Shadowrun – 360 – Review

The original Xbox was known as the
shooter console with several high-profile first-person shooters being released
for the console. The 360 is shaping up to be the same with even more impressive
first-person shooters. One game that came out of left field was Shadowrun. The
entire Sci-Fi/Fantasy Role-playing setting of the series was being shoved into a
first-person shooter. Some fans cried outrage while I thought it was bold idea
to try something completely different for a well-known title. What we ended up
with was a great playing game brought down by the now standard next-generation
price point.

The main premise of Shadowrun is
taking an FPS and combining it with magic. The “story” centers upon magic
reappearing in the year 2021 with corporations around the world battling against
forces representing the magic: RNA and Lineage. The RNA side represents the
corporations while the Lineage side wants the rediscovered magic to be available
to anyone in the world.  What this breaks down to is simply a two-team based
capture-the-flag game with a large assortment of customization for your
character’s abilities.

The customization of the characters
in the game fall into two categories: Magic and Tech. The Tech elements of the
game have five different abilities that can used by your characters. Glider
allows you fly across the game map and reach elevated areas on the map. Enhanced
Vision lets you see other characters through objects and walls. AntiMagic
Generator absorbs magic from other characters and destroys magic items placed on
the map. Wired Reflexes boost your skills by speeding up your weapon reloading
time, speed and jumping. Smartlink adds a laser targeting system to your weapons
and prevents you from shooting your other teammates. Yes, Friendly Fire is
always active!

The Magic abilities are even more
diverse from the Tech abilities. Resurrect, as the name implies, lets you
resurrect fallen team members but with a catch. If you die, any team mates you
resurrect will start to die at an accelerated pace, called bleed out. Another
catch for resurrect is that you have to leave a body on the map. This means that
once you “die” your body will remain on the map until someone can resurrect you.
But if someone destroys your body then you cannot be resurrected, you have to
wait until the next match starts to play again. There is no re-spawning in
Shadowrun, if you’re not resurrected or your body is destroyed your game is over
and you can only watch the rest of the match.

The remaining Magic abilities are
just as diverse as Resurrect. The Tree of Life is healing tree that when comes
into play can heal anyone in play, regardless if they are RNA or Lineage. The
trees will only remain in play for a limited amount of time before disappearing.
Strangle can be described as the tire spikes of Shadowrun. When someone casts
Strangle it can be used to block off parts of the map and used to trap players
from the other team, draining their health and magic. Gust allows you to send
out a gust of wind to knock back approaching enemies or send them flying off a
ledge.

Gust can also be used to damage
players that are using Smoke, which makes you temporarily invisible. However if
Smoke is depleted then you are momentarily unable to use any weapons, tech or
magic abilities. Teleport allows you to move eight meters in the direction you
are moving. Teleport lets you move between floors, ceilings and other solid
objects. Teleport is particular useful in getting you away from heavy gun fire
in an instant. The last Magic ability, Summon, will cast a summoned creature who
will fight to the death either defending a location on the map or engaging a
hostile. But if another summon creature is nearby it will automatically attack
the other monster.

As expected there are casting costs
associated with using either a Tech or Magic Ability. Magic requires an Essence
cost which are the magic points for your character. Each character class in the
game has certain number of Essence points assigned to them and each class has a
different recovery rate for their Essence points. For example, while a Dwarf has
the most Essence points of any character class it regenerates Essence slower
than any other class in the game. The Tech abilities in the game do not require
an Essence cost but assigning a Tech ability does take away from a portion of
your Essence.

There is one more casting cost for
using a Tech or Magic ability: the buy cost. At the beginning of each match you
start off with a small amount of cash that you can spend on weapons, magic and
tech abilities. The more successful you are during combat (the more kills you
get) the more money you will earn to spend on additional weapons, magic and tech
abilities. While you might start off a match with only one magic or tech
ability, you could end the match with all of these abilities in your character’s
arsenal. For the hardcore FPS fan, yes this is the Counter Strike setup all over
again.

Each ability you’ve purchased can be
assigned to three different slots for your character to use. These slots are
assigned to the Left Trigger, Left Button and Right Button on the 360
controller. At anytime during the game you can change the ability that is
assigned to each slot by pressing the B button to bring up the ability radial.
Once the radial is up you select from either Tech or Magic and then selected
from the available abilities you’ve purchased. You can also quick cast an
ability that is not currently assigned to a slot by bringing up the radial menu,
selecting ability and then pressing the Right Trigger button.

