where I'd find a door I could hack, but the game wouldn't allow me to even though there was a decker in my party. They REALLY dropped the ball here.

    While the AoE mage spells are good, the direct dmg spells are terribly weak. It makes Mages a bit of a liability.

    Cyberware not only has pathetically small game effect, but for some reason they also jacked up the essence costs dramatically. If you were hoping to play a deck'd out Streeet Sam, think again.

    All in all they had a lot of potential here but they just didn't come through. If you're interested in a Shadowrun game I would highly recommend downloading an emulator and playing the Sega Genesis version that came out nearly 20 years ago. It doesn't suffer from these flaws and holds up surprisingly well today.    … Expand
  26. Seryin
    Jun 16, 2014
    7
    They fixed the god awful lack of save feature so I finally sat down and finished the game. I really liked the theme, art, and setting. Overall, I enjoyed it.
  27. augustgrace
    Jul 30, 2013
    5
    Love what little game is there, but its definitely not enough. I have 10 hours in the game, including bio breaks, afk for dinner, exploration and repeating a level, and I'm finished with the story. Right now thats pretty much all the content there is. There are a handful of people who have started putting content together, but it looks like it's going to be a while before anythingLove what little game is there, but its definitely not enough. I have 10 hours in the game, including bio breaks, afk for dinner, exploration and repeating a level, and I'm finished with the story. Right now thats pretty much all the content there is. There are a handful of people who have started putting content together, but it looks like it's going to be a while before anything really playable is there. Perhaps in a few months a community of content developers will crop up and add some incredible content, but right now even though I love what little there is and the SR brand, I couldn't value this much over $10.… Expand
  28. JC0950
    Aug 13, 2013
    7
    Rating: 7.0 I paid $18 and enjoyed this game. The learning curve is low enough for anyone to get a good start and the rpg elements are light. The quality of artwork on the environment was great, but lacking for the player models. There is a lot of writing and it does a good job at creating atmosphere and setting the mood; At the same time the writing also makes characters feelRating: 7.0 I paid $18 and enjoyed this game. The learning curve is low enough for anyone to get a good start and the rpg elements are light. The quality of artwork on the environment was great, but lacking for the player models. There is a lot of writing and it does a good job at creating atmosphere and setting the mood; At the same time the writing also makes characters feel unbelievable, placed and paper-thin. They are there only to provide a service or to help you move along. Shadowrun Returns is simple yet solid; The included editor gives the community a great set of content to expand on.… Expand
  29. Teleman
    Dec 2, 2013
    5
    cool story, no gameplay.
    I loved NWN series and played them just to see where the story went, because it had proper d&d mechanics it was alright gameplay wise, but I was not able to suffer through this. I do not have anything against turn based combat games but the execution in this is just bad. The fact that you cannot save anytime you want makes it worse, it is like having to read a    cool story, no gameplay.
    I loved NWN series and played them just to see where the story went, because it had proper d&d mechanics it was alright gameplay wise, but I was not able to suffer through this. I do not have anything against turn based combat games but the execution in this is just bad. The fact that you cannot save anytime you want makes it worse, it is like having to read a couple of the pages you already read in a book.

    Speaking of books, go read a book instead of this. Rating it 5 for the intriguing story, which always constitutes half of my rating.    … Expand
  30. Sjalka
    Sep 7, 2013
    7
    I am a bit torn about that game. I love the art-style, i liked the combat. I did not like the non existent voice acting AT FIRST but i got used to it. The storytelling writing was very good in the vanilla campaign. It felt like the game focused a bit too much on combat though you were rewarded for having skills outside of combat, but you simply HAD to have combat skills. i do not knowI am a bit torn about that game. I love the art-style, i liked the combat. I did not like the non existent voice acting AT FIRST but i got used to it. The storytelling writing was very good in the vanilla campaign. It felt like the game focused a bit too much on combat though you were rewarded for having skills outside of combat, but you simply HAD to have combat skills. i do not know if that is a trademark of the Shadowrun franchise though, because i have not played other SR games )

    Adding an editor is a great thing and will do much for the modding community. I would have liked a "little" more character fidelity. We identify ourselves with the character in a RPG and while the game graphics were nice, the i would have liked to have an up sized, detailed char of myself. (yes, that is a very important feature for me in a RPG)

    by the end of the vanilla campaign the game felt a bit more like a tactical Diablo and it was also too short by FAR. When i beat the game it felt like i had finished act 1 out of 4 but not the entire game.    … Expand
  31. JanDadan
    Oct 3, 2013
    6
    A quite good game that has for sure the soul of the Shadowrun franchise. However, it is too repetitive to be fun for a long time, you don´t feel the impact your actions have on the sinister world, and there is literally no storytelling. In the end, I was entertained but disappointed.
  32. EatingKittens
    Dec 4, 2013
    7
    I feel compelled to defend this game.

    Consider this: The original Fallout had a budget of 3 million 1993 Dollars and a crew of 30 people working for four years. Shadowrun Returns had a budget of 1.8 million, by Weissman's admission 35% of this went to giving backers prizes. It also had to hire 25 additional people (the original 10 wouldn't do for the expanded project). Start to finish,    I feel compelled to defend this game.

    Consider this: The original Fallout had a budget of 3 million 1993 Dollars and a crew of 30 people working for four years. Shadowrun Returns had a budget of 1.8 million, by Weissman's admission 35% of this went to giving backers prizes. It also had to hire 25 additional people (the original 10 wouldn't do for the expanded project). Start to finish, they had less than one year.

    The "Dead Man Switch" campaign is too linear and lacks significant side quest content, dialogue options and opportunities to immerse yourself in a plot line directly impacted by your actions. However, these elements could be added to the game by user's creating content.

    The combat system is well designed and allows for interesting player positions and strategies. Corpse looting is not a big part of the game. Baddies drop quest items mostly and your character can't hold so much. Honestly, I don't miss carting truckloads of junk loot to and from a fence. The game gives you infinite ammo (still costs actions to reload...mostly).

    It's a bit buggy for me at times and I hate that you can't save until a level switch.

    I have absolute faith that the fan base will create compelling levels for us to play and that this game, while not the most incredible ever, is catching a lot of guff it doesn't deserve.    … Expand
  33. Zechariahms
    Jan 15, 2014
    7
    As someone who never has the patience for games exactly like this, Shadowrun Returns was a good exception. The expansive universe of shadowrun is very well defined and it makes a very noticeable difference in the quality of story. I have no love for the sort of combat system it sports. My first experience with that style was XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which I couldn't stomach to play more than aAs someone who never has the patience for games exactly like this, Shadowrun Returns was a good exception. The expansive universe of shadowrun is very well defined and it makes a very noticeable difference in the quality of story. I have no love for the sort of combat system it sports. My first experience with that style was XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which I couldn't stomach to play more than a day due to the intense feeling of dead time while waiting for matters to progress. Shadowrun Returns managed to do it a bit faster and with much more fairness. The reason why this game doesn't deserve an 8 or 9 is because of serious unpatched glitches. Even in the most recent patch, the game has a hard time recognizing its own saves, and there were at least 3 levels that had to be completely replayed because of triggers being missed and disallowing progress. With a game like this, and only a single autosave per level, that's a massive unnecessary time investment to get through.… Expand
  34. Zanadar
    Jul 27, 2013
    7
    It's...adequate. The story is just compelling enough to keep you going, the UI is functional, though not impressive, the graphics decent though not flashy, the animations...well, ok the animations are somewhat sub par. Overall, it does the job. Good enough.
  35. CriticoDubioso
    Jul 29, 2013
    5
    Well it's a cheap game and it shows. Shot, linear, simple. Pretty much what you'd expect from a casual/tablet game. Don't expect a full-fledged oldschool RPG and you won't be disappointed.
  36. Alex_Mars
    Jul 27, 2013
    6
    Fun game but deeply flawed: no manual or explanation of how many aspects of the game work, uses save checkpoints instead of save at will, many bugs (overwatch broken, some items purchased never make it into your inventory or stash, drone bonuses are lost when transitioning are just a few). The campaign is very linear and your decisions have little effect on the outcome of the game. TheFun game but deeply flawed: no manual or explanation of how many aspects of the game work, uses save checkpoints instead of save at will, many bugs (overwatch broken, some items purchased never make it into your inventory or stash, drone bonuses are lost when transitioning are just a few). The campaign is very linear and your decisions have little effect on the outcome of the game. The much heralded map editor is OK, but it could have been much better if the developers had looked at the Jagged Alliance 2 map editor designed over a decade ago as it is much more efficient at producing buildings and terrain, the SRR editor is pretty clunky in this regard.

    All in all the game suffers from lazy developers, and it shows this all throughout the game.    … Expand
  37. jpr64
    Jul 29, 2013
    5
    It's not an rpg, more an adventure text game with some rpg assets and a limited tactical battle system.

    It's not a bad game, but the feature that make me stop playing it, it's the autosave system no autosave before battle, no autosave on exit... Worse autosave system I ever seen. Sometimes you encounter a difficult battle or a large map with a lot of running and reading around to    It's not an rpg, more an adventure text game with some rpg assets and a limited tactical battle system.

    It's not a bad game, but the feature that make me stop playing it, it's the autosave system no autosave before battle, no autosave on exit...

    Worse autosave system I ever seen.

    Sometimes you encounter a difficult battle or a large map with a lot of running and reading around to do and no being able to save on exit or just before a battle just screw you to repeat all the process...

    It's clearly a poor system, and for a 1,8 m kickstarter game, I don't understand the lack of polish in the autosave system.

