6 October

Trolls, Linux and Weapon Skills!

Hey, Chummers!

The new update for Shadowrun Online is out, bringing Trolls, Weapon Skills and Alpha Linux support (among other things). Here are the Patchnotes:

New Features

New Metatype: Trolls are now a playable race and selectable in character creation.
Karma Reward: At the end of any completed mission the Karma the reward for finishing the mission will be displayed.
Weapon Skills: You are now able to increase your skill in a weapon category by spending Karma gained by completing a mission. The cost for progressing from one level to another increases in these intervals: 2/6/12/20/30. Players start with 20 Karma. Increasing your skill increases the probability to deal maximum damage.
Portraits: Players are now able to select a portrait for their character in the character customization screen. This image will be displayed in missions next to the character and in the character and henchman selection
Alpha Linux: We have added a Linux version to Steam. Please keep in mind that this version has only been tested with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. Please spread the word to other Linux fans and help others in the new Linux-Feedback-Threads with YOUR experience on how to make the game run on other distros!
Mission Intros: All missions have new intros (containing dialogue) that gives the runs backstory. These replace the mission intro screens.
Size Matters: Different metatypes have different sizes now
Player Bar: In the top right corner of the main menu there is a bar stating the player's current Karma and name
Spawn Warning: Possible spawn locations for enemies are now marked. There is also a counter in some missions showing when reinforcements will arrive. This replaces the old alarm level system.
Mission Goals: The currently active goal will be shown in the mission at mission start and as soon as the goal changes. The goal window can also be triggered by a button.
Loading Screens: The loading screens prior to the missions will tell the player what he has to do to win the upcoming run.
Move & Attack: Some new melee skills allow you to move and take an action at the same time.
Camera Rework: Being spotted by a camera no longer increases the alarm level. Functionality of cameras will be reworked. Currently being spotted by a camera will give the spatted character the "Marked" status effect.
Disable Scrolling: You can now disable border scrolling via menu (Menu>Controls) and set the left mouse button for scrolling if you prefer that in the same menu.
New Weapons: Several new Weapons have been added to the game.
New Skills: New Skills have been added to the game and are attached to various weapons

Fixes
Attacking turrets with Weapon overload will no longer cause errors in the log file.
Aztec Rangers have proper ragdoll animations now on death.
Fixed that ambience sound played although the respective slider is set to 0.
Machete doesn't clip through Tassle Kilt (Lower Body) on Orc male and female anymore.
Fixed that some tiles in mission "Back alley" were marked as walkable but couldn't be reached by characters
Aztech mages are now more keen on fighting and won't hide until you are close enough.
Shield effect now disappears correctly when the character dies while Shield is still active.
Hairstyle "Ponytail" doesn't intersect with large weapons equipped on the back any more.
A previously selected henchman but will now stay active in an subsequent mission.
Status effect icons no longer flicker during the enemy's turn.
AI characters have a selection of skills available now and will select them according to a given probability.
The daily mission in which the player has to find the box containing the correct item can no longer be won with only one surviving character.
Henchman selection now has a character selected by default.
Updated credits
Small weapons, cyberdecks and fetishes are now correctly placed on characters if not used.
Ranged enemies will face their targets properly now when attacking
Tooltip of "Controlled Burst" displays the correct ammo consumption in all of its variants
Fixed the misplacement of the build number in menu
Header of error messages displays "error" now instead of "confirmation"
Mission UI no longer persists if the player issues an order after the win condition has been met
"Damsel in Distress" mission is no longer rushable

Known issues
Not all goal texts are finished
There's a mission that has a "lorem ipsum" loading screen
Starting a PvP-Match can get you into a Coop-Mission 1

6 comments Read more

Reviews

“Shadowrun Online is slipping on its trenchcoat and mirrorshades to greet the world. Street samurai and shaman throughout The Matrix will get to throw down in turn-based tactical combat”
RockPaperShotgun

“Importantly, the game feels like Shadowrun, even in its very limited Alpha state, which to me, is an excellent starting point. If Cliffhanger Productions keeps moving in the same direction with the game, we very well might have an awesome Shadowrun MMORPG on our hands very soon.”
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/965/feature/8461/More-like-ShadowFUN.html/page/1

“The early version I tried was a lot of fun!”
http://io9.com/a-sneak-peek-at-the-cyberpunk-fantasy-world-of-shadowru-1597069341/all

xxjoxx

108 products in account

Not Recommended

8.1 hrs on record

Posted: 26 December

I feel like I basically paid £25 to fund somebody's adventures in Unity Engine.

