Shadowrun Returns 20 Minute Gameplay Trailer Looks Impressive

Harebrained Schemes released a video of nearly 20 minutes of full-on gameplay from the early alpha build of Shadowrun Returns, one of the few crowd-funded games that became a Kickstarter sensation. The video is really neat, as it showcases a lot of functional gameplay and game mechanics in real-time. No CGI, no fluff, no E3 demos promising something it can't deliver.

Shadowrun Returns is sort of a spiritual successor to the Shadowrun games from Sega and Nintendo's old-school console days. It features some of the old cast of characters brought to life with new-gen graphics, technology and evolved gameplay mechanics.

The turn-based action-strategy game looks exceptionally impressive, as the video focuses more on working gameplay than say shader technology or lighting effects. Take note, however, that the team is still polishing the game and this is the work of only 10 months of design. Check it out below.

I'm liking where this is going. It has such an old-school flavor to it with the right context of evolution in all the necessary areas: turn-based combat isn't restricted to set AP points like in X-Com or Breach so there's a more organic feel to the firefights. Summoning and magic feel a lot more thorough than in previous turn-based games, where a lot of times these characters are relegated to second and third tier behind warriors/gunslingers. Using environmental cover as a natural state of interaction is just freaking awesome.

I love everything they're doing with this and I hope they just keep refining and polishing up until release day.

If you're also looking forward to Shadowrun Returns, be sure to pay a visit to the game's Official Website.