Product Description

Intense cross-platform multiplayer action - For the first time ever, Xbox 360 and Windows Vista gamers can compete as a team or as foes. Shadowrun tears down the walls between friends and gamer communities on the console and pc by allowing up to 16 gamers to play together, regardless of platform. Shadowrun also brings all the features gamers love on Xbox Live such as Gamertags, Achievement points, Friends` lists, Integrated Voice, etc. onto the pc through Games for Windows Live.

Four ancient races with unique strengths and weaknesses battle in three-dimensional environments - Humans are joined by elves, dwarves and trolls in a battle for supremacy among soaring corporate towers, warren-like slums and an ancient ziggurat of power. Strike a balance on your team with races possessing unique abilities that complement your weapons and tactics. Battle in three-dimensional spaces that allow cunning uses of spells and techs such as Glide, Teleport, Gust and Enhanced vision.

The ultimate online (and offline) battlefield - Fight against or alongside AI teammates or join up with friends against all comers via System Link and Xbox Live. Fill out your team with intelligent AI characters that respond to your tactical commands and provide an unparalleled team experience. Train offline with the robust AI, or play through a host of training sessions as you master the magic and technology of Shadowrun..

For use only with Xbox 360 entertainment systems with PAL designation and PAL TVs capable of displaying a 60Hz signal
 

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1596 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Microsoft
• Released on: 2007-06-01
• Platform: Xbox 360

Amazon.co.uk Review

Microsoft may well be rueing the day they ever green-lit this game, such has been the cacophony of online complaints and whining. Shadowrun was originally a tabletop role-playing game, a curious mix between Tolkien-esque high fantasy and sci-fi cyberpunk, and was adapted for two quite different but equally admired role-playing games for the SNES and Mega Drive, back in the mid-90s. The reason online fans are getting so upset is that this game is absolutely nothing like them, in fact it’s a first person shoot ‘em-up – although quite an unusual one at that.

Since the peculiar Shadowrun universe features both magic and technology the end result is a sci-fi version of Counter-Strike, with added elves. As such you have access to a wide range of different magic and technology-based gadgets, ranging from hang-gliders and X-ray vision to the ability to teleport through solid walls, resurrect fallen comrades and create life giving trees. You can only use three abilities at once though, with many limiting the amount of magical energy you have stored. Tactics are further complicated by which race you play as, from the stealthy but weak elves to the magical essence-stealing dwarves.

As in Counter-Strike there’s no single player mode, just a series of tutorials and some basic simulations of the online mode against the computer. Microsoft is also terribly keen to promote the fact that you can play against both PC gamers and those using a 360 – although the difference in controllers and potential set-ups means it’s not exactly a level playing field (not that the graphics are particularly extravagant.) The graphics aren’t the problem though, but the fact that there are only nine maps, which does seem rather stingy for what is otherwise an impressively unique and imaginative online shooter.
Harrison Dent

Amazon.co.uk Review

Microsoft may well be rueing the day they ever green-lit this game, such has been the cacophony of online complaints and whining. Shadowrun was originally a tabletop role-playing game, a curious mix between Tolkien-esque high fantasy and sci-fi cyberpunk, and was adapted for two quite different but equally admired role-playing games for the SNES and Mega Drive, back in the mid-90s. The reason online fans are getting so upset is that this game is absolutely nothing like them, in fact it’s a first person shoot ‘em-up – although quite an unusual one at that.

Since the peculiar Shadowrun universe features both magic and technology the end result is a sci-fi version of Counter-Strike, with added elves. As such you have access to a wide range of different magic and technology-based gadgets, ranging from hang-gliders and X-ray vision to the ability to teleport through solid walls, resurrect fallen comrades and create life giving trees. You can only use three abilities at once though, with many limiting the amount of magical energy you have stored. Tactics are further complicated by which race you play as, from the stealthy but weak elves to the magical essence-stealing dwarves.

As in Counter-Strike there’s no single player mode, just a series of tutorials and some basic simulations of the online mode against the computer. Microsoft is also terribly keen to promote the fact that you can play against both PC gamers and those using a 360 – although the difference in controllers and potential set-ups means it’s not exactly a level playing field (not that the graphics are particularly extravagant.) The graphics aren’t the problem though, but the fact that there are only nine maps, which does seem rather stingy for what is otherwise an impressively unique and imaginative online shooter.
Harrison Dent

Manufacturer's Description
In Shadowrun players vie for supremacy in an intense FPS experience that rewards cleverness, cunning and split-second improvisation through a unique combination of modern weapons, ancient magic and advanced technology. FASA Studio, the creative minds behind MechWarrior and Crimson Skies, and John Howard, Lead Designer on Halo 1, are back with Shadowrun, the new multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) based on the much-beloved role-playing game (RPG) franchise. Up to 16 players can battle together across both Xbox 360 and Windows Vista through the LIVE games and entertainment network.

Rich legacy brought to life. After a 5,000-year absence, magic has returned to the world of 2031, and global corporations battles a relentless ancient order to harness this reawakened power. Be a part of the RNA, a global megacorporation, and bring order (and profit) to a world of chaos. Or join the Lineage to keep magic wild and free at all costs. Choose a side and wage war for the future of magic in the new world of Shadowrun.