Was this review helpful? Yes No

smlemkvi

406 products in account

2.3 hrs on record

Posted: 9 December

As game stands (Dec 2014) it is not a MMORPG nor can I see a way it ever will be. It is a tactical shooter in the vein of the Shooter series (Zombie, Alien, Alien 2). It isn't bad just not what it claim to be and unless the dev is holding back on 95% of the game (with a Q1 2015 release) this will not become a MMO nor an RPG just another interesting tactical shooter. The IP, however, deserves so much better than this, so I would not recommend is you are after a Shadowrun MMORPG.

Bouncing Ballsy Ball

65 products in account

12.9 hrs on record

Posted: 11 December

Shadowrun is an amazing RPG turn based.

But the Online, they very much ruined for not producing content and updating the game. No updates for very long times, and gameplay still crap. Bad Mechanics, Not storyline, No online/mmo aspects, No RPG content.

12/12/2014.

Might be better someday, but not today.

jelloisevil

11 products in account

Recommended

4.3 hrs on record

Posted: 27 December

The new update is way better that the first version of early access. Its still early access but showing a lot more promise now. cant wait to see whats in store for this version of shadowrun.

avatarofj

64 products in account

1.0 hrs on record

Posted: 19 November

The developers have not fulfilled their promises even slightly with this game. When I backed this game before the mess you see on steam was created this was supposed to be a Shadowrun MMO. Now they advertise it as a "Tactical turn-based combat RPG". There is no hub or city where runners meet up and shop between missions. Character creation is a poorly implemented joke that looks nothing like the concept footage. Game play is slow and boring with almost no story involved. The combat system itself is tedious and does not even come close to XCOM level strategy. It barely even follows the lore of Shadowrun. Mages are represented by a Skull weapon that any character can equip and the 3 spells are predetermined. Looking for a customizable Shadowrun strategy experience? You should probably keep looking becuase you will not find it here. I am an original backer for this game and used to be a fanboy defending the game on the forums from nay sayers. The game is so terrible I can not stand playing for more than 5 minutes at a time. I have spent 180 dollars as a backer and frankly I feel cheated. This abomination is nothing like they promised us.

☮dont click links!☮

205 products in account

0.7 hrs on record

Posted: 9 October

This game is sincerely awful. Don't even touch it. Seven months into Early Access (which was released a year late) after a half million in kickstarter (for a game made on a free engine) with money from two different backers, and it looks like they've managed to make something resembling an isometric tactical game. I wouldn't say an isometric RPG, because that would require there to be important decisions the player could make. In fact, you can't even really call it a tactical game. It's an isometric thing where you put your people behind cover and shoot at things until whoever has less shooting power explodes.

Play Shadowrun Returns instead.

Cmrd. Deathcall

67 products in account

7.0 hrs on record

Posted: 13 October

No, just no...

Someone gifted me this game when I talked about how much I enjoyed Shadowrun Returns from Harebrained Studios.

I thought to myself: "Awesome, more Shadowrun to play and with multiplayer? Count me in!"... now I know better.

Shadowrun Online is a frustrating experience that leaves you wondering what the hell where the developers thinking? The graphics are low quality, there's little customization, no online world, no hub, no nothing. You are forced (condemned you might say) to play the badly put together "campaign" (a series of somewhat interconected missions that don't make a lot of sense... if any). The difficulty is extremely hard and even in online coop you'll find levels to be impossible without lots and lots of LUCK, not skill, LUCK.

You can also play some random missions, but as I said, difficulty is terrible all around. And you know what? It's not the fact that the game is hard, because - honestly - that's not enough reason to call a game bad... it's the fact that it doesn't feel like Shadowrun and that its NOT fun.

Do not buy this game... do yourself a favor and buy Shadowrun Returns... doesn't have MP, but at least you'll be getting a much better experience for your money.

EDIT - Christmas 2014

I was bored on christmas day and decided to give the new patch a try...

The game has gotten better, to the point that it can actually be enjoyable to play. It's still ultra-rough around the edges, character customization is very limited (but now at least you can choose what weapons you'd like to specialize in and there's some very MINOR progression) and the missions are very simple and feel "stiff" at times, meaning that they are very very linear.

