Shadowrun (2007 video game) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Shadowrun is an online only (or single player with AI players) first-person shooter

First-person shooter

First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...

video game, developed by FASA Interactive

FASA Interactive

FASA Studio was a video game developer that was founded in 1995 by the tabletop game company FASA Corporation, Spectrum HoloByte and Denny Thorley....

for Xbox 360

Xbox 360

The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

and Windows Vista

Windows Vista

Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...

. It was later cracked

Software cracking

Software cracking is the modification of software to remove or disable features which are considered undesirable by the person cracking the software, usually related to protection methods: copy protection, trial/demo version, serial number, hardware key, date checks, CD check or software annoyances...

to work on Windows XP

Windows XP

Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...

, confirming speculation that it was intentionally limited to Windows Vista. The game features a buying system which is greatly inspired by the game Counter-Strike

Counter-Strike

Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...

. The game is also inspired by the role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

of the same name

Shadowrun

Shadowrun is a role-playing game set in a near-future fictional universe in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime, with occasional elements of conspiracy fiction, horror, and detective fiction.The original game has spawned...

. It is not set in the official Shadowrun timeline, but an alternate continuity invented by FASA Interactive. It was the first game to use Games for Windows - Live that allows for Windows users to play with Xbox 360 users.

On December 15, 2009, the game was made available on the Games on Demand store for Games for Windows – Live with a price tag of $20, however due to a promotion the title was available for $10 until January 4, 2010.

The Games for Windows – Live update released on November 15, 2010 changed the voice codec used by the platform. As a result, Shadowrun players on Windows and Xbox 360 can no longer hear each other in-game (though they can still hear other players on the same platform).

History

Three video games based on the Shadowrun universe were created throughout the 1990s: one for the SNES

Shadowrun (SNES)

Shadowrun is a cyberpunk action role-playing video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System . It was adapted from the tabletop role-playing game Shadowrun by FASA...

, one for the Sega Genesis

Shadowrun (Sega)

Shadowrun is an action RPG for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, adapted from the pen and paper RPG Shadowrun by FASA. The game was developed by US company BlueSky Software and released in 1994. Shadowrun takes place in 2058 Seattle...

, and one other for the Mega CD

Shadowrun (Mega CD)

is a cyberpunk interactive fiction role-playing video game for the Sega Mega-CD adapted from the pen and paper RPG Shadowrun by FASA. It was developed by Japanese company Group SNE and released on February 23, 1995.-Summary:...

(released only in Japan).

In January 1999, Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

purchased FASA Interactive

FASA Interactive

FASA Studio was a video game developer that was founded in 1995 by the tabletop game company FASA Corporation, Spectrum HoloByte and Denny Thorley....

, acquiring the electronic rights to Shadowrun in the process. Microsoft then filed a trademark for the Shadowrun title in November, 2004.

Initial gameplay prototyping was done using the Halo
Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved, frequently referred to as Halo: CE, or Halo 1, is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The first game of the Halo franchise, it was released on November 15, 2001 as a launch title for the Xbox gaming system, and is...

engine while FASA Interactive worked on creating their own engine.

At E3 in May 2006, Microsoft officially revealed Shadowrun for Windows Vista

Windows Vista

and the Xbox 360

Xbox 360

.

Originally, the game was set to have a singleplayer campaign to complement the multiplayer, FASA Studio's Bill Fulton revealed the campaign mode was cut due to "resource constraints" and the "quality over quantity" focus of development.

Plot

According to the ancient Mayan calendar

Maya calendar

The Maya calendar is a system of calendars and almanacs used in the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and in many modern Maya communities in highland Guatemala. and in Chiapas....

