Game News Shadowrun: Hong Kong Released

[Infinitron]

Tags: Harebrained Schemes; Shadowrun: Hong Kong

The Thursday of Incline continues with the release of Shadowrun: Hong Kong. In the same time that other developers have taken to release one RPG, Harebrained Schemes have now released three, and that's while dabbling in a whole bunch of other projects as well. Here's their Kickstarter update:

Wow, Launch Day is finally here!

Thanks for sticking with us throughout the development of Shadowrun: Hong Kong. We've enjoyed giving you these "peeks behind the curtain" and sharing the adventure with you.

We know we say it a lot but thank you again for your generous financial and moral support. (And the bagels! Where would we be without the bagels?)

This game is the result of a true collaboration between artists, designers, programmers, writers, testers, and producers who put the game and their audience above all else. A lot of blood, sweat, tears (along with long, long hours) went into making Shadowrun: Hong Kong and knowing you were out there, excitedly waiting to play the game we were working so hard to deliver, really helped to motivate us.

And so, without further ado, you’ll find everything you need to know to get the game and your rewards below. We appreciate the opportunity to make games for you and hope you enjoy your trip to Hong Kong.
​

According to reviews published today, the game is exactly what you'd expect - more of the same, bigger and better. Map sizes especially appear to be much expanded, now that tablet memory limitations have been left behind. You can read the reviews yourself over at Rock Paper Shotgun, PC World, Hardcore Gamer or iDigitalTimes. Shadowrun: Hong Kong is now available for the price of $20 over at Steam or GOG. Enjoy it, because we probably won't be getting any more of these anytime soon, now that BattleTech is coming.

 

[Excidium II]

Map sizes especially appear to be much expanded, now that tablet memory limitations have been left behind.

Technical Limitashuns? niceme.me

 

[Gondolin]

In the same time that other developers have taken to release one RPG, Harebrained Schemes have now released three, and that's while dabbling in a whole bunch of other projects as well.

Who knows how many UNSOLVED microissues does S:HR have!

 

[LESS T_T]

Enjoy it, because we probably won't be getting any more of these anytime soon

Mini-campaign is coming, though, in delayed.

As soon as the team is finished with Shadowrun: Hong Kong, we'll be rolling onto the Shadows of Hong Kong mini-campaign. We anticipate releasing it in early 2016.

 

[sstacks]

Started a Let's Play as soon as it downloaded from Steam

 

[Akratus]

That theme in the trailer . . .

Spoiler

 

[Gondolin]

The Matrix now has a mini-game. Fuckin' decline, if you ask me.

 

[Zetor]

The Matrix now has a mini-game. Fuckin' decline, if you ask me.

Not only that, but half of the minigame is fucking Simon. I mean, c'mon.

(it's skippable, though... the bruteforce option only 'costs' 50 trace, and Iso's starter deck has a much higher limit. May be possible to skip multiple ones too, if she gets a chance to use the Suppress program between them..)

 

[Jaesun]

So happy they dropped those shitty tablet limitations. Curious to see how the new levels look like.

 

[CRD]

So happy they dropped those shitty tablet limitations. Curious to see how the new levels look like.

They are bigger, but imho doesn't change at all the gameplay or feeling of the game, even the revamped matrix is a bit meh. The problem is still there as the engine was built thinking on tablets, so globally the limitations will not change a lot even if they shorted one or two.

To see a proper shadowrun game with quality like Wasteland, Divinity, pillars or any of those new rpg games, they are gonna need to rebuild everything again from scratch.

Technically can be the best shadowrun game, but still falls short and feels dated compared to what are other studios doing with similar budget and what they could achieve with another engine.

 

[Cadmus]

Guys how fucked up and buggy is it? Should I get it now or wait at least for the first patch?

 

[SniperHF]

Guys how fucked up and buggy is it? Should I get it now or wait at least for the first patch?

So far so good here. Only issue so far is a little lag in the menus for me, which is weird because DF and SRR didn't have it.

 

[dibens]

Shadowrun game with quality like Wasteland, Divinity, pillars or any of those new rpg games

So you want a game with shittier story and/or combat that costs 2-3 times as much. Got it.

 

[CRD]

So you want a game with shittier story and/or combat that costs 2-3 times as much. Got it.

As I remarked, technically

 

[Cowboy Moment]

rpg games

 

[Zeriel]

Is this a continuation of the previous ones or a standalone experience?

 

[Hoaxmetal]

Is this a continuation of the previous ones or a standalone experience?

Standalone.

 

[Septaryeth]

Is this a continuation of the previous ones or a standalone experience?

Standalone, you see reports of the bug spirits in DMS and that's about it.

Anyway, 8 hours in. The feeling is slightly mixed but positive.

First of, the Chinese are all correct. And I'm seeing alot of references to Asian cultures, Feng shue is a big part in the story.
Also I can't believe Shadowrun has something called the Nationalist war in Taiwan
I have to read up on that some time.

The story starts up a lot more "personal" in a sense, it's mainly about you becoming a shadowrunner out of necessity and the transition of your mind, though I suspect that will change soon.
Given two of your relatives are involved in the story, and this is you first time shadowrunning, there will bound to be conversations regarding your past. You're given a basic outline of your childhood and background and through dialogue choices you can alter the details and responses.
That said, I don't believe it will have any real impact in the future, so like the etiquettes it's just there to add some flavor to your tailored character. It's pretty much the starting conversation in DF spanning throughout the game (according to my progress).
It's slightly disappointing the limited amount of options you get or how you can't just leave your characters blank/total mystery, hey but if it stops the story from turning into "let's pick a random stranger to kill the bugs and save the world"...

In a way the companions are pretty much the polished version of that of DF.
They are less trope-ish *cough* Glory *cough*, but the basic personality is about the same.
Duncan is serious tough guy, minus the unreasonable "you killed Monika!", but more of a rookie. Oh and he's your mentally ill brother by the way.
Is0bel is the sheepish, less social one in the group with a dark past.
Gobbet is somewhat Monica/Dietrich hybrid, being the carefree hippie
I don't find them irritating, but some dialogues do come formulaic and repetitive after DF. So real original characters are Racter and Gaichu. And they are plus-on characters...

Similar to DF, you can tell them all to piss off if you want to.

Combat is about the same as Hard in DF director's cut. I don't see the option for Very Hard and the hit percentage isn't as stupid as that.
This also means the AI is still somewhat lackluster, so although they will try to flank you and bomb you with grenades and spells, you still see mindless goons run far far away then shoot you with a shotgun.

 

[Roguey]

So you want a game with shittier story and/or combat that costs 2-3 times as much. Got it.

They all feel like full-scale RPGs.

I wouldn't necessarily blame it on tablets. Josh Sawyer has spoken in the past how programming things on an abbreviated schedule results in hacky solutions that end up costing a lot more in the long run. SRR was extremely abbreviated (15 months).

 

[Gord]

Guys how fucked up and buggy is it? Should I get it now or wait at least for the first patch?

I'm getting some CTDs now and then - 2 or 3 times in the main menu and everytime I tried to summon a spirit in the first mission you get (the one after the door with the 2 hellhounds). Other than that it runs well so far.
I'm playing the Linux version, however.

 

[sstacks]

The only bug I have seen is when I switched options menus the old menu hung around in an semi-opaque fashion on top of new menu. Switching out and back again fixed it.

 

[Excidium II]

Character models look way better now.

 

[Crescent Hawk]

I am still mad I couldn't romance Glory in DF.

 

[Ninjerk]

Joined: Jul 9, 2014

 

[Excidium II]

Fucking glory plebs. Eiger is the best.

Spoiler