    I've stopped playing and will not come back if something it's not done about it...

    for the game a solid 7.5 I said, but as tha autosave system is just ruining my limited game time, it will be a 5 for me in the end.

    JPR out!    … Expand
  38. Zenren
    Jul 27, 2013
    6
    Well I've been waiting for awhile to play this game. I love the pen and paper Shadowrun and by proxy thought I'd love the video game as well. Well love is a strong word. I guess you'd say I like Shadowrun Returns, but certainly there is no love. I wish I could love the game, but the fact is there are just too many things that turn me off about it, the chief among them being the fact youWell I've been waiting for awhile to play this game. I love the pen and paper Shadowrun and by proxy thought I'd love the video game as well. Well love is a strong word. I guess you'd say I like Shadowrun Returns, but certainly there is no love. I wish I could love the game, but the fact is there are just too many things that turn me off about it, the chief among them being the fact you can only save at the beginning of a mission. Now that doesn't seem too annoying until you realize that a mission usually takes at least 15 to 20 minutes to complete, and some can take upwards of an hour. With that in mind, you die, you have to restart from the beginning of the scene. This can get really frustrating, really fast. Yes it's an old school method, a return to our roots, so to speak, but certain roots were dug up because the only thing that grew from them were trees rife with frustration.

    Second is the class system. Now the problem here is that it is far too simplistic, harboring only a mere shell of the actual pen and paper game. The mechanics are fine for a hack and slash game that will only be played once and then put back up on the shelf until the prequel or sequel comes out, but that's not what most of are buying this game for. No, this was supposed to be our chance to have persistent characters that you could use over the course of multiple campaigns. I guess you could do that, but the fact is, there are so few items and so few abilities, you have to wonder what's the point?

    Why would a game so full of possibilities limit itself to the extent that Shadowrun Returns has? The fact is most classes only have a handful of abilities that scale with your level. New abilities are few and far between. In the end you wont be seeing many new skills, but instead you'll be playing the same character, just with more hit points, doing more damage, repeating the same skills over and over and over and over... well you get the point.

    Okay, so that's all my complaints. In the end I gave the game a six, because there are some good things to mention as well. First, unless you purchased your computer in the Ice Age, chances are it'll run this game. That doesn't sound too important until you remember all the games that require you to have a state of art system just to meet the recommended requirements. Second the graphics are sharp and I mean sharp. The details are nice. Third the user interface is well done, nothing new, but certainly easy to understand and get used too.

    Now would I recommend this to other gamers? Certainly. Would I pre-purchase it if I knew how frustrated playing it would make me? Maybe. Is it worth $19.99, hell yeah. Is it comparable to Neverwinter Nights, Freedom Force, and other top down RPGs that have come along? Well yes, but it certainly falls behind those games. As I said, nothing new, nothing really amazing, but it's certainly worth it if you want to have some fun over the weekend. (It took me less than 16 hours to complete the campaign that comes with the game, just in case you're wondering.) My final evaluation, okay game, okay concept, but nothing amazing to write to your friends about.    … Expand
  39. Likan
    Jul 29, 2013
    6
    Well, I'm enjoying myself, but I cannot tell if it's out of nostalgia for the SNES game or the actual pnp RPG, or because the game is actually good.

    The campaign sure is very linear, the combat feels like a simplified version of X-COM as many have stated before, and the whole gameplay feels slow and even sluggish at times. Yet here is the Shadowun universe perfectly portrayed, an    Well, I'm enjoying myself, but I cannot tell if it's out of nostalgia for the SNES game or the actual pnp RPG, or because the game is actually good.

    The campaign sure is very linear, the combat feels like a simplified version of X-COM as many have stated before, and the whole gameplay feels slow and even sluggish at times.

    Yet here is the Shadowun universe perfectly portrayed, an above average storytelling and the combat is just varied enough (and evenly paced) not to be a chore.

    All in all, the 20-or-so euros seem a bit steep when one factors in the relative lack of depth (no amount of user-generated content can alter that). But otherwise, it's a nice way to be told a story, and Shadowrun fans should enjoy it for the most part.    … Expand
  40. mijxero
    Aug 14, 2014
    6
    This game is a nice throwback to games like Baldur's gate but the problem is that those games are much much older and I would have rather just replayed them. Maybe I'm wrong but it just felt slow and there were parts where you have to read mountains of text. I really like the combat and character development so that is what saved it from being a total disappointment for me.
  41. kennfusion
    Jul 26, 2013
    6
    Wait for the inevitable Steam Sale. With no voice acting and a lot of text to read (and I am old and the text is small), you can tell they really tried to tell a story and make you feel as if you were part of the story, and yet that story seems linear, simple and your choices seem to not make a difference in that linear story line. This coupled with a check point save system, means thatWait for the inevitable Steam Sale. With no voice acting and a lot of text to read (and I am old and the text is small), you can tell they really tried to tell a story and make you feel as if you were part of the story, and yet that story seems linear, simple and your choices seem to not make a difference in that linear story line. This coupled with a check point save system, means that you have no idea how long to the next check point, and if you have been reading everything and trying to explore everything, there can be a long time between saves and this sucks if you have to stop playing because of real life. Graphics are kind of washed and muddy to me, but that might work for the Shadowrun Universe...eh. Combat is good, but the inability to rotate a screen where cover is important, and you cannot always see clearly around objects well to see what cover you would be getting, you feel like perhaps you should just go back and play more x-com. Except for the character system. There appears to be a lot of versatility in play style, and user generated content will hopefully be much better than the lack luster writing of the team from Hairbrained. My recommendation, wait for the inevitable Steam Sale.… Expand
  42. dup
    Jul 27, 2013
    6
    Well done hand-drawn isometric graphics and nice 3D characters. Sound effects are very weak and the music is not much better. Spell and combat effect are a bit on the weak side. The story is told with text and character portraits and quite interesting with several twists. The skill system is not worked out very well with only linear choices in character development. Presentation of skillWell done hand-drawn isometric graphics and nice 3D characters. Sound effects are very weak and the music is not much better. Spell and combat effect are a bit on the weak side. The story is told with text and character portraits and quite interesting with several twists. The skill system is not worked out very well with only linear choices in character development. Presentation of skill tree and inventory is not done well, especially for a PC game. If you are into turn based combat it is a nice experience for a few hours don't pay more than $10 for it.… Expand
  43. Hawke
    Jul 26, 2013
    6
    A mediocre game, with what looks to be a great engine behind it.

    Could be a great game in 6 months after there is a reasonable amount of user content available for it, but I don’t know how reasonable it is to expect the community to put together a good game…isn’t that what we paid for?

    The music is excellent.
  44. Zakuman
    Jul 27, 2013
    7
    I find the game very fun. The story is compelling the feel is by all means right. Lots of written descriptions, something I missed a lot in modern RPG's :)

    Combat can also be pretty good (think it's best to play on "hard"). What I would like to see is a more open world, as the main story is very linear, the character skills could use more depth, more varied weapons, better weapon    I find the game very fun. The story is compelling the feel is by all means right. Lots of written descriptions, something I missed a lot in modern RPG's :)

    Combat can also be pretty good (think it's best to play on "hard").

    What I would like to see is a more open world, as the main story is very linear, the character skills could use more depth, more varied weapons, better weapon balance (pistols seem to be useless compared to other guns...)

    The editor is also a big plus for the game. At lauch we already have to additional missions    … Expand
  45. gun661
    Jul 28, 2013
    5
    It was refreshing to experience a game that focused on the story. Visuals and music are also nice conceptually but the music's repetitiveness gets really annoying along the way. Beyond that, regrettably, there isn't much to Shadowrun Returns to complement its story. Regardless how much more content will be released after now, that won't change the really boring, at its core unchallenging,It was refreshing to experience a game that focused on the story. Visuals and music are also nice conceptually but the music's repetitiveness gets really annoying along the way. Beyond that, regrettably, there isn't much to Shadowrun Returns to complement its story. Regardless how much more content will be released after now, that won't change the really boring, at its core unchallenging, slow-paced gameplay. Open world or linear? Doesn't matter, I wouldn't have explored because it would have taken so long to navigate the characters there, to wait for the slow UI, to wait for the slow animations (spells being even slower), and fighting casual battles, slowly advancing your characters from one cover to the next cover. It feels like they just unpersonally copied the gameplay-design of the newest X-COM-game but obviously failed to clone it because of the lack of more resources.
    It should be a lesson that this indie-game (at least from my perspective) failed right where the designers tried to copy the style of the mainstream-industry: copying X-COM, and trying to adapt Shadowrun Retruns to the "so-succesfull" casual mobile platforms, creating an interface and gameplay that screams "tablet-game"!    … Expand
  46. Lyonesse
    Aug 16, 2013
    7
    Shadowrun Returns is a good game if you like older CRPGs like Baldur's Gate or Fallout 1 and worth checking out, especially as UGC begins to come out. It may not have the flashy graphics of a TES V: Skyrim, but SRR frankly doesn't need them. My only issue with the graphics are the character models, which look generally ugly. Here is certainly room from improvement. The storytelling isShadowrun Returns is a good game if you like older CRPGs like Baldur's Gate or Fallout 1 and worth checking out, especially as UGC begins to come out. It may not have the flashy graphics of a TES V: Skyrim, but SRR frankly doesn't need them. My only issue with the graphics are the character models, which look generally ugly. Here is certainly room from improvement. The storytelling is great, though highly linear and the story is a bit short.
    A big plus is the game's editor, which is quite powerful and while not as userfriendly as the Aurora toolset (NWN 1), it's far from being unwieldy.

