Well, although I am stuck on the final boss battle at the time of writing, I thought that it was about time that I finally reviewed this game. Although this isn’t technically the full review I’d planned to write, I’m probably about 95% of the way through the game, so it’s pretty close.

I first heard of “Shadowrun: Dragonfall – Director’s Cut” from this video review that I saw on Youtube. Although it didn’t really look like my type of game, the fact that it was a highly-praised modern game in the cyberpunk genre (that would actually run on my computer) made me interested.

I bought a direct download of this game quite a while ago when it was on special offer on GoG, although it is also available on services such as Steam. However, the GoG version comes with some extra goodies, such as a complimentary MP3 soundtrack download. Likewise, the GoG version is – of course – DRM-free too.

However, expect to take a while to get this game running. Although it uses pre-rendered backgrounds, text-based dialogue and relatively simple 3D graphics, the game download is over a gigabyte in size! In the 1990s/early 2000s, a game of this type would have probably fit onto a CD ROM! It also takes up a surprising amount of disk space when installed too. Not only that, it also comes with a 20mb patch which, for some bizarre reason, takes almost as long to install as the actual game itself does!

This review may also contain some mild gameplay SPOILERS, but I’ll try to avoid major ones.

Anyway, let’s take a look at “Shadowrun: Dragonfall – Director’s Cut”:

“Shadowrun: Dragonfall – Director’s Cut” is a cyberpunk fantasy role-playing game (with turn-based combat) that was released in 2014.

The storyline of the game is somewhat complicated, but the basic premise is that the game is set in a vaguely “Neuromancer“-like future where – due to various events – dragons, trolls, orcs, elves, magic etc.. have also become part of the world. Yes, it sounds hilariously silly, but the game actually handles this part of the story fairly well.

The game begins in Berlin with a team of mercenaries (or “Shadowrunners”) led by the legendary computer hacker, Monika Schäfer. She’s also the closest thing to the leader of an anarchist mini-state called “the Kreuzbasar”, and you are her second-in-command.

It is a night like any other, and you’ve got a mission to raid a nearby stately house and grab some data for a client. What could possibly go wrong….

Joking aside, as much as I grew to like this game, the first level almost put me off completely. Although the events of the level are essential to the game’s rich and detailed story, it is probably one of the more difficult levels in the game! Yes, this sudden difficulty spike forces you to actually learn the game’s combat system. But, it isn’t exactly the friendliest way to introduce new players to the game.

That said, most of the game plays fairly well. You, of course, begin by creating a character. I created a human computer hacker called “Molly Millions” (because ‘Neuromancer’). You can choose to play as a variety of races (eg: human, orc, troll etc…) and you can choose to specialise in a number of skills too (eg: magic, hacking, drones etc..). There are a reasonable (but limited) number of pre-set appearance options for your character, but the level of customisation is still fairly impressive.

The gameplay itself revolves around exploration, dialogue and turn-based combat. Between missions, your character can explore the Kreuzbasar alone, stock up on items and talk to the local residents. Although the Kreuzbasar is a relatively small place, this limited size (along with one or two side missions early in the game) quickly helps you to learn where everything and everyone who matters is.

However, there are also both compulsory and optional missions that you have to complete. During these missions, you’ll usually be accompanied by up to three team members of your choice. Each team member has a different specialisation, and you’ll have to work out who is best for each mission.

For example, Glory is a medic who also excels at close combat, Eiger is an ex-military troll who is an ace with a sniper rifle and Dietrich is a washed-up punk rocker who can use magic. Likewise, you can also expand the team by temporarily hiring other mercenaries and/or letting a character called Blitz join the team a bit later in the game.

Plus, surprisingly, these characters are actual characters. For example, after the first mission, one member of the team will be incredibly pissed off at you. You can try to talk to her about it and win back her support, you can ignore her or you can argue with her. Although this doesn’t seem to affect the actual gameplay too much, it was kind of surprising to see the supporting cast acting and reacting in such a realistic character-based way, rather than just unquestioningly admiring the player.

As I mentioned earlier, this game uses turn-based combat. In each round, every member of your team has a fixed number of actions they can perform. So, you have to make tactical decisions about whether to use your characters’ limited number of action points to move to more advantageous locations, to reload their guns, to heal their wounded comrades and/or to attack any nearby enemies. This system can take a while to get used to, but it lends the combat an almost chess-like level of strategy.

One of the things that is both a benefit and a flaw is that this is a “slow” game. Thanks to the long loading times (on older computers at least) and the chess-like pacing of the combat, this isn’t the kind of game that you can just play for five minutes.

