Shadowrun

 

Shadowrun
Developer(s)	FASA Interactive
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Game Studios
Designer(s)	John Howard, Bill Fulton, Christopher Blohm, Sage Merrill, Derek Carroll
Release date(s)	May 29, 2007 June 1, 2007 June 21, 2007
Genre(s)	First-Person Shooter
Mode(s)	Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Mature (M) PEGI: 16+ CERO: D (17+)
Platform(s)	Xbox 360, Windows Vista
Media	DVD
System requirements	Nvidia Geforce 7800 or ATI Radeon X1800, Dual-core Processor or 3.2 Ghz Single-core, 4.5 GB of Free space, 2 GB RAM, Windows Vista
Input	Gamepad (Xbox 360), Keyboard and Mouse/Gamepad (PC)

Shadowrun was developed by FASA Interactive for Windows Vista and the Xbox 360, based on the role-playing game of the same name. It is not set in the official Shadowrun timeline, but an alternate continuity invented by FASA. It is the first game to utilize Games for Windows - LIVE that allows for Vista users to play with Xbox 360 users.

History

Three video games based on the Shadowrun universe were created throughout the 1990s: one for the SNES, one for the Sega Genesis, and one other for the Mega CD (released only in Japan).

In January of 1999, Microsoft purchased FASA Interactive,^[1] acquiring the electronic rights to Shadowrun in the process. Microsoft then filed a trademark for the Shadowrun title in November, 2004.^[2]

Initial gameplay prototyping was done using the Halo engine while FASA worked on creating their own engine.^[3]

At E3 in May of 2006, Microsoft officially revealed Shadowrun for Windows Vista and the Xbox 360.^[4]

Storyline

According to the ancient Mayan calendar, magic is cyclical, leaving the world and returning every 5000 years. Magic enters the world, grows, peaks, and eventually retreats. When magic was last at its peak, a powerful Ziggurat was constructed near what would be modern day Santos, Brazil. The purpose of this construct is shrouded in the mists of history. Even the Chancela family, who secretly maintained the ziggurat for thousands of years, did not know its purpose. Nor did they know the purpose of the strange artifact somehow connected to the ziggurat. In the millennia since its construction the ziggurat was eventually buried, hidden in the side of a mountain.

Then, on December 24, 2011, magic began returning to the world, leaving change and confusion in its wake.

The years after magic’s return wrought change on a global scale. RNA Global, a powerful multinational corporation, sent a research team to Santos, Brazil. Their job was to explore and research the strange energies coming from a mountainside along one edge of Santos. Armed with an artifact from ancient times, the research team sought to channel and control the magical energies they were exploring. Instead they caused a magical accident that destroyed half the city and brought down the mountainside, revealing the ziggurat to all. Deflecting blame for the incident to an Ork paramilitary organization, RNA retreated from the city while rethinking its strategy.

After a time, RNA Global returned to Santos, this time armed with a government contract that provided them control over the city. Vowing to keep the peace and clean up Santos, RNA’s first actions were to enact martial law and declare a curfew for all citizens. The locals, still upset over the initial accident and trying to rebuild on their own, began resisting RNA’s efforts. The resistance was helped greatly by the leadership of the Chancela family who were dedicated to defending the ziggurat and recovering the artifact. Resistance turned to conflict, conflict turned to skirmish and skirmish eventually plunged the city into all-out war. Eventually, forces began to organize themselves under the Chancela family, and became known as "The Lineage".

The battle between these two sides has grown to great proportions as of 2031, as the struggle for the artifact continues between RNA Global forces and The Lineage.

Gameplay

Shadowrun is a first-person shooter introducing mild cyberpunk elements to the gameplay. The game takes place in Brazil in the year 2031: before the events that shaped the Shadowrun universe.

The player is assigned one of two factions to play as: The megacorp RNA Global, or the resistance group known as The Lineage. Playable races are Human, Elf, Troll, and Dwarf. Each race has their own unique racial traits.

Players can purchase magic, tech, and weapons at the beginning of each round of play.

Magic includes:

• Teleport, which enables users to instantly warp 8-10 meters in the direction of their movement, even through solid objects
• Resurrect, which allows a player to bind a fallen teammate to their own life energy in order to bring them back to life as well as stop teammates from "bleeding out"
• Strangle, which produces a field of crystals which restricts the movement and drains the essence of any player caught amongst them
• Summon, which produces a creature that relentlessly attacks hostile entities on sight
• Gust, which is a burst of powerful wind that can push enemies and objects away, and if timed carefully, can break a player's fall
• Smoke, which allows a player to turn their body to smoke, causing bullets, explosions, and falls to cause no damage, though being hit with Gust will cause significant harm
• Tree of life, which creates a tree that heals anyone nearby, as well as providing a physical barrier that can be used for cover

Tech includes:

• Grenade, which allows the player to throw grenades. The player may have two stocked at any given time.
• Enhanced vision, which allows the player to detect nearby enemies, as well as teammates, through walls
• Glider, which enables short-distance flight and enhanced leaping height
• Wired reflexes that enhance the player's running speed and allow the deflection of bullets when wielding a katana
• Anti-magic generators, which drain essence of any player or magical object caught in its field
• Smartlink, which assists players by increasing enemy tracking abilities and automatically preventing firearms from firing when a teammate is in the crosshair.

