Pages: 1 2 3 Graphics:  Art direction is a strong suit here. Each of the maps has excellent detail, lots of vertical space and numerous interesting objects and obstacles to use to tactical advantage. I used almost all of the default video settings, increasing my screen resolution to 1600×1200 and enabling 4x antialiasing, and the game ran smooth as silk, except for a particularly intense firefight in a 16-player match, during which I encountered some stutter. The decision not to animate characters climbing ladders is curious; seeing your teammates levitate from one level of a map to another is almost entertaining in itself. Also, I encountered an annoying bug in one of the tutorials that prevented me from finishing my tasks; I had to spend some time trolling forums on the game’s official site to discover the solution.
Interface:  As is the case with other Windows Live titles, the game menus are constructed using the Xbox model — lots of submenus with big, easy-to-read text. But unlike some of the menus in Halo 2 for Vista, they’re simple to use and get you where you want to go quickly.
Gameplay: As primarily a single-player FPS man, I was pleased by the inclusion of the tutorials, bot matches and solo matches. Being able to learn the ins and outs of the game in a private setting before jumping into the deep end was invaluable, especially in the solo matches, which gave me a chance to explore the various maps without being called names over the Internet by an anonymous 12-year-old who’s been playing online games since conception. But the difference in skill level between bots and humans is considerable, something I found out when, after scoring double-digit kills in solo matches, I joined a public match and took a round-ending head shot before I could take two steps.
Mouse and keyboard controls were responsive, the different races are balanced very well in terms of strengths and weaknesses, and there’s a good variety of weapons and spells from which to choose. However, when it comes time to equip your character for the next round, you’d better know what you want right away, since you get approximately 10 seconds to open the interface, buy items and equip them before the round starts. And more maps are needed to give Shadowrun some longevity, especially since no map editor was included. But as I exited the game for the last time, I found myself looking forward to trying it again.
Multiplayer: Cross-platform play is only possible for players with a Windows Live Gold or Xbox Live Gold account; Silver accountholders have to settle for games within their own communities. Some forum posters have reported problems with the matchmaking system taking a long time to connect them to an available game, but I never waited more than 30 seconds to get into a match. Sometimes the system places you into a contest that has already started, forcing you to follow the other combatants until the end of the round, but this is a minor annoyance.
Sound FX:  The usual gunfire and explosion effects were all effective and the match announcer’s voice was solid and authoritative, but the other in-match computer voice referenced places on the maps you would only recognize if you’d had the chance to explore them, something that doesn’t help much when you’re fighting for your life. What’s more, voice chat was a serious problem for me. Trying to configure the Xbox controller’s microphone was a real hassle; not only did I have to configure it in the Vista control panel, but I also had to change settings in my Windows Live account, and after much fiddling with settings I still wasn’t able to get the mic to work. Also, a problem with my Creative sound card forced me to change from 5.1 speaker settings to a 2.1 setup in order to understand the voice of the tutorial trainer, who originally sounded like he was talking into a tin can.
Intelligence: The abilities of your human opponents can never be underestimated, especially considering the effectiveness of the automatic matchmaking feature. But the bots are another matter. They are just as likely to successfully evade fire and counterattack as they are to walk right up to you and wait for you to shoot them. I’m glad FASA included them, but they could’ve been a bit brighter.
Difficulty: Difficulty isn’t a factor in the online matches, but you can set a difficulty level while playing the tutorial bot matches and the solo matches. The real difficulty lies in the abilities of your opponents and the complexity of the maps. It’s tough for someone on the newbie side of the scale, not so for the veterans.
Overall: Much credit has to be paid to FASA for their accomplishments with Shadowrun. It could not have been easy to be tapped for the world’s first cross-platform game and all of the tech complexities and play balancing that it entails, and they managed to pull it off with very few serious problems. The game suffers from the lack of a single-player campaign mode, more maps are needed, there are a few bugs to be worked out, and the PC system requirements are daunting, but as a first step into a new gaming world, Shadowrun is a significant success.
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Why don’t you say the compleate truth and tell them how MS restricts this game only to Vista users and how you can only search for multiplay thru their damn live system that you have to pay MORE MONEY for to connect to console users? Write a real review instead of fluffing MS.
You don’t have to pay MORE money if you already have a 360 live account, so what you are saying is only true for those people. Seriously, after the last few desolate years in PC gaming, I would expect most people interested in this game would have a 360 and a Live account.
As for the Vista b****ing you seem to be doing, Vista is much more different in form and function than XP. Those who do not see this either don’t have Vista or don’t understand what it is to program for it. In short, Vista incorporates .Net as part of its core operating system, something XP can never do without a complete rewrite (which is Vista). This is key as .Net is much faster to write for than traditional C++. As it’s part of the OS now and not slapped on like XP, there’s much improvement in terms of executable speed. Remember, they’re trying to reinvigorate gaming on the PC. Not to mention they simplified the hardware requirements by assigning your PC a number. This way, you can clearly see if your PC is up to spec to run something. This might not be a big deal for you or me, but for the uninformed dad looking to buy his kid a PC game, it’s a Godsend.