The game is still hard, but now with the co-op mode and the henchmen system it's possible to finish missions. Sometimes you'll still need some luck to get past them, but it is possible.

I'm completely confused by developer's intentions though. They allow co-op but only between 2 players, when there's 4 party members in a run. Each player gets to bring a "henchman", which functions pretty much like another player which you control. Why not allow people to make 4 man groups? I don't get it all.

I still wouldn't recommend this game, as it is far from being a satisfying product and you'll get - at most - a couple hours out of it before you get bored.

Who knows, maybe in another six-months it could become a product worth 5 to 10 dollars.

Shoota_Kat

201 products in account

Posted: 30 October

I am a longtime fan of Shadowrun. I've been obsessed with the game world since the late 80's, and am always eager to find new content and new games involving it. This game has been the biggest dissapointment for Shadowrun since the poorly concieved multiplayer FPS a ways back.

You have next to zero character customization. There are a tiny handful of options, all of which look rediculous, and not particularly shadowrun-esque. The graphics are bad bad bad. Characters all look like they have severe posture issues. The environments look okay, but that is somewhat beside the point.

As far as the mulitplayer aspect? Hard to really speak to that much. There rarely seems to be anyone online. In all fairness though, I was turned off enough by the gameplay that I haven't really given it much effort. (As you can see, I have only been able to convince myself to play a little less than an hour.)

Gameplay, you may ask? What's wrong with the gameplay? Well, you see, it's friggin horrible. Cover doesn't work like it should, the enemies are all crack shots, and the runners you have available are horrible at what they do. There is very little in the way of options for how to approach your missions, and there are NO HEALING ITEMS AT ALL!? Whoever even heard of a strategy game that leaves you no way to patch yourself up and get a few HP in the middle of a mission? The difficulty curve is more of a difficulty cliff, and the drop is there as soon as you cross the threshold into the game. I haven't been able to clear even the first mission.

I don't know why it is so difficult to make a quality RPG experience from Shadowrun. Harebrained Schemes has come the closest to -anyone- in this regard. When I think about Shadowrun I think about the OPTIONS. It's all about customization and finding your own approach to every mission. Varied weapons, countless weapon mods, drones, vehicles, spells, summons, matrix warfare, clothing, armor, gangs, corporations, cybernetic and bio modifications, tools, SO MANY FRIGGIN THINGS YOU CAN DO.

Think about how damned good a properly done Shadowrun MMO could be! Imagine passing the time in your favorite online hangout, or hidden away in your safehouse, going on runs when it suits you, teaming up with friends or being added to a team assembled just for a single run! You grab your custom assault rifle, and off you go! Make mountains of Nuyen and Karma, and mold your character and his/her equipment to match your playstyle!

THIS IS WHAT SHADOWRUN SHOULD BE

not pick a dumpy character, choose from 4-5 possible weapons and off you go!

This is turning into a flat out rant, but I am just so frustrated and let down by this horrible game! I was so excited when I first heard there was going to be a shadowrun MMO, and this is just TERRIBAD!

Anyways, if you want a positive shadowrun experience, go get Shadowrun Returns, enjoy the awesome campaigns, go check out the high quality UGC and keep dreaming for the days a company with talent and vision decides to make an online shadowrun.

Granger

79 products in account

0.5 hrs on record

Posted: 7 November

First off understand that i love the singleplayer shadowrun games, played through them several times. That said..
This is an absolute failure, multiplayer is so horrid its not even comparable to the singleplayer games's mechanics.

Character customization is non-existant, no skilltrees, no arsenal of weapons and spells to choose from, no racial differences besides body size and skin color.
In addition, No dialogue, No story not even a series of mission or interesting challenges just a few very short maps.

This game has received over 1mil in funding from several sponsors (excluding kickstarter). After almost a year in 'alpha' still no new content or added features like the aforementioned above.

Phrases like; 'But its still in alpha/beta' Have been used too often now to justify lackings.
I have been in over 20 pc alphas and betas and it has taught me that when a publisher slaps on the alpha or beta tag, they believe the game is nearly finished.

What you see now is the core game upon which a development team MAY build on, I say MAY because there is no guarantee they will significantly add/change anything. They could very easily now just focus on bug fixing. Don't be naive, Don't be a dumb consumer, Do not support this blantant attempt at milking more money from what was their fanbase.

