Shadowrun

"Shadowrun, run as fast as you can to get this game"

This is my first review for a game and let me tell you straight, this is the most and i really mean most overlooked and underrated game of all time

Story: 10/10

You play the role of Jack Armitage, who get shot by hitmen and presumed dead. He awakes in a morgue with a lost memory. From here on you must discover who killed you in the Shadowrun universe. The Shadowrun universe is futuristic and populated with mages/hitmen/hackers and more cool stuff. The setting/atmosphere of the game is just so well designed that you get addicted from the beginning till the end of the game.

Gameplay: 10/10

The gameplay is unique and well balanced. It contains RPG elements, adventure, hacking ino computers and a lot of shooting. You also have some magic. The combat is not turn based but in real time. You only have guns and magic to attack and to defend yourself. You do not gain experiences in combat but karma. Also you do not level up automatically but you have to spend you karma on your attributes/skills/magic. A nice touch is that you upgrade Jack however you like. You can also hack into computers (the matrix) to gain money. Its very basic but damn funny. If you gain enough money you can even hire hitmen, computerhackers, magicusers. It's optional but I didn't hire anybody. Running around the Shadowrun universe is fun but sometimes a little frustrating. In order to continue the story you must talk to people to trigger the next part. By talking to people you gain keywords and some interesting news. You can get stuck in the game when you play it the first time, because the game really don't gives a direction where to go. For example, at one point you'll need a boat, the owner says something about mermaids in the sea. Instead of giving you a good hint how to solve this problem you are forced to search the place all over again.

Sound/Music: 10/10

The music and sound in the game is good. The music really helps enhance the mood of the game.They're catchy and addictive

Graphics 10/10

The graphics are well done. The dark mood really swallows you into the game. The shadowrun world is well detailed

Playtime/Replayability 10/10

The only complaint that I have is that the game isn't long. If you play it the first time you probably beat it in 10 to 15 hours. There isn't much after the ending, you don't get any extra's but believe me this game is just so good that you want to play it again and again. I've played the game about ten times back in the days and more then 10 years later I've played it again and still enjoyed every bit of the game.

Overall: 10/10

If you haven't played this game yet, then you missing out on something. If I have to make a top 5 of best games ever, Shadowrun easily hits a spot in my ranking.

Final conclusion:

The makers promised Shadowrun II but unfortunately they didn't kept that promise. But who knows one day……………

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/15/05