Shadowrun Chronicles – Boston Lockdown (Video Game)
Annie Tibbitts
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Developed by Cliffhanger Productions
Available on PC through Steam
Not classified by ESRB (roughly appropriate for 15+)
When I think of cyberpunk, I think of genre with a dedicated following that melds science fiction with art to create the fantastical. Whether this sentiment makes me a fan or not remains to be seen, but I still hold dear the childhood fantasy that where I’m going, I won’t need roads. I have grown to respect the grungy, unapologetic, rich fringe-culture that is just almost possible at any given moment. Let that be the caveat to the fact that, when I am given a game like Shadowrun Chronicles – Boston Lockdown, I will always carry high expectations. Additionally, I am writing from the perspective of someone who had never played a Shadowrun game, and has no prior attachment to the series (though the rich cyberpunk universe did lead to more than a few hours of burned candlelight delving into the wiki).
Though I am also a newcomer to the universe, Shadowrun has been in existence since 1989, when it emerged as a popular role-playing game. It started as a tabletop turn-based dice-throwing bundle of fun, with a universe mixing the usual Tolkienian races and logic with futuristic technologies. I fully recommend reading up on it if cyberpunk tickles your fancy and you somehow haven’t heard of it before.
The creator of the Shadowrun Jordan Weisman established the studio Harebrained Schemes in April of 2012 with the intention of making Shadowrun Returns. As has become so common, Kickstarter would be their method funding, though it is worth noting that this was prior to the Kickstarter heyday. Many actually point to it as one of the successful projects that led to so much fervor for the crowdfunding giant. The campaign raised $1,836,447 during its 24-day span, blowing its initial $400,000 goal neatly out of the water.
Why bring up the crowdfunding success of Shadowrun Returns? Because of course, the developers of Chronicles used the same method to fund their own project. And, no the developers behind Chronicles are unrelated. Both Cliffhanger Productions and Hairbrained Schemes work on the licence independently. Despite being unrelated, in July of 2012, Austria-based Cliffhanger Productions went ahead with a month long crowd funding campaign of their own, raising in excess of their $500,000 goal in order to begin work on the project they originally named Shadowrun Online.
While they certainly didn’t blow their funding goal out of the water like Returns did, they had enough to begin work on a project. Though I personally feel that Cliffhanger Productions has a wishy-washy website full of lofty goals, they are still new in their development and used Kickstarter as a means to attain grounding to work on their dreams. It’s admirable to put yourself out there and do the work to fund a successful campaign. Since their inception in 2010, they have released a total of two games (the latest of course being Chronicles). As they state in their Kickstarter campaign, the Cliffhanger Productions team desires to enter into the world of Shadowrun and add their voice to the cyberpunk roar that Weisman created. Unfortunately, I imagine that the developers were overcome by the magnificent world of Shadowrun, with all of its intricacies and its possibilities. I feel that, like being at an all you can eat buffet, they decided they needed everything on the menu, even though eventually if you muddle all flavors together you get something akin to mud. That may seem harsh, but then again, when game play begins my comments might not seem so strange after all.
Since I had no prior knowledge of Shadowrun, I naturally chose to run full steam ahead into the world, no research and no understanding of what I was choosing to get myself involved with. That choice turned out to be both wise and foolish. While backstory and experience with the series would give me appreciation for the world, my vantage as a newcomer allowed me to see the flaws more clearly. I was quickly met with frustration and disappointment.
Upon starting Shadowrun Chronicles, you are greeted with a familiar character creation screen. This creator was a troubling reminder of The Sims creator. I’d eventually log in to find the update from the devs stating that their newest edition, following ridding the world of lag, would be the addition of cosmetic pets. I don’t want pets in a tactical game, like 0%. Whenever I was creating a character for The Sims, it was usually out of sadistic intent, and the end result was my poor darling Sim dying in a puddle of their own urine or setting themselves on fire by attempting to make a toaster pastry. I know I’m not alone in that.
