I finished a game!

Shadowrun: Hong Kong - 9/10

I don't finish very many video games, largely because there's just too many to explore.  I like digging in, seeing what's up, and then most of the time simply moving on.  It's not that most games don't compel me to finish, it's usually that there's the next great thing waiting for me.

This blog isn't supposed to be about video games, but due to this game being Shadowrun: Hong Kong, I felt it was a necessary tribute.   I had a blast, and everything from the character progression, battle mechanics, and story kept me playing.  I could write a couple page review, but instead I'll just hit on some highlighted thoughts I had while playing.

The Good:

• The individually crafted 'runs' is what makes this whole game tick.  There's no generic fetch-quests, no kill-20-things, and no grind-for-gold anything.  Every tick of the game was specifically made to be awesome.
• Hacking required actual quick-thinking and pattern recognition, which felt <right> in an otherwise slow combat tactics game.
• Choices made during beginning runs seemed to have an effect on the end game.  It was really cool!
• The computer game is actually less complicated than the tabletop version, with less to keep track of and roll for.  That says a lot >.<
• Very interesting and diverse characters.  I liked that the game let you pick broad strokes of level-up for them, but you didn't have to micro-manage their skills or inventory, letting you focus on yourself.
• Money was always <just> tight enough. Well done on the economy side.  I honestly felt like a semi-poor shadowrunner, going job-to-job trying to get new tech.
• Goul-Samurai are bad ass.

The Could-Have-Been-Better:

• Unfortunately, the biggest disappointment was that the character relationships didn't matter a single bit.  It didn't matter if you talked to everyone or not (other than getting each runner's own story mission).  I'm not talking romance (although that's always amusing in bioware games), but that whether you were a dick or not to your teammates, the game plays the same.
• Because of the lack of mage or physical adept on the team, it seemed a waste to play pretty much anything else.  Of course, I still played a sniper...
• Final boss was slightly disappointing, but I understand I could have fought it at a much lower karma level.
• No astral-projection/astral vision, which is weird since they included the matrix.
• No hacking of people's guns. Oh well.
• I felt nothing for Duncan... he was kinda just whiny. Then again, me as the player knew - and wanted - that we were going to be shadowrunning.