This game caught my eye when it first came out, but I had difficulty bringing myself to pay the (at-the-time) $20 price tag, especially given such mixed reviews. In fact, nearly every review teetered from one extreme or the other. Love or Hate, with no in between. This is a great, fun, 4 and a half star game on it's first play, (if you can get it at the right price,) and a 1 star game if you expect to get an immediate 2nd use of it. I finally bought it on sale for only $1.99 and it was a great investment. It provided 2 nights of great fun. (About 8-10 hours of play.) It's extremely campy (in a good way) and there are a few minor bugs and some missing depth that should have been attended to before its release. But after your first full engagement with the game, it will likely go unattended for years until you decide to pull it back out for another run through. I would not advise paying full price on this game. Anything more than $5 is absurd. But if you're looking for a fun time-killer on a bored night, and the price is right, then it's definitely the right game for you.
I bought this game on launch day after a decades+ long wait for a true new Shadowrun experience. For any fans of the old 16-bit games, or fans of the table top, than buying this game should be a no brainer. (This includes seeing a few familiar faces.) It holds true to many of the beloved roots of Shadowrun and has a character creation previously unseen in former SR titles. The tactical combat works very well with the title. The downside is, however, the linear story line. From A to B without any of the fun farming and open-ended exploration. Does it's lack of taking on random jobs from shady Johnson's take away from the game? Absolutely. Does it ruin the game? Absolutely not. This is still a 5 star title for both seasoned veterans and for people looking to run the shadows for their first time.
