Shadowrun Hong Kong - Extended Edition

Fist of all, let me tell new players that you don't need to have played the previous games in order to enjoy this. It's not a trilogy, the games are just set in the same universe. There's little to no reference to events form the previous games and no recurring characters. That being said, this is a definite improvement over th rest. How so? 1. The missions are well conceived and interesting. Also, they have multiple ways of being solved, including, in quite a few case, non violent means. 2. There a lot more focus on story, you get a lot of info about what's happening in the universe. The missions rarely are what they seem. The game manages to simulate a believable mercenary illegal operation. 3. The matrix (the virtual reality where you go in order to hack computers for information and override systems) has been remade. Some might not like the changes (I'm neutral on this) but it's clear it's no longer a reskin of reality (meatspace as the call it in game). It's a whole new world. You might ask: so few changes? Well, the foundation was solid o begin with. The previous Shadowrun games were good games. This just improves the experience. I highly recommend the game.

Well, this is a hard one. I liked dragonfall for what it was. It was fairly easy even on the hardest setting but still pretty enjoyable with it's setting, lore and storytelling. More over, it came as a present from Gog for my continued business (thanks for that!). I decided to get this one as well, but hum... I will try to give a brief explaination.... Pros: - reworked matrix; I for one really enjoyed the new system (even the "simon says" minigame was fun) - classes and traits feel more polished Cons: - story is a straight downfall from the previous entry, sadly - even in the deluxe edition has at least one missionbreaking bug which is well known all over the forums (thats a plain joke from the developper perspective...) - setting and flair just don't catch me as the previous ones .... but the overall gamekiller: It's riddiculous easy. Even on the hardest setting. Thats a real shame... I don't expect some "Ufo enemy Unknown" - turn based battlecrime but this is a joke. I used two medikits in the game and one reload (funny fact: the tutorial was the hardest part). Your whole team is just way too powerfull. I like storytelling games, I can even live with missing competition on the battlefield. But the combination of lacking story and (!) that point just makes me sad. By no means a really bad game, but dragonfall was way better.

While a lot of these reviews are negative, I can say that I genuinely enjoyed this game. The story wasn't incredibly epic, but I did enjoy the setting of Hong Kong. While not as mission-heavy as Dragonfall, I found it a good length, and the missions were fun and not frustrating. The characters were quite fun too. They were unique and had some good designs, and are quite powerful in their respective roles. This is good because it makes combat easier, but can also remove a bit of the challenge aspect. Either way it made for a fun combat experience that I enjoyed. It's the last of the HBS shadowrun games and it definitely shows it's refinement, while providing a lot of 'more of the same' shadowrun game play you may have come to enjoy from the previous titles.

I like Shadowrun setting (mixture of fantasy and cyberpunk elements) in these games. And besides the unique setting they have interesting and well written stories. Hong Kong is no exception. Although Dragonfall is my favourite game among the saga, Hong Kong doesn't fall short. The writing is really good. Fortunately, because the game is heavily text based. There is no voice acting whatsoever. The main focus is on the story and characters and less on the fighting. There are more dialogue options to avoid certain fights (if you invest in the right skills). If you prefer action over reading, you might not enjoy yourself as much. I don't like how they handled Matrix in Hong Kong. However, I was never fan of those sequences in the first place, so I might be biased. Overall, if you enjoyed other games in the series or you're looking for an interesting cyberpunk RPG with elves, trolls and magic, do not skip this one.

A master class in storytelling