With that Spartan mindset, I made my character a boring, standard, human lady. The game quickly runs the paces through a played out “wake up from anesthesia and escape the facility” first mission. The overworld hub that I entered following the introductory escape mission turned out to be small and disappointing, with various NPCs and real players running around looking for gear and human contact. Past that, I was shuffled into my first mission, which was vastly more difficult than the last and with minimal guidance.
I won’t walk you through my different stages of learning and improving at game, but I will say this: I don’t like to be coddled, but I do like to have some forgiveness. As a new player, I appreciate the mathematical and challenging calculations that Shadowrun Chronicles requires. I am not a tactical expert, but I improved as I grew a taste for the risk and strategy needed to complete each level. Advancement was difficult, since you can’t outfit your henchmen with gear and they generally come poorly equipped early on. Beginners have it worst when it comes to jumping on board the mechanics a of winning strategy. I missed that platform on several occasions, and had to deal with what I began to consider the overall theme of both uncorrected and unpolished features. With so many skill trees and options available, it was difficult to disseminate what was useful and what was included because the world of Shadowrun demanded it.
There are certainly things that I consider positives in relation to the overall game. Overall, it’s really hard to go wrong with cyberpunk. I know it’s been said, but seeing robots and hearing the pseudo-Clockwork Orange phraseology and melding of close-enough-to-English terms really made me feel that it was its own world. I know that the terms are borrowed, but I appreciated that I could hear them out and become a part of the role-play. I was also pleased to hear that the developers were interested in adding in player feedback about the story progression, which will aid in the future direction of the tale. Kind of like a giant D&D session. Or like Twitch Plays Pokémon.
As you might imagine, leaving plot development up to the universe (or your fanbase) can lead to some good content, but I see it as a point of weakness and idealism in the worst sort of way. The story is weak. I get that the game is tactical and combat focused rather than plot driven, but I couldn’t escape my dislike for the dialogue, the plot, and even the character I was playing. First of all, because I had the chance to live in Boston for a decade and hear the accent regularly, I was troubled when I heard my character interacting with the quest giver. Not only was the female human accent disturbingly akin to a poorly mimicked Harley Quinn, but she was obnoxious. Surprisingly enough, the male protagonist (yes, I switched over to a new character because ew) was a comforting and passable imitation of Mark Wahlburg’s sweet lullaby of a voice.
Other than the voice acting (which, come on, can be sub-par in even some of my favorite games), the game’s lack of polish continued to make itself more obvious with each successive turn. Similar to the recent Bloodborne, failure would lead to load screens. I was immensely frustrated by the fact that simple errors would end up placing me back at the initial hub after I had conceived a decent strategy to work through the particular level. Some of the enemy encounters are not necessarily unforgiving, but would become wearisome. If for some reason I make a miscalculation or a misstep while working through a level, I would have to exit all the way out in order to reform my team and try again from the first turn of the sequence of the mission. Also, not being able to use a Medkit that I picked up mid-mission was annoying (read: planning ahead is cool, but sucks when you need health). I feel that the game overall just has a low-tolerance for failure. Bottom line, it is unpleasant if you are new.
After examining the game’s different pieces, there’s still so much to say. I guess when all is said and done, I’m looking for something more. The game has a good combat system, but it gets old without solid story to compel me to progress. The game is an unrelated stepchild to a franchise that is met with success and loyalty, hoping to prove itself. I admire the idealism and dreams of a new developer trying to carve a name for themselves in the cyberpunk realm. But, as we already have an excellent Shadowrun option in Returns and the upcoming sequel, I don’t feel that I can in good conscious recommend or support the game to anyone new or dedicated to the Shadowrun universe. I don’t want to say it’s bad, but my initial impression of an unpolished game held true to the end of my experience. I can only shrug, wish Cliffhanger Productions well in their future endeavors, and play a different Shadowrun game to get rid of the taste of this one.
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Categorized:Reviews
