14 DAY TRIAL // What we know: Shadowrun Returns is a tactical role-playing game that uses party mechanics and is being developed by Harebrained Schemes.
The game is party-based, which means that players will be able to customize their own characters and will also find a number of NPCs to recruit, mixing and matching the abilities to deal with the various challenges that the game throws at them.
The game is tactics driven and unique because it mixes highly developed technology with fantasy creatures and with magic, creating a world where orcs and advanced implants can co-exist.
The battles themselves are turn-based, with both physical attacks and magic used to take down the henchmen of the mega-corporations of the Shadowrun Universe.
At the moment, the development team says that it has finished creating a number of core game systems, including conversations, and that more than 30 skills for characters have also been implemented.
Shadowrun Returns will be launched on the PC but also on iPad and Adroid devices at some point during the second quarter of 2013.
Why it matters: One of the unique features of Shadowrun Returns is the fact that Jordan Weisman, the creator of the tabletop game on which the virtual experience is based, is leading development, which means that the resulting experience will closely reflect the ideas of the core property.
The intellectual universe was first adapted during 2007 in shooter form, but Weisman says that it lacked authenticity and decided to use Kickstarter to fund his own video game using the Shadowrun concept.
As with all titles that received their resources via crowd funding, it remains to be seen whether the team at Harebrained Schemes can deliver on the promises that they have made to the fans.
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