Category: Computer

Not that long ago I pointed out that the Kickstarter backed Shadowrun Returns was now available for purchase, and I am happy to say that you should indeed purchase it.  The game is a turn based tactical isometric RPG, which is a fun way of saying you get to look down on the game, take turns, and level up.

The game’s plot allows you take the role of a down and out Shadow Runner who gets a job thanks to a “kill switch” on a dead friend.  The switch phones you with a recorded message saying you will get a $100,000 life insurance policy if you can avenge his death.  Since you need the money you get yourself to Seattle to find your friend’s killer, and like all things Shadowrun it gets much more complicated.

The setting is in a near future version of Seattle, and in the near future magic has reemerged, so the world is filled with elves, dwarves, and trolls, and you can use a mixture of future weaponry and magic.

The game’s mechanics are simple.  You use your mouse to point where you want your character and party members to go and to select the skills and items you wish them to use and what or who you want to use them on.  In combat you only have so many moves you can make called “Action Points”.  For example if you have two “Action Points” you can move a long ways, move a short ways and shoot, or shoot twice, and you can do that for every member of your party.

For leveling up you get Karma points for completing tasks or doing good deeds, and you can spend those on things like being able to shoot more accurately or being able to carry more items, or if you are like me, making your robot minions much more deadly.  My biggest problem with this is that there are a lot of non-combat skills, but the game is mostly combat oriented, so they are a waste of points.

The art style is fantastic.  It is dark, but they use neon colors to brighten it up, so it is not all bland and gray.  The areas of Seattle look like a cool future version of the city, but not a utopian one.

I have a couple of other minor complaints, there is no manual save system, so you have to rely on an autosave.  It does save fairly often, but it means you cannot get up and leave whenever you want to, and the game is fairly linear, so you do not just get to go out and explore, you stay on a set path and series of events.

That being said the game is fun, and for a group of indie developers it is a job well done.  Thanks to the level design kit there are already mods being developed, for instance the old SNES Shadowrun game is already in alpha on the new engine, and a free expansion is coming out in October, so it is well worth the money.  Have fun in the shadows!

This is not going to be a review since I have only played this game for like thirty minutes, but since it was one of the more popular Kickstarter games pulling in over $1.8 million in funding, I figured I would let you know that it is out, and it looks pretty good.

As followers of my site know, Shadowrun is a universe set in the future that features cool technology and magic together, and the World is run by corrupt giant companies that Runners do missions for.

It is a top down isometric turn based RPG, so decidedly old school, but something the gaming community had been missing.  The graphics are bright and vibrant, but still give you the dark environments that Runners live in, and it looks like they have every class that you could want to play as available.  They also included a level editor so you can make your own missions or download others off the internet, so the game could have a long shelf life.

I am just happy that someone is trying to make Shadowrun a top tier franchise again, and I wish them the best!  The game is not expensive and is on Steam, so it is worth a look if you want to relive the glory days of CRPGs for awhile.

Leisure Suit Larry for all of those that don’t know was a graphic adventure game from the 1980’s.  It was created by Al Lowe, and it was considered to be one of the more popular adventure games from Sierra On-Line.  Larry has fallen on hard times as of late, and his last two games Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude and Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust are considered to be some of the worst games of all time, but none of the original makers had anything to do with those games, but Al Lowe and the crew got the rights back if they made a remake, so they Kickstarted Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded.

If you have ever played Leisure Suit Larry 1 then this game will be instantly familiar.   Besides just giving the game a fresh coat of paint, they also changed up the puzzles,  added new characters, and added full voice and instrumental music.  It is a great update to the game and if you enjoyed it in the 80s; you will enjoy it today, but if you didn’t than this game isn’t going to change your mind.

I am also not a total fan of the new art style.  It looks a little too much like cheap Saturday morning cartoons, but not in a good way, and I think they are charging a little too much for this game.  At $20 it should be a pretty long and current game, but you can knock this game out in like three hours, and it is very old school.

If you are like me and loved this game as a kid than you will probably like this game, but I don’t think this is a good place to start if you wanted to get in to adventure games, and I would wait until the price drops to like $10.  I enjoyed it, but I have nostalgia on my side.  If you don’t, you may want to wait for a newer Larry game to come along.