Information New Shadowrun Returns Screenshots and Info at Game Informer

[Crooked Bee]

Tags: Harebrained Schemes; Shadowrun Returns

The latest issue of Game Informer has a feature article on Shadowrun Returns, and while the article itself is currently unavailable online, French Shadowrun fansite Fondation Draco has published a summary of the article as well as the new screenshots contained therein:

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And here's the summary in French:

• Le jeu se déroule en 2054, à Seattle. Un deuxième scénario prenant place à Berlin sortira un peu plus tard.
• Le point de départ de l’intrigue est une sinistre affaire de trafic d’organes.
• Comme l’épisode Super Nintendo, Shadowrun Returns commence à la morgue.
• Un enquêteur de la Lone Star nommé Mitch Macklusky est un personnage important, au moins au début du jeu.
• L’ambiance “film noir” est l’une des inspirations majeures des développeurs
• Les combats au tour par tour sont inspirés de XCOM (autant le jeu des années 90 que l’épisode sorti l’année dernière)
• Bien qu’on ne créé qu’un seul personnage en début de partie, il est possible de recruter d’autres shadowrunners. En combat, le joueur contrôle tous les membres de son équipe (ils ne sont pas gérés par une IA)
• Le système de dialogue est à base de mots clés
• La partie “enquête” sera très développée

Basically: the game takes place in Seattle in 2054 (the second scenario, taking place in Berlin, will be released slightly later) and the plot hook is organ trafficking. Like the SNES Shadowrun, it starts off at the morgue. A Lone Star investigator Mitch Macklusky is an important character. Film noir is a big inspiration for the developers. The turn-based combat is inspired by XCOM, and it'll be possible to recruit other shadowrunners. You will control all your characters in combat - no AI controlled companions for you. The dialog system is keyword-based, and the investigative side of things will be pretty important.

The article also contains a glimpse of the scenario editor.

 

[SuicideBunny]

looks pretty neat.

 

[Excidium]

Looking good.

 

[Jaesun]

This keeps sounding so fucking good...

 

[Hobz]

the investigative side of things is already pretty developed.

Actually, the sentence meant that investigation WILL be very developed, as in "an important part of the game", it gave no information on the development progression.

Great news nonetheless, i'm pretty impressed by this game.

 

[mindx2]

Those screenshots look GREAT! Have to say that of all the KS projects I've backed in 2012 this one hasn't said or shown anything that makes me worried. It looks, and sounds, like it will be a good game.*

*Yes, I know we have to see and hear a lot more but so far so good...

 

[HobGoblin42]

Looks great. Are the character 3D animated or is everything 2D?

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Wooo!
I am fucking pumped for this. The possibility of good tactical combat combined with the Shadowrunner system and an editor is an awesome possibility.

 

[Wizfall]

Awesome hehe.
Not perfect though (troll/ork character model could be a better) but overall it looks great.
I love this isometric view.
They have made one of the best kickstarter campaign and have the best communication about the game's development.

 

[evdk]

This looks bloody awesome. So far they are making exactly the game I have expected. Best $15 spent so far.

 

[DwarvenFood]

The one Kickstarter I had the lowest expectations for, is turning out to be pretty fucking awesome

(lol, that .gif is called kingcomrade)

 

[Vault Dweller]

Looks awesome.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I want to see some in action vids next.

 

[OSK]

Looks great. Are the character 3D animated or is everything 2D?

One of the game’s largest growth factors was the change from a top-down to an isometric point of view, which is much more dynamic but also much more expensive to create. We explored several different methods to bring the rich details of the Shadowrun world to life in an isometric POV and settled on a hybrid approach that merges 2D environments and 3D characters.

The 2D background allows us to deliver a level of detail, depth, and expressiveness that we think will capture the tone we’re working toward, while the characters’ 3D structure allows for fluid movement, and a wide range of character design and equipment options. Based on the number of tests we’ve done, we think the 2D/3D mix is really working well.

http://harebrained-schemes.com/shadowrun/

 

[IronicNeurotic]

Looks great, but....

Yeah, there wasn't a lot of worrying stuff said so far, but unless I missed some in-depth updates its all general buzzwords. Buzzwords for our niche, but still buzzwords.

I dunno, still waiting with overexcitement.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I still want to see what character creation looks like.

 

[Volrath]

Well it looks fantastic.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

So far we've seen screen but do we know anything about stats, character creation, level progression?
Also, I don't know if it's been stated, but what edition of Shadowrun will they be going about using?

 

[evdk]

So far we've seen screen but do we know anything about stats, character creation, level progression?
Also, I don't know if it's been stated, but what edition of Shadowrun will they be going about using?

Some amalgamation of all four, IIRC.

 

[Crooked Bee]

the investigative side of things is already pretty developed.

Actually, the sentence meant that investigation WILL be very developed, as in "an important part of the game", it gave no information on the development progression.

Oops, yeah, my bad. Kinda overlooked the "sera" there. Will correct it in the newspost.

 

[Wizfall]

Looks great, but....

Yeah, there wasn't a lot of worrying stuff said so far, but unless I missed some in-depth updates its all general buzzwords. Buzzwords for our niche, but still buzzwords.

I dunno, still waiting with overexcitement.

http://harebrained-schemes.com/post/fireside-chat-with-jordan-weisman-and-mikes-dev-diary/
http://harebrained-schemes.com/post/chris-developer-diary/
That the 2 most important update but you can find more.
General buzzwords ?
I really don't know how you can expect much more info than that, except the game.
Much more and detailed info about the game development process than any other kickstarter.

 

[Excidium]

So far we've seen screen but do we know anything about stats, character creation, level progression?
Also, I don't know if it's been stated, but what edition of Shadowrun will they be going about using?

Some amalgamation of all four, IIRC.

Source?

 

[evdk]

If I remembered the source, I would not have written IIRC, sorry. Maybe Infinitron and his network of Jewish spies can help?

 

[Wizfall]

I can be bothered to check but evdk is right.
It would used a proper new rule-set more adapted to the PC but inspired by a mix of the different PnP editions rules as mush as they can.
For the full PnP ruleset i'm not sure a AAA budget would have been enough lol

 

[Junmarko]

Crooked Bee, you're a fucking lad. Cheers mang!