I bought a physical copy of SR6e after a long break since SR2e. The game seems so unplayable it's unbelievable. Some core aspects of combat seems to be so far out there is no saving it. Weapon conceal-ability is gone mechanically. Attack Rating/Defense Rating (AR/DR) does not work in practice. The one thing that really put me over the edge was when I saw that a hold out pistol had the same Ar as a rocket launcher. In what world is a tiny pistol perceived to be as much of a threat at a rocket launcher. Only answer is Men in Black movies and SR6e. Looking at the advice below, I think I would prefer SR 2e or3e.

Hmmm....should I give them $20 for far too late fixes of a fundamentally broken system? No...I don't think I will. A pretty big chunk of this should have been released for free....I'ts pretty gross that they wrapped that stuff in a book that costs money.

Anyone up for a game of Lowlife instead?

As others are saying (indeed as most shadowrun players will say, or so it seems), I was not impressed with 6th ed. Not at all. The more time you gave it, the more you were really just giving it rope to hang itself with. In fact my group gave up on 6th ed, we went back to playing 3rd ed - which wiped the floor with 6e when you played them side by side.

Having given up on 6e once already, this book's only attraction is the lure that the section of 'optional rules' might alter 6e to the point that it's playable, possibly even enjoyable.

It's certainly not a cure all for 6e's ills, theres still fundamental issues with 6e, flaws at root level that just won't get cured with tweaks and the fixes are so deep that they'd really constitute a 7e. To name a few.... skill list (I can't be an ace gunner without being mcguyver? ffs!). Still issues with the entire major/minor action system. Still issues with the way AR/DV is an entirely separate sum to do for every action when the things being discussed...See more would be much more economically dealt with as pool modifiers so we are just counting one thing (like earlier incarnations of the game).

I'd have been happier with a 'we screwed up, we're sorry' statement and an open beta on a 7e where player feedback is actually considered (ie the way FFG developed the star wars and L5R games) But the companion is a start and it goes in a much needed right direction. So for me the companion gets 4 stars just for this one section. I'm not convinced it will win my group back to 6e, but it might yours. Worth a look even if it's the only 6e book you buy alongside the core rules.