To make any progress, you have to sink at least an hour or two into it at a time. Likewise, the game has a somewhat inconsistent saving system (eg: the “save” button will work in some areas, and it won’t work in others). So, you sometimes have to keep playing for a while longer than you expect if you want to save your progress.

But, on the plus side, putting a bit more time into this game is worth it because it’s wonderfully immersive, satisfyingly relaxing and thrillingly cerebral. Even the dreaded “timed segments” in this game rely on you having a limited number of turns, rather than an actual timer (which is brilliant!). It’s an action adventure game that is as relaxing to play as a “point and click” game is.

This “slowness” also gives you time to absorb the story and the world of the game. And, yes, this is one of those intelligent games that will really fire your imagination. The game includes things like a nuanced portrayal of an anarchist society (which is neither a utopia nor a dystopia), complex moral decisions, detailed written descriptions, character backstories and things like that.

Even though I’ve probably put at least 10-20 hours into this game, a brief glance at the Wiki for this game shows me that there’s still tons of optional story stuff that I’ve missed.

For the most part, the game is fairly linear – although there are a few optional missions and additional mission objectives that you can choose to follow. Plus, whilst it isn’t even vaguely close to the versatility of a game like “Deus Ex“, there are sometimes multiple ways to complete particular missions.

For example, I got stuck on a level called “Bloodline” for a while because I didn’t have enough charisma points to sweet talk an electrician who was working on a building that the characters were supposed to break into (and my previous “all guns blazing” approach to entering the building had ended in failure).

Worried that I was completely stuck, I consulted a walkthrough and learnt that there’s a slightly hidden area nearby which allows yet another way to enter the building. Yes, it isn’t quite “Deus Ex”, but it’s still good that there are multiple ways to complete some of the missions.

Plus, being a cyberpunk game, there are also the obligatory “cyberspace” areas too. Interestingly, you can only access these if you play as a hacker (or have one on your team) but they look really cool. Not only that, your character also gets more “turns” within cyberspace than he or she does outside of cyberspace. For example, in a round of combat, your character can perform the equivalent of 9-15 actions in cyberspace per turn, whilst the characters outside of cyberspace are limited to just 2-3 actions per turn.

Likewise, a few earlier parts of the game have knock-on effects later in the game. For example, in one optional mission, you have to investigate mysterious disappearances in the sewers beneath the Kreuzbasar. In the end, you have a choice between siding with the hungry ghouls who live in the sewers or exterminating them. If you side with them then, when you have to visit the sewers to fight some bad guys later in the game, they’ll join forces with you and help you out.

The game contains a couple of counter-intuitive parts like this. For example, earlier in the game, you find a hotel room with a warning message on the door. If you open it anyway, you are confronted with a giant mutant scorpion that attacks you. Once you’ve defeated the scorpion, you can investigate the room…. where you promptly learn that it was someone’s beloved pet scorpion. Needless to say, I quickly loaded a previous saved game out of shame and then promptly ignored the room.

In terms of length, this game is massive! When I heard that it was a low-budget indie game, I expected something relatively short. But, I’ve spent about a month playing this game every couple of days or so and I’m still stuck on the final boss battle at the time of writing. Make no mistake, this is a full-length game – of the type that was pretty much standard back in the 1990s.

On a technical level, this game is (mostly) good. It will run on a computer that is over a decade old! However, there are a few small glitches and flaws. I’ve already mentioned the unpredictable availability of the “save” button, but also expect to mess around with the camera options for a while when you start playing (eg: be sure to set the camera to “fixed”, otherwise you have to move it manually). Likewise, the game froze up once (but only once) when I was playing it.

Plus, the game obscures any areas of the map that are not directly within your characters’ vision. Normally, this adds some suspense to the game – but, especially if you’re using an older computer, the game can sometimes take a bit longer to reveal “new” areas that you’ve entered. So, you can end up standing around in a background-less void for a few seconds before the background loads:

As for the sound in this game, it’s brilliant. Although all of the dialogue is text-only, the weapons sound suitably dramatic and the background music is absolutely sublime. It’s a little bit reminiscent of the soundtrack to “Deus Ex” and it has a very atmospheric, electronic kind of sound to it. Whilst the music isn’t quite up to Perturbator levels of retro-futuristic awesomeness, it still sounds suitably cyberpunk.

All in all, “Shadowrun: Dragonfall – Director’s Cut” is a brilliant cyberpunk game. It’s intelligent, atmospheric and imaginative. It’s the kind of game that has to be played for hours at a time and can’t be completed in a couple of days. It’s a brilliantly immersive game that will linger in your imagination after you’ve finished playing it. Yes, a few parts are a little bit flawed and it isn’t a “perfect” game. But, it’s still an extremely good game nonetheless.

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get at least four and a half.