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Some good some bad

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 14 / 16
Date: June 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Most of what folks are posting here is true... There is not single player mode (other than playing "Solo" matches against bots and the training "missions"). There are 9 maps and 3 game types.

I don't quite understand the frustration people are having over getting the game home to realize there is not single player mode, though. It has been widely reported for months (since the game was announced) that this would be a multiplayer only game. You should always research a game prior to purchasing it.

I find the game quite fun, and entertaining. I am a huge fan of the original pen and paper version of Shadowrun, and while this game does not stick terribly close to some of the "rules" of that version, it does an admirable job of presenting what I think of as a small slice of the Shadowrun world and mythos.

I am a FPS junkie, and this game does a lot to keep me interested. I really like the options I have on how to equip my character with the different spells, tech, and weapons. It is amazingly cool to be able to glide into the air teleport through a wall, take perch on top of a statue, and snipe the opposing team. Then I glide off my perch, back through the wall, and escape before they can retaliate. Or, even better, when under fire summon a minion to attack my foe as a distraction while I teleport in behind them to take them out from behind.

I like the ability to purchase new items between rounds. To me this seems fresh and new, but apparently that is because I did not play Counterstrike. Also, this serves to heighten the intensity from round to round, since each character is buying and employing new/stronger abilities each round.

Because the game is round and objective based it does require teamwork. The teamwork isn't as essential as it is in a game like Gears Of War, but it does help to work together. This is not a Halo clone, where you just run, shoot, die, respawn, repeat. Shadowrun requires much more strategy and teamwork. I feel as though this (along with games like Gears Of War) is one of the early steps we are seeing to the next evolution of FPS gaming. The Halo-type game is fun, but to me feels dated with its lack of innovation, and same-old-same-old feel. I prefer Shadowrun over the Halo 3 beta hands down.

However, this is not a perfect game by any means. FASA is having a very hard time getting their servers to cooperate. Many people, myself included, are having a hard time getting into matches. Most of the time a match is found within a couple of minutes, but there have been times when I have waited 5-10 minutes without a match being found before I turn it off and go to play Gears Of War. I have seen online that there have been some people that haven't been able to get into public matches since the game was released 5 days ago. FASA has stated they are working on the problem.

I do wish there were more gametypes, but what is there will be enough until an update comes out in a few months. The matches are all varied, since there is such a large variety of buildouts for characters, etc. I have had no 2 games that played the same.

My biggest complaint about this game is the inability to insure that your party stays together when you go into a match. I can have myself and 7 of my buddies together in a party and when we go to join a public match we will be split up in order to "balance" the teams. You don't even have the option to switch up who is playing on what team. The computer decides for you. This is frustrating and should be addressed.

In short, if you are an FPS fan and would be interested in something new that requires a little more thought than a straight forward run and gun I recommend picking this up. You may want to rent first to make sure this is for you, but I enjoy it very much.

Half Is Better Than Nothing

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 19 / 25
Date: June 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Without a solo campaign included in the game, I felt ripped off to a degree after playing SHADOWRUN. The game is beautiful and the powers are a blast to use, but not being able to do more solo than just repetitive bot matches got old in a hurry.

There's not even a two-player mode to play your buddies one-on-one so you can both learn how better utilize the weapons and special abilities that are so intregal to the game. Of course, you can game each other over Private Matches on X-Box Live, but that even feels like someone's hand in your pocket sucking dollars out because you don't get to play for free.

On the plus side, the art is beautiful and the powers are truly extraordinary. I love teleport and glide (death from above, anyone?) and the dwarven ability to suck essence is the bomb -- as long as you can survive the beating you take from minions while you're sucking them dry.

Hopefully there'll be some downloadable content before long and some solo campaigns will show up. Otherwise, this is a great game for the CounterStrike and Halo enthusiasts.

A whole lot of training...for nothing

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 22 / 38
Date: June 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I probably should have taken note of the fact that Shadowrun provides Achievements simply for completing each chapter of its training. After six chapters of training, you're...ready to go play CTF, basically.

RPG enthusiasts: walk right past this game. There is NO solo campaign. It's quite disappointing that the game developers didn't see fit to do much more with all the intriguing concepts - teleporting, resurrection, etc - than turn it into Halo online, with cool magic. You can only imagine what sort of wickedly engaging campaign could have been written to challenge the player - and, maybe, hope that Microsoft Studios will develop a (downloadable?) campaign for this platform in the future. Until then, this is yet another game written solely for the online fragfest environment.

