Shadowrun Returns Review

There is nothing groundbreaking about combat in Shadowrun Returns, yet it has been refined to a near-perfect formula that few games of this type can achieve. Conversely, the role-playing aspects are disappointing. While there is room for exploration, only a very small number of objects and NPCs offer any interaction. With such a small budget, the developers obviously had to make some tough decisions about where to focus their efforts and immersion in the world takes a hit because of that.

Final verdict

Shadowrun Returns isn’t such a long game, especially for an RPG. You can easily get through the main campaign in about 10 hours without much difficulty. The lack of real side quests also makes it too linear, preventing you from stretching your legs and straying off the beaten path. Other problems stem from the fact that you can’t manually save your progress and have to rely on an autosave feature which obviously doesn’t work as well as you might wish.

Some of these issues could be solved with user-created content, as the game provides the tools for interested players to develop their own stories and campaigns. This still doesn’t shake the feeling that Shadowrun Returns is missing from its predecessors.

It is clear that the people who work on Shadowrun Returns have chosen to take the approach of favoring quality over quantity. In truth, there isn’t much content here. It may seem scarce even at the low price it is sold for. However, almost everything in the game is done incredibly well. The combat is perfected, the graphics are stunning, and the writing is superb. I can’t help but think how many promises have been wasted when this could have been a truly extraordinary game rather than just a very good one.