Shadowrun (1993 video game)
| Shadowrun | |
|---|---|
| Shadowrun | |
| Developer(s) | Beam Software |
| Publisher(s) | Data East |
| Platform(s) | Super NES |
| Release | NA 01 November 1993 JPN 25 March 1994 EU 28 July 1994 |
| Genre(s) | Action Role playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Shadowrun is a cyberpunk action RPG for the Super NES adapted from the pen and paper RPG Shadowrun by FASA. The game was developed by Australian company Beam Software (now Melbourne House) and released on November 1 1993 by Data East.
Overview
The player takes on the role of Jake Armitage (an homage to the main character in William Ford Gibson's novel Neuromancer), a courier who is shot and nearly killed in the streets of Seattle in the year 2050 by a hit squad. He wakes up in a morgue with amnesia. The remainder of the game follows Jake as he attempts to uncover his own identity, as well as that of the mysterious figure who wants him dead.
Gameplay
As an action RPG video game, Shadowrun combines both the statistical factor in the tabletop game with real-time gameplay. For example, the player controls Jake, moves him around using the controller, and when attacked, must use guns or magic commands to respond. Some battles within the game require sharp reflexes. This is further complicated by the fact that the Seattle in the game is a tough city - practically every screen contains at least one hidden assassin who, from random locations, opens fire on Jake; the player must immediately find the source of the attack and respond or risk death. At the same time, Jake builds up "karma" from killing enemies. Karma can then be allocated by the player into different attributes, skills, and magical powers.
As the title of the game implies, Jake is described as a "shadowrunner," a mercenary character common within the Shadowrun RPG. Moreover, in the game, Jake is able to hire other shadowrunners as henchmen, though it is possible for the player to win the game without hiring a single shadowrunner.
In interacting with non-player characters, Shadowrun uses an unusual system. Whenever Jake hears a new and unusual term, this word is highlighted, then added to a sort of database of terms he can use. From that point on, when speaking with NPCs, Jake is able to ask them about this new word; only in this manner can a player progress with the game.
The game also includes an unusual way of entering into cyberspace. Using a cyberdeck, Jake is able to hack into computers to retrieve information, as well as gain more money, which in the game is nuyen (noo-yen). During such scenes, the gameplay becomes two-dimensional while an icon of Jake moves through cyberspace, fights intrusion programs, and retrieves data. As in the original RPG (and cyberpunk literature in general), if the player dies in cyberspace, he dies in real life as well.
Storyline
Beginning in the morgue Jake must first get his bearings and find out what put him there. Later it is revealed that Jake was carrying a program in his "head computer" that was able to destroy artificial intelligence. Shortly after he received a copy of this program, a corporation trying to construct an extremely powerful AI, aided by a mysterious figure known as "Drake," destroyed Matrix Systems, the company that created the program. As Jake has the last-known copy, Drake sends hit men to assassinate him. On the verge of death, Jake is saved by a kitsune character. Unbeknownst to him, Jake is really a shaman. With a dog as his shamanistic totem, Jake is able to learn and cast magic, confront the mysterious Drake, who is in reality a dragon, and finally the Aneki Corporation, which is behind the entire plot.
See also
External links
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