Shadowrun Returns

What I want to add here is to say if anyone remembers Dreamweb... And loved that, they should probably not miss this game. It's like Dreamweb with a dash of Fallout Tactics. For me it's easy five stars. I don't care about what anyone says. The atmosphere is just right. It's rare enough get to play cyberpunk games in isometrics or anything non-first person perspective that these are pure bliss for my kind :P

I enjoyed my playthrough of Shadowrun Returns. It's a linear tactical rpg. The combat is fun, but not too deep and the story does a decent enough job of pushing things along. Its a solid game through-and-through. I can't wait to play Dragonfall, and see what improvements await.

I was positively surprised. The setting and world are unique, I really love mix DnD with cyberpunk. Writing's decent. Combat's great, and the environment's are gorgeous. Plus it's got plenty of shelf life with its editor. There are a few problems to it. The main campaign is little bit short and straight forward and I really do not like its checkpoint save system. Still, I enjoyed it. A good respectable return by the franchise.

The Good: * Atmospheric music that fits perfectly to locations and situations. The Bad: * NO CHOICE AT ALL - No matter what you do or what you choose, be it stats or conversation option or perks, It will have no effect whatsoever. So just allocate everything in long range weaponry and burst enemies from afar in one go. * Game is linear as heck - Go from point "a" to "b". Kill all. Repeat. *Yawn* * Story - It's total garbage that even a "B" movie will not use. * Claustrophobic - Each place is so small and insignificant, that it truly hurts. * Lack of animations - Everything is so static. Nothing moves. Makes the word feel dead. Same thing applies to combat animations. God forbid the horrid "Matrix" animations and graphic! The Ugly: * I will mention how bad the story is again. It mega bad. And for a game that is based 90% on text... It's just unforgivable.

I found SR:R's campaign to be a big disappointment. First: The writing is good and there are some interesting characters. The story itself begins fine - Marlowe-style - but ends in a complete mess for me. What I really disliked is the gameplay itself: The game is extremely linear, there are no real sidequests, there is no interactivity in the gameworld. There is a hub zone, where you'll return after every mission to fill up your inventory, the missions consist generally of shooting everything dead, collect informations or items and get back to the hub. There are not many possibilities to choose your own style and even the good battle system gets extremely tedious after a while, because many fights are uninspired and misplaced. As the story gets worse and the gameplay stays exactly the same for eight hours, I decided to abort my playthrough. Not my cup of tea, but I'll try Dragonfall, as it seems to be a big improvement on every aspect of the original.