    The game's main issue is the utterly horrid save game system that allows for auto-saves only and those occur only upon a map change. This is something the developer will have to look into.    … Expand
  47. light487
    Jul 30, 2013
    7
    I am really enjoying my time with Shadowrun Returns and what's even better about that situation is that there is a strong community following for this, as evidenced by the crowdfunded source of the funding and community forums that have popped up all over the place. This is great because it means that people will be making campaigns and stuff based on the all the stories they have beenI am really enjoying my time with Shadowrun Returns and what's even better about that situation is that there is a strong community following for this, as evidenced by the crowdfunded source of the funding and community forums that have popped up all over the place. This is great because it means that people will be making campaigns and stuff based on the all the stories they have been waiting to tell and have previously told through the table-top gaming.

    People are marking this game down because of, to be blunt, stupid personal preferences. Like the save system.. I'm sorry but if you can't spend more than 10 minutes at a time to play the game, go home. That's the approximate time between mission areas that is required to get to another auto-save.

    The other major thing I am seeing people saying is the interface... there's seriously nothing wrong with the interface for a TURN BASED COMBAT game.. this is Magicka, this is not League of Legends.. you DO NOT need hotkeys.. sure they would be more convenient.. but it has not detracted from the experience for me AT ALL by not having them. "Made for touchscreen"?? Go home.

    As for the story and the "walls of text".. really? C'mon, what did you expect? Grade-A voice acting of EVERY line in the game?? The story is fitting and while a little bit too predictable at times, it is still an enjoyable story nevertheless.

    This is not a perfect game but it does live up to my expectations that I had for it. It could be better... but so could so many others. A strong 7 out of 10 for this one, bordering on an 8.    … Expand
  48. astralphoenix77
    Jul 28, 2013
    5
    Shadowrun Returns is indeed a return, to the classic style of CRPGs, and is a game full of story-driven intrigue and interesting gameplay concepts. Sadly it fails to execute all of them very well.

    Combat is fairly solid but very simplisitic, with the exception of the matrix system, which adds an interesting level of depth. There are plenty of skills and abilities to choose from in both    Shadowrun Returns is indeed a return, to the classic style of CRPGs, and is a game full of story-driven intrigue and interesting gameplay concepts. Sadly it fails to execute all of them very well.

    Combat is fairly solid but very simplisitic, with the exception of the matrix system, which adds an interesting level of depth. There are plenty of skills and abilities to choose from in both worlds, although class choice seems to not make much of a difference, oddly. The gunplay could definitely have used an aimed shot system and a bit more flavour generally, such as interesting banter and insults along the lines of the old Fallout games. As it stands, non-matrix combat basically winds up as 'take cover, then left-click on enemies to win'.

    The story, dialogue, descriptive text and characters are Shadowrun Returns' strongest point. The game's storyline always left me wanting to come back for more, and the world is full of colourful characters from all sorts of backgrounds. It's nice to see a bunch of supporting NPC party members who are actually tied into the main plot as well, and not random guns-for-hire.

    Unfortunately, this game has a couple of irritating design choices that really drag it down. The first is the lack of a manual save or quicksave feature, the game relying entirely on checkpoints that are way too few and far between, often forcing you to sit through reams of dialogue again and again, or forcing you to restart an entire area because you made a conversation choice or hack that didn't go as intended. Does it prevent save-scumming? Yes, but in the most tedious and irritating way.

    The second problem, and one that ties in with the first, is one I'd hoped had died with the Baldur's Gate series when it came to party-based RPGs: game over on main character death. Given the classic nature of the game I could overlook this minor irritant, but combined with the saving issue it results in you often running and hiding with your main character in any sort of challenging combat. This isn't so much out of fear of dying generally as not wanting to sit through 10-15 minutes of bloody dialogue again on restart.

    So the net result a great story and setting with mostly solid, if somewhat shallow gameplay, sadly brought down significantly by a major design choice mistake, in my opinion. It's fortunate the story always brings me back quickly, otherwise this is exactly the kind of game I could rage-quit after an unlucky roll or two, and then not revisit it for 18 months. And that would be a shame. Add 3 points to the rating if they ever patch in a proper save system.    … Expand
  49. ibitato
    Jul 29, 2013
    6
    Bad save system
    - Sound (overall) is subpar
    - Large descriptive bricks of text (I can live with that, but I am not the majority on this) - No voice acting (not even a bit on the intro, to immerse you on the environment) - Standard gameplay (no innovation at all, well at least it has conjuring and invocations) - Small maps that causes too much loading in between scenarios maps.     Bad save system
    - Sound (overall) is subpar
    - Large descriptive bricks of text (I can live with that, but I am not the majority on this)
    - No voice acting (not even a bit on the intro, to immerse you on the environment)
    - Standard gameplay (no innovation at all, well at least it has conjuring and invocations)
    - Small maps that causes too much loading in between scenarios maps. Funny thing,
    even scenarios are really small, the loading takes it's time.
    - Char animations are ok, but the interaction animation for the principal character could have been better.
    - Character archetypes and char level progression is cristal clear and easy to follow (really like that )
    - You get karma points fairly kick so character progression is more interactive
    - It's mission oriented philosophy makes the game pretty corridor like with almost no room for exploration (not saying is bad, but some RPG fans don't like this)

    Some of this drawbacks and problems point to decisions taken thinking on Tablet mobile market.If so, they ruined what PC experience could have been, that, in my opinion, is where a franchise like shadowruns should be emerging.

    It is a OK game you play ?
    Well if you like CRPGs, yes it's ok.
    The world of Shadowruns is great and the idea behind is also really interesting

    For the price?
    Well, here is the problem.
    I've seen indie games with better production values for a lower price than Shadowruns.

    So, what makes the difference ??
    Well, the campaign and level editor seems to be the emergency pot here.
    Community will eventually produce content for this game and you will always have something
    fresh to test playthrough on the Shadowrun world.

    I will play this game to the end of the final campaign and see what happens in the middle with the commutity and devs, but I fell, that even for the (low) price, is a pretty standard game.
    Id rather pay up to 30USD for a franchise like this one, to get a better outcome.    … Expand
  50. StoryBored
    Jul 28, 2013
    6
    Almost everything a great RPG has is here, but the drawbacks are so annoying sometimes that it can ruin the fun. It did for me, at least. For all of it's negatives, a game that could have been a 9 fell back to a 6.

    Gameplay: Overall it's standard turn-based RPG fanfare with a lot of customization. The RPG fanfare is help up with a decent storyline with a fair amount of dialogue    Almost everything a great RPG has is here, but the drawbacks are so annoying sometimes that it can ruin the fun. It did for me, at least. For all of it's negatives, a game that could have been a 9 fell back to a 6.

    Gameplay: Overall it's standard turn-based RPG fanfare with a lot of customization. The RPG fanfare is help up with a decent storyline with a fair amount of dialogue choices. The customization and everything generally working the way you'd expect make me like the game and I enjoyed the main campaign. However, the gameplay is slow and unbalanced. How slow? Unbelievably slow. I don't mind turn based combat, but the animations in Shadowrun Returns makes games like Baldur's Gate feel like fast action gameplay. Then there's a lot of tweaking still to be done before I'll come back to this game. There's plenty of character options that just aren't viable in the game's opening build.

    Graphics: They're just not good, really bad. I didn't expect much, but even my low expectations weren't met. Not only does the game look pretty bad, the levels are extremely small and there aren't very many tilesets to appreciate. Also, for as poor and limited as the graphics are, the performance of this game is not good at all. High temperatures and regular slowdowns were rampant on a machine that plays Skyrim without issue on higher settings. I was able to complete the game without any crashes or gamebreaking bugs, however.

    Sound: A few wonky sound effects here and there. Otherwise nothing noteworthy.

    Gamelength: This game is short. Very disappointingly short. By the time I got to the end I didn't feel like I could really appreciate all of my character's potential.

    Story: The story was good, and kept me interested for the 10+ hours it took to complete. Some of the dialogue was a bit cliche, but overall it was well written. The developers did stay very true to the Shadowrun name, and this is definitely the game's strongest point. Unfortunately by the end there wasn't anywhere left to go, ending it rather abruptly.

    The game's editor is promising though as Shadowrun fans everywhere are promising amazing user created content in the near future. This could help add extra content the game desperately needs, solving issue with the game's length, and possibly even improving some of the graphical and variety shortcomings the game has.

    Until then, I have to give the game mixed reviews, and can only recommend this game to die hard fans of turn based RPG's and the Shadowrun franchise.    … Expand
  51. sypisybi
    Aug 22, 2013
    7
    The base game and general idea of everything in Shadowrun Returns is well made, but the developers made the main campaign feel very lacking. Currently, it is up to the community to make excellent game content, which should never be the case.
  52. Andrew_Paterson
    Nov 23, 2013
    6
    There's a lot to like about Shadowrun Returns. Not the least of which it is a huge amount of fun. Fun marred by some silly but painful issues but still fun.

    What Shadowrun does right is the turn based game is simple but still tactical. The story moves fast and leaves me compelled to read all the text boxes. A little mediocre are the graphics and more so the sound effects. Not a    There's a lot to like about Shadowrun Returns. Not the least of which it is a huge amount of fun. Fun marred by some silly but painful issues but still fun.

    What Shadowrun does right is the turn based game is simple but still tactical. The story moves fast and leaves me compelled to read all the text boxes.

    A little mediocre are the graphics and more so the sound effects. Not a big issue unless you're expecting something that looks like XCom: Enemy Unknown.

