Shadowrun (2007 video game)
| Shadowrun | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | FASA Interactive |
| Publisher(s) | Microsoft Game Studios |
| Designer(s) | John Howard, Bill Fulton, Christopher Blohm, Sage Merrill, Derek Carroll |
| Platform(s) | Xbox 360, Windows Vista |
| Release |  May 29, 2007 June 1, 2007 |
| Genre(s) | First-Person Shooter |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Shadowrun is a first-person shooter developed by FASA Studios for Windows Vista and the Xbox 360.
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. [1]
At E³ in May of 2006 Microsoft officially revealed Shadowrun for Windows Vista and the Xbox 360. [3].
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.
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 will choose from 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 racial traits.
Players will purchase magic, tech, and weapons in between each round of play. Magic will include teleportation, resurrection, and a castable tree of life that will slowly heal any players that stand near it, turning into smoke for invulnerability, summoning a monster to do your bidding, casting a field of lethal crystals, and blowing a powerful gust at enemies and objects. Purchasable tech items include enhanced vision, which allows the player to see through walls, a glider, which enables short distance flight, wired reflexes, which greatly increases your physical attributes, anti-magic generators, Smartlink, which gives you greater accuracy and other specific advantages. Weapons include a sniper rifle, SMG, a shotgun, a minigun, a semi auto rifle, a rocket launcher, and a katana for assassinations and ninja style tactics.
Races
Troll:
- Strengths: High Health, Hardening, no movement penalty for carrying heavy weapons
- Weaknesses: Low movement speed, big target, vulnerable to essence drain
Elf:
- Strengths: High movement speed, self healing
- Weaknesses: High movement speed penalty for heavy weapons, low health
Human:
- Strengths: No essence penalty for tech, greater starting money average all around meaning no great weakness
- Weaknesses: Not as superior in movment health etc. average all around so no great strength
Dwarf:
- Strengths: Most essence of all races, essence leech, headshot resistance
- Weaknesses: Low essence regeneration,
Magic
Shadowrun includes a variety of magical spells for players to use in their matches. All spells use some essence. Those with a lasting effect, such as Resurrect and Strangle, will reserve a portion of the player's essence while it remains in use.
- Gust creates a burst of wind that can push players upwards and enemies away.
- Resurrect revives one or more fallen team mates, so long as the caster remains alive.
- Smoke transforms the player into a cloud of smoke.
- Strangle creates crystal barriers.
- Summon creates demonic minion.
- Teleport allows the player to teleport ten meters in any direction, regardless of obstacles in the way.
- Tree of Life creates a large tree that heals all players nearby.
Console vs. PC Game
Shadowrun will be the flagship title for the Games for Windows - LIVE service that allows Windows Vista PC users to be fully integrated into Xbox Live.
Criticism
Criticism of Shadowrun has focused in part on the changes made in order to balance the PC and console versions in online play. FASA has implemented a feature which will distort the PC's aiming reticule during quick turns[4]. 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. The console players will also have a form of autoaim since controllers are not as capable of 'pixel-accuracy' adjustments. Many believe this defeats the purpose of having a seperate 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.
On February 2007, Microsoft and FASA have issued a press release detailing new aspects of gameplay for Shadowrun, and lots of absent aspects of the pen-and-paper RPG were indeed included in the game, such as different traits for the four races -- Humans, Elves, Trolls and Dwarves -- and magic versus tech as equippable skills.
Footnotes
See also
- Shadowrun
- Dystopia (computer game) a similar game
- List of Games for Windows