I had fun with the isometric cyberpunk/fantasy video game Shadowrun Returns but have to confess I found it somewhat limited. It told a story that felt small in scope, while the game as a whole was finished within ten hours. Shadowrun: Dragonfall was originally released as an expansion for Returns, as such I went into this expecting a much smaller experience, not knowing that it was later expanded upon and released as its own game before 2022. I found the story to be far more epic, side quests to have become an essential and well fleshed out part of the game, and an overall playtime that was over double that of the first game. The world is the same as the first game, it is a cyberpunk future that has the added addition of fantasy creatures such as orks, elfs, dwarfs and monsters.
The game takes place in Berlin, Germany, which in the time of the game (around the mid 2050's I think) has become an anarchic free-state. You are a shadowrunner, part of a group led by Monika. Recently recruited, you and your teammates head with her to a remote countryside mansion, with the promise of an easy heist. Instead of a simple data snatch you instead stumble into something terrible, you discover a gigantic secret underground base populated by an army of soldiers, even worse, Monika gets her brain fried while attempting to hack into the place. The rest of you manage to escape, with your teammates grudgingly accepting you as their new leader thanks to one of Monika's last orders. You eventually learn that the underground base is linked to a great dragon that was allegedly killed decades earlier. Wanting revenge for Monika's death, and seeing it as your duty to stop this unseen threat, you and your team set-out to raise enough credits to pay the only information broker capable of getting you the intel that will give you a fighting chance on a return trip to the underground base.
Dragonfall is another isometric RPG, one that makes some improvements over Returns, but also some less good choices. Combat takes place over a grid like before, but unlike the first game where you had three action points with which to move around and use your weapons/powers, this time around you only have two. By the time the end came around this had been upgraded to three, but for most the game just having two ability points per character felt limiting. The first game had a weird imbalance between the first halves story heavy levels and the later half being full of action. This time around the balance is spot on. There is lots and lots of story which really makes Berlin feel like a living breathing place. The first game gave you a bar as a hub area, this time around you have a small town as your hub area, with missions accessed by the local tube train. Your hub town is full of all the shopkeepers you could hope for, plenty of side quests, and incidental characters who shed more light on the world.
I think there were only one or two side quests in the first game, here though they are far more detailed and are essential for the main storyline. The big focus of the story is raising 50,000 credits to enlist the help of an information broker, doing side quests is key to raising these funds. There are plenty of missions where you have to infiltrate corporations, neatly a lot of enemies and obstacles can be avoided via talking to people and doing behind the scenes stuff. Infiltrating a building is made easier by stealing guard or janitor uniforms, though the option is still there to go in all guns blazing. Where before you had to hire team mates for each mission, this time around you have a sturdy crew. There is Dietrich, an aging shaman punk, Glory, a heavily augmented cyborg, Blitz, a hacker (the cyberspace missions allow you to battle computer programs to access enemy electronic devices), and my favourite, Eiger, a troll and former commando who is very good with a sniper rifle. These characters all have their own loyalty quests which were great in their own right, such as Glory's quest, which involves you sneaking into a demon worshipping cult deep in the woods.
With a very interesting story (that I shall not spoil here) and side quests that were involved and interesting in their own right (such as breaking into a building that had been locked down for years only to discover a man who had gone insane and believed he was the king of a kingdom, with the drones his servants), Shadowrun: Dragonfall was loads of fun. The larger length and better story made it a better game all over than its predecessor, though the combat can occasionally get a little repetitive. The game can be played on XBox Game Pass, if you liked the original than there is little with this quasi-sequel that you won't enjoy.
SCORE:
No comments:
Post a Comment