    What it does wrong is unfortunate and honestly feels like it could have been fixed with a couple of weeks more effort. This game only auto-saves. And those saves are few and far between (generally 15 to 20 minutes of game-play). This can be quite frustrating when a simple battles turns into a run of bad dice rolls and a character you didn't want dead ends of up dead.

    Or, more annoyingly, when you need to shut down and spend quarter of an hour hunting for the next save point (Why not save when closing the parties locker?)

    The next big issue (again a small programming issue) is that I run a higher than usual resolution but can only zoom as if I was running a much lower resolution leaving everything looking tiny including interactive icons. This is exacerbated by character dialogues that change the camera zoom. And there is a lot of dialogue.

    All in a all a pretty awesome game almost broken by two small issues. Oops.    … Expand
  53. beemer127
    Aug 7, 2013
    6
    I wanted to really like this game, but unfortunately the reality fell short of my hopes and expectations. Being a kickstarter backer for this game, what I had hoped for was somewhat of a sandbox experience in which I would have plenty of side quests along with the main storyline, but instead was handed a short, linear campaign with a couple of side quests along the way.

    Having said    I wanted to really like this game, but unfortunately the reality fell short of my hopes and expectations. Being a kickstarter backer for this game, what I had hoped for was somewhat of a sandbox experience in which I would have plenty of side quests along with the main storyline, but instead was handed a short, linear campaign with a couple of side quests along the way.

    Having said that, the game is fun, the main story line tells a solid story that feels like a Shadowrun story. You want to hate the villain, and you find your friends in an unlikely place. The combat is clean, engaging, and fun. The ability to hack into systems offer an interesting aspect to the gameplay, and I found myself wanting more opportunities to do creative things with it. Unfortunately, there were not multiple paths to achieve your goals. For example, one would hope you could creatively use hacking (called decking in the game) or magic (there's a similar astral plane that was never implemented in the game) to achieve your goals through slightly different means. This is, without question, one of the great untapped potentials of the game.

    The game editor offers a lot of possibility of making your own sandbox experience, and thankfully, you can import your existing character if you are so inclined. The fact that it supports Steam Workshop works strongly in its favor, and already there are a few new stories to explore, as well as additional tools and assets for modders to play with.

    Lastly, I found the experience a little quirky. Objects you can interact with has icons hovering over them, but the icons faded, and sometimes were not very responsive in coming back when I moused over the object again (I'm not sure what all that is about).

    In summary, I'd say the game is good, but when taken on its own, the campaign's linearity and the fact that the main campaign is a bit short relative to similar games in its genre, pulls it back to "mediocre" territory. The editor offers the game strong hope for replayability though, and I look forward to Shadowrun Returns gaining a new life once the modders get ahold of it. I think they can make Shadowrun Returns what it truly could be now a great tactical RPG platform to tell amazing stories set in the Shadowrun universe.    … Expand
  54. Vel
    Aug 17, 2013
    5
    A great amount of potential for combining storytelling and the feel of the original shadowrun universe, the content simply isn't there yet. You can't spend $20 on the current short storyline, which only takes a few hours to complete and has little to no replay value. Once more content is created and comes out, it has potential to be a great buy, but now it just lacks too much.
  55. Alexoid
    Oct 1, 2013
    6
    I will not write anything new.
    OK game overall for 2, may be 3 runs. What I liked most about this game it reminded me of Fallout. Just for this nostalgia I give it score of 6.

    Nice stage setup, nice story.

    Very linear, very short. No drops and almost no loot.

    $20 is a little too much for this game in my opinion.
  56. Sabatasso
    Nov 1, 2013
    5
    I give it a 5 because it has mod capabilities and The Nexus supports mods for easy access. The game itself is linear, simple and quite honestly boring but you'll be able to find some nice mods out there which makes it playable.
  57. cyronix
    Dec 28, 2013
    6
    The game is a mix between diablo and x-com and is quite fun to play.
    You have different places where you meet vendors for items, spells, etc. and other people that tell you about the story or give you a mission. The gameplay in the mission is turnbased and orients itself at x-com. But it's much easier to play than x-com, there are no different heights, and no real complex maps,
    but on    The game is a mix between diablo and x-com and is quite fun to play.
    You have different places where you meet vendors for items, spells, etc. and other people that tell you about the story or give you a mission. The gameplay in the mission is turnbased and orients itself at x-com. But it's much easier to play than x-com, there are no different heights, and no real complex maps,
    but on the other hand your team (you and your hired crew, for every mission you have to hire a new crew) has more variety than x-com, since there are different races and classes (normal soldiers, mages, necromancers, deckers. The difference between a normal fantasy game like diablo there are also classes for techstuff such as deckers, for hacking and going into a matrix where where also takes place turnbased combat between your decker and his created programs against enemy programs.
    It's quite fun to play and the dialogs are entertaining, but in the end it gets a bit boring. And it's not bugfree. I am now in the last chapter "the hunt begins", but there is a scripting error and I cannot continue, I cleaned the level, and a monster doesn't come out through a wall opening a new path to continue the game. It's a known error, I googled it, I might be possible to continue if I restart the level, but the problem is there is no save option, only an autosave option after full completion of a level, and the level consists of 3 stages and I am already in the last stage, and I don't want to bother running through all the 3 stages again. I have seen enough of the game and it's not evolving anymore that much. All in all, x-com combat gameplay with different character classes and magic in, entertaining dialogs and storyline in the shadowrun world told in diablo fashion. But does not evolve anymore in the end, and the combat is not complex enough, and it's not bugfree, there was no good quality assurance!    … Expand
  58. JERupp
    Mar 4, 2014
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. For a game with so few load-bearing walls, the lack of a more involved leveling system seems almost tired. Too tired, considering. We're talking an isometric-view game that you could run on a computer purchased 10 years ago...from Best Buy. If there's anything that should have been focused on in the game, it should have been the leveling system. However, it looks more like the creators started off nicely with the first 4-5 skills in *some* categories, then simply phoned the rest in with the back end simply having "limits" depending you race choice.

    Story. Let's just very briefly discuss how asinine it is to have an RPG where the last boss can only be beaten with a specific weapon. What does one do when they level up only physical or magical attributes, and skimp on gunplay skills? What a horrible oversight.

    Next, we have the rave reviews on the amazing environment in the game. I don't see it. I see a highly unpopulated world, where most of the people you meet are located in a bar.    … Expand
  59. Gamebeating
    Jul 14, 2014
    7
    Very solid RPG experience.
    About 15 hours playtime on the main campaign is enough content for a low budget title.
    The storyline is well presented with dialogue fitting to the world of Shadowrun. In addition you have access to the steam workshop with a lot of user generated content. Mechanics wise there is a problem with the hitting percentage which can be frustrating at times. 75%    Very solid RPG experience.
    About 15 hours playtime on the main campaign is enough content for a low budget title.
    The storyline is well presented with dialogue fitting to the world of Shadowrun.
    In addition you have access to the steam workshop with a lot of user generated content.

    Mechanics wise there is a problem with the hitting percentage which can be frustrating at times.
    75% hitchance often feels like its 40% at best.

    Overall it is a fun experience, even for people who normally dont finish RPGs due to their length.    … Expand
  60. nomemory
    Jul 29, 2013
    6
    Good game but I expected much more. I wanted a new Fallout or a Baldur's but instead I've received a pretty shallow RPG experience ...

    Things I hate (the original campaign): - No save system Basically the game is checkpoint based, and I don't think this system is suitable for this kind of games . - The campaign is completely linear. No role-playing. - No mini-map . - No loot    Good game but I expected much more. I wanted a new Fallout or a Baldur's but instead I've received a pretty shallow RPG experience ...

    Things I hate (the original campaign):

    - No save system Basically the game is checkpoint based, and I don't think this system is suitable for this kind of games .
    - The campaign is completely linear. No role-playing.
    - No mini-map .
    - No loot (dying monsters don't drop a thing...maybe sometime keycards) .
    - The story is mediocre .

    Things I like:
    - Atmosphere     … Expand
  61. cdman2004
    Jul 30, 2013
    7
    The game is fun. The story is engaging. The character building needs more information and a better explanation of how the skills interact. The movement with the mouse in game needs a little tweaking. Overall, I am enjoying the game even if I am thrown off the immersion from time to time due to my character not moving when I click on a spot.
  62. AstroMacGuffin
    Jul 30, 2013
    7
    This is my review of SRR 1.0.1 for PC. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

    tl;dr: Better than I'd expect for the price. Needs a patch to fix its few serious bugs. Subtract a point if Shadowrun nostalgia doesn't attract you. The Good: 1. The writing, especially portrayal use of NPCs. In particular, the NPCs at the hub are charming and make me care. 2. The character    This is my review of SRR 1.0.1 for PC. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

    tl;dr: Better than I'd expect for the price. Needs a patch to fix its few serious bugs. Subtract a point if Shadowrun nostalgia doesn't attract you.

    The Good:

    1. The writing, especially portrayal use of NPCs. In particular, the NPCs at the hub are charming and make me care.

    2. The character improvement interface (spending Karma) does a good (not perfect) job explaining the benefits of each upgrade.

    3. Nostalgia. I played 1st edition tabletop Shadowrun, read several of the novels, and played the SNES and Genesis games this story made me nostalgic for all of them.

    4. Tactical map design. The level designs and cover mechanic made every run, and every group loadout, a new game for me in terms of how I handled simply moving through an empty room. As icing on that cake...

    5. The Overwatch mechanic. This ability to hold an action makes turn-based combat far less abstract.

    6. Surprising usefulness and nice touches in decking. Hacking a camera controller lifts Fog of War around that camera in meatspace. Hacking a turret turns it against your enemies. If a device gets destroyed, its corresponding matrix node shows as "Disconnected."

