Probably my biggest gripes about this game are quirks with the interface. For example, suppose I go to the gun merchant to buy a new gun. As I click on different guns in the shop, the stats for each gun are shown in relation to the weapon I currently have equipped as my primary weapon. But since I can carry two weapons, my gun might be my secondary weapon, and there's no easy way to switch the primary and secondary slots. To get any use out of the stat comparison display, I have to manually equip something else in the secondary slot to get the gun in my inventory and then swap it for the primary weapon, then go back into the shop.
And when you are in a mission, it's easy to forget which weapon you used last and wind up shooting a guy that you just ran up to so you could cut him down with your sword. Which, in turn, puts you in the habit of clicking on the weapon you intend to use before you use it--but, if you have a gun active and you click on it, you'll reload the weapon and waste your turn.
So the interface can be a pain. And some people complain about the voice acting in this game. As the subtitle suggests, the game is set in a (locked-down!) Boston, and the voice cast was apparently instructed to make this clear by having everyone do their worst impersonation of Mayor Quimby from The Simpsons. But hey, I played the first Resident Evil, and compared to that, this game is a Broadway production.
So what's the bottom line on Shacron: Bostlock? My gaming group wanted a co-op experience that would give us a break from frenetic action games that tax our limited set of skillz (e.g., Rocket League). And that's what this game does. It's fun in the way tabaletop gaming is fun, where there's pressure to get things right but you can still relax, and the missions are short enough that when you screw up you haven't wasted half an evening for nothing.
On that basis, Sc:bl is recommended for fans of turn-based combat who want some co-op fun, as long as you understand that it's all about the missions, and you're not getting a co-op MMORPG. I haven't played any pick-up games with a host of Rando Calrissians, so I don't know how that would go, but I worry that without clear teamwork the game might be frustrating. I also don't know that is has much appeal to me as a single player game, so if you are intending to fly solo, you might check out the other games in the Shadowrun universe first.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: Shadowrun Chronicles allows up to four players to team up online and tackle the world of Boston 2076. Unfortunately, Cliffhanger Productions announced that the the servers have been shut down as of 11/30/2018.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.