Note: This was originally intended as a short post saying a I disagree with the below post but I apparently can't do short post. I apologize if you read the half baked version of this my finger slipped on the post button before I was done.
Enigmatic_Apple said:
Shadowrun is hardly worth a rental. This is misleading.
I've been lurking these forums for a couple days because for some reason this is the only gaming site that the community internet at my parents house doesn't block. Anyways this is the first time I felt any motivation to post.
I play Shadowrun professionally and would just like to give my completely biased pov of it. Shadowrun is a horrible game for most gamers. Yeah, didn't see that coming did you? What I'm saying is that Shadowrun is a purely online multi player only game. The only resemblance of a campaign is a short training session. The game is designed requiring a large amount of teamwork making public games a painful experience and immediately turning away the casual audience. With no in game ladder the only real goal the casual gamer can have is achievements. The hit detection also turns away many casual gamers. How the hit detection works is if you see your shots hitting the opponents then they hit thus the damage is sometimes behind the actual action resulting in people dieing through walls and other similar annoying experiences. Also Shadowrun has a large amount of abilities that allow players to accomplish various feats previously unheard in other shooters (example teleport) the result of this is that it takes a long time to fully understand the abilities and with only a quick play of Shadowrun one is inevitable to think that some abilities are too powerful while others are too weak when in reality they tend to be incredibly balanced. Also the abilities result in people buying bad abilities for their race the most common example of this is that you often see elves with a katana and wired reflexes despite this being perhaps the worst elf build possible. To top off shadowrun's troubled position among casual gamers the original "shadowrun" was a pen and paper game much more similar to a rpg resulting in fans of the ip feeling betrayed well before the game was even released.
So this game sucks right? NO, Fasa designed Shadowrun purely for competitive play. As they went out of business shortly after its release this clearly was a poor plan but Fasa did fulfill their goal in making a game that is great if you play fps competitively. The complexity and balance of the abilities and buy system allows the game to evolve better than any fps out there and even rival the depth of some of the greatest rts such as starcraft. Its also generally considered the most skilled fps on any console contested only by halo: ce. Shadowrun is quite simply an amazing competitive title, but that's it and a competitive title has the dilmea of needing a strong casual community to support it.
As mlg has yet to announced Shadowrun for the 08 season its future looks uncertain even for the competitive community. So before returning to my duties of lurking the forums unnoticed I'll mention some aspects Shadowrun brought to the fps genre.
Shadowrun's contributions:
-Teleport - the ability to move through walls instantly adds a whole new concept never really explored by your typical fps making movement ability much more important then it is in your normal shooter
-PC and 360 compatibility - Fasa spent much of its development time making it so PC and 360 players could play against each other on an even playing field. Although its generally considered competitively that PC has the advantage and casually 360 has the advantage the ability to play against a different platform is an impressive contribution.
-Building for competitive community doesn't pay out - sad but true
In conclusion Shadowrun is an excellent game if your a hardcore competitive fps player who is familiar with online ladders such as gamebattles. But, if your looking for a fps thats easy to pick up for occasional play with friends and has a great campaign your probably won't be able to justify Shadowruns price tag and would probably be better off picking up cod4 or halo 3.