    7. Few game-breaking bugs. I have seen only one so far, and it can be overcome during play.

    8. Length of the game. I've been playing on Hard, and I am an exploration/story gamer so I am slower than most anyway. YMMV if you cut the most optimal path to endgame, but my first-run-thru vs the game's cost, works out to pennies on the dollar.

    9. Built-in campaign creation tools bundled with the game a few highly-rated user adventures and resource kits for adventure creation, are already available on Steam.

    10. Gunplay sound design.

    11. Art direction. Bearing in mind that this is _not_ a AAA title, you might wish the artwork was grimmer and darker, but it's consistently high-quality. Aside from a little corner-cutting with character models (e.g., not enough hairstyles and body shapes to make everyone look like their portrait) it looks stylized and fetching.

    12. Good use of etiquette in dialog trees. This alone puts a veneer of real "role playing" into the game and would have been sorely missed if absent.

    The Mixed:

    1. The music. I see many raves about the music, so I may be alone here. It reminds me of EvE Online's music very atmospheric at first, but droning and eventually grating. (Normally I can't get enough of good video game music.)

    2. Use of non-combat skill sets in the campaign is limited. Decking is especially limited in early game. Etiquette is the exception.

    3. No world map and near-zero reason to explore. Very little is off the beaten path, and nobody will confuse SRR with an open world sandbox. Given the development budget, it is perhaps for the best that creative juices were focused on the story at hand.

    4. A few isolated story moments make it clear that a writer was lazy or rushed. (Looking at you, Telestrian's VP of Security office scene!) These are as rare (very) as they are awkward (very).

    5. IC (enemies during decking) are limited. I never encountered trap 'n traces, enemy deckers, honeypots, etc. When decking with your main character, losing cybercombat vs white IC results in Game Over (instead of forced logout with dumpshock) which feels like a cover-up for the shallow IC capabilities.

    6. You are unable to upgrade hired and friendly runners your most loyal partner spends the whole game without armor.

    The Ugly:

    1. Hier a editer next teim u maek a gaem becuz holee carp dis neeedid won. (Rampant run-on sentences, spelling mistakes, etc.)

    2. Did they steal the "metahuman getting injured" reaction sounds from World of Warcraft? Yes, I think they did. Particularly from the male humans, female humans, and Death Knight's summoned ghouls.

    3. Dialog option text is consistently _invisible_ in 2 or 3 conversations near endgame. You won't know what your character's choices are for some of the most important conversations in the story, nor is there any indication what you chose after you pick something at random. 4. Stepping away from my computer for 2 minutes with the help section up, overheated my laptop, forcing it to shut down. Yes, the help screen tried to melt my GPU. 5. Inventory management is nigh horrible. Inconsistencies plague the Outfit and Cyberware interfaces in particular. Items found during a run cannot be traded to another party member. A grenade is treated as taking up the same "space" for inventory purposes as a fully-automated robo-trauma-and-surgery kit. 6. Game has no save feature except checkpoint saves at the beginning of each mission. This is a big problem if an hour at the hub and an hour in a mission both need to be repeated because you spent your cash unwisely. The rewind feature is excellent and should be kept, but is no substitute for the hours of your life you'll lose to this shortcoming.    … Expand
  63. romusz
    Jul 31, 2013
    6
    I submitted a review of Shadowrun Returns very recently, but now that I have beaten the game, I feel the need to make a redaction and give another review.

    I was a huge fan of the SNES title. The look, sound and atmosphere of the original was something I had never experienced before and I fell in love with it. 'Returns' does a fantastic job of capturing the flair of the original- the    I submitted a review of Shadowrun Returns very recently, but now that I have beaten the game, I feel the need to make a redaction and give another review.

    I was a huge fan of the SNES title. The look, sound and atmosphere of the original was something I had never experienced before and I fell in love with it. 'Returns' does a fantastic job of capturing the flair of the original- the locations, lore and terminology will immediately bring an old fan back. The art is fantastic, the music is catchy and appropriate, and the battles are fair yet challenging. The story is very immersive, and does a great job at drawing you into it.

    Aside from my minor gripes about the save system, the linear nature of the game itself and a few glitches which caused me to restart, it was a rather solid title. However, the one thing which is the real killer is the length of the campaign. I read a few other reviews with the same opinion, and I must agree: the ending is VERY abrupt. By the time you make it to the final battle, it will honestly only feel like the end of act 1 rather than THE end. The game builds the plot to a head, spends so much time fleshing out its details and things to come that when you succeed in "battle X" youre expecting it to lead into 'all hell breaks loose' mode. But that mode never comes. You succeed in finding the killer, and even though the universe has blown up around you with many other much-more-important events, the game just ends with a condescending pat on the back. It is.....disappointing. Its the equivalent of watching "Empire Strikes Back" and then never seeing "Jedi". Its the ultimate gamer-tease, and in a title so set on its dialogue and story, its like ripping the last 50 pages out of "Return of the King". That is to say- its a fantastic ride until the end, where youll find yourself wanting more.

    Im not sure whether to like or dislike this game now, just because of the length which it is. I originally gave it an 8, but after the game cuts itself off at what seems like halftime, I cant give it more than a 6 now. Very disappointing, especially considering that the Kickstarter alone brought in nearly 2 million dollars to fund an independent game. Heres hoping for some DLC or at least some good community-made content.    … Expand
  64. rcruk
    Aug 15, 2013
    5
    I enjoyed the p&p game many years ago. This looked like it might be an interesting revisit so I took a gamble buying it. I was a little disappointed. The graphics and effects are pretty mundane, the tactical system fairly awkward and controls prosaic (not as good as Xcom for example) the camera limited to a single isometric view, the tailoring of your character extremely limited, theI enjoyed the p&p game many years ago. This looked like it might be an interesting revisit so I took a gamble buying it. I was a little disappointed. The graphics and effects are pretty mundane, the tactical system fairly awkward and controls prosaic (not as good as Xcom for example) the camera limited to a single isometric view, the tailoring of your character extremely limited, the environment, okay, but with very limited space you can access. The game also lacks the multi-player capacity you might expect, so is essentially a platform for individuals to play solo through DLC/user generated Shadowruns.

    It's perhaps most like Neverwinter Nights 1, yet lacks that old classics depth or variety. Saying that it might well improve as user content develops (which was what made NWN1 so special). I appreciate it is an indie title and a labour of love, yet I feel slightly ripped off for my £14. It would have felt fairer to pay between £5 to £8. On the plus side, I think it should run okay on low spec computer and so allow many fans who aren't necessarily computer fans to take part.

    May dip into playing it once in a while...    … Expand
  65. Darkin20
    Jul 26, 2013
    7
    If you remember those isometric games of old, the games like "Fallout 2" or "Baldur's Gate" and remember them with fondness, then this is the game for you.

    If you tried to play those games again in the recent years and found it to be tedious and prefer the more up-to-date game quality like "Skyrim" or "Fallout: New Vegas" than this is not a game for you. If you are feeling nostalgic    If you remember those isometric games of old, the games like "Fallout 2" or "Baldur's Gate" and remember them with fondness, then this is the game for you.

    If you tried to play those games again in the recent years and found it to be tedious and prefer the more up-to-date game quality like "Skyrim" or "Fallout: New Vegas" than this is not a game for you.

    If you are feeling nostalgic and want a modern take on a classic game style with an interesting story without all the bells and whistles, then try this game and see what future escapades people can create for this game.    … Expand
  66. vivoxaxon
    Aug 22, 2013
    7
    Never played the original, but thought it had a decent story-line, was engaging enough (though not overly strategic). Environments were pretty cool as well. UI could use some tweaks as mentioned in other comments but wasn't THAT bad.
  67. eudaimonean
    Sep 22, 2013
    7
    SR is probably slightly overrated at the moment as we are still coming out of a drought in the oldschool tactical RPG subgenre, leading reviewers to grade it on a bit of a curve simply because there are very few games like it at the moment. Ultimately, SR is a competent, but as yet unremarkable old-school RPG. Future patches and player content may bring more to the table.

    Hopefully SR's    SR is probably slightly overrated at the moment as we are still coming out of a drought in the oldschool tactical RPG subgenre, leading reviewers to grade it on a bit of a curve simply because there are very few games like it at the moment. Ultimately, SR is a competent, but as yet unremarkable old-school RPG. Future patches and player content may bring more to the table.

    Hopefully SR's first effort will prove to be just the leading crest of a small wave in isometric oldschool RPGs, because by itself it is somewhat overwhelming.

    Pros:
    -Great user mod tools.
    -Solid combat system, though you probably need to crank up the difficult to experience any challenge.
    -Strong atmosphere, reinforced by the consistent tone of the (generally competent) writing.

    Cons:
    -Far too linear to be a true successor to the isometric RPG classics.
    -Save system can be inconvenient (though I personally was only trivially inconvenienced by it).

    TBD:
    -Unclear if SR's community will be large and creative enough to supply interesting community content.
    -Harebrained Schemes has heard the most common critiques of the game regarding linearity, save system, length, etc., and the next campaign ("Berlin") will attempt to address them.    … Expand
  68. cossayos
    Mar 25, 2015
    7
    Nice game that takes some getting used to. The isometric view put me off for a little while and the skill tree can be a bit confusing.

    I got it off steam for about 14 Euros and it's worth it's money. The reasons why I don't give it a higher rating is because it being linear, having next to no replay value and (purely personal observation) it isn't addicting like some of my favorite    Nice game that takes some getting used to. The isometric view put me off for a little while and the skill tree can be a bit confusing.

