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The first FPS of its kind

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 19
Date: May 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This Game Is A Fantastic Mix Of Halo and Counter-strike type combat.
This Is The first game to be able to play against other platforms.
Before a match you get a set amount of cash and you can use it to buy either magic techniques or weapons. Some Magic consists of heat vision where you can see through walls, teleportation, wired reflexes where you can get fast enough to where you can dodge sniper bullets. I think this is more of a ' BUY ' game than a ' RENT ' game, so have fun!

SOOOO Much Fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: May 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game could be considered a breakthrough being the first cross-over game between the Xbox 360 and the Windows Vista platform. I have read reviews about people that are mad b/c they have to upgrade to vista to play this on the pc but you know what Xbox users had to upgrade to Xbox 360 to play so why the complaints?

Besides that the game is super fun. If your looking for a in depth RPG based off of the paper and pen Shadowrun then this isnt it. This is however a super fast paced hectic shoot em up.

Graphics are pretty good. The maps are great but I think some of the character and magic animations could have been better. Sound is good but there is so much gunfire and explosions that that is all you will hear.

The concept is absolutly something fun and new. You can pick between humans (best all atround), trolls (meat shield), Elves ( fast moving shock troopers), and Dwarves ( best magic users).

Before the game starts you get money to buy certain magic spells, weapons, or technology. You start off with a low amount of money but after each round you get more based on how you did during the previous round i.e. how many kills, if you ressurected teammates, etc...

By the end of the set of rounds your team should have about every available power and if the team works together a very powerful force.

There are however some drawback hence the four stars in overall. One being that there is absolutly no solo game besides the extensive tutorial. If your not on Xbox live then this will be no fun for you. You can play against computer "bots" but it nowhere near as fun.

SOme of the times you think that you have a great combination of skills and you die within 5 seconds of a well placed sniper shot. But hey thats how it goes.

Anyways super great game and all around fun to play. If you love xbox live get this game, Youll love it.

Excellent game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: May 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game on a whim and i am so glad i did. This game is sheer fun. I played this game for 8 hours straight on xbox live when i first popped it in. It is rather innovative as an FPS, it has magic skills to choose from as well as different races with different abilites. If i had to compare this game to anything it would be counterstrike meets unreal tournament with a hint of heretic (in terms of magic). There is no story mode in the game for anyone without xbox live but you can play againt bots. Basicly if you like fps type games and you have xbox live then this is the game to get.

FPS with Fantasy elements

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 12 / 18
Date: June 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Shadowrun is a FPS for the XBOX 360 with some unique elements because it combines magical powers with modern weaponry and fantasy creatures playable as characters in contemporary level maps. One thing that you should be absolutely clear on is that this is an arcadey type shooter, very unrealistic- this is not a simulation like (Graw 2 or Rainbow Six).
Even the graphics will cue you in to the fantasy elements since the characters and level maps look cartooney.

So you will be shooting guns and killing rival team members with the usual assortment of weapons found in any FPS (pistols, smg, shotgun, sniper rifle, rocket launcher)... but you can also use Magic spells such as ressurecting allied players, summoning minion, teleporting, invisibility, and many more. You can also purchase Tech upgrades which can help you be more accurate or see enemies through wall, and even speed and agility augmentation. Before the match begins all players are given the option to buy weapons, magic or tech of their choice. The players can budget and accumalate money after each round if they want to buy more expensive items, or they don't have to buy anyhing at all. Once the match begins and the bullets start flying, you cannot purchase items from the shop until the next round begins (this is why some people associate to Pc game called Counter-Strike).

To prevent overuse of magic in the game, you have a meter called Essence which drains and recharges slowly overtime each time you cast a magic spell. When players are short on Essence charge, they can just pull out their guns and start blasting away. If your guns run out of ammo you can resort to your magic spells or you can pick up weapons that a dead ally or enemy had dropped. Everything is about timming and learning the best way to defeat certain opponents.

Shadowrun makes excellent use of attacks and counter attacks, every character, weapon and magic has a counter to defeat it, so it is important that your team consists of mixed characters using different magical spells and weapons. Even the characters you pick from have the counters. From the beginning of the game you can pick from one of four different character classes; humans, elves, trolls or dwarves. Each character class has their own strengths and weakness, just like the weapons and magical spells. Humans drain little magic when they use it, elves move fast and regenerate health, trolls can take a lot of abuse, and dwarves can steal other people's Essences.

Shadowrun does not have a single player story mode (which is a huge let down) but instead features single player skirmish matches with BOTS and XBOX live multiplayer which is the main draw of the game. There are only three game modes for multiplayer (another let down), Extraction is basically like capture the flag, Raid is like attack and defend, Attrition is same as team deathmatch. The game only has nine (9) damned maps! This unfair to us gamers who paid lots of money for a game that offers very little content!

I'm not saying that Shadowrun is not fun, because it actually is fun.
The matches are fast paced and full of wild sights! Just picture a game in multiplayer where people and monsters are shooting guns, teleporting, coming back from the dead, getting sliced by sword with blood splattering on the walls!

This combination of first person shooting with fantasy elements is what gives it a unique flavor and sets it apart from the many FPS clones out there. However, the lack of game modes and the lack of single player story mode, and only nine maps hurts its overall score and replay value. I think the novelty will wear off on a lot of people faster than other FPS games, but it is still a good purchase, if you are bored and want to try something different.

