Contrast and Compare: Cyberknights vs Shadowrun Returns
Jan 3, 2015 12:03:21 GMT -5
LiquidHammer likes this
Post by dayan on Jan 3, 2015 12:03:21 GMT -5
The Brothers have made no secret about the influence of Shadowrun and other Gibson-influenced work in their game. But in 2012, Harebrained Schemes brought Shadowrun back to the world of videogaming with Shadowrun Returns. A story-wise direct sequel to the early '90s SNES/Genesis game, SRR (as well as it's sequel Dragonfall and a new installment set in Hong Kong about to enter kickstarter) is a turn-based, isometric 2.5D tactical strategy game that assigns armor values to items in the environment for creating cover for the individuals fighting to shelter behind (reminiscent to the Full Spectrum Warrior series). There is an overwatch function that allows party members to attack any enemy entering their fire sector. The matrix is much like the real world, and the game mechanics; say activating ESPs to fight for you and attacking from a distance is much the way a shaman summons spirits and mages hurl fireballs in the real world. Though it's an RPG, the mechanics are very much set up as a turn-based tactical combat game like Templar Assault or Heroes of Steel, where as Cyberknights uses the same kind of encounter combat screen Star Traders 1 does.
Graphically there really is no comparison- not to insult Cyberknights in any way since HBS is a professional developer with a lot more resources than the Trese brothers had when making CK. Where games like CK really shine though lay in that same simplicity (as well as their near-obsessive dedication to updating). Though based mainly on 2D traditional artwork as well, Dragonfall clocks in at nearly a gigabyte and a half of memory. Of which nearly none of it is transferrable to SD card. Its also intensive enough at hogging resources to jam up and slow down even my Galaxy Tab 4 to a crawl. The result is that far fewer people have access to and can run the game cleanly than Cyberknights. Similar hardware bottlenecking did nothing to help Personnae Studios' case in MechWarrior Tactical Command (Though thankfully the SRR series is far less obscure).
With the gradual successes and advancements the brothers have made over time, its safe to say that a Cyberknights 2 is nearly an inevitability. And given the advancements I've seen so far in Star Traders 2 and Heroes of Steel, Cyberknights 2 may be the only real thing to compare the Shadowrun games to.At least on Android- I don't follow Steam/Desura based games. But CK2 is likely to still cover a LOT more hardware than the Shadowrun games (So I don't really consider them to be rival properties). There IS Cyberlords Arcology, and to be frank- I ABSOLUTELY ADORE that game. Its graphically simple yet uses (what appears to be) Spine-based animation to good effect as a real time strategy cyber punk game. Unfortunately- its developer, HandyGames seems to have dropped any support for it as it's not even listed on the developer's website, and all information I could find on it comes from the Google Play catalog.
If you're a Shadowrun fan like myself, they're about to start a new kickstarter for a new installment set in Hong Kong.
Graphically there really is no comparison- not to insult Cyberknights in any way since HBS is a professional developer with a lot more resources than the Trese brothers had when making CK. Where games like CK really shine though lay in that same simplicity (as well as their near-obsessive dedication to updating). Though based mainly on 2D traditional artwork as well, Dragonfall clocks in at nearly a gigabyte and a half of memory. Of which nearly none of it is transferrable to SD card. Its also intensive enough at hogging resources to jam up and slow down even my Galaxy Tab 4 to a crawl. The result is that far fewer people have access to and can run the game cleanly than Cyberknights. Similar hardware bottlenecking did nothing to help Personnae Studios' case in MechWarrior Tactical Command (Though thankfully the SRR series is far less obscure).
With the gradual successes and advancements the brothers have made over time, its safe to say that a Cyberknights 2 is nearly an inevitability. And given the advancements I've seen so far in Star Traders 2 and Heroes of Steel, Cyberknights 2 may be the only real thing to compare the Shadowrun games to.At least on Android- I don't follow Steam/Desura based games. But CK2 is likely to still cover a LOT more hardware than the Shadowrun games (So I don't really consider them to be rival properties). There IS Cyberlords Arcology, and to be frank- I ABSOLUTELY ADORE that game. Its graphically simple yet uses (what appears to be) Spine-based animation to good effect as a real time strategy cyber punk game. Unfortunately- its developer, HandyGames seems to have dropped any support for it as it's not even listed on the developer's website, and all information I could find on it comes from the Google Play catalog.
If you're a Shadowrun fan like myself, they're about to start a new kickstarter for a new installment set in Hong Kong.
