| Introduction:
With a dark, gloomy atmosphere a la The Matrix, a storyline worthy of
Squaresoft (gasp!), and even some misplaced humor, Shadowrun is one of
the best games I've seen from Enix, and may even surpass Illusion of Gaia
as thier best Action RPG if it comes right down to it. Armed with killer
puzzles, difficult enemies, and a storyline that gets deeper and more
deadly the more you play, Shadowrun has exactly what it takes to make the
status of sleeper hit.
Graphics [6/10]:
While playing on a big screen makes the graphics really, really bad, on
a regular-sized screen the small figures just look like lego men.
However, the character portraits really shine compared to other character graphics,
and some of the details (mohawks, spiked armor, people shooting and casting
spells, the bartenders wiping the bars and cleaning glasses, and the
band) are the best the programmers could do considering the limited sprites.
Game Play [8/10]:
While it takes a while getting used to (which can be really dangerous
if you stopped playing when it gets really hard), the control isn't all that
bad. It'll take you awhile to figure out how to equip armor and weapons, but
once you figure out that, the game gets a lot easier. Taking out tough
enemies takes more practice then levels, but it gets hard to take out a
specific target in a group of enemies due to the mercenaries'
shoot-the-first-thing-that-moves programming.
Challedge and Replay [9/10]:
Only experienced Action RPGers need apply! The game starts soft, but
right about the time your keep your head from exploding (don't ask, just
play) it gets really difficult. Other parts (getting into the club, activating
your datajack, getting out of the junkyard) require good exploration and
puzzle-solving skills. The game, however, gets a mark against it in
it's unbalancing. Sometimes areas will seem rediculously easy because you
got so strong from beating normal enemies finding a way into it, others will
seem very difficult because you didn't have to time to stockpile weapons,
mercenaries, and experience for it, and even a few will seem incredibly
hard once you figure out you weren't supposed to go there yet.
As for replay, once the secrets of the game are out and you start a new
game, the storyline loses it's value. However, you will replay the
whole game at least once to increase your charisma skill so you have a
veritable army of mercenaries to protect you. ;)
Conclusion and Overall [7/10]:
You'll spend months trying to beat this one, but once you do you'll be
sending it to pawn shops in no time. The ability to hire mercenaries
gives the game a lot of potential, the interesting concept of floating are in
cyberspace and the combination of science fiction and magic makes the
game all the better. However, both these factors are misused. The only
things that makes this game great is it's novelty and storyline, and once
you've played through it once they become nonexistent, leaving only a magic
and guns killing spree with short breaks to solve puzzles that, once you've
figured them out, only become annoying.
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