Shadowrun Returns: cyberpunk RPG review

In 2013, this game was released and updated the cyberpunk genre. It is worth noting that she had a chance of not getting out, because funds were collected through crowdfunding (voluntary donations from interested players). However, thanks to the theme and the basis, in the form of a board game, this game was released on PC.

Plot

The main character is a shadow runner, yes, that’s how the name of the game is explained in a simple way. After a series of not very successful cases, the character is contacted by his deceased friend Sam using a pre-made video recording and asks to find out who is responsible for his death. Naturally, if successful, the hero will receive a reward in the form of an insurance payment, which the character will receive if successful. There is no extra money, you have to pay for uniforms, which means the die is cast.

A new adventure has begun. Not all of the quests were breathtaking, but at least a couple of them were entertaining and might give you some ideas for your board game party. I’ll highlight the ending. No, there is nothing surprising or a wow moment here, but it can drive the player into a stupor for a couple of seconds. Plus, this universe has a strong foundation for further development. True, now it depends more on the internal kitchen because… studios are bought and sold often along with their intellectual.

Gameplay and leveling up

The game is divided into three stages. Receiving order information, preparing the detachment and, in fact, execution. Unfortunately, there are few side and additional tasks, which is why the player will often follow the rails, which he can still partially influence. The choice fell on roleplaying as a friendly neighbor elf who is trying to find common or beneficial interests, and if that doesn’t work out, his comrades will help.

I’ll say right away that I didn’t install cyber implants because… the money was spent on regular equipment upgrades. Plus, the runners you take with you on a mission also need to be paid. But, if your character is tongue-tied and has developed some skills, then it’s worth getting better terms. It’s not that pumping here is downright inconvenient, but in the future it should be designed more friendly, otherwise it looks extremely strange.

During tasks, a step-by-step mode will be activated, but it is easy to learn and suitable even for beginners in the genre. But there is also a fly in the ointment. The character runs along the corridor to take an advantageous position. But another character stops him, starting a dialogue with him, and then the battle begins. Yes, everything is logical. Sudden meetings happen. But the character is not allowed to reach the point, but at this time the opponents calmly take their positions.

A pinch of lore

Those running are local mercenaries, mostly representatives of the criminal world. What distinguishes runners from bandits is the presence of a narrow but sought-after specialization. For example, instead of using a typical thug that will intimidate locals, people and metahumans (more on them a little later), finance will hire a decker-hacker to scour the matrix – the local Internet for compromising information.

And the shaman will call on the spirit of the murdered person so that he can tell about the one who treated him so unfairly, and perhaps justly. The result was a mixture of cyberpunk and fantasy, and it turned out to be challenging. An elf with a sniper rifle and a cybernetic arm? No problem. Orc who prefers close combat? Please. There are 5 races in the game, including: trolls, dwarves and people.

Although this was not in this game, there are also vampires in the Shadowrun universe, and this is already a good help for fans of vampires in general and the world of World of Darkness in particular to have a blast. Separately, I would like to draw your attention so that there are no questions about the game later. The game’s lore includes the aforementioned metahumans. Metahumans appeared due to the return of magic to the world. In fact, magic influenced people as an accelerated evolution into one steppe or another. Although you cannot play as these races, there are dragons, banshees, goblins and chupacabras, etc. in this world.

Original source

The universe of this game was born in 1989, and the Cyberpunk universe appeared in 1988. I note that it is difficult to say who borrowed ideas from whom, because both of these universes were born during the heyday of the cyberpunk genre. Those who are in the know know where the ears grew from, and for beginners a short excursion. The term cyberpunk itself appeared in 1983 thanks to the writer Bruce Bethke. Moreover, initially the term did not carry the meaning that it contains now.

This was the simple title of the book, inspired by the mohawk worn by the main character. As is known in subcultures, Iroquois was worn mainly by punks. As you might guess, what happened next was a play on words that depicts the future. Cyber ​​comes from the word cybernetics and punk, which initially meant an individual who looks critically at both the society in which he lives and the people around him. In other words, a punk could be described as protesting against something.

Combining this, we get a protesting person living in a future world and probably with a body full of cybernetic implants that will help him in protests. It is important to understand that the image that media structures have assigned to punks is very different from what was originally laid down. The images that are associated with punks are due to Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren.

I won’t go into details of their life activities, but if you are interested, you can find them yourself. But, it is worth recognizing that Vivienne and Malcolm largely influenced the formation of the world stereotype about punks. The following works played a significant role in popularizing the cyberpunk genre: Johnny Mnemonic (1995) and Blade Runner (1982), as well as the anime Ghost in the Shell (1995).

Music and sound

These two comrades were responsible for them: Marshall Parker and Sam Powell. There is really no information on them as such, but they did their job perfectly. I would like to mention the music in the main menu of the game. If you are interested, here is the title Shadowrun Returns – Main Menu Music Theme. The sounds are juicy, but in some places they are a little underpowered.