Shadowrun Returns was a good thing because it was a Kickstarter game becoming a real game in a timely fashion, without additional money demands, without broken promises, and it was released finished rather than in some sort of alphabetaearlyaccessgizmorecash status. The anti-Godus, if you will. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a game that married jaws and floors in delightedly astounded awe. It was Fine. Great setting and roleplaying systems, stuck into a somewhat perfunctory tale that didn’t give said systems much room to breathe. Given talk of ‘hubs’ and choosing missions, I’m really hoping that upcoming, Berlin-set expansion Dragonfall will provide a looser structure and a wider world, in addition to newly-announced very sensible additions such a overhauling the atrocious checkpoint system to allow saving anywhere and more of a team focus.

(more…)

When Shadowrun Returns was first conceived, it came with the sparkly promise of pristine freedom – not a speck of diabolical DRM to be found even in its grimiest cybergutters. But then, due to some behind-the-scenes shenanigans, Harebrained Schemes went back on their word, shackling all future updates to Steam, which – while not the end of the world – was absolutely a form of DRM. Now, however, PLOT TWIST: things have changed… again>! Harebrained was recently seen beating its own DRM into a mangled, bloody pulp, lighting it on fire, and then reading it passages from this fan fiction. Meanwhile, onlookers watched in horror until they realized this was cause for celebration and started cheering. Some even joined in. Experts described the scene as “just a really great time” and “hahahaha wheeeeeee yeah!”

(more…)

The October goal for Shadowrun Returns‘ mini expansion Berlin is now a January goal, as Harebrained explain: “we’ve decided to spend more time on Berlin to create an experience closer to the size of Dead Man’s Switch. A story of that scope will take longer, so we’re targeting January for its release.” Interesting! There’s more: “we know that we want our next story to feel more like the player is part of a shadowrunning crew and contain more corporate intrigue.” And that means a story that goes deeper into the original Shadowrun sourcebook set in Germany.

And will they change the way saves work? “It’s still too early to say whether this is going to be possible, but we wanted to let you know that we’re actively investigating it.” Well that’s hopeful.

Shadowrun returned! Some doubted. Some declared it too good to be true. Some believed The Prophecy was only a nice story parents told their children to get them from posting 10,000-word rant novels on Reddit. But hark, Harebrained Schemes breathed new life into the series’ patented blend of fairy dust and cyber sparks, and Shadowrun Returns was born. And lo didest Jim end up liking it pretty well. It’s not the ’90s anymore, though. You can’t legally call something a videogame unless you can promise at least 157 pieces of DLC to accompany it. Shadowrun, the retro rebel maverick that it is, is opting for a mere one> at this point, but it’s apparently going to be much, much bigger than initially planned. As in, expansion-sized. The only problem? It won’t emerge from Harebrained’s time machine laboratory until 2014.

(more…)

Harebrained have updated with news of what’s happening following the launch of Shadowrun Returns, and the arrival of the first patch. The Berlin campaign, which will feature a new story mission free to Kickstarter backers, and at an unannounced price for standard purchasers, is now set to arrive in October. The Berlin campaign will also introduce a completely new scenery set for the editor: “Development of Berlin art is already underway, and our design team is also starting to prototype gameplay and mission ideas for the Berlin campaign.”

The post also comes with news of a Linux release, but no time-frame for its arrival: “The editor is now compiling in Linux, but unfortunately crashes when trying to load scenes. We’re confident we can work through the various Linux-related issues, but it is going to take some time to wrangle them into submission.” Sounds like progress, at least.

So here I am playing a turn-based RPG. And it’s because of Kickstarter. That feels pretty good, I have to say. What’s more: I’m really enjoying myself. It’s Shadowrun Returns. Let me tell you about Shadowrun Returns.> (more…)

It’s almost time to charge up the spells and head back to the streets. Shadowrun Returns arrives in a week and, as is now traditional, a launch trailer precedes the launch, sort of like John the Baptist, except reduced to the form of a short video containing a samurai dwarf. I’m tempted to slip into the city myself but a member of the hivemind has already been deemed fit for purpose, a man very familiar with the challenges of hunching over a keyboard and jacking in without leaving a trace. Sounds tricky to me. I’ve barely played the original Shadowrun – it’s one of those games I’ve read about rather than specifically experienced – but this does look right up my alley.

(more…)