Ever since I played Sleeping Dogs, I have been in love with Hong Kong as a location for video games. Cue in "a man who never eats pork buns is never a whole man!". Shadowrun did not disappoint when it came to using Hong Kong as the location. Shadowrun: Hong Kong is a story of family, betrayal, and so much more. The best part? You're at the center of it all, in the elegant, yet cutthroat streets of Kowloon City, Hong Kong. So be prepared to face an action packed life of crime and heroism all at the same time, because SRHK does a great job of offering this type of immersion. Over 30 hours worth of great content all for the price of $20? SRHK is easily one of the best games I have ever invested in.
STORY AND DIALOGUE: SRHK offers deep dialogue that let's you choose the tone and course of the story. How you choose to respond to people and the situations that come with, it's totally up to you. With that being said, storytelling is a huge part of enjoying this game. I hope you like to read, because there is a *lot* of dialogue to go through here. Growing up playing games like Final Fantasy XIII, The Last Remnant, and recently Divinity: Original Sin, I am quite used to tremendous dialogue. Despite all this, I can't help but feel as if some of the conversations in the game feel rather dragged out and redundant. Still, the writing, for the most part, is engaging and interesting. For those gamers more accustomed to playing more theatrical, high octane games such as CoD or Battlefield, they might find a harder time appreciating the game for what it is, and if you're a person who detests reading anything in general and decide to skip reading dialogue, good luck understanding what the heck is going on around you, because you're gonna end up asking yourself "so why did I just shoot that man again?"
One thing I feel needs to be executed better is the introduction. I was hoping for a stronger first impression story-wise. For the first 15 minutes of the game, I ended up asking myself the question of "who is this Raymond guy, and why do I care?" As a key point in the story, I was hoping for Raymond to have a much bigger impression on me. fortunately the game picks up speed shortly after, and the main story does get significantly more interesting along the way.
GAMEPLAY: If the story and environment itself hasn't already won you over, the gameplay should. I am confident that the turn based combat system offered here in SRHK can turn the gaze of even the most fanboyest of CoD fanboys. SRHK offers a lot of ways to disintegrate ornegotiate with various subjects. Yes, sometimes you can even choose not to blow them up to bits with Is0bel's grenade launcher. I think it's great that they worked on diplomacy as an alternative to combat on some of the scenarios. It all ties in to the main attraction here, which is again, storytelling. And the best part of it all? As far as I could tell, there is no penalty for choosing to be diplomatic as opposed to being hostile towards an enemy, because you get rewarded experience points all the same. In SRHK, experience points are called 'Karma Points' and are used to progress the endless choices to build your character with, but i will get to that later. Back to combat. Although yes, you can choose to be diplomatic, but when push comes to shove and someone needs a bullet to the head, SRHK does not disappoint. The turn based combat here? Rather engaging, smart, and most importantly, fun. Both allied and enemy AI is intelligently programmed to focus their attacks on units that are caught out in the open and not under some sort of cover. How you want to defeat your foes, is entirely up to you. You can plant mines, snipe people from afar, and even summon spirits to fight for you. My favorite tactic is to use a stun grenade + poison AoE fog field, and combine that with a flame barrier to ensure no one escapes, and once the area is clear of poison, my team goes all in, full force, no mercy. If something like that doesn't excite you, then my God you are hard to please.
Espionage in SRHK is the very essence on how cyberpunk should be done. Although as far as i know, there is no direct "stealth" in the game, but you can hack into system databases by using a digital avatar. The people who are capable of doing so are called deckers, and you could be one too if you choose to. Jacking into the systems is awesome. SRHK does a great job making you feel as if you are on a very important spy mission that let's you uncover hidden information such as financial records, scandals, and files you can download and sell for cash. The hacking system within the matrix can really put your brain to the test, although for me, as time went on, even when the difficulty rating to hack in was at it's highest, it started to feel a little too easy. All in all, jacking into the matrix is well worth your time.