Weapons include a sniper rifle, SMG, a shotgun, a minigun, a semi-automatic battle rifle, a rocket launcher, and a katana for close-range combat.

The game lacks a traditional campaign mode. Instead, various match modes are available - solo play against bots, private matches with friends and associates(only through LAN), and live matches which match up players from around the world. The three play modes available are Attrition (Team Deathmatch variant), Extraction (One flag CTF), and Raid mode (Attack/Defend CTF). Any certain map has two of these three game modes usually Raid or Extraction and Attrition. Raid being the most common.

The online play however is deep and immersive along with making things competative and highly addictive. the "race" factor also keeps the game to it's RPG roots by letting you to choose and plan the role you play, a feature not found in many first person shooters including HALO 3 and others.

Differences between PC and Xbox 360 versions

Shadowrun is the flagship title for the Games for Windows - LIVE service that allows Windows Vista PC users to be fully integrated into Xbox Live. Due to this integration, FASA has decided to make several changes to try and create a more balanced competition between the Xbox 360 and PC versions. Because of the lack of 'pixel-accuracy' with the Xbox 360 analog thumbstick, the designers have included an aim-assisting technology, which basically interpolates the player's movement and causes the reticle to stay over an enemy player like a weak magnet. In addition, FASA has implemented a feature which causes the crosshair to expand during quick movements, thus lowering the player's accuracy, making it impossible to quickly turn and maintain accuracy, reducing the potential advantage of playing with a mouse.^[5][6] PC players, who have a more sensitive control scheme, are able to turn significantly faster than their controller brethren and would have gained an unfair advantage. Many believe this defeats the purpose of having a separate version for the PC platform and that it is forcing PC players to play it like a console game.

Although originally believed to be one of the first games that makes use of Windows Vista's unique features along with DirectX10, it has been discovered by the warez group Razor 1911, that the game merely checks the operating system at install, making it possible to run the game in Windows XP with a hack.^[7][8]

Reception

Shadowrun was released on May 29, 2007 for both the Xbox 360 and PC. The media reviews for the game were largely negative^[9], with most reviews citing a dire lack of content for a multiplayer only game (9 maps, 7 weapons, 3 game modes) and the high price as the main criticisms despite the large chance of a myriad of download content. There were also many complaints about online performance and stability, graphics, combat, and art design.

Some user reviews from various sources also portray the game in a more positive light. Many of the reviews are still mixed, but the average rating for Shadowrun based on user's scores is around the same^{[10] [11]}

On June 7, 2007, Rooster Teeth Productions created a machinima series named 1-800-Magic using Shadowrun.

On June 22, 2007, FASA studio head Mitch Gitelman provided an in-depth (40 minute) rant regarding the game and its critical reviews.^[12] He defended the pricing over the long term value of gameplay compared to other first-person shooters:^[13]

“

The most important thing is the value of what you're getting, I think there is value there at the $60 price point. If you play just about any first person, next-generation shooter that's come out recently, you're looking at the single player game being about 10 hours. I've been playing Shadowrun for three years... You can see this game truly has legs. So, ten hours of gameplay for sixty bucks, plus some probably lame multiplayer they tacked on, versus Shadowrun that you can play, lets [sic] say, for years.

”

On September 12, 2007, FASA Studio announced its closure,^[14] with industry speculating that the closure was prompted by poor sales and reception of the Shadowrun game. ^[15]

References

See also

• Shadowrun
• 1-800-Magic - a machinima series from Rooster Teeth Productions created using the Shadowrun engine.
• List of Games for Windows titles

External links

• Shadowrun Official Site
• Shadowrun Official Forum
• "Sarcastic Gamer" Website

Shadowrun
Video games	Shadowrun (SNES) • Shadowrun (Sega) • Shadowrun (Mega CD) • Shadowrun (2007 video game)
Other games	Shadowrun Duels • Shadowrun: The Trading Card Game • Downtown Militarized Zone
Books	Sourcebooks • Novels
See also	Dunkelzahn • Goblinization • Shadowrun timeline

Donate to Wikimedia