There is no single word in the English language more objectively radical than "cyberpunk." One could even describe the word as "awesome" or "gnarly" or any number of other terms that really should have died off around the time MTV stopped playing music videos. Cyberpunk may not have been invented in the 1990s, but it's the perfect symbol for the goofy excesses of the decade. At one point, the sort of techno-fetishist fantasy seen in the Shadowrun pen and paper game was the height of geek cool, and the newly released Shadowrun Returns either stands as proof that it is still is, or that we collectively spend far too much time pining for the Clinton administration.
The world of Shadowrun Returns is best described as a hybrid of cyberpunk noir and Tolkien-esque fantasy. Almost every important event takes place in or around the particularly-cool-circa-1994 city of Seattle, and you can expect to see orcs casting spells just as often as you'll spot elves who've traded half of their flesh for cybernetic implants. You play the role of a hardened "shadowrunner" (think: cyberpunk mercenary) who has been hired by a recently deceased friend to track down the people who killed him. For the most part the story follows traditional noir plot points from there on out. You investigate the scene of the crime, track down the victim's sister and uncover a massive conspiracy that wouldn't seem out of place in a Mickey Spillane novel (were it not for the horse-sized, immortal space bugs you periodically encounter).
Continue reading Shadowrun Returns review: Hack the planet