, 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

Ziggurat

Ziggurats were massive structures built in the ancient Mesopotamian valley and western Iranian plateau, having the form of a terraced step pyramid of successively receding stories or levels.Notable ziggurats include the Great Ziggurat of Ur near Nasiriyah, Iraq; the Ziggurat of Aqar Quf near...

was constructed near what would be modern day Santos

Santos (São Paulo)

-Sister cities: Shimonoseki, Japan Nagasaki, Japan Funchal, Portugal Trieste, Italy Coimbra, Portugal Ansião, Portugal Arouca, Portugal Ushuaia, Argentina Havana, Cuba Taizhou. China Ningbo. China Constanţa, Romania Ulsan, South Korea Colón, Panama* Cadiz, Spain...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. 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, 2012, 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 who were dedicated to defending the ziggurat and recovering the artifact. Resistance turned to conflict, conflict turned to skirmish and skirmish eventually plunged the city into all-out war. Eventually, forces began to organize themselves under the Chancela family, and became known as "The Lineage".

The battle between these two sides has grown to great proportions as of 2031, as the struggle for the artifact continues between RNA Global forces and The Lineage.

Gameplay

Shadowrun is an online only first-person shooter

First-person shooter

(3rd person with katana or smoke activated) introducing mild cyberpunk

Cyberpunk

Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...

elements to the gameplay. The game takes place in Brazil

Brazil

in the year 2031: before the events that shaped the Shadowrun universe.

The player is assigned one of two factions to play as: The megacorp RNA Global, or the resistance group known as The Lineage. Playable races are Human, Elf

Elf

An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...

, Troll

Troll

A troll is a supernatural being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In origin, the term troll was a generally negative synonym for a jötunn , a being in Norse mythology...

, and Dwarf. Each race has their own unique racial traits.

Elves are the fastest race, but also the weakest. They are slowed substantially by heavy weapons and will quickly be killed from sustained fire. However, their speed makes up for this, as well as their special ability which allows them to heal when not taking damage if they have essence available. Elves have the second greatest amount of essence. They are best suited for hit and run tactics. Elves require essence if they are to heal.

Trolls on the other hand, are the slowest race, but the strongest. No weapon, no matter how heavy, will slow them down, and they can take an incredible amount of damage, especially with their special ability. When taking sustained fire, a troll will use its essence to harden his skin. This slows it down but allows it to take enormous damage. Trolls have the least amount of essence of all the races. They are basically the team slayer and "tank". When a troll is using a katana a single blow deals a significant amount of damage to an enemy. Techs also take up fewer slots than normal.

Dwarves are closer to the troll end of the perspective. They are slightly faster than trolls (still slow however) and fairly strong, not being hampered much by heavier weapons. Dwarves can take a good deal of damage and as a bonus they can withstand a direct headshot from a sniper rifle, which is fatal for any other race. Their special ability is that they can steal essence from other players (friend or foe) and from magical objects like strangle and minions. To balance this out, dwarves regenerate essence very slowly, but have lots of essence at their disposal.

Humans are the middle ground of the races. They are the second fastest after elves and second most resilient after trolls. They are also the third strongest when it comes to carrying weapons. Humans have several small advantages that give them a unique play style. First, their essence isn't locked by technological equipment (other than guns, of course), as it is with all other races. Second, they start the first round with an extra 500 dollars.

Players can purchase magic, technological equipment, and weaponry at the beginning of each round of play. At the beginning of the first round they have $2000, except humans who have $2500. Each new round adds $1400 for each player, plus money the player earns by helping his or her team during each match. Money can also be reduced by team killing or damaging during the round.

Magic includes:

Teleport, enables users to instantly warp 8–10 meters in the direction of their movement, even through solid objects.
Resurrect, allows a player to bind a fallen teammate to their own life energy in order to bring them back to life as well as stop teammates from "bleeding out."
Strangle, produces a field of crystals which restricts the movement and drains the essence of any player caught amongst them.
Summon, produces a creature that relentlessly attacks hostile entities on sight
Gust, is a burst of powerful wind that can push enemies and objects away, and if timed carefully, can break a player's fall.
Smoke, allows a player to turn their body to smoke, causing bullets, explosions, and falls to cause no damage, though being hit with Gust will cause significant harm. Also limits range at which the player can be detected by enhanced vision.
Tree of life, creates a tree that heals anyone nearby, as well as providing a physical barrier that can be used for cover.