Personally, before the start of alpha i paid only 10euro's to them to gain acces to the alpha, there were donation options leading up to 10.000 . That and experience caused me to be very cautious. I feel very disapointed, once again i made the mistake of hoping.

Conclusion;
They should have just added multiplayer functions to the singleplayer games.

icecaller

514 products in account

1.1 hrs on record

Posted: 18 November

as someone who kickstarted this a while back this game is nothing like what i thought it would be and it makes me dissapoint.

Corrupted Bunny

71 products in account

Complete garbage.

As the game is now, it plays more like Splinter Cell then an actual MMO, and nevermind that your often outnumbered by odds on average of 4 to 1. The missions are often impossible. It doesn't even really capture the spirit of Shadowrun. Character customization is all but non existant.

Do yourself a favor and buy Shadowrun Returns instead if you havent already.

FamhairCloiche

1 products in account

9.6 hrs on record

Posted: 10 August

I'm a TT Shadowrunner from the first edition days until I had to "grow up". Recent events have shown me that I need a little escape now and then, and I was thrilled when I found Shadowrun Online! Before you read all the negative reviews, let me say that this game ha A LOT of potential. It has a long way to go, but the foundation is good. As of this writing the fourth update was just released, and from what I can tell, the in-game combat resolution is about there for the basic weapon/spell types. The artwork is great, and the music is spot on. I feel confident that I will recommend this game when it's done.

All that being said, the development has a long way to go on the peripherals that are going to make this a great game: the away-from-combat storylining, the character customization, and just general depth that can (and I'm confident) will be incorporated. Right now this feels more like an alpha release than an open beta, so if your looking for an immersive Shadowrun experience, I'd give them some more time. I you're passionate about Shadowrun though, get in here and let's help these guys out in creating what could become a fragging awesome title!

These guys need our ideas and encouragement!

CrisR82

272 products in account

Posted: 9 November

[will update this if it changes later in development]
With a world as awesome as Shadowrun's, the current state of the game is honestly terrible. It's not just about the customization, the overall game doesn't feel right.
Where's the dialog style that we saw in Shadowrun Returns/Dragonfall? The cyberpunk atmosphere? I'll actually even go as far as saying the menus are prety bad (not even weapon information? really?).

And as many before mentioned, the customization is (currently) extremely poor, though I guess this will be changed later in the game's development.

Optimization-wise it also seems to be lacking. If the minumum requirements are correct, how am I still just barely reaching 25fps? (my laptop is no state of the art technology but it's certainly x2 above the minimum). I assume the optimizzation will be left for the final stages, but I feel this needs to be added in here as well.

I'll be following the development as I still have hope for the game, but currently it doesn't look that promissing, hope this changes =/

Fragils

1.4 hrs on record

Posted: 20 June

Doing a quick once-over for the game again since my intial review, I've found that it has improved dramatically. Thus, I would still not recommend it to anyone but the most hardcore of Shadowrun/Isometric Strategy fans.
However, it is still very incomplete. And I would recommend waiting until it is finished before purchasing.
Once the game is finished—which could take a very long time at this rate—it should be okay at the very least, which is a massive improvement from what it was previously; a poorly written, buggy mess that played like a poor man's XCom.

I'll do my best to keep this review up to date as the game matures further; and plan to include some bullet points for pro's/cons when I get the chance to look at the game more closely, again.

[AIDA] Thermal Drill

223 products in account

1.3 hrs on record

Posted: 31 March

A year late, a nuyen short.

There are things which work really well in this game. The condition monitor makes the game really feel dangerous, like a shadowrun should. (This is made somewhat worse by a lack of any healing whatsoever, as far as I can tell). However, the engine can't seem to handle very, very basic features. Things like interacting with an object. (There's no "use" key; you shoot door panels to open them.) Things like an inventory. Things like skills not tied to a weapon. How are they going to implement cyberware? How are they going to implement hacking? This is the engine they redeveloped from the ground up at great expense, and this is all it can do?

For an early access game, you're not buying it for what it is, you're buying it for what it could be. In this case, I have a hard time imagining that the game as it is could actually become anything like what they promised.

It kills me to say this-- I backed the project, and I really wanted to believe in the dream, but this is not worth $30, especially when Shadowrun Returns, a game which is superior in literally every way, is only $20.

Go play Shadowrun Returns. Then come back in a couple of months and see if this is actually a game.

