I'm back after a little delay. I set out to do a series of articles about the experience of reading through Shadowrun 2050. You can check out Part 1 and Part 2 if you missed them.
The "Let's Read" was going along well enough but I eventually hit a snag. I realized somewhere during the writing of Part 3 that I was diving into a regular review on the book. This wasn't something I intended to do but couldn't help myself. I could no longer discuss each part on it's own because there just wasn't a whole lot of material to comment on.
So I decided to scrap Part 3 and shoot straight with a complete rundown. So let's power down the rose-tinted cyber eyes and take a look at Shadowrun 2050 for what it is.
Showing posts with label Catalyst Game Labs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Catalyst Game Labs. Show all posts
July 31, 2012
July 20, 2012
[Let's Read] Shadowrun 2050 : Part 2
Today we are going to dive into the first chapter in Shadowrun 2050. If you missed Part 1 be sure to check it out first.
The first chapter is appropriately named The Knife at Your Throat. This is a rundown of the various facets of 2050 life that might end up getting you killed. An excellent place to begin. The chapter is broken up into three parts which each break down their own little slice of Shadowrunner life. All of this is written within the framework of a file that has been posted on the infamous Shadowland. That means Shadowtalk. Shadowtalk has always been the most entertaining part of any Shadowrun fiction for me and I am glad to see it return in just the way I remember it.
For those of you unfamiliar, this means that the text is broken up with commentary written by some of the famous characters from the fiction. For those of you that remember this well, you won’t be disappointed. Captain Chaos, Fast Jack, Argent, Hachetman and even Big D himself all comment somewhere within the first chapter.
Ok. Let’s dive in.
The first chapter is appropriately named The Knife at Your Throat. This is a rundown of the various facets of 2050 life that might end up getting you killed. An excellent place to begin. The chapter is broken up into three parts which each break down their own little slice of Shadowrunner life. All of this is written within the framework of a file that has been posted on the infamous Shadowland. That means Shadowtalk. Shadowtalk has always been the most entertaining part of any Shadowrun fiction for me and I am glad to see it return in just the way I remember it.
For those of you unfamiliar, this means that the text is broken up with commentary written by some of the famous characters from the fiction. For those of you that remember this well, you won’t be disappointed. Captain Chaos, Fast Jack, Argent, Hachetman and even Big D himself all comment somewhere within the first chapter.
Ok. Let’s dive in.
July 18, 2012
[Let's Read] Shadowrun 2050 : Part 1
It’s here. Since I heard about this book a few months back I’ve felt nothing but excitement about it. Let me give you a little history on my relationship with everyone’s favorite cyberpunk/fantasy hybrid.
Shadowrun was the second roleplaying game that I really got into. After cutting my teeth on D&D, Shadowrun came off as just about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I quickly was spending my meager teenage income to collect each book as it released. This was right around when Third Edition was new. I read all the old modules I could get my hands on and was generally in love with the game.
Fast forward years later with the release of Fourth Edition (and now 20th Anniversary). I like the unified mechanics. I like what the they did with moving the setting forward. 2070 felt new and fresh. Most of all, it felt like a good evolution of the game’s original cyberpunk roots.
Unfortunately for me that left some of what I fell in love with behind. I’m not going to spend a lot of time explaining what I mean other than Fourth Edition felt less “cyberPUNK” and more “near future espionage + magic.” The old Matrix went way. Sadly so did the most of the attitude and aesthetic that made those books so enjoyable for me to read in the first place.
Needless to say that when I heard that a sourcebook that brought the excellent 20th Anniversary rules back in time, I went absolutely bonkers. Enter Shadowrun 2050. Fast forward to today and the PDF has finally released. Instead of doing a cut and dry review I thought I would simply bring you along for the ride while reading it.
Follow along after the break.
Shadowrun was the second roleplaying game that I really got into. After cutting my teeth on D&D, Shadowrun came off as just about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I quickly was spending my meager teenage income to collect each book as it released. This was right around when Third Edition was new. I read all the old modules I could get my hands on and was generally in love with the game.
Fast forward years later with the release of Fourth Edition (and now 20th Anniversary). I like the unified mechanics. I like what the they did with moving the setting forward. 2070 felt new and fresh. Most of all, it felt like a good evolution of the game’s original cyberpunk roots.