    I got it off steam for about 14 Euros and it's worth it's money. The reasons why I don't give it a higher rating is because it being linear, having next to no replay value and (purely personal observation) it isn't addicting like some of my favorite RPGs. It's easy to save and exit as opposed to other titles. But there always comes a time when you fire it up again to play for another hour or two.

    Having said that, if you can live with these flaws and are into customisation and that old pen and paper feeling, give it a shot. It doesn't cost the world as opposed some so called AAA titles, which turn out to be just poor console ports.    … Expand
  69. androth
    Aug 3, 2013
    5
    i was real excited about this game. it's shadowrun universe which i enjoy very much. i generally like any shadowrun title. but now i'm left wishing i had read the reviews before getting it.

    the overall game mechanics are great. there is an interesting story, good graphics and the interface is done well. however, in this day and age, after countless games written and tested in    i was real excited about this game. it's shadowrun universe which i enjoy very much. i generally like any shadowrun title. but now i'm left wishing i had read the reviews before getting it.

    the overall game mechanics are great. there is an interesting story, good graphics and the interface is done well.

    however, in this day and age, after countless games written and tested in communities, i am astonished to see a game released without a save feature.

    this is totally annoying and a fun killer. when you have to quit halfway through a map because you have a life and then have to start the level over again is unpardonable. i don't think i'll be able to get through this game with such a high annoyance factor.

    such wasted potential because of one absurdly obvious oversight. this rating would've been 9 otherwise.    … Expand
  70. myndpyre
    Jul 28, 2013
    7
    While this game feels dated, and most likely should have been brought out on the iPad, I am having fun with it. I also understand that the game is a lot more than the single campaign provided with the release, hundreds of campaigns will be available once the public designers start writing. I look forward to the future of this game, much more than the release.
  71. Xenugears
    Jul 25, 2013
    5
    This is a welcome update to a RPG classic. I got my Elf Mage all ready to go and was, for the most part, enjoying the game until I realized there are no Steam achievements. What the drek?! I'm happy to support this game and while I know it's irrational to not play a game due to a lack of admittedly arbitrary achievements (what can I say: I'm OCD about this), not including them these daysThis is a welcome update to a RPG classic. I got my Elf Mage all ready to go and was, for the most part, enjoying the game until I realized there are no Steam achievements. What the drek?! I'm happy to support this game and while I know it's irrational to not play a game due to a lack of admittedly arbitrary achievements (what can I say: I'm OCD about this), not including them these days just seems lazy (or Nintendo) so I'm tapping out of Shadowrun. Back to XCOM. The developers say they may add them later to which I say I may play it (and revise my score) later.… Expand
  72. Amstaad
    Aug 9, 2013
    6
    The game is pretty short and is relying on user generated material to pad out the length (which I think is lazy of the developers). Game is very old fashion design wise and looks like a game from the late 90's early 2000's. Encountered a couple of minor bugs. I'd recommend waiting until it's on sale before buying it. Waiting will also mean more time for user content to be generatedThe game is pretty short and is relying on user generated material to pad out the length (which I think is lazy of the developers). Game is very old fashion design wise and looks like a game from the late 90's early 2000's. Encountered a couple of minor bugs. I'd recommend waiting until it's on sale before buying it. Waiting will also mean more time for user content to be generated which is what this game seems to be all about. Still in a market where old school RPGs are rare this does hit a certain sentimental spot with me which is why I give it a 6/10 instead of a 5 or lower.… Expand
  73. GolovA
    Jan 11, 2016
    7
    Usually, i can easily round a score to a whole number in a ten-scale system. Shadowrun Returns, however, is right in the middle between 7 and 8. It is above 7 but not yet at 8. So here it is:
    75/100.
    PROS: Good story, interesting visual style, nice music (although limited to 3 or 4 tracks), some good characters. CONS: Specialty does not play a role, extremely simplified    Usually, i can easily round a score to a whole number in a ten-scale system. Shadowrun Returns, however, is right in the middle between 7 and 8. It is above 7 but not yet at 8. So here it is:
    75/100.

    PROS:
    Good story, interesting visual style, nice music (although limited to 3 or 4 tracks), some good characters.

    CONS:
    Specialty does not play a role, extremely simplified tactical point-and-click combat, linear story, a ton of reading (no voice-overs), not well-paced in terms of sequences between reading the story and running tactical missions, very lacking on explaining the Shadowrun universe.

    Overall, a good RPG, which almost makes it into solid. Main things that prevent it from doing so are the linear non-branching story line, childish tactical combat, offset pacing due to burdensome amount of reading.    … Expand
  74. Messerschmitt
    Sep 9, 2015
    7
    Shadowrun returns is a good classic rpg with really solid writing (although the story gets medicore in the end), turn-based fighting system and a nice atmosphere. Unfortunately it's very linear, short(~15 hours), locations are small and there are almost no side-quests. Still it's a better rpg than most of the titles coming out these days. Also the price is great.
  75. akarnokd
    Sep 21, 2014
    7
    The game features fantastic isometric images and great music, but that's it for me. I particularly don't like turn based combat, I'm not good at them, because it seems you need the optimal build from the start to make it. I failed in the very first combat session in this game: you somehow seem to be overwhelmed all the time. However, positive thing is that the designers gave multipleThe game features fantastic isometric images and great music, but that's it for me. I particularly don't like turn based combat, I'm not good at them, because it seems you need the optimal build from the start to make it. I failed in the very first combat session in this game: you somehow seem to be overwhelmed all the time. However, positive thing is that the designers gave multiple options to accomplish a task with either money, few of the skills or talk style. (I don't like games where you are cut from content because of your build, especially if it is somewhat tedius to replay to the same decision point over and over.) Missions barely give enough profit if you bring multiple shadowrunners along, which is almost always a must. Note that this is my opinion about the default Dead man's switch campaign, which has modestly interresting story, but not that engaging.… Expand
  76. Nataraja
    Jun 27, 2014
    5
    General Overview: An old school (supposedly) game play centric game that will remind many of us of the beginnings of great role playing adventures such as the original Ultima series. The graphics provide a nice atmosphere and the writing is decent but the campaign, Dead Man's Switch is very linear with LOTS of text reading. Make no mistake, you are NOT buying this for the campaign asGeneral Overview: An old school (supposedly) game play centric game that will remind many of us of the beginnings of great role playing adventures such as the original Ultima series. The graphics provide a nice atmosphere and the writing is decent but the campaign, Dead Man's Switch is very linear with LOTS of text reading. Make no mistake, you are NOT buying this for the campaign as the characters are shallow and your interaction is too brief to be of consequence. Its more showcase for what you have bought which is the editor that allows user generated content. As a game its more of an interactive novel than a game and unfortunately the story is only serviceable. This game will also only appeal to those with the patience and tolerance for text based gaming in the narrative sense. The combat is also serviceable at best and the challenge is not there and the "karma" (development points for your character) are provided for some of the smallest of actions and make earning those nearly meaningless. If you have no interest in building your own missions to share. don't want to take the risk that others will create something that you love and you have no intention of buying the FAR SUPERIOR Dragon Fall DLC there is little to recommend here.

    TL;DNR: 5:More of a demonstration campaign and editor tool for community development than a game. I would suggest avoiding unless you plan to create your own campaigns, want to try the community developed campaigns or plan to buy and play the FAR SUPERIOR Dragon Fall DLC.

    Technology/engine: 5: nothing earth shattering here although the editor is accessible and works well to generate custom content.

    AI: 5: Not much here in this installment. AI is standard fare.

    Graphics: 8: The 3D/2D as they call it works well and the art style is appealing and creates a great atmosphere.

    Sound: 5: The ambient sounds are decent but nothing to write home about.

    Soundtrack: 5: Music is appropriate but not all that varied. Fits to the atmosphere created by the art and the writing but is nothing outstanding.

    Voice acting: N/A

    Crafting: N/A

    Customization: 4: Very minor and nothing to get excited over.

    Game play systems: 8: The game play systems are well formed but poorly executed in the campaign - its far too simple and combat is too brief and too simple with very little challenge. The hope lies in the communities ability to put these systems to good use.

    Controls: 5: Simple point and click interaction. Very, very basic.

    Story: 5: Character development is poor in this installment and conversational choices are meaningless. It really is not something to get excited about and the reading gets laborious at points as there is nothing really driving the story forward.

    Multiplayer :N/A    … Expand
  77. birdman3
    Jul 2, 2018
    7
    I came into this expecting a combination of XCOM and Baldur's Gate. Unfortunately, between the two, I would've preferred more XCOM and less Baldur's Gate. The battles in this game are extremely straight forward and hardly tactical. In fact, I felt like taking cover or flanking enemy positions was secondary to just "select your most powerful weapon/spell" and "select the enemy you want toI came into this expecting a combination of XCOM and Baldur's Gate. Unfortunately, between the two, I would've preferred more XCOM and less Baldur's Gate. The battles in this game are extremely straight forward and hardly tactical. In fact, I felt like taking cover or flanking enemy positions was secondary to just "select your most powerful weapon/spell" and "select the enemy you want to kill the most". That's about as tactical as the battles get. I'm glad I chose the street samurai for my playthrough since I feel that I would've been bored or underpowered had I tried some of the other classes. The game doesn't really start to get interesting until about 4 hours in, and then it ends at 10 hours or so - I guess that means I enjoyed a solid 60% of the game. Beyond that, I would really just recommend that you pick up XCOM.… Expand
  78. Nucleon
    Nov 9, 2014
    6
    I read a lot critics here that shows little to no relation to what I experienced with Shadowrun Returns (SR), so I guess I'd write my own review. For the record, I played the tabletop game quite regularly since its inception in the early 90's, but not the other video games based on it.