You can argue the point that Vista is not yet as streamlined as its XP counterpart, and you would be correct; however, I seem to recall XP being a buggy mess before SP1. Let’s wait until SP1 comes out before comparing XP to it.
And before you ask: no, I don’t work for AVault; yes, I own Vista; yes, Vista is slightly slower at gaming than XP, but every OS goes through some growing pains (given what MS is doing under the hood, it’s a pretty impressive OS); and anything that brings PC gaming back is a good thing.
And how about stating the fact that is probably bothering anyone out there who knows the true origins of the Shadowrun franchise? The fact that Micro$oft took one of the best, widest, most fantastic role playing games on the market and shrunk it down to a mere Quake 3/Unreal Tournament knockoff. Not only that, they managed to terminate, to cease and decease, the project that wanted to bring the true Sixth World of Shadowrun to life on the computer and made us lose our hope for, maybe once, a good CRPG – Shadowrun Online.
All this shows is that Micro$oft doesn’t need the Mozilla Project or Apple to copy good material and dilute it.
so im suposed to pay for a serivce that i have gotten for free for the last 10 years just about? Not to mention that fact that if the gaming companies sign up for this live crap they CANNOT by contract offer any of these free services that i have expected in every game i now recive. As for vista i have played with it and it is a boondoggle in a work enviroment and at home that force users to cancel or allow any thing you do witht the freaking os. Que in that stupid windows defender crap that you cannot uninstall and they can have their crappy os, which by the way they are begging people to buy since sales have really not been that good. As for .net the framework was added to XP think its up to version 3 now. And you forgotten to mention the unbeliveable specs you need to run the damn thing and get thouse numbers up that you talked about. I have run a machine with 2 gigs of ram in it and vista was still slower then xp. And for winXP you didnt have 1/2 your programs refuse to install or work with the OS. Which is a big consideration in a business enviroment. As for PC gaming dieing, all majior gaming innovations will contine on the PC platform since it is much more adapable.
I wouldn’t pretend to know the Shadowrun franchise, just Vista.
Here’s a good chance to get to know it. Pick up your 4th Edition books today.
Alright. I saw Shadowrun when I was at E3 2006. The game looked and ran beautifully. I had one of the developers giving me a rundown of the game. As an FPS, its a great game that gives true diversity to FPS play. The FPS aspects added give a range of options and play that none other offer. Those whom play Counter Strike and Unreal and try to compare either played the game for less than 15 minutes or simply didn’t play it at all. As an FPS and RPG enthusiast I understand the difficulty in implementing a truely FPS-RPG and making it worth smoothly. I understand this as a developer myself.
FASA’s choice to make the game an FPS with certain semi RPG aspects was neither right or wrong. It was what was done. Deal with it.
To the review:
RPG Gamers: You won’t find the RPG aspects that you loved playing ShadowRun back in the day with pencil and paper in your grandmothers basement.
FPS Gamers: You will be delighted to find that the FPS genere has been revamped with a whole arsenal of tactics. Its no longer just point and shoot. Its teleport through a wall and ninja your opponent or fit a bunch of tech gagets and go in like a war machine in true FPS glory.
Ophidian
As an update: Vista is not required. There has been posts on the internet which I will not provide that show you how to play ShadowRun in all of its PC glory on WinXp.
Ophidian,
can’t really play the game online with that patch, now can you? as posted before, tell the whole truth instead of just a portion that suits you.
you can play XP shadowrun online with hamachi, works a treat although you will have to find other players doing the same. the vista version just had an OS check it wasnt written sec for vista, shadowrun is a great game.
just been reading through this little tussle going on here, i just got my new pc sorted and built myself a new beast, naturally got a copy of vista and my new system runs it pretty sweet. the thing that bothers me is i was looking at buying shadowrun but saw someone mention that you need to pay for some sub to play with ppl using the xbox 360’s, one of the reasons i was going to get shadowrun was that a few of my mates play it on the 360 and thought it’d be cool to blow some ppl away with them but not sure if i can be bothered with yet another sub after my internet bill and various mmo subs… is it a concrete requirement that you need to pay a sub inorder to play with and against the xbo 360 players?
really need to know before i go buy this game.
I agree with Lamb Cannons, why would those of us buy this game if it requires you to pay a subscription fee every month which is used predominently for Xbox 360 games. And you are only going to use the subscritpion to the Xbox live network for this game alone, and no others, because you dont have an Xbox 360 to take advantage of it.
However, I must admit the game does look great, but it is predominently a multiplayer game, so you wouldnt want to buy it without paying for the subscription as well. Therefore if you do end up purchasing this game, consequently, you will end up continuosly paying for it for the rest of the year; along with the rest of the subscriptions you may have to other games. – Its just not worth it!
I agree with chriskovo!!! Stop being a M$ stooge!!!!
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