Features:
Gameplay-changing Magics & Techs - Dive into a universe where ancient magic co-exists with deadly weaponry and experience a revolution in FPS gaming. Upgrade your character by purchasing advanced technology and magics for each round in an extraordinary arms race to improve your abilities and open new tactics for your team.

Intense cross-platform multiplayer action - For the first time ever, Xbox 360 and Windows Vista gamers can compete as a team or as foes. Shadowrun tears down the walls between friends and gamer communities on the console and pc by allowing up to 16 gamers to play together, regardless of platform. Shadowrun also brings all the features gamers love on Xbox Live such as Gamertags, Achievement points, Friends' lists, Integrated Voice, etc. onto the pc through Games for Windows Live.

Four ancient races with unique strengths and weaknesses battle in three-dimensional environments - Humans are joined by elves, dwarves and trolls in a battle for supremacy among soaring corporate towers, warren-like slums and an ancient ziggurat of power. Strike a balance on your team with races possessing unique abilities that complement your weapons and tactics. Battle in three-dimensional spaces that allow cunning uses of spells and techs such as Glide, Teleport, Gust and Enhanced vision.

The ultimate online (and offline) battlefield - Fight against or alongside AI teammates or join up with friends against all comers via System Link and Xbox Live. Fill out your team with intelligent AI characters that respond to your tactical commands and provide an unparalleled team experience. Train offline with the robust AI, or play through a host of training sessions as you master the magic and technology of Shadowrun..

About the developer:
Steeped in a deep history of innovative online games, FASA Studio is composed of the extraordinary talent that brought gamers MechWarrior, MechAssault, the first game to debut on the Xbox Live service, and Crimson Skies for the PC and Xbox. Leading the Design team on Shadowrun is John Howard, who was also Lead Designer on the first Halo. Just as Halo 1 broke ground in being the first great shooter on the console platform and the first to integrate vehicles into FPS', together FASA Studio and John Howard will again break new ground with Shadowrun by being the first to successfully implement gameplay-changing mechanics such as Teleport, Enhanced Vision, Glide, etc. as well as creating the first ever FPS that connects players on Xbox 360 to Windows gamers.

Customer Reviews

Good, but flawed.
This game has great gameplay, as the 5 stars for fun implies, but it falls short in other areas:

Gameplay: 9/10, really fun, like halo, only with magic.
Graphics: 7/10, average, not bad, nothing special, although the magic does look awesome, very artistic.
Sound: 8/10, awesome gun sounds and good music/SFX.
Replayability: 7/10, really good online, next to no single player.

I have found my gaming nirvana
initially, this game felt slightly awkward and dated. the graphics looked plain and I rushed onto an on-line game only to be torn to pieces and taunted by the usual XBL American losers; quite off putting. but hours later after going through the training sections and a fair few off line bot matches it began to dawn on me how complex and involving the gameplay actually is, its light years ahead of any MPFPS out there, and the design of the maps, that initially look rather plain, slowly blossom into the most intelligently designed playpens I have ever encountered in a game, it is only once you have learnt how to customise at least one of the player types, and you have grasped the layout out of a few of the maps, that you should then venture on line as this game is not really about how good you are at pointing and firing but how you have combined chosen magic, tech, and your knowledge of the maps into a sort of skilled art form.

this is what the xbox360 has needed for some time, a game that requires skill and imagination not just shooting without thinking. it really reminds me NOT of counterstrike as a lot of people have said but more of Quake 3 arena and UT2004 on the PC,

things like spying enemies through floors and then teleporting through that floor to put a shotgun blast in the back brings a new level of fun but soon you will find yourself really experimenting with gliding, teleporting, gusting, smoking, katanaing in the back, resurrecting, wired reflexing, and much more, there are only nine maps but you could spend weeks learning just one to be able to totally visualize the vertical and horizontal layouts in your head to properly utilize teleporting and gliding abilities.

I notice this game has been getting low reviews from the "professionals" and I can almost understand their reckoning but its because they have got so anal itical about gaming these days that they have forgotten that it was originally all about combining skill and fun in a competitive environment, this game requires a commitment to experiment, learn, improvise and adapt, this has been the only game in the disk drive now for weeks and cant see myself swapping over for gears or anything else any time soon.

the layouts of the 9 maps are absolute quality for the purpose of the game the the endless possibilities of the gamely will keep me and perhaps you coming back for months if not years.

if you are a dumb uk chav or a spoilt fat American whiner then game is not for you, this is the thinking man's FPS,

in a PC environment this sort of game will have all sorts of mods and maps obviously this cant happen on the 360 and is left solely up to the developers. hopefully they can get some DLC comming.

also if you are a casual (reformed addict) gamer like me then the short 20-30 min games mean i can pull myself away once over and go talk to the wife and kids and explain to them about the tree of life and summoning demons from hell.

Best multiplayer game yet.
The title sums up my feelings really. If you have Xbox Live Gold this is absolutely essential, the range of combat situations that can be created is astronomical. No two matches are ever the same!

However, as others have pointed out, there is no story driven single player here. Which is a real sham, because if you have read the backstory to this game, you know that there was great potential here.

So, basically, buy if you play online, give it a miss if you don't.