Shadowrun: Hong Kong

Shadowrun

I've always loved turn-based strategy games. The original XCom, Disciples and Heroes are always in my nostalgia library. But I didn’t play Shadowrun in 1993, and I’m only familiar with Monopoly from board games.

And it is from them that our concept emerges. Shadowran is a world where in the near future elven magicians and ogres with superiority with shotguns coexist. All this is seasoned with a gloomy atmosphere, implants that take away the essence, and rifts into other worlds.

For people asking themselves the question, is it worth spending time on something new?

I think the answer lies in whether you like HKom and whether you are ready to absorb the plot through text form.

I played like a true bast player right into the last part of the restart. True, the plot has nothing to do with the restart of 2013 and the continuation of 14.

Gameplay

You control a squad of 4 people. The fight goes on like in X-Coma, your move is not yours. All the same covers, and fairly similar spell mechanics. What is the key difference between the mechanics of HCom and Shadowran. Well, first of all, leveling up your character gives you a lot of variety. For example, where a character has been pumped into battle, he will climb like a drill, a charismatic will chat with the guards, and a technician will even open an emergency passage with a robot through the ventilation. You need to understand right away that you need to download a maximum of 2 branches. I downloaded drones and pistols. I ended up with a kind of pitstoliero with 2 impressive drones in support. But there are really a lot of pumping combinations. And that really suited me personally. So this is that, depending on the development, if you are a hacker, then according to the plot you will easily unravel the intrigues against you. Like “This program was released in 2065 and costs nothing, so spend your money on a barrel.” And so in everything, be it medicine, weapons, magic. In one situation or another, everything will sparkle with its own colors.

Graphics

Perhaps the weakest part of the game. Artists really take it out. Their neon backdrops and grotesque portraits are very compelling. In terms of models, everything is from 2005. But who are we to criticize a Kickstarter project?

Plot

The writers did a very good job. Character descriptions put their soul into the program code more than ever. There is a dark ending, consequences of choice, a moral dilemma both in side missions and in the main mission. Everything is dripping with fatalism, just the way I like it.

The main disadvantage of the plot is that it is presented in a large amount of text.

I really don’t like to read. In Shadowran this will come back to haunt you with the failure of side effects

and general confusion in the narrative. The rest will understand that in 99% of scriptwriters from AAA projects they have to work as janitors. All the more joy in receiving such a strong narrative engine from such a modest studio.

Controls

Typical for similar games. I didn’t notice any bugs. The only thing is don’t skip the tutorial. I figured out text hacking only at the end of the game, thereby cutting off a whole heap of expensive information for myself.

But this is purely my carelessness. Literally one small minus, stealth in hacking is clumsy.

Sound and music.

I don’t know who wrote the music. But it perfectly conveys the atmosphere.

I really liked several tracks. For me it's 10ka.

Localization

Only semi-amateur is available. But the story reads smoothly. There are literally a couple of minor flaws. So it’s even a plus for the game.

Conclusion.

My rating is 9ka. I love turn-based strategy games.

For myself, I distinguish 2 main types. The first one, where you change the fate of the world by controlling a huge army. And the second ones are more local, where you have a small squad, but everyone is perceived as an individual. This is what makes the immersion stronger. In X-Coma we have a global struggle, where soldiers are bargaining chips. In Shadowran, a fallen soldier sleeps next door to us. Just yesterday, thanks to him, we hacked the most inaccessible network and completed the most difficult task. Yes, maybe it lacks the gloss of HKom and its scale. But thanks to the excellent work with the text, the musical component and a certain symbiosis of storytelling and turn-based battles. Shadowrun has features of several distinct genres.

Turn-based strategy in battles. RPG in development. And the dialogues are like in great quests. Shadowrun will take you into the world of cyberpunk. The main thing is not to be afraid to read a lot.