Shadowrun returns

[Pob255]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFYsQ0M2Jrg

It's out tomorrow

As of this post you've got just under 16hours left if you want the 10% off preorder cost on steam, which should also be the count down for launch.

No pre-download though

[Pob255]

TB has done a wtf is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-b-ggUSvo4

I'm so going to be playing this tonight

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

No blooming map?? Fail.

[Kai]

No blooming map?? Fail.

agreed , i hate the clean colourful look too.

[Pob255]

Well I've played it for a few hours now, there's bits I like and don't like.
I'm about as far in as TB was in his wtf is

The story is great so far, it's got a good shadowrun/cyberpunk feel to it, where you start off doing something relatively simple but get dragged into something much larger. However I think I can see where on major plot point is going already.
Overall the gameplay is a bit of an odd mix of old style fallout 1&2 and point and click adventure.
There is a skill/stat point system and the skill are pretty much only combat based, yes some conversations and non-combat actions use skill/stat requirements, eg selling some gems to the fixer, you get 1000nuyen but if you've got charisma 5 or academic etiquette you can get 1500nuyen for them, or the password reset where you can figure out the answers to the security questions or just force it with decking skill 4
In some ways this is nice in that these skills are not just used out of combat, eg charisma is connected to shaman summoning and spells, it's not like you have a speech skill only usable in conversations or a computer skill only used to bypass computer objects.
There is a down side in that they are only helpful if you happen to of specialised in that area, eg if you're focusing on being a mage you'll not have point to get decking to 4 or charisma to 5, a lot will depend as the game goes on to if the target numbers will go up or not, I've basically made a combat rigger (ie I can use a gun and combat drones) trying to decide if it's worth me branching out into a bit of decking or going min/max
And a lot of that is going to be dependent on the story, because unlike fallout1&2 there's no random encounters, it's all scripted and fixed maps more like a point and click adventure.
Think fallout 1&2 but just the locations, very little in the way of loot or inventory management or xp (again it's all scripted) eg you get asked to chase off a couple of thugs shaking down a street market, you can ignore them, pay them off, threaten them off (if you've got the right skill) or fight them, any option (except ignoring them) will give you some xp (a scripted reward) and some money from the vendors (again scripted)
It does lose a bit of the freedom but you're not wandering around in circles or back tracking.

That's no to say it's a bad thing, because I am enjoying it, it's just not what some people might expect, there is a strong point and click adventure feel to it.

The lack of a map isn't that bad, the areas are not that big and you can pretty much only interact with story based objects, which generally become non-interactive once you've looked at them., so I've not really spent time wandering around lost.

The save point system is nasty, I really wish there was a normal save function, doesn't need a quick save/load but just a normal save system.

Some of the speech options could be better, there's no real "evil" options, money grubbing would be the closest thing and for someone who's supposed to be a runner some of the options are a bit greeny/clueless

I do really like the artwork, it might not be quite as "dirty" as it could be but I like it, it does suffer from the classic isometric things you cannot see don't exist, like the far sides of buildings.

Overall it's a really nice and different game, very much a throw back to older game types, so it's not for all, but if you want something more adventure like and story driven not a quicktime event or action packed button masher it's definitely worth a shot.