Shadowrun Returns

I finished Shadowrun Returns this afternoon, and while it is hardly one of the greatest games of all time, I really liked it. I thought they did a good job of capturing the feel of Shadowrun fiction. One of the nicest things about the game was the length. It feels like it is rare to find a isometric, turn-based RPG that clocks in under 40 hours. I estimate I finished Shadowrun in 10 hours or less. It isn't that I don't enjoy the sprawling epics, but it is hard to get a game started when the estimated time to completion is 80 hours. It was also nice to play a game where there is not really any filler story, it moves along at a good pace with only a few, quick side quests.

The story is nothing special, but it isn't completely predictable. It was enough to keep me interested. The combat was good, although it was probably a bit too easy. I really liked the way they integrated netrunning into regular combat. This is one of those things that just works better on a computer in my experience. In all the combat was good, tactical fun, somewhat akin to the old XCOM games in feel. The world is not very deep, it is a hub game, you won't be doing any real exploring. But, that was actually a relief, not every game has to be a sprawling, open world time sink. The world was tailored to fit the tight story and to help keep up the pace.

If you have not played this, I suggest you do. I think you can play it on almost everything now, possibly even your microwave.

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