Each team in the game can be
composed of four different races: Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Trolls. Humans are
the most well-rounded characters since they do not suffer from an Essence
penalty when using techs and have more money to spend than the other classes.
Elves are the fastest race in the game, can regenerate when not under fire but
cannot withstand considerable damage. Trolls are the tanks of the races since
they have the highest defense but the slowest and have the smallest amount of
Essence. Dwarves are the smallest characters in the game but have the largest
Essence total and can absorb Essence from Minions, Strangle crystals and other
characters in the game regardless if they are RNA or Lineage. Dwarves can also
survive a single headshot and keep playing but regenerate Essence slower than
the other classes.

As you have read the game has
stacked the deck in terms of offering a ton of variety when in comes to your
characters and the abilities of your characters. You’re no longer limited to
characters being different based upon the weapon they are using, of which there
are nine in the game. Instead it’s up to you to find that sweet spot of how you
want to play the game based on customizing the abilities of your character. Did
you find success in being a healer, by regenerating teammates and using the Tree
of Life? Or did you rack up the kills by selecting a Troll, buying a mini-gun
and using the Smartlink ability? There is an almost limitless variety in how you
can play every match since you have four different character classes, five
different tech abilities, seven different magic abilities and nine different
weapons. Just reading it might not sound that impressive but once you get into
the game all of these choices can be a little daunting at first. But once you
see the AI and other gamers using these abilities it can provoke you to start
trying all of the choices to find the one that works for you or the match you’re
in.

With all of the variety for the
characters the biggest downfall of the game are the gameplay modes. The game is
really one big multiplayer experience with two modes. Extraction is where each
team attempts to obtain the magic Artifact and take it back to their extraction
point. Raid centers on the Linage team escaping with the Artifact. The RNA team
can only eliminate all of the members of the Lineage team. Attrition is another
option that focuses on eliminating all hostiles and possessing the Artifact
allows you to view all of the enemy locations. The single-player game is really
just a training session on how to use Magic and Tech abilities and compete
against Bots (computer controlled characters) in all of the maps.

It’s very disappointing to see such
a finely tuned FPS game limited to just three gameplay modes. The character
customization when using the Tech and Magic abilities is impressive. The way you
can play the game, using these abilities, can make for some amazing games. But
it’s very hard to recommend to anyone except for the most dedicated hardcore FPS
gamer to invest the full price for this game. I must say that I think Shadowrun
would have made a great Xbox Live Arcade title or if it was released for a
discounted price of $29.99. With next generation gaming costing as much as it
does now you’re hard earned dollars might be better spent elsewhere. Try the
demo out first and see what you think. If you’re a nut for this type of game
then Shadowrun might be a no-brainer regardless of the price. But if the powers
that be decide to release a slew of free downloaded content or drop the price
down then make sure to check out Shadowrun.

Gameplay: 8.3
Regardless of the Counter Striker comparisons this is still a finely tuned FPS
game. All of the characters in the game feel completely different from each
other and the Abilities help create a different type of FPS. The controls are
top notch even with the 360 controller with spot on accuracy and hardly any
camera angle problems.

Graphics: 7.5
Visually speaking this is not a shining example of what the 360 can do but the
game still delivered a solid framerate and nice particle effects when using
magic. Most of the game maps were finely detailed with large areas to explore
and hideout. Some of the animation in the game did look very choppy, especially
when the game switched to the third-person view when using the Katana.

Sound: 7.4
The voiceover work during the single-player tutorials was well done with the
“I’m the arrogant sergeant” routine by the actor. The rest of the sound and
music fit the game well but nothing that will make you really take notice.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
The whole saying of easy to learn but a life time to master really applies to
Shadowrun. It can be a little intimidating getting used to all of the Abilities
in the game and how they can interact with a FPS.

Concept: 6.0
There are several factors holding back Shadowrun. One is the gameplay trying to
be different but still playing almost exactly like Counter Strike, a game
released years ago. Another factor is the amount of gameplay modes, since you
really only get two modes. The third is the price point of the game. We’ve seen
new titles get released under a Greatest Hits collection so why couldn’t
Shadowrun get the same release with a discounted price?

Multiplayer: 8.5
This is the saving grace for the game since Shadowrun is essentially a
multiplayer-only experience. You can have up to 16 players competing in a game
with eight players per team. You can play via Xbox Live, System Link or a Local
Connection with Bots available for System Link or Local Connection. I had one
minor issue of waiting several minutes to find the first game when I played on
Xbox Live. It took several minutes to finally find a game.

Overall: 7.5
If there was ever an example of a new game that should have been released as a
downloadable game, Shadowrun is a top candidate. The gameplay has top-notch
controls and close to limitless options when using Magic and Tech abilities. The
limited gameplay modes are a big disappointment, especially considering the
price point. It’s hard to recommend this game to everyone during the initial
release but with a better price point this could be a timeless game that will
attract gamers for years.