Detainee Pyramid

216 products in account

I kickstarted this and just played the first mission. Once its finished and the polish gets added this will likely be great. Right now its good, which is more than many can say for Alpha sneak peak situations. $20-$30 is high for what is here right now though (3/31/2014), and if you have not yet played "Shadowrun Returns" I would encourage you to spend that money there first.

Keep tabs on this though; outside of Warhammer 40K there seems to be limited offerings for fun Fantasy Sci-fi violence and worthwhile storytelling.

Yogen

785 products in account

5.0 hrs on record

Shadowrun Online
Cliffhanger Studios

The Shadowrun IP has experienced a veritable rennaissance as of late. Shadowrun Returns and the expansion Dragonfall [Calling it DLC would be an insult] have met with mostly favorable reviews; I know I've enjoyed both quite a bit despite, of course, a few limitations. The pen and paper tabletop game, Shadowrun 5th Edition, has hit the ground running since its release last summer. Catalyst Games has said the core rulebook has broken all of its sales records. A deck building game, a la Android: Netrunner, a tabletop miniatures game, a la WH40K, and, a Euro-style tile-based board game are all in the works.

So now we have Shadowrun: Online thrown into the mix.

Right now it's PVP and 4 short missions. There is no tutorial - which is fantastic, btw, because tutorials are creepy and always trying to hold my hand. This means the art of war in Shadowrun Online must be extracted through trial and error. I actually felt relieved that I was expected to use my brain. The first time through I didn't pay much attention to what I was doing and got clobbered...fast...by the AI. The second time through I paid a little bit more attention, and realized some of the basic principles. After that, it became quite enjoyable. The world itself is pretty much non-existent at this point. But the game play is definitely there and it's good. The two characters you use throughout the missions synergize really well.

One thing I would like to see would be a limitation to spells and ammo. One of the spells is kinda broken, not too much, but a bit. If they added spell drain, like in the tabletop, spellslinging would become a much more serious matter - right now it feels a bit OP. I also think ammo should be limited. There should be the danger of running out of ammo, in fact. I think that could add a lot to the tension of each match.

I'll say this: they are very blunt about the current state of the game on their page. I found the warning to be commensurate with the build.

Getting it now means you'll get to know the game play, but not so much the world of Shadowrun. I recommend reading some background material here: http://www.shadowruntabletop.com/game-resources/shadowrun-timeline/

Also, head over to amazon and order a used shadowrun novel [ .05 + 3.99 shipping lol]

Edit: I want to mention that this game works really well with touch controls. Playing it on a touch screen laptop or tablet is lots of fun. Turn-based games and touch controls just make sense, and I'd like to see other devs follow Cliffhanger's lead on this.

Doktor Sleepless

69 products in account

9.1 hrs on record

Posted: 2 April

Unless you just want to support the devs, I wouldn't purchase this game yet.

Currently it has a limited 4 Mission single player campaign and 2 of those missions are buggy (levels 2 and 4) enough that sometimes the game freezes and you can't get past them.

As far as PvP goes there is only one map and it is tiny, also there are hardly any people playing at certain times of the day, so you may not be able to find anyone to play against.

However, the graphics and game play show promise and this game could eventually be great.

Raffo

133 products in account

27.2 hrs on record

Posted: 10 April

Shadowrun Online is so far still a very early Alpha, with just a few of the core mechanics implemented. By itself it's barely playable, so unless you're a true SR fan, you should really wait for a later phase in the development. But the things already working are truly beautiful and show the massive potential this game has!

Currently available is only the tactical fight, with a few very limited options (as there is no character customization yet). But most things are already clearly visible (as different AOEs with explosions or shotgun spread or taking cover), it's fast, hard and unforgiving, but other than other games still challenging and (most importantly) doable! The game is as brutal as it should be, but it's finely tuned, so with smart moves you can take on the enemy regardless of them outnumbering you! And this is exactly what a Shadowrun is all about, isn't it? ;)

ogilvyC

373 products in account

1.5 hrs on record

It is early access, so there is limited content (SP: 4 maps/~max. 10mins per map; MP: 1 map), but very promising... first 3 maps are easy to play (but with a great design), fourth comes with a more intense difficulty level. Looking forward for more.

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17 December

THE BIG Co-op and Skill update

6 October

Trolls, Linux and Weapon Skills!

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