Shadowrun Retuns is a fun and immersive isometric RPG with an interesting detective story and turn-based combat. It's based on a tabletop game with rich lore, set in a universe that combines cyberpunk and high fantasy elements. It has inspired a few 16-bit games in the 90's that had enough following to succesfully fund a Kickstarter campaign that resulted in this video game. There's also plenty of references to those retro games that fans of the franchise will appreciate. But you don't have to be familiar with the lore to enjoy the game. I wasn't, but still understood what's what.

The progression is linear, which might be a problem for some, but I actually liked that, because I didn't have to spend time backtracking, and all the explorable bits were conveniently placed on the way towards the mission objectives. The missions are really well designed (with multiple stages, not too rushed, not tedious, with fun little twists). You just start the game and immerse into the story. The levels are intricate and detailed, conveying a cyberpunk atmosphere similar to Deus Ex, but with magic and metahumans (elves, dwarves, orcs, trolls). The game features 6 main classes (archetypes), which all are well balanced and, along with the equipment options, offer a 50/50 choice between magic and tech.

Shadowrun Returns is also relatively easy, and, as such, serves as a good introduction to turn-based squad games. If you have previously played games like X-COM, this will be a walk in the park for you.

Furthermore, Shadowrun Returns has a level editor and numerous mods. After finishing the main game, you can explore the community mods, many of which are full-scale campaigns with detailed stories. Or, if you have the patience and time, you can design your own. The level editor is intuitive and relatively easy-to-learn.

I really don't have anything bad to say about Shadowrun Returns. For what it is, it's great.

But for the game as a whole, for the experience and fun factor, I give it: 8/10.

[b]Shadowrun Retuns[/b] is a fun and immersive isometric RPG with an interesting detective story and turn-based combat. It's based on a tabletop game with rich lore, set in a universe that combines cyberpunk and high fantasy elements. It has inspired a few 16-bit games in the 90's that had enough following to succesfully fund a [i]Kickstarter[/i] campaign that resulted in this video game. There's also plenty of references to those retro games that fans of the franchise will appreciate. But you don't have to be familiar with the lore to enjoy the game. I wasn't, but still understood what's what. The progression is linear, which might be a problem for some, but I actually liked that, because I didn't have to spend time backtracking, and all the explorable bits were conveniently placed on the way towards the mission objectives. The missions are really well designed (with multiple stages, not too rushed, not tedious, with fun little twists). You just start the game and immerse into the story. The levels are intricate and detailed, conveying a cyberpunk atmosphere similar to [b]Deus Ex[/b], but with magic and metahumans (elves, dwarves, orcs, trolls). The game features 6 main classes (archetypes), which all are well balanced and, along with the equipment options, offer a 50/50 choice between magic and tech. [b]Shadowrun Returns[/b] is also relatively easy, and, as such, serves as a good introduction to turn-based squad games. If you have previously played games like [b]X-COM[/b], this will be a walk in the park for you. Furthermore, [b]Shadowrun Returns[/b] has a level editor and numerous mods. After finishing the main game, you can explore the community mods, many of which are full-scale campaigns with detailed stories. Or, if you have the patience and time, you can design your own. The level editor is intuitive and relatively easy-to-learn. I really don't have anything bad to say about [b]Shadowrun Returns[/b]. For what it is, it's great. But for the game as a whole, for the experience and fun factor, [b]I give it[/b]: [u]8/10[/u].