    First, the good points: The story that comes attached with the game is a classic: It gives the player    I read a lot critics here that shows little to no relation to what I experienced with Shadowrun Returns (SR), so I guess I'd write my own review. For the record, I played the tabletop game quite regularly since its inception in the early 90's, but not the other video games based on it.

    First, the good points: The story that comes attached with the game is a classic: It gives the player a nice overview of the Shadowrun universe and some of its major actors, and despite lacking voice talent or even a change in the musical score, it manages to be compelling.

    The music is very good, and at some point I thought is was music made by an actual musical act, instead of being "just a game's soundtrack". The interface is clean, easy to learn and use, requiring mostly just a mouse. I also like what they did with the decking.

    The system is excellent. It is a simplification of the tabletop one (third edition), with no restraints on progression, where the player can chose to build Jacks-of-all-Trades or specialists as their character. Many combinations of skills are possible, making it a game people will replay using different races and skill sets.

    Finally, it comes with a complete editor, so the replaying value is compensated for what is quite a short main story. I can't say that it is the most user-friendly editor I ever used, but it's there, and that for me weighted a lot when I did buy the game (if I had bought it).

    First among the bad points are the graphics. I can't believe some games still have that rigid isometric viewing that brings the early 90's to mind. Take a game like "Freedom Force", an early 2000's game which used about the same strategic game play: You could rotate the camera and hear the environmental noises all over, and the graphics were like 10 years in advance over what appears in SR. That people wrote that the graphics were nice is beyond me: They are cartoonish, 2D and blocky.

    That carries around with the aspect of your character, too; If class customization is open-ended, the appearance and clothing are way too limited, in this day and age. Likewise, the weapons, armors, spells, programs follow a "they get better as you level-up" pattern, which of course makes them mandatory as soon as they appear, no matter the class you designed, you end up having the same SMG at the same time in the story.

    Rounding out the bad points, the AI cheats in strategic environment to compensate for the AI's limitations, roughly doubling the oppo's hit chance and damage caused as it is supposed to get tougher. It's manageable, but can be quite frustrating if you don't prepare for it.

    All in all, SR is a somewhat nostalgic game that long time Shadowrun player will instantly recognize (it is also written by one of the core game's authors, too, so the feeling isn't artificial). Its re-playability will depend on how the community reacts to both the game and its editors, and from that pool I got the best like the worst.

    I just hope that the next installment of this franchise will show some more up-to-date graphics and sounds, without cutting on the very acceptable system and interface: Six out of ten, worth the buy if you know what you're buying.    … Expand
  79. Gnawer
    Aug 12, 2013
    7
    The game is most closely related to classic Fallouts. It has much of the same mix of RPG and squad combat elements. I agree with most of other reviewers: it's not especially great, but entertaining enough. I kinda liked the story, even if it was completely linear. I guess for me biggest plus of this game is there was no games of this kind for years, and I used to like them back in the day.
  80. Thylbanus
    Jul 11, 2014
    7
    I have to say, this was VERY refreshing. It felt good and fun. Quite intuitive. GREAT platform to make your own missions. As with everything, there is a "but" coming. ...but the campaign that comes with it goes from cool, to drag, to WTF?! If this game didn't come with the campaign editor, it would be a 4 or 5, but the community keeps it from mediocrity (mostly).

    The cool things    I have to say, this was VERY refreshing. It felt good and fun. Quite intuitive. GREAT platform to make your own missions. As with everything, there is a "but" coming. ...but the campaign that comes with it goes from cool, to drag, to WTF?! If this game didn't come with the campaign editor, it would be a 4 or 5, but the community keeps it from mediocrity (mostly).

    The cool things we remember from the P&P are there. Just gotta keep an eye out for the easter eggs (first one you will see is over the bar). They decided to go more fantasy this time than cyberpunk and it gets campy. Anyone remember the movie "Dungeons & Dragons" with Marlon Wayans? Yea, that kind of campy.

    At least the systems are still fun and that is the basis for the community adventures. I have to say, some people have gone WAY out on some of these. There are a few that so outclass the campaign that comes with the game, they should just feature them in the game (i.e. directly suggest the top 3 or 5 for immediate download. Oh you will get the campy ones, too. That's the price of community mods, but it certainly was a boon for Skyrim. So too, I feel, for Shadowrun Returns.    … Expand
  81. AnticitizenOne
    Aug 9, 2013
    7
    Shadowrun Returns is a modern take on cRPGs developed by Harebrained Schemes. The first released "Big Kickstarter Project", does Shadowrun Returns live up to the lofty expectations of its backers.

    Shadowrun Returns opens up in a semi-dystopia cyberpunk future Seattle, and you are both the solution and the problem. You are completely broke and down on your luck until your old "friend",    Shadowrun Returns is a modern take on cRPGs developed by Harebrained Schemes. The first released "Big Kickstarter Project", does Shadowrun Returns live up to the lofty expectations of its backers.

    Shadowrun Returns opens up in a semi-dystopia cyberpunk future Seattle, and you are both the solution and the problem. You are completely broke and down on your luck until your old "friend", Sam Witts, send you a pre-recorded call stating that he is dead and he is paying you a large sum of money to find out who did it. Of course, it is not that simple. Throughout the campaign you will go through serial killers, cults, and corporations.

    This is where Shadowrun Returns greatest strengths comes into play, its world building. Thanks in part to the extensive Shadowrun universe, the game futures a delightfully dark and seedy atmosphere of corruption and desperation. This goes hand in hand with its graphics which wonderfully meld with its atmosphere.

    The rest of the game, however, is less than fortunate.

    The writing in the game does not reach the standards set by the cRPGs of old as it only ranges from good to sub-par.

    The character customization is incredibly shallow. While the karma class system is interesting and flexible, the equipment side of things is lackluster at best. You have two-three weapon slots, of which you will most likely use only one, six equipment slots where you carry your grenades and medikits, and your one armor slot. The are probably only 12 armors, one of which is clearly the best one, and about 6 weapons of each type, again with one clearly being the best. You are able to get cybernetic implants and the game has a interesting balancing mechanic to it, but there are too few options in implants as well.

    Combat is also somewhat baffling. In a word, it is like X-COM. You get two action, later three once you progress through the story. The fact that action points are tied to story rather than attributes or equipment is a rather poor design choice. You can use these actions to move, shoot, reload, go into the matrix, cast spell, summon spirits. The simple move system is easy to think tactically, but none of the encounters in the game require you to think that deeply even on the harder difficulties. Combat is spiced up somewhat by the addition of leylines and cover, but cover seems like it was only half implemented as damaged and hit chance does not seem to be reduced.

    The game is also incredibly linear with most of the game taking place inside crooked "hallways". Bizarrely the game world is sectioned and you can't move freely between the sections, making the game feel as a disjointed series of vignettes. Additionally, it is all about the main quest, there was only one side mission that I encountered throughout the game.

    The save feature also deserved some note. The game does not have a normal save system, instead the game features a weird autosave system.

    Shadowrun Returns has great potential, but is hampered by its shallowness and its kooky design choices. It is good, but edging towards the mediocre end of good.    … Expand
  82. derektrance
    Aug 10, 2013
    5
    As super excited as I was that it was made, it left a real dry feeling in my mouth. I could have gone through that game as anything. you're choice of archetype didn't matter. at all. I'd actually suggest maxing your real world weapon no matter what you play. And it's a lot easier if you break out and play a crazy hybrid. by the last battle I was a full decker which is what I wanted to playAs super excited as I was that it was made, it left a real dry feeling in my mouth. I could have gone through that game as anything. you're choice of archetype didn't matter. at all. I'd actually suggest maxing your real world weapon no matter what you play. And it's a lot easier if you break out and play a crazy hybrid. by the last battle I was a full decker which is what I wanted to play (which made things in cyberspace SO easy I didn't even bother running my AI's.) But I had magic and drones and all at the end, it just made it easier, which wasn't what I wanted. My class didn't matter. I could have been a dog with a shotgun and got through it. So disappointing. Hopefully, with the mods and such it will open up a bit. The story was ok, but I'd call it a failure if I was grading it. So here's my tips if I had to play it again, get your real world weapon maxed, I suggest shotgun. get the heal spell in spell casting and max drones which basically gives you an extra person to run with. Don't plan on playing as a "rigger or a decker", just take a few points in the other skills and your game will go a lot faster. 3 points in spell casting and rigging will get you a heal spell and a drone which make a HUGE difference and which I didn't do until the last battle.… Expand
  83. DemKin
    Jul 5, 2018
    6
    No matter how many times I try to get back to it, I simply cannot bring myself to finishing this game. It is sold as a RPG, but really just lacks... so many RPG elements that make any RPG a good one for me.
    It is indeed a very linear game, very little freedom really, the areas are corridorish and very small, with not much to do within them. I also do not find the dialogues to be    No matter how many times I try to get back to it, I simply cannot bring myself to finishing this game. It is sold as a RPG, but really just lacks... so many RPG elements that make any RPG a good one for me.
    It is indeed a very linear game, very little freedom really, the areas are corridorish and very small, with not much to do within them. I also do not find the dialogues to be particularly good, clunky even. To me, it feels more like some "tactical-action game" rather than a RPG really, despite the presence of RPG elements but not to a degree of depth I find satisfying.
    I just can't get into it, it doesn't grab me to make me dive into its world like good RPGs do. And with such RPGs like Pillars of Eternity or Divinity out, I simply cannot justify a recommendation to consider getting this game right now. Perhaps not a fair comparison, but I feel that from a customer point of view it is. Unless perhaps you're a fan of the Shadowrun universe, but then again I'd imagine you'd already have it by now.    … Expand
  84. Flasimbufasa
    Jul 2, 2014
    6
    Decent. About all I can say, though. I spent some time looking through the negative reviews, and I must say that most the gripes and complaints (Aside from the actual linearity of the game) have been addressed.