Unfortunately for me that left some of what I fell in love with behind. I’m not going to spend a lot of time explaining what I mean other than Fourth Edition felt less “cyberPUNK” and more “near future espionage + magic.” The old Matrix went way. Sadly so did the most of the attitude and aesthetic that made those books so enjoyable for me to read in the first place.
Needless to say that when I heard that a sourcebook that brought the excellent 20th Anniversary rules back in time, I went absolutely bonkers. Enter Shadowrun 2050. Fast forward to today and the PDF has finally released. Instead of doing a cut and dry review I thought I would simply bring you along for the ride while reading it.
Follow along after the break.
June 28, 2012
The Duke Kickstarter Coming to Close
The Duke is a game that I heard about yesterday. Somebody pointed me in the direction of the Kickstarter so I decided to check it out. What I found really piqued my interest. Allow me to post the summary to give you a better idea:
At first glance this sounds a lot like Chess. Which is awesome. There is a reason Chess is still around. It's easy to learn and offers lots of different ways to approach the game. From what I can tell, The Duke has all of this going for it and more.
Gameplay takes place on a 6x6 square grid. You and your opponent each place your Duke and two support pieces on the board and then game play begins. Your turn is a simple affair: you can move one of your pieces or blind draw a tile from your supply and place it on the board adjacent to your Duke.
Easy enough.
Each piece has its movement pattern/restrictions. Sounds like Chess again right? The twist comes from the fact that each wooden piece has two sides with two different movement patterns printed on each side. After you move a piece you MUST flip it to the other side. At any time you can check the other side of your own pieces but you can NOT check your opponents pieces. This makes a huge impact on the game. Learning and remembering what your opponent is capable of and how to respond in turn adds an enjoyable layer to the chess-like formula.
The pieces look like they are going to pretty high quality as well. Here's a few:
The game also seems plenty expandable. If the stretch goals of the Kickstarter are any indication, the folks over at Catalyst have plenty of ideas for expansion tiles to shake things up. Even integrating some licensed properties like Conan and the Three Musketeers . Yea. Guilty. The Conan tile really got me look into the game more.
Catalyst Game Labs have the full rulebook available for download if you want to check it out as well as a print and play version of the game. As of this writing there is still 64 hours to go. I figure this is more than enough time to give the game a test and see if it's worth it.
Check out the Rulebook and Print & Play Version. If you like it you still have time to Become a Backer.
The Duke is a dynamic, tile-based strategy game with an old-world, feudal theme. It features high-quality wooden playing pieces and an innovative mechanic. The game takes moments to learn but hours of play to master. Levy your troops and maneuver them about the game board. If you end your movement in a square occupied by an opponent's tile, you capture that tile. Capture your opponent's Duke to win!
At first glance this sounds a lot like Chess. Which is awesome. There is a reason Chess is still around. It's easy to learn and offers lots of different ways to approach the game. From what I can tell, The Duke has all of this going for it and more.
Gameplay takes place on a 6x6 square grid. You and your opponent each place your Duke and two support pieces on the board and then game play begins. Your turn is a simple affair: you can move one of your pieces or blind draw a tile from your supply and place it on the board adjacent to your Duke.
Easy enough.
Each piece has its movement pattern/restrictions. Sounds like Chess again right? The twist comes from the fact that each wooden piece has two sides with two different movement patterns printed on each side. After you move a piece you MUST flip it to the other side. At any time you can check the other side of your own pieces but you can NOT check your opponents pieces. This makes a huge impact on the game. Learning and remembering what your opponent is capable of and how to respond in turn adds an enjoyable layer to the chess-like formula.
The pieces look like they are going to pretty high quality as well. Here's a few:
The game also seems plenty expandable. If the stretch goals of the Kickstarter are any indication, the folks over at Catalyst have plenty of ideas for expansion tiles to shake things up. Even integrating some licensed properties like Conan and the Three Musketeers . Yea. Guilty. The Conan tile really got me look into the game more.
Catalyst Game Labs have the full rulebook available for download if you want to check it out as well as a print and play version of the game. As of this writing there is still 64 hours to go. I figure this is more than enough time to give the game a test and see if it's worth it.
Check out the Rulebook and Print & Play Version. If you like it you still have time to Become a Backer.
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