I’m going to cheat a little bit with this review. As has been widely reported, I recently reviewed Shadowrun Returns and, in short, it’s a great game for fans of RPGs and turn-based combat. Well Shadowrun Dragonfall is so similar that I’m going to piggy-back off of that review so I recommend that you read that one first.
Shadowrun Dragonfall is nearly identical to Shadowrun Returns. All of the positive things that I mentioned in my previous review are still there: excellent story, interesting character development, great turned-based combat, etc. Deckers are still going to hack $#!+, Shamans are still going to summon $#!+, jobs are still going to go to $#!+, and people are still going to die… $#!+!
Not only did Shadowrun Dragonfall keep all of the best features from Shadowrun Returns, it also improved on my biggest complaints; specifically that the linear story limited replayability by giving you no other option than to progress from mission to mission until you beat the game.
It’s clear that Shadowrun Dragonfall wanted to change that because they give you a lot more options this time around. Now, instead of simply jumping from base to mission over and over, your Shadowrunning crew is operating out of a run-down neighborhood with familiar RPG staples such as side-quests and morale dilemmas that alter the outcome of the story. You will have multiple jobs thrown your and you get to decide which ones to accept or decline… some are no-brainers, some ask you to cross morale lines (Eliminate a fellow Shadowrunner… not my crew!), and some sound too good to be true ($20,000 grand to tap a phone line…. what could go wrong?). That freedom to run your team as you see fit was exactly what this series needed.
FINAL VERDICT
ROGUE HIPPO’S REVIEW SCORE: 9
Shadowrun Dragonfall took all the best parts of Shadowrun Returns and kept them exactly the same. Then they took the few weak points and improved on them. The end result is an even better Shadowrun adventure. Play it.
I’ll leave you with a few notes…
- This is not a true sequel to Shadowrun Returns. Shadowrun Dragonfall was originally released as DLC for Shadowrun Returns but was later expanded and released as a standalone game. You can play either game in any order and it won’t affect anything.
- It took me 12 hours to beat the game so you’re getting roughly the same amount of gameplay for the same price as Shadowrun Returns.
- I still really wish they used voice-actors.
- I played a typical ‘tank’ in Shadowrun Returns; so this time I wanted to mix it up and decided to make a pure support character (I was a Shaman who mostly just buffed my allies and conjured walls). I was a very useful teammate but sorely lacking when I took a solo mission. I think it took me a dozen tries for my combat-challenged Shaman to successfully escape that $#!+storm. You’ve been warned.
Until Next Time,
Rogue Hippo