    I'm a linux user- game plays perfectly. Over 20 hours of gameplay and only one crash, which was my own fault. Quicksave works, along with rollback your autosaves. You can    Decent. About all I can say, though. I spent some time looking through the negative reviews, and I must say that most the gripes and complaints (Aside from the actual linearity of the game) have been addressed.

    I'm a linux user- game plays perfectly. Over 20 hours of gameplay and only one crash, which was my own fault.

    Quicksave works, along with rollback your autosaves.

    You can save on exit also.

    Even can make your own save game.

    Unfortunately, though, the game is still simple. It has no real "dice rolling" mechanics that I was hoping to be able to take advantage of. The numbers you "roll" seem arbitrary. The game is essentially: Level up your stuff, become more OP. Even with harder difficulty, it doesn't fix the simplistic gameplay.

    The character designs seem second thought. I can't say that I'm attached to my character, really. There isn't much character progression you can do, even with user generated content that I've seen so far.

    The game is worth it on a sale. The developers seem to be addressing the concerns of the community, as you see by my list of fixed items. However, I still can't say it is a "great game". Just a game to spend some time with.

    The saving grace is that as a table top runner for some shadowrun every now and again, the game has given me ideas on streamlining matrix and "jaking in" in general. The matrix aspect of this game is interesting. It isn't technical, at all- But it works. it gets the point across. You don't need to be a networking engineer to undestand what you're doing. That is a very nicely done thing.

    Kudos for the effort. Just wish the characters had more to them.    … Expand
  85. Voyou
    Dec 17, 2017
    6
    A rather pleasant adventure whose shortcomings are slightly positively balanced by its entertainment value.

    First, this is RPG Lite : In a very linear game, there is no physical exploration, the dialog options are cosmetic, and none of your skills or decisions have any defining impact (outside of keeping you alive in combat.) Very typical of RPGs however, the consumables in your    A rather pleasant adventure whose shortcomings are slightly positively balanced by its entertainment value.

    First, this is RPG Lite : In a very linear game, there is no physical exploration, the dialog options are cosmetic, and none of your skills or decisions have any defining impact (outside of keeping you alive in combat.) Very typical of RPGs however, the consumables in your (awkward) inventory are useless. The skills tree is sexy and its leveling catchy, although I do feel lucky for never putting a point in charisma and intelligence and never paying for it.

    Second, this is tactical Lite : Pick a team of shotguns and everything will be dandy. Some skills are weaker than others, so pick a Rigger if you want a paralysed moron, or pick a shaman if you want your conjured beasties to attack your own guys, then you can call this self-infliction a tactical choice. Also, the world is barely interactive. Nonetheless, combat is smooth and enjoyable, and usually ends a few minutes after a fight scene becomes too long. Now if only they could remove the turn-based movement when there is nobody around…

    What I enjoyed most are the NPCs. They are colourful, engaging, and their dialogues are well written (regardless of the numerous typos.) A lot of the protagonist's questions are there to bring the world to life and deliver the lore, not through data dumps like so many games have done lately, but through personal stories and opinions. As cosmetic as they are, your answers have at least the benefit of taking you seamlessly into the story. And closing it, as the epilogue itself is thought out in the same spirit.    … Expand
  86. night4
    Oct 24, 2016
    6
    I really wanted to give this a higher score because of the tactical combat, creativity, and story.

    But it doesn't explain any mechanics (yes, I know you can go reading through hundreds of pages of included manuals, but that's just silly), it's buggy (final battle wouldn't progress, just stuck on enemy turn forever), and half the time when you click, it simply doesn't register or you    I really wanted to give this a higher score because of the tactical combat, creativity, and story.

    But it doesn't explain any mechanics (yes, I know you can go reading through hundreds of pages of included manuals, but that's just silly), it's buggy (final battle wouldn't progress, just stuck on enemy turn forever), and half the time when you click, it simply doesn't register or you somehow click through your target.

    Oh, and the campaign is WAY too short.

    So it ends up being annoying when it could have been a solid 9.    … Expand
  87. TelArin2175
    Jun 6, 2017
    7
    Adaptación del homónimo juego de rol a un juego de combate por turnos con tints (y bien cargados) de rol, con ambientación metida en vena a través de muchos textos y diálogos, que no siempre tiene repercusión en el juego.
  88. JavierTaco
    Jan 17, 2018
    7
    This is a good game. It's a cyberpunk-themed turn-based RPG that works as a great introduction to the world of Shadowrun, but perhaps is brought down by some minor flaws. The game is pretty easy, for one, and some sections of the game seem to drag on for too long. The game also didn't really do the dystopian world of Shadowrun justice, although the atmosphere in this game is still fantastic.
  89. SilverOrlov
    Oct 10, 2019
    7
    It seems to be an interesting game with interesting turn-based mechanics, but it ended very quickly and often the "random generator" works too stupidly. Maybe this was originally planned so, but such awkward situations when, due to this game mechanics, you find yourself in a completely dumb game-play incident - it makes me not to give too high a rating to the Shadowrun.
  90. Tilt1k
    Nov 11, 2019
    7
    My first izometric RPG and shadowrun game. Story is nothing special, but gameplay-wise i really enjoyed it. It has some interesting classes and mechanics.
  91. Combiner
    Oct 13, 2022
    7
    Nice and simple RPG, will run on low spec or old PCs. But it's very visible that it's old.
  92. 4ya5h1
    Apr 1, 2022
    6
    gameplay is good. characters, plot and lore is interesting, but actually there is nothing special about this game, its just a good game
  93. Wrathzo
    Mar 24, 2022
    6
    Shadowrun Returns is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Harebrained Schemes. While gameplay is mostly linear, some exploration is possible while completing objectives. The player can converse with various characters; different statistics and skills give new dialogue options, affect quest progression, or give different rewards.
  94. EVIL_UJIN
    Oct 15, 2022
    7
    Люблю жанр киберпанк, поэтому заинтерсовался серией Shadowrun. Прошел с удовольствием. Опишу плюсы и минусы.
    Плюсы:
    +Интересный, проработанный мир (созданный еще для карточной игры Shadowrun), в которой сосуществуют киберпанк и магия. Много отсылок к классическим произведениям Уильяма Гибсона (кто читал, поймет). +Красиво нарисованные локации +Интуитивно понятная ролевая система,    Люблю жанр киберпанк, поэтому заинтерсовался серией Shadowrun. Прошел с удовольствием. Опишу плюсы и минусы.
    Плюсы:
    +Интересный, проработанный мир (созданный еще для карточной игры Shadowrun), в которой сосуществуют киберпанк и магия. Много отсылок к классическим произведениям Уильяма Гибсона (кто читал, поймет).
    +Красиво нарисованные локации
    +Интуитивно понятная ролевая система,
    +Возможность создания межклассового персонажа с логичными ограничениями. Например, магу или шаману нежелательно вставлять киберимплантанты, так как они уменьшают его "эссенцию", ухудшая связь с миром магии.
    +Интересный , закрученный сюжет (для меня главный плюс)
    +Проработанные персонажи, (хоть они и в 2D), как положительные , так и отрицательные. Не в пример вылизанным в 3D "болванчикам" из многих современных игр с прмитивной мотивацией "хочу всех убить, не спрашивайте почему"
    Минусы:
    - Линейность игры. Вас водят по сюжету от задания к заданию, почти не давая возможностей самостоятельного исследования. Некоторые задания можно выполнить разными путями, но изменений в игровом мире от этого не будет.
    - Большинство локаций небольшие, с буквально парой "точек интереса" вроде контейнера или компьютера для взлома
    - Мало дополнительных заданий
    -Невысокая сложность боев (играл на Харде)

    Это не идал, конечно, но всем любителям киберпанка и пошаговых стратегий рекомендую к ознакомлению    … Expand
  95. pashockys
    Feb 25, 2023
    6
    it is a pretty simple game with no linear plot and no choises ahead. it is buggy and with janky balance.
  96. Magical_Viktor
    Apr 30, 2023
    6
    Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»

Awards & Rankings

27
#27 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
48
#48 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 54 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 54
  2. Mixed: 23 out of 54
  3. Negative: 0 out of 54
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 5, 2013
    82
    Shadowrun Returns is a bit more simplistic than I had hoped for, but at the same time it is not bad at all. [Sept 2013]
  2. Eurogamer Sweden
    Sep 13, 2013
    60
    Shadowrun Returns is a faithful reinterpretation (and in a vague sense, sequel) to the SNES game from 20 years ago, maybe a bit too faithful. Though most aspects of the the wild and unruly Shadowrun world is included, the promise of this game lies more in the open embrace of the mod community than the included adventure.
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  3. Level7.nu
    Sep 10, 2013
    70
    Shadowrun Returns will probably please most fans if perhaps not blow anyone out of the water. The campaign is well written and serves as a good introduction for new players. The variety in combat and character creation and dialogue options is great but suffers from a badly implemented autosave system. With lots of new campaigns on the horizon Shadowrun Returns is well worth keeping an eye on.
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