Review RPG Codex Review: Shadowrun Returns

[Grunker]

Tags: Harebrained Schemes; Shadowrun Returns

Having raised $1,836,447, Shadowrun Returns is the first of the "big" Kickstarted RPGs to see the light of day. Knowing the importance such a release holds for the Codex, we just had to ask Harebrained Schemes for a review copy. Lo and behold, on July 22, three days before the game's release, a review copy found its way to my inbox (along with a gift certificate for massive amounts of potato with cheese Doritos upon the release of a favorable review, of course).



Little did Harebrained Schemes realize that a wealthy eccentric who went by the username of Darth Roxor would pay us heaps of cash volunteer to take a look at the game. We consented to this, because of his formidable history of reviewing for the Codex no one else could be assed to do it.

What follows is Darth Roxor's honest review of Shadowrun Returns. Will it Kickstart the Age of Incline™, or will it be forgotten as a sad trickle of an era that ran out of juice before it even began? Here's his final word on the matter:

I find it hard to provide a verdict for Shadowrun Returns. On one hand, it has clear flaws, some that are even glaring. It’s short as hell, and a playthrough will take you something around 13 hours tops. Its replay value is a bit questionable. It’s more of a fast-food kind of deal than an actual full-scale game.​

On the other hand, you have to be fair and keep in mind the game's limited budget in the context of its flaws. Not to mention that the peanuts this game costs offer you a tremendous ratio of bang for your buck. There's also the prospect of fan-made scenarios coming out from the editor. And, finally, what I guess has the most (albeit subjective) say on the matter, is that I simply fragging enjoyed my time with the game. I'm keeping my fingers crossed tightly for the upcoming official campaign in Berlin that's supposed to have a more open world and more side missions.​

Read the full article: RPG Codex Review - Darth Roxor Reviews Shadowrun Returns

 

[Infinitron]

Darth Roxor

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Darth Roxor

 

[Darth Roxor]

gift certificate for massive amounts of potato with cheese Doritos

Potato would be much more likely to sway my opinion, Doritos are a no-go :

 

[Mantiis]

The current module (seattle) is quite terrible. Hopefully Berlin will redeem it.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Nice review, one question tho, anyone from the staff have editor responsibilities or is it posted as is from the author?

I ask this because the text could use a lot of trimming, editing down and better formating. There is a tad much exposition, the pace of reading is off with too many short paragraphs, screen-shots all over the place, it ends up reading more like bullet points than actual descriptive text.


But fuck it, English is not my first language.

 

[Metro]

The character generation is pretty basic...

The character system is one giant, unbalanced and underwhelming clusterfuck...

...absolute lack of balance across classes...

...most of the skill trees are boring as hell...

...melee weapons, which are horribly underdeveloped...

...all of the above options are a bit wasted due to the game's rather low difficulty...

...absolutely non-existent resource management...

...much worse problem, is the enemy AI...

There are four modes – easy, normal, hard and very hard. I played on the three highest ones, and to be perfectly honest, I have no idea what differences they have.

...primarily a mission-based game, without a seamless, open world or robust exploration...

...grand total of two full-fledged optional missions in the game...

Going back to the dialogues, unfortunately, while they are very well written, there is not really much depth to them. That is to say, most of them are very Biowarian™

The only choices you will ever make that have any impact are basically “do I return the fedex item to the quest giver for +karma or sell it to the fence?

What the shit.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

best review since Mantiis stopped posting

 

[Grunker]

Nice review, one question tho, anyone from the staff have editor responsibilities or is it posted as is from the author?

Written by Darth Roxor
Edited by Infinitron and Grunker

We edit layout, typos and a few other things, but unless you're the one who's going to pay me and Infinitron for our time or do it yourself, a full fledged editorial version is a "no way."

That said, it seems neo-Codexers are all about form over content in reviews too, eh?

to Darth Roxor for a solid, old-fashioned Codex review; extremely detailed review and listing of game mechanics, and a few notes on story and aesthetics!

 

[Infinitron]

Nice review, one question tho, anyone from the staff have editor responsibilities or is it posted as is from the author?

I ask this because the text could use a lot of trimming, editing down and better formating. There is a tad much exposition, the pace of reading is off with too many short paragraphs, screen-shots all over the place, it ends up reading more like bullet points than actual descriptive text.



But fuck it, English is not my first language.

You should have seen it before I edited it.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Fair enough.

 

[Spectacle]

"ICPs"? It's called ICE ffs!
Otherwise good review, 5 doritos out of 6.

 

[Darth Roxor]

"ICPs"? It's called ICE ffs!

screen-shots all over the place

It might be because screenshots usually come in the form of microthumbnails. But I guess nu-staff is too incompetent to do that, so it breaks the pacing a bit

 

[Wizfall]

Yep good review.
And yes i think the game story is much better if you don't know the P&P setting.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Don't mean it as a criticism to writing quality, some of the best writers i know are only considered such because they have amazing editors. The most revered Portuguese writer and Nobel winner (Saramago) was a consistent pain to edit and he refused to write with any kind of proper punctuation and structure.

Overall i liked the style of writing, better than what a lot of people who are paid to do it for a living churn out.

 

[Metro]

He's a big boy, he can take criticism.

 

[Burning Bridges]

Not a bad review, especially the thing with the fast-food deal. Too bad that this game was supposed to more than just a fast-food deal.

It’s more of a fast-food kind of deal than an actual full-scale game.

I simply fragging enjoyed my time with the game

"Der Anspruchslose ist immer an der Quelle des Glücks"

 

[Kem0sabe]

He's a big boy, he can take criticism.

Writers are a prickly bunch.

 

[Brotherman Bill]

Matrix, best in game? hahaohwow.jpg


That boring ass affair had you play with every animation being spellcasting animation, it was a slow trudgefest where the only chance of losing was if you had unlucky rolls. Also it was buggy as hell. They should've gone with matrix as a mini-game instead, as they originally planned.

And mages aren't overpowered, at least both shamans and straight shooters are better than them.

let roguey review it next time.

 

[Infinitron]

Too bad that this game was supposed to more than just a fast-food deal.

Was it? The original funding goal was 400,000 dollars, man. It was supposed to an iOS casual game. (inb4 it still is)

let roguey review it next time.

Be careful what you wish for.

 

[Hoodoo]

Itching to play this. Maybe Harebrained will patch up mechanics later but otherwise the game seems sound enough that the existence of the editor will give at least some longevity and maybe some real good campaigns in the future.

 

[felipepepe]

Great review, I may disagree with some points, but I can't disagree with how you explained your views.

 

[Roguey]

Very thorough, I'm impressed with how quickly you were able to get it out.

(that follow the dishonorable tradition of “adds stats for no reason”, like a “tourist look” hawaii shirt and shorts that give +1 intelligence)

Good old gamism.

let roguey review it next time.

It's true that mine didn't need editing.

 

[Burning Bridges]

That said, it seems neo-Codexers are all about form over content in reviews too, eh?

ehmm .. this is public for the whole internet, and will be read by a few thousand people in the next days. What's so bad about asking for proper formatting? Calling that superficial is a bit over the top don't you think??

Concerning my own articles, it was the forum switch in 2012 that fucked up my formatting. That's not my fault and I still haven't found time to go over it a second time.

 

[Maelflux]

Great review! (and I agree on pretty much everything I think..)