Pros:
+playing online is tons of fun
+magic spells are freakin' cool
+BOTS are good
+good controls
+bloody
+ragdoll physics
+good maps designs

Cons
-no sinlge player story mode
-only three damned game modes
-only nine damned maps
-cartoony graphics

This Game Should Have Stayed in the Shadows

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 22
Date: June 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I would give Shadowrun no stars if I could. Supposedly this game is based off of the RPG Shadowrun, but other than the name and the idea that magic and technology coexist in the future, that's as much of a link as you're going to get to the source material. The storyline (if you can call it that, since there isn't any actual story) is completely rewritten and different from the RPG. The graphics are only average, and even if they were great you couldn't appreciate them because you'll spend the entire time running, hopping, or gliding around shooting other bots and players in a mindless shoot'em up.

In one hour I had learned how to use every power and weapon. There are 8 spells and seven bland, non-futuristic, non-magical weapons, but there are only three buttons that can be set to use these abilities at any given time. Firing your weapon is as complicated as aiming and pulling the right trigger. One weapon, the rifle, has one level of zoom, and that's it.

There is NO SOLO STORYLINE. There are six "chapters" of training in how to use your magic, weapons and tech, and the four races--human, dwarf, troll, and elf (apparently they couldn't be bothered to include orks, the fifth player race from the RPG). Also completely missing is any kind of virtual world combat, another staple of the RPG.

Once you've done all six training chapters, all that's left is "solo" play (you and some bots versus a bunch of other bots) or "team play" (you and some online people and bots versus some other online people and other bots). There are only TWO types of games, capture the flag and deathmatch.

And that's it. For $60 you get a game that is allegedly based on the original pen-and-paper RPG, although the only thing resembling the original game is the title, no solo game, and two kinds of multiplayer matches.

I feel totally ripped off. I just bought the game yesterday and I'll be trading it in within a week. A horrible waste of money. Keep this game in the shadows and run far away!

Unexpected

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: June 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game for two reasons: love for the original series and an ongoing high from playing the Halo 3 Beta. It turned out to a be a great but (although not for those reasons). First off, this is not the ShadowRun of your youth. Despite its listing as a FPS, I still expected some RPG/adventure/storyline elements in my heart . The first two are nonexistent (see: other reviews) and the third stops after the manual. My second validation, a desire for continued Haloey goodnesss, also went unfulfilled (and fear of a June Halo detox has begun to cause me nightmares.
Despite my warnings, this game is fantastic. If you donnot have XBOX live, forget it, but online, Shadowryn combines tradional FPS skills, with a need for strategy and teamwork often bereft from the not Rainbow Six/GRAW genre. This isn't I'll get the sniper riffle, you get the missle laucher and go our seperate killing ways, this is you be this race (human, troll, dwarf or elf with varying strengths, speeds, and skills) with this weapon, and these magics (most entirely unprecedented in FPS to my knowledge, i.e. not fireball or ice shard), with this skill and I'll counter you with this set so we can anticipate when the enemy tries this. The lack of a single-player story hurt the most, but Shadowrun is a tasty treat for anyone looking for a new take on FPS multiplierdom.

Fun, but highly limited.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 8
Date: June 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I should start off by stating that Shadowrun is an extremely fun game to play. There is constant movement, the battle dynamics are always changing and team work is important. It's a strategic FPS that is unique in its design.

My problem is I can't help but feel like the game is incomplete, there are only two game modes, and no where near enough maps to justify only having 2 modes. In fact, I'd only recommend this game if you have extra dough to spend and you don't want to help starving kids in Africa, or if you are willing to pay $50 for an incomplete game, then deal with having to pay another $10 or so for extra content and modes (if there ever is any). If you really need to have this game, rent it, at least until more content or extras come out, because as it stands right now, it feels like I'll be getting bored of it in a week or so.

Should have been a budget title.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 14
Date: June 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

First, looking at this game purely from the gameplay and content stand point even leaves you wanting. While mildly entertaining, this game feels like a glorified Counter-Strike mod. The game offers a whole 3 game modes, 4 classes, a lackluster 8 avatar skins, 9 maps, and a handful of gear/spells. The graphics are muddy at best and to top it all off the game is an online-only multiplayer game with no splitscreen option.

Second, as for the original fans, this game is Shadowrun in name only. Almost every ability included in this game stands in direct contradiction to the canon of the establish IP, meaning every one of the restricted/prohibitted or otherwise impossible aspects in the original universe are reversed in this game.

So in conclusion if your a FPS fan pass this one up and wait for something better such as; The Darkness, Quake Wars, Crysis, Halo 3, Team Fortress 2 or any of the plethora of FPS on the horizon.

Fun and Accessible

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: June 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've been looking forward to this game for only about a month since I read about it. I bought it as soon as I can and I play it as much as I can. This game is alot of fun. It has a great mixture of fast paced combat mixed with strategy. The combat keeps you on your toes because everyone has the ability to teleport through walls right in front of you or see through walls and pop around the corner. That also could be considered the downfall because everyone has the same powers, so there isn't as much variety as there could be. Hopefully some of the small problems get a patch but it's a great game as is.

Jedi Knight 2 is better than this game, PERIOD.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 18
Date: June 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

There are Elves, Trolls, Dwarfs, and Humans. They all wield Tech & Magic. Unfortunately thats is as close to the Shadowrun lore your going to get. Its a crying shame that with mountains of books both RPG and Fiction, Libraries of Lore, Mountains of Magic, and huge arsenals of Weapons to choose from Microsoft decided not to use any of it.

Please pass this title up and buy "Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (for Xbox)" instead and you WILL THANK ME. Multiple Races, Spells, Weapons, and they actually follow the lore from which they are drawing from.

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