Shadowrun Returns
It's nice to have a decent Shadowrun game around. This one's the single-player, toolkit-based one (whereas there's a Shadowrun Online that seems to be a quasi-MMO in the works). In general, I find it worth the $20.
The campaign is pretty good in my book. It's not Planescape: Torment and there are several typos in the conversation text, but it takes a story and builds it up, upping the ante over the 10 hours (I read 12, but it only took me about 10). It's set fairly early in the SR continuity and it includes some big-name characters. Pretty engrossing and fun. And at $2/hour, that's better than movie rates for certain. Add to that all the player-created campaigns that are likely to be made, and it seems a pretty good deal.
There are a few problems, though. The most grievous is the automatic-checkpoint-only save system. Not being able to manually save is annoying enough, but losing upwards of half a hour or so of activity because you have to leave the game is bad. Otherwise, they issues are more fiddly. Triggered events can interrupt an action in progress, which can potentially strand a character out in the open just as enemies appear. There's fairly little explanation how a lot of the systems work. Some things behave inexplicably expected (cyberware installation requires an extra step beyond the shop purchase screens it so resembles). Specialist NPCs are... a little lacking (I had to restart once when several 'lucky' crits came down and killed my character on one level, but 3-4 times in a later level when the NPC decker, Dodger, I took along couldn't finish the Matrix session without being overrun - I finally reverted to an earlier checkpoint and had my main character handle it successfully) and you can only equip items for NPCs, not other gear.
Heal Wound is wonderful, even if it does literally heal the most recent wound only. Overwatch is useful when unlocked. Shotgun kneecapping can be surprisingly useful. Karma flows freely enough to be pretty darn good in two areas (gunning and decking in my case) and dabble a little beyond.
Some additional thoughts as they come:
- I found drones to be useful - having a rigger is not quite like having an extra 1-2 runners, but drones are great for the occasionally-useful attack and running interference without the guilt of getting someone killed (though I think I only lost one in the final run).
- Support drones are designed to use things from their inventory (healing kits, grenades, etc.). That isn't well-explained and the description of one would lead you to believe its basic attack heals allies "with healing shrapnel" if you don't sense the sarcasm in basic text.
- Decking is handled about "right" in my opinion, but it's still uneven. No NPC is going to be as good as your character if you have a moderate focus in decking and upgrade gear. But while a Matrix run is absolutely essential in some missions, it's not even possible in others. Decker feels like the only class that can be completely useless (well, they can still shoot a gun, but almost anyone else is better in combat).
- I knew I should recognize the NPC Jake Armitage aside from the Neuromancer reference. Jake was the protagonist in the old Shadowrun SNES game.
- The trademark smartlinked weapons don't show up for purchase until laaate in the game. Not that the benefits are actually clear in any way.
- Mind your Essence. .5+.5=1 only if installed at the same time, because permanent/base Essence is rounded down after each installation/operation. Installed separately, that's 2 whole Essence. Not sure if that's RAW from the books, due to limited practical experience with cybered characters.
The campaign is pretty good in my book. It's not Planescape: Torment and there are several typos in the conversation text, but it takes a story and builds it up, upping the ante over the 10 hours (I read 12, but it only took me about 10). It's set fairly early in the SR continuity and it includes some big-name characters. Pretty engrossing and fun. And at $2/hour, that's better than movie rates for certain. Add to that all the player-created campaigns that are likely to be made, and it seems a pretty good deal.
There are a few problems, though. The most grievous is the automatic-checkpoint-only save system. Not being able to manually save is annoying enough, but losing upwards of half a hour or so of activity because you have to leave the game is bad. Otherwise, they issues are more fiddly. Triggered events can interrupt an action in progress, which can potentially strand a character out in the open just as enemies appear. There's fairly little explanation how a lot of the systems work. Some things behave inexplicably expected (cyberware installation requires an extra step beyond the shop purchase screens it so resembles). Specialist NPCs are... a little lacking (I had to restart once when several 'lucky' crits came down and killed my character on one level, but 3-4 times in a later level when the NPC decker, Dodger, I took along couldn't finish the Matrix session without being overrun - I finally reverted to an earlier checkpoint and had my main character handle it successfully) and you can only equip items for NPCs, not other gear.
Heal Wound is wonderful, even if it does literally heal the most recent wound only. Overwatch is useful when unlocked. Shotgun kneecapping can be surprisingly useful. Karma flows freely enough to be pretty darn good in two areas (gunning and decking in my case) and dabble a little beyond.
Some additional thoughts as they come:
- I found drones to be useful - having a rigger is not quite like having an extra 1-2 runners, but drones are great for the occasionally-useful attack and running interference without the guilt of getting someone killed (though I think I only lost one in the final run).
- Support drones are designed to use things from their inventory (healing kits, grenades, etc.). That isn't well-explained and the description of one would lead you to believe its basic attack heals allies "with healing shrapnel" if you don't sense the sarcasm in basic text.
- Decking is handled about "right" in my opinion, but it's still uneven. No NPC is going to be as good as your character if you have a moderate focus in decking and upgrade gear. But while a Matrix run is absolutely essential in some missions, it's not even possible in others. Decker feels like the only class that can be completely useless (well, they can still shoot a gun, but almost anyone else is better in combat).
- I knew I should recognize the NPC Jake Armitage aside from the Neuromancer reference. Jake was the protagonist in the old Shadowrun SNES game.
- The trademark smartlinked weapons don't show up for purchase until laaate in the game. Not that the benefits are actually clear in any way.
- Mind your Essence. .5+.5=1 only if installed at the same time, because permanent/base Essence is rounded down after each installation/operation. Installed separately, that's 2 whole Essence. Not sure if that's RAW from the books, due to limited practical experience with cybered characters.
Comments
Post a Comment