One thing I must bring up, is that in this game, you will miss... A lot... Even at point blank range with a rifle, out in the open, you will still miss. However, most of the time this depends on how many skill points you have in the weapon you are using, positioning (flanking), and cover quality.
GRAPHICS AND VISUALS: The graphics are quite great, placing you in the perfect cyberpunk dystopian environment. Just by looking, you can already tell that the graphics are nothing groundbreaking, but it doesn't necessarily need to be, because the game's graphic style brings it's own unique charm to the table. The execution and use of the Hong Kong location is quite good, with unkempt houses, dark harbors and bright shop lights all in perfect harmony. What stood out to me was the fact that the environment around you is not static. You see npcs walk around, converse with one another, and pop up in different places to offer random quests that grant karma. Even the dialogue with shopkeepers change from time to time, which gives even them quite a bit of personality.
The level design is thoughtful and smart. You will not see any recycled levels here. And if they did, I sure as hell did not notice. SRHK keeps the various missions fresh by having various textures, layouts, and objectives, offering a dynamic gaming experience.
Character creation, on the visual side, could use a little work, The face options for your character are pretty much nonexistent, but hair options are there. You have five races to choose from: Human, elf, dwarf, ork (no not orc), and troll. Each race look rather unique from one another. All in all, the visuals that can be changed are hair and hair color, beard and beard color, and horns and horn color if you pick the troll race.
CHARACTER SKILLING: I feel like this deserves its own section. The character skilling in SRHK offers you ultimate choice in how you want to build your character. Want to be a hybrid gunner and swordsman? Do it. Want to be a hand to hand combat specialist? Do it. Want to be a summoner of spirits? Do it. Do it, but do it good, because if you allocate your karma points recklessly, you may end up with a weak character as the story progresses. Even the game itself tells you explicitly to spend your karma points wisely, because a "jack of all trades is a master of none". Personally, I chose the hand to hand combat specialist, also known as the Physical Adept. My playthrough has been extremely rewarding, seeing my foes fall from my 'killing hands'.
SOUND: Masterfully done. The sound absolutely completes the entire cyberpunk experience. The music played ranges from traditional string instruments all the way to futuristic techno beats. When I opened up the game for the first time and was greeted by the opening music, I knew I was in for a good time. The music played is also dynamic, with a variety of tracks playing in different levels of the game. The menu sound effects are good, but the combat sound effects sound a little tacky for my taste. For example, when my character would punch someone with his fists, it would have the same exact blood splatter sound effect every time, regardless of how much damage I actually dealt, whether it be 6 DMG or 30 DMG. The same can be said with magic spells among many others. I would suggest adding different sounds for critical hits from normal hits, and this goes for all forms of attacks.
REPLAYABILITY: Is the game replayable? You're damn right it is! Not only can you do another playthrough with an entirely different skillset, you can also have a different tone to the story. On my first playthrough, I played as a hand to hand combat assassin, mastering qi magic, with the personality of the classic 'good guy in a harsh world' attitude. A Mass Effect paragon, if you will. I am excited to begin my second playthrough as a long ranged blood thirsty sniper who dismisses any sort of diplomacy as an option.
GAME WINNING QUALITIES:
- Choice driven, deep dialogue, interesting story
- Choice between diplomacy or combat to extinguish threats
- Addicting tactical combat
- Smart AI
- Cyber espionage!
- Great art style
- Dynamic level designs and layouts
- Non static environments
- Sensible and thoughtful character skill building
- Great music variety and quality
- REPLAYABILITY
IMPROVEMENTS:
- Slightly weak first impression
- Some conversations are dragged out and redundant
- The amount of times everyone misses will sometimes feel like you're playing Stormtrooper: The Game
- Lackluster visual character creation
- Combat sound effects need more variety
FINAL SCORE: 9/10
FINAL WORDS: Great job, Harebrained Schemes. I am definitely looking forward to what you guys can come up with in the future. See you in the shadows.