Genesis - Shadow Run Review

Gameplay and interface: 8/10

First the interface. This is certainly one of the easier traditional RPG's to play. It's extremely easy to adjust Joshua (the main character's) equipment and posture. There's practically zero lag not to mention an extremely easy to use Notebook function which keeps track of many thing including the number of Johnsons (guys who offer jobs), shadowrunners (your fellow mercenaries, equipment prices, vid-phone contacts and most importantly storyline clues. If only other games had this function. Full points in this section. If and when you do have shadowrunners, its just as easy to switch between them or give them items or change whatever you want.

As for interacting with the outside environment, its easy enough, all you have to do is to walk up to a booth or terminal and you'll automactically use it. This can be annoying in certain games but in this game it is implemented well in general.

The gameplay itself is a mixed bag. For one thing it sticks quite closely to the RPG which means that you'll spend lots of time going to Johnsons for jobs and having to pay for just about everything. And trust me, most of the good equipment have price tags going into thousands of dollars while for example, the most difficult coporate shadowruns will only give you about seven or eight thousand. Not exactly worth while. Fortunately that's where the Matrix runs come in. This involves hacking into companies electronic websites and obtaining their information. But while Matrix runs and selling data files do give you a lot of cash once again good cyberdecks cost a lot. Which means you'll be spending time building your character up doing the same runs over and over again. So if you like leveling up and watching your character become more and more powerful you'll probably be right at home. Otherwise you'll probably lose patience and give up. So while the missions are fairly interesting and exciting for example sneaking around a coporate office doing them over and over again kind of makes them boring and repetitive.

You'll also get the opportunity in the game to do other things like go on optional quests, ally yourself with criminal organisations and earn discounts at certain shops. The game is definitely very comprehensive is this respect. Non-combat attributes such as reputation play an important role in this area so you can't just think about making Joshua more powerful all the time.

As for the combat system. The good news is this game features auto-targeting so you don't have to aim. The bad news is that magic is a little bit too powerful in this game so you may end up being mortally wounded in the game by magical fire in a random battle. Fortunately, you can't actually die in the game. You'll either get lucky and get pulled into a medical shop or the general hospital will send an ambulance later in the game when you pick up a certain item. Of course, you'll lose a little cash but I guess that's fair. Besides you can always restore the game.

Storyline: 5/5

This is certainly an RPG with a great story line. The game starts off with your brother Michael being killed in a shadowrun and you travelling to Seattle to find out why. As the story unfolds you discover more and more important clues to his last shadowrun and how the major players in Seattle are connected to him. The game is structured so that there are 3 major quests which you can continue or complete in any order although completing them in the wrong order may make the story seem a little disjointed.

Graphics: 2/5

The graphics in this game are downright ugly. There's no other way to say it. Primitive but effective. When you finish a quest however you are given a full screen picture depicting events which is pretty nice. I wonder if the creators intended the game to mimick the grittiness of the future...

Level design: 3.5/5

Most of the runs are pretty well structured and tense thanks to the random events such as stumbling upon or onto a security plate during a corporate run. Or even being asked by illegal weapon dealers if you'd like some illegal grenades. Sometimes, as in the case of the grenade dealer you might get something good like illegal grenades for a cheap price but sometimes if you try to purchase the grenades the dealer might turn out to be an undercover cop. In any case the risk of buying illegal weapons or doing certain things often heightens the tension. However, the random battles that you get involve in are downright annoying as mentioned before. Especially against magical creatures.

Music and Sound: 0/5

There really isn't much to say about the music. It's ugly just like the graphics and there isn't even a single good soundtrack to save it. There is voice but very poor as well. You'll probably end up muting the game.

For: Good interface, good storyline, comprehensive world, good concept

Against: Bad graphics, bad music, too repetitive, too difficult sometimes, follows the RPG a little too well.