Great for Xbox Live...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: November 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3S8M561738BQJ The regular game has no overarching storyline and quickly becomes boring - however, it is a lot of fun on xbox live. Great graphics and fun weapons & spells make this a good first person shooter alternative to Halo3.

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

Shadowrun only in the name, not the content.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 12 / 19
Date: June 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The 360 version is completely unfaithful to the Shadowrun RPG. I can see making modification for a FPS shooter game, but this is a complete bastardization. Furthermore, it's boring and uninteresting.

Gameplay quickly becomes monotonous. People compare it to Counterstrike, but it falls short of even that mark. Yes, it has magic and technology in addition to weapons; however, you're then left with so many functions that you can't possibly use them all effectively and fluidly. What's the point of having 6-7 types of magic and cybernetic abilities if you only have 2 slots to put them into (assuming you want to keep using gernades). It's impractical to switch things in a fight, so you end up never using most of them. It tries too hard to do too much with a poor human interface. So the potential enjoyment of having all those powers and technology? It never materializes.

To add insult to injury, the game appears rushed to production. For instance, if you look at a character climbing up a ladder, they aren't actually climbing the ladder. They just sort of "hover upwards". This is acceptable for a beta version, but not a finished game.

Want to customize your avatar? Too bad. You can't. Why? I can only assume that this is because it was rushed out the door. Or FASA realized that the game sucked and decided to just take whatever they could get with what they'd already sunk into development.

Last, but certainly not least, is the fact that there is no campaign mode--either for solo or co-op play. FASA totally blew their opportunity to establish a worldview and history here, and the opportunity to actually care about things/factions that could have been integrated into multiplayer (like Spartans vs Elite in Halo 2 multiplayer). And so you're left with what is essentially a soulless, mindless FPS with no background context or story. There's nothing to draw you in, nothing to make this game stand out. Once you've used a new magic or tech a few times, it quickly becomes bland and boring.

This game will be going for $15-20 in the bargin bin rack in under a year. I'm selling my copy after having had it for only 3 days. I gave it a chance. It failed.

Seriously, FASA. What were you folks thinking? No karma for you.

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.

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!

Waste of my money

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 8 / 13
Date: June 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Shortly before this game's release I preordered it. I had read a few articles about it and thought what the hell else am I going to buy this summer. The game arrived and I could not be more excited. After reading about the use of magic, the ability to choose your own race, and a katana that can block bullets I thought I was in for a treat. I thought WRONG!
The problem with this game is not lack of content its lack of gameplay. I knew beforehand that Shadowrun would not have much in the way of a campaign and to me that's not the main issue. The issue is the genericness of the weapons. Players can choose from a pistol, rifle, shotgun, minigun, or the katana. The only weapon that dares to be different is the katana which handles like one would expect. Even the races don't control too differently. You know what the difference is between a human and an elf? Elves heal themselves overtime and humans have more essence(magic power).
Another complaint I have with this game is with the magic and technology. In a basic match players are given 20000$ to buy whatever they want. I guarantee that the first thing anyone buys is Smartlink. What is Smartlink? It's "technology" that gives the player enhanced aiming. And by enhanced I mean autoaim. Smartlink completely eliminates any skill and precision required in firing a weapon. It allows the player to lock on to opponets heads and fire willy nilly knowing that nearly every shot will hit their target.
Now the good and there is so little good in this game. The magic particularly a spell called teleport did make me feel like I had some control over where my character was going. My biggest thrill in this game was when I teleported inside my enemy's spawn area and with there backs turned I opened fire and killed all of them.
In conclusion, do not make this same mistake that I did buying this piece of sh*t. Perhaps rent it or play it at a friend's house who made the same mistake I did. If you do not play it feel free to sleep you haven't missed much.

Online First Person Shooter RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 12
Date: June 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Well the RPG is rather minimal. You don't go on quests and get more powerful... instead the hook here is the ability to buy your choice of weapons, magic or tech (equipment/enhancements). The more poeple you kill/damage each round, the more money you'll get to buy stuff at the beginning of the next match. You then get to assign the items you bought to 1 of 3 available slots. You can also buy more then you can equipment, and switch it around whenever you please. There are 4 races to pick from. human, elf, dwarf and troll. each has advantages unique to them. my only real gripe with this game is the fact that for being multiplayer only, there is a lack of variety. there simple is just 2 versions of "capture the flag" and a team deathmatch. hopefully there will be some downloadable content in the near future that will add to this. its also worth noting that it is very hard the first couple times you play until you realize what items you want and where you want to equip them... but once you finally do get the hang of it and get a system going, its very fun.

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