Shadowrun (2007 video game)
From Shadowrun Wiki
Shadowrun is a first-person shooter developed by FASA Studios for Windows Vista and the Xbox 360. It is not set in the Shadowrun Universe but an alternate continuity invented by FASA Studios. It is the first game to utilize Games for Windows - LIVE that allows for Vista users to play with Xbox 360 users.
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[edit] 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 which released only in Japan.
In January of 1999, Microsoft purchased FASA Interactive, acquiring the electronic rights to Shadowrun in the process. Microsoft then filed a trademark for the Shadowrun title in November, 2004.
Initial gameplay prototyping was done using the Halo: Combat Evolved|Halo engine while FASA worked on creating their own engine.
At E3 in May of 2006, Microsoft officially revealed Shadowrun for Windows Vista and the Xbox 360.
[edit] 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. Resistance turned to conflict, conflict turned to skirmish and skirmish eventually plunged the city into all-out war.
On one side is RNA Global, a powerful multinational corporation that has been researching magic seemingly since before it returned. Driven to control magic as an economic tool, they find themselves with a powerful but precarious toehold in a city ravaged by change.
On the other side is the Lineage. Led by the Chancela family and dedicated to defending the Santos ziggurat, they struggle to keep its magic free of anyone’s control, no matter the cost.
And in the middle is the strange artifact that seems to be the key to everything.
The year is 2031. The place is Santos, Brazil. The future is up in the air. It's up to you to determine who will win, and who will lose.
[edit] 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 chooses between two factions to play as: The megacorp RNA Global, and the resistance group known as The Lineage. Playable races are Human, Elf, Troll, and Dwarf. Each race has their own unique racial traits:
Troll: Pros: strongest race, lots of health, defence increases the faster their hit. Cons:slowest race, as their defense increases they become slower, least amount of essence.
Elf: Pros: fastest race, quickest essence regeneration, heals using essence when not being shot at. cons: least amount of health, lowest defense, as their healing their essence regeneration ceases
Dwarf: Pros: immune to headshots, most essence, saps essence from other players and magical objects (i.e. tree of life, minion, strangle crystals,). Cons: painfully slow essence regeneration
Human: Pros: no essence penalty for using techs, no statistical disadvantages. Cons: no advantages.
Players can purchase magic, tech, and weapons before each round of play.
Magic includes:
- Teleport, which enables users to instantly warp 8 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
- 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 was providing a physical barrier that can be used for cover
Tech includes:
- Enhanced vision, which allows the player to detect nearby enemies 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 highly-customizable bots, private matches with friends and associates, and live matches which match up players from around the world. The three play modes available are Attrition, Extraction, and Raid mode. Any certain map has two of these three game modes usually Raid or Extraction and Attrition.
[edit] 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 some 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. 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. The PC has also been given extra stability when firing an automatic weapon (chaingun and SMG) due to the consoles ability to control the kick of a gun better.
[edit] Reception
Shadowrun was released on May 29, 2007 for both the Xbox 360 and PC. The media reviews for the game were largely negative, with most reviews citing a dire lack of content for a multiplayer only game (9 maps, 3 game modes) and the relatively high price point as the main criticisms. There were also complaints about online performance and stability, graphics, and art design. However, the gameplay was highly praised by almost every review. In fact, Major League Gaming called Shadowrun "the best Xbox game since Halo: Combat Evolved."
However, user reviews from various sources portray the game in a much more positive light. Many of the reviews are still mixed, but the average rating for Shadowrun based on users' scores is significantly higher.[1] [2]
[edit] Sources
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Shadowrun (2007 video game). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Shadowrun Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
