Haha, me too! I was so dumb when I played the Genesis (or SNES, I can't remember which I played, or if I played both) and I like to think I'm a bit smarter now... Or maybe not.
Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBpDvwf0mP4 I'm definitely excited about this one. Probably will buy it for tablet and PC since user created adventures initially will be only available on PC and Mac.
You know... This has been the best year in iOS gaming for me bar none. The year is not even over and we are getting this, Deus Ex, Terraria, all the other awesome games in development plus all the awesome games that have released this year so far (Baldur's Gate, Frozen Synapse, KotOR, etc). Now I get to relive my teen/young adult years of playing arguably one of the greatest RPG's never to be recreated of given a sequel on my iPad! Take my money, please! Makes me want to pick up the new fifth edition books even though I don't play anymore!
In really excited for this one, it looks amazing...but I know next to nothing about the world of Shadowrun. Will it be newbie-friendly, or do I need to read up on everything I can to enjoy the game?
In a nutshell, there is a socio-political upheaval between the world and its governments. Corporations start to slowly take over governmental powers, meanwhile overpopulation leads to race riots, while also as the world progresses too quickly technologically there is a growing eco-resistance that shakes things up fighting that progression in an attempt to return things back to nature, so to speak. Then the world is a devastated by VITAS, Virally Induced Toxic Allergy Syndrome, believe the be a engineered disease that releases upon the world, wiping out a third of the population. Then there is a second wave of the disease that takes out another significant percentage of the worlds population. With the world thrown topsy-turvy corporations step in to fill the role where government failed. Meanwhile admit all this a phenomenon call UGE (Unexplained Genetic Expression I think is what It stands for) starts occurring and babies start popping out looking like what people would describes as Elves and Dwarves. The phenomenon becomes more frequent and soon after literally overnight become "Goblinized" waking up with traits very similar to Trolls, Orks and such. Meanwhile the Indian nations start to see an uprise in population and further a return of magic. IIRC there is even a great dragon spotted in Japan when this all starts, thought to be legend, now apparently very real, intelligent, powerful and existing! Meanwhile amidst all this the Matrix (well before Keanu Reeves movie) is formed as a digital world that exists in tangent to our own, existing as a new way to share information, meet people, etc. but while technology advances so does the rediscovery of magick and the Ethereal or spirit world. So basically, admidst sociopolitical and economic upheaval, catastrophic near extinction level events, the advancements of technology and the return of magic and open doorway connection to the spirit world, the genetic transformation or evolution of a portion of our species into Elves, Dwarves, Trolls, Orks, and more, Native American and the other former tribal indigenous races of America taking back a portion of the country, the return of Mayans, cybernetic implants sold as biological life upgrades much like elective cosmetic surgery and so forth... Well, there's a lot to cover. Needless to say, at the end of the day its about corporate espionage at its most deadly! Watch movies like Bladerunner, Johnny Nmemonic, Total Recall, Minority Report, I Robot, A.I., etc to get the tone of this cyberpunk setting and then imagine if you dropped Legolos and Gimli in it with Auto-pistol and miniguns! Corporations steal from other corporations, try to defend their own secrets, double and triple costs eachother and Dragons are never to be trusted or messed with especially when they are the CEO of a mega corporation! You are a simple Shadowrunner, a skilled gun for hire trying to make some money and stay alive in a world full of technology, magick and street samurai!!
Thank you for the breakdown...I didn't think I could be more excited, but I love just about everything you mentioned...this will definitely be a day one purchase for me!
already pre-ordered on steam. From a productivity point of view, i think its going to be a disaster when this comes out ps here a long video http://pockettactics.com/2013/07/04/half-an-hour-in-virtual-seattle-shadowrun-returns-gameplay-video/#more-9297
It's a video from PC version , I wonder how will iOS interface look like and will there be many cuts in graphic / missions. And how much will it cost
Wow. The story sounds like a crazy mash up of fantasy, spiritual, and high tech future tropes. I can't wait...
Trust me when I say I glossed over the history, and with each new edition (Shadowrun 5th edition just came out, FYI) they advance the timeline and further add to the history. I used to play the pen and paper back during 1st, 2nd and 3rd edition but getting older, family, kids makes that kind of gaming go to the sidelines. If interested I am sure you can find a more thoroughly fleshed out and extended version of the Shadowrun history, probably from the official site or the wikia page. It is a very intersting setting that truly doesn't get the attention it deserves. At least now we have this remake and Shadowrun online coming out (an MMO) to make up for lost time and that anomoly that was the FPS that was loosely associated withe the franchise (I actually enjoyed it but it lacked a lot of what makes Shadowrun, well, Shadowrun)! Keep in mind that the current Shadowrun Timeline is the 2070's... Most of the events I described took place leading up to and around the 2020's or so. And yes, it is a mash up of the most excellent kind!
Does anyone know for sure if the user-created content will be available for iPad users? The devs have stated that the initial Seattle campaign is the jump-off point, and there is already a ton of user-made missions and story...but will we get them on tablets?
Tablet versions of Shadowrun Returns are not part of any Backer reward levels and will be available for purchase from the Apple and Android App Stores. Tablet versions will not include the Editor or have the ability to browse and play community-created content. We hope to bundle and add the best community-created content to the tablet versions of the game in the future.
I hope to contribute to that community too! I preordered thePremium PC version and will be buying it for my iPad as well!
They said that they will probably be porting select user content on the ios, though that doesn't mean that at the end it will actually happen.
