We had a chance to check out the game’s progess a couple of months ago in a hands-on preview. Amazingly, there really hasn’t been that much progress to the game as a whole since we played that build. Now that we’ve gone through the final game, we’ve found that the concept of combining the FPS with tech and magic is a good one and that playing across Xbox and Vista Live works fine. However, it is an experience in need of much more meat.
While you can jump in the public multiplayer straight away, the game suggests for you to check out the training mode. We suggest this as well, as it does a pretty good job of getting the player acquainted with the new additions. Despite the fact the mode is really a tutorial, most of the "story" is siphoned through here. Basically, while the level loads, you’ll be treated to a few background details as to why there are two factions against one another. The game is meant to be set years before the main Shadowrun cannon, but still in the somewhat further future – 2030 to be exact. Still, despite the presence trolls, dwarves, elves and a mix of technology and magic, the license is woefully underused.
You won't see this anywhere else.
So Shadowrun is now a multiplayer shooter, as opposed to a top-down RPG. The general layout of the game is pretty much identical to the perennial Counter-Strike, where you start off each round by buying weapons – though now you can also buy tech and magic – and set off the deal with the opposing team. These additions to the standard FPS formula allow Shadowrun to stand on its own, though if there were a few more of the standard additions, the game would’ve been much better. When you first jump in, you’ve got four races to pick from: Humans, Elves, Trolls and Dwarves. Each of these has strengths and weakness, which may cater to different tastes. For example, Trolls can take a lot more damage but are slower and Dwarves have a lot of essence but take a long time to regenerate. Elves and Humans seemed to be the most popular for use online.
Each match is based on a number of rounds and at the beginning of each round you can buy weapons, magic and/or technology. The magic in the game looks to assist players both in terms of defense and attack. Spells such as Tree of Life can be used to heal players and also as a form of cover. Then you’ve got Gust, Smoke, Strangle and Summon, all of which have defensive and offensive uses. For example, Strangle sets up a crystalised barrier that can be used to block entries or to trap your opponent. In particular, each can be used to suit the player’s choice of actions. They can lead to some rather tricky situations and other deviations from the traditional FPS formula.
Probably the greatest deviant from the FPS formula is the Resurrect spell. If you are killed in action and one of your teammates has the Resurrect spell, they can bring you back to life. However, if the resurrector dies, you will “bleed out” and eventually lose your life as well, though if you find someone else to resurrect you again, you’ll continue to live. It’s quite relieving when someone walks by and brings you back to life, so you can get on with the game. In one of the game modes, your body can be destroyed; hence you’ll have to wait for the round to end to start again. If you hold the resurrect spell, indicators on the screen will tell you where fallen comrades are lying.
That's one way to invade.
Techs aren’t as pervasive as the spells but still potentially useful. A popular one is the Glider, particularly in the more open levels and it can be combined with the teleport spell to get across great distances. However, the other techs are more for assistance, such as SmartLink allowing players to shoot more accurately and avoid friendly fire while Wired Reflexes allows players to move faster and those with katanas to block some bullets. SmartLink will feel a bit weird for PC users, as the auto-aim can drag the mouse. For all players, they have an “essence” bar at the bottom of the screen. Using and equipping magic and techs will depend on how much essence you have. Generally, techs will permanently take up essence slots while magic will use essence but it will regenerate over time. Up to three spells and/or techs can be equipped at one time.
At its core, Shadowrun is still a shooter and the main way to win is to shoot and shoot straight. Disappointingly, this aspect of the game is rather weak. There are seven weapons in the game: pistol, SMG, rifle, shotgun, katana, sniper rifle and rocket launcher. For the six standard weapons, you expect some sort of power behind such a small selection. Instead, most of the weapons are actually quite weak and the game tries to take the weapon recoil a little too strenuously. It was a serious indictment on the weapons that it was very easy to barge your way to victory with the “flag”, even under heavy fire. However, at least everyone has weak weapons, so its something that players who persevere will get used to it. The Katana has some fascinating ideas, such as Mortal Wound but overall, feels like it could’ve been more precise.
Probably the two biggest issues with Shadowrun is its lack of content and lack of refinement. Really, there are only two game modes and nine maps (not including three smaller maps that are just variants on existing maps). The story tells us that each side is fighting over “artifacts”, so you’ve got a mode that is essentially deathmatch (attrition) and one that is capture the flag (Raid/Extraction). A couple of maps are specifically for defense or attack. The maps have a natural feel to them, but it won’t be long before you’ve seen the ins-and-outs of each one. There is no real difference between the two sides, apart from the fact that one is blue and the other is red. Again, the game is multiplayer only, so unless you’re going to play online, there is absolutely no way to recommend this game. Even so, the game is unlikely to hold-up once this year’s beefier multiplayer experiences hit.
Big ugly things face off.
Booting up the game will bring up a bare bones set of options, as the game seems to be taking the Counter-Strike template a little to far, despite the fact that its a slower paced game. It would have been really handy if some of the more intricate details of the game were properly explained and if some of the in-game statistics were kept as a guide for how you’re going. While the network code is reasonably solid, it did take a while for us to connect into a game and drops outs weren’t an anomaly. Again, it worked reasonably well but could’ve used a bit more refinement. It was refreshing to hear a decent amount of Aussie voices, mind you. Overall, the game gave the impression that it was either an experiment or was pushed out the door. Thankfully, the game is not at full price. However, even at the reduced price tag, there isn’t really enough to justify the lack of content. It doesn’t have the depth of Battlefield and it’s not really an add-on to a core game like Counter-Strike. Still, there is room for some fun in Shadowrun, particularly if you’d like to play something that isn’t exactly run-of-the-mill.
The graphical and sound presentation of the game only back-up the suggestion that the game was pushed out the door. While the game is certainly shiny enough to warrant next-gen status and the environments are reasonably well built, overall it is rather average to look at. In particular, the character animations are horrendously stiff and unvaried. It’s particularly silly to watch characters “float” when walking up a ladder or when some character models just seem like they don’t know how to react. A lot of the effects tend to be primitive. In terms of the sound, it is solid for the most part, with some decent voicing in the tutorial and a few bits of music that are fairly interesting. Again though, things such as not hearing grenades explode or delayed sound effects bring things down.
So pretty much, if you’re after a single player experience, look elsewhere. In terms of the multiplayer, its solid fun with an interesting twist. In the future, we’d dearly love to see this idea to be even more fleshed out. As it stands, Shadowrun really does look like it was either rushed or designed as an experiment. We’re guessing that there will be some downloadable content in the future and there is a reasonably sized community at the moment. As the game currently stands, on the one hand you have this great idea and on the other, you have a template that hasn’t been fleshed out for nearly ten years. Not to mention, some aspects really could have used more work and there is a rich license that has been grossly underused. Shadowrun is a decent multiplayer romp at a better than retail price but really could have used a bit more work to make it a real winner.
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