i never played the original shadowrun so i didnt know why there was any bickering toward the game when it was announced. microsoft thought they had a hit on their hands and gave it the honor of being the first windows live game that pits 360 players versus PC players. even the guys from red vs blue made their next series 1-800-magic in the shadowrun universe. this game was supposed to be big. but it wasnt.
story: as far as i can tell there isnt one. and since i didnt play the original, i couldnt tell you the story if my life depended on it. since there isnt a single player other then bot matches a story would be pointless anyways.
gameplay: shadowrun creator FASA studios must of been fans of counter-strike because this game is set up just like it. you start the round with money and gain money each round depending on how you did in the round before. you pick between weopons and ammo, tech, and magic. uh yeah. more on those in a second. the point of the game is to collect the artifact (flag) while the other team tries to stop you. thee are a few variations but thats pretty much it. you will be seperated into 2 teams. the lineage or the RNA.magic in the game is called essence. right. we will go by magic here...
player types: trolls- slow but good at defense and takes alot of damage. one hit kills with the katana
dwarfs- a litte slow but can take headshots.can steal magic from other players.
humans- the middle ground player. 2nd fastest and 3rd strongest. they start each round with extra money.
elves- the fastest. however they are the weakest. they do slowly regenerate health.
weopons: the standard and nothing more. machine gun, rifle, shotgun, minigun, sniper, katana (your melee weopon), rocket launcher. you also have your pistol for back-up
tech: grenades, zoom for all the weopons, a glider for floating in the air, better reflexes and vision, a smart-link add on to guns, and Anti-magic generators to steal magic from other players.
magic: you can teleport, turn to smoke, ressurrect falling foes, creat a tree of life to generate you and your foes health back and cast a spell so a monster will help you fight with you among others. my favorite is called gust. thats where will a button press you can send an enamy flying off the level. its really cool when they have a glider and come right back up and you have a shotgun waiting for him.
maps:there are nine maps spread over 3 locations. brazil, the RNA headcourters, and what im assuming is mines on the side of a mountain. they have different sizes but all of them have open areas im assuming for gliders and magic. like counter-strike they seem set up for skirmishes in certain areas.
presentation: FASA studios created crimson skies on the xbox and mechassault so i was expecting a gorgeous game. well it looks good but not as good as i hoped. what drags it down is the animation. it looks stiff. its mainly when your in 3rd person view which you will be in when you have the katana or smoke. the levels themself go from excellent (the outside levels) with plenty of color, reflections, lighting, bumpmapping, to bland (the RNA levels. the magic looks really good however and add alot to the game. there is very little music in the game and it must of not been to great because i never paid attention to it. the in-game announcer is helpful but gets irritating over time. the characters themselves sound good and will talk depending on situations in the game. overall. pretty good stuff in the looks but lacking in sound. i like my epic music.
control: its control is basic FPS stuff. however it feels perfect. i cant imagine it feeling any better. the tech and magic are assigned to the buttons of your choice on top of the controller. the controls make sense and i never had to fool with sliders for turning. basically perfect.
overall: way overlooked. this game has a cult following online and there is a little auto-aim assistance going on so the controller can compete with the mouse and keyboard. no single player hurts the game but im not sure how it would of been without knowing the story. based on the game itself it is a great multiplayer game and i feel one of the best reasons to get online with the 360. there is nothing like it on the market. microsoft wanting $60 for it is a crime though. there isnt enough content here and its missing some things that really hurts the game like more variety in the levels and online leaderboards. no excuse for the leaderboards at all. but the game is worth having in your collection, especially since you can get it for around $20 now.
score; 7.5/10
story: as far as i can tell there isnt one. and since i didnt play the original, i couldnt tell you the story if my life depended on it. since there isnt a single player other then bot matches a story would be pointless anyways.
gameplay: shadowrun creator FASA studios must of been fans of counter-strike because this game is set up just like it. you start the round with money and gain money each round depending on how you did in the round before. you pick between weopons and ammo, tech, and magic. uh yeah. more on those in a second. the point of the game is to collect the artifact (flag) while the other team tries to stop you. thee are a few variations but thats pretty much it. you will be seperated into 2 teams. the lineage or the RNA.magic in the game is called essence. right. we will go by magic here...
player types: trolls- slow but good at defense and takes alot of damage. one hit kills with the katana
dwarfs- a litte slow but can take headshots.can steal magic from other players.
humans- the middle ground player. 2nd fastest and 3rd strongest. they start each round with extra money.
elves- the fastest. however they are the weakest. they do slowly regenerate health.
weopons: the standard and nothing more. machine gun, rifle, shotgun, minigun, sniper, katana (your melee weopon), rocket launcher. you also have your pistol for back-up
tech: grenades, zoom for all the weopons, a glider for floating in the air, better reflexes and vision, a smart-link add on to guns, and Anti-magic generators to steal magic from other players.
magic: you can teleport, turn to smoke, ressurrect falling foes, creat a tree of life to generate you and your foes health back and cast a spell so a monster will help you fight with you among others. my favorite is called gust. thats where will a button press you can send an enamy flying off the level. its really cool when they have a glider and come right back up and you have a shotgun waiting for him.
maps:there are nine maps spread over 3 locations. brazil, the RNA headcourters, and what im assuming is mines on the side of a mountain. they have different sizes but all of them have open areas im assuming for gliders and magic. like counter-strike they seem set up for skirmishes in certain areas.
presentation: FASA studios created crimson skies on the xbox and mechassault so i was expecting a gorgeous game. well it looks good but not as good as i hoped. what drags it down is the animation. it looks stiff. its mainly when your in 3rd person view which you will be in when you have the katana or smoke. the levels themself go from excellent (the outside levels) with plenty of color, reflections, lighting, bumpmapping, to bland (the RNA levels. the magic looks really good however and add alot to the game. there is very little music in the game and it must of not been to great because i never paid attention to it. the in-game announcer is helpful but gets irritating over time. the characters themselves sound good and will talk depending on situations in the game. overall. pretty good stuff in the looks but lacking in sound. i like my epic music.
control: its control is basic FPS stuff. however it feels perfect. i cant imagine it feeling any better. the tech and magic are assigned to the buttons of your choice on top of the controller. the controls make sense and i never had to fool with sliders for turning. basically perfect.
overall: way overlooked. this game has a cult following online and there is a little auto-aim assistance going on so the controller can compete with the mouse and keyboard. no single player hurts the game but im not sure how it would of been without knowing the story. based on the game itself it is a great multiplayer game and i feel one of the best reasons to get online with the 360. there is nothing like it on the market. microsoft wanting $60 for it is a crime though. there isnt enough content here and its missing some things that really hurts the game like more variety in the levels and online leaderboards. no excuse for the leaderboards at all. but the game is worth having in your collection, especially since you can get it for around $20 now.
score; 7.5/10
