Shadowrun Chronicles: Boston Lockdown

Compared to other recent Shadowrun games, Shadowrun Chronicles: Boston Lockdown is very streamlined. Though the other games in the series offer more depth, variety in missions, and a better story, Shadowrun Chronicles is the only game to offer cooperative online play. In fact, a persistent online connection is required to play whether you're playing with others or going it alone. Much is lost by giving up control to other players in your squad, with coordination efforts strained by chat-only communication, but much also is gained in enjoying a tactical role-playing game with friends. The main problems with Shadowrun Chronicles, unfortunately, have to do with technical issues, lag, server struggles, and the odd bug. Plus, the lack of game options, endgame content, and variety of mission types make Shadowrun Chronicles feel much more stripped down and basic compared to how deep, say, Shadowrun: Dragonfall is.

The developer continued to patch the game after its launch, and with a developing online player base, hopefully the game will be able to mend, fix, add, and/or cut enough so the game's stability will improve. Further, the developers hopefully will add tweaks and content that should increase the variety of mission types. But, though enemy variety is extensive and wonderful, Shadowrun Chronicles can't escape being extremely repetitive in its structure. You buy and upgrade weapons, skills, and gear; head out to a mission; return; and repeat. Granted, playing with others does provide some hilarious moments, but cooperative play also invites idiocy, trolls (not the fantasy kind), and all-around chaos. If someone dies, the whole team will lose unless they can beat the mission within five turns. These constraints definitely can create long missions up to an hour a pop. But if you have three other dedicated friends to play with and have been itching for some cooperative tactical role-playing, Shadowrun Chronicles is a decent place to start.