Technological equipment includes:

Grenade, allows the player to throw grenades. The player may have two stocked at any given time.
Enhanced vision, allows the player to detect nearby enemies, as well as teammates, through walls. Enemies with smoke mapped cannot be seen unless within a short distance.
Glider, enables short-distance flight and enhanced leaping height.
Wired reflexes that enhance the player's running speed and allow the deflection of bullets when wielding a katana
Katana
A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...

. Activating Wired results in a short burst of super speed at the cost of a little health.
Anti-magic generators, drain essence of any player or magical object caught in its field.
Smartlink, assists players by increasing enemy tracking abilities and automatically preventing firearms from firing when a teammate is in the cross hairs.

Weapons Include:

Katana, the katana is a melee weapon. The amount of damage it does depends on the strength of the user. It is capable of killing in one hit by causing a mortal wound which deals a high amount of damage and makes the enemy lose health over a period of time.
SMG, the SMG is a cheap, low damage weapon that reloads quickly and fires very fast. It's not very heavy, making it usable by all races and battle types. it has a high amount of recoil and is best fired in bursts.
Pistol, this is your standard, cost-free weapon. It is the first weapon that every player starts off with. The pistol causes moderately low damage but its speed and maneuvering abilities make up for it.
Rifle, good damage with little recoil makes the rifle a good weapon, and its price makes it a cost-efficient purchase. It is highly useful for damaging enemies under a tree of life. Its damage is also highly useful for taking down trolls. It has more damage and more accuracy but lower firing rate than the SMG.
Rocket Launcher, the most powerful weapon in the game and the most expensive purchase at $5000 and each rocket costing $1000. Whilst it is the most powerful weapon in the game since it can kill anything in one shot, the rockets are slow when fired and can be dodged, especially since there are audio and visual cues showing where a rocket will hit.
Shotgun, a powerful and cost effective weapon that can easily stop a charging enemy. It has the 2nd highest damage after the rocket launcher. It is not a very fast firing weapon and has a slow reload time but its power makes up for it.
Minigun, the weapon with the highest firing rate in the game, and also the heaviest, is ideal in the hands of a troll. Individual rounds have low stopping power but it has a high fire rate and a very large ammo count.
Sniper Rifle, 4 shots to a magazine and rather expensive, however, this gun is great in the hands of a skilled marksman. A single shot to the head will kill all but the dwarf. Very useful for elves or humans to use, but can only be fired if scoped in and taking damage will lower your scope.

The game lacks a traditional campaign mode. Instead, various match modes are available - solo play against bots, private matches with friends and associates through LAN

Län

Län and lääni refer to the administrative divisions used in Sweden and previously in Finland. The provinces of Finland were abolished on January 1, 2010....

, and live matches which match up players from around the world. The three play modes available are Attrition (team deathmatch variant), Extraction (capture the flag

Capture the flag

Capture the Flag is a traditional outdoor sport generally played by children, where two teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base," and bring it safely back to their own base...

with a neutral flag), and Raid mode (one flag, attack/defend capture the flag). Each map has two of these three game modes, usually Raid or Extraction and Attrition.

Reception

Shadowrun was released on May 29, 2007, for both the Xbox 360 and Windows. The media reviews for the game were mixed, with most reviews citing a dire lack of content for a multiplayer only game (9 maps, 7 weapons, 7 spells, 6 techs, 3 game modes) and the high price as the main criticisms despite the large chance of myriad download content.

Some user reviews from various sources portray the game in a more positive light.
On June 7, 2007, Rooster Teeth Productions

Rooster Teeth Productions

Rooster Teeth Productions is a production group from Austin, Texas that specializes in the creation of live action shorts, animated peices and machinima, or films created using real-time, interactive engines from computer and video games. The name Rooster Teeth is a euphemism for Cockbite, an...

created a machinima

Machinima

Machinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...

series named 1-800-Magic using Shadowrun.

On June 22, 2007, FASA Studio head Mitch Gitelman provided an in-depth (40 minute) interview, on the podcast KOXM, regarding the game and its critical reviews. He defended the pricing over the long term value of gameplay compared to other first-person shooter

First-person shooter

s:

On September 12, 2007, FASA Studio announced its closure.

On January 7, 2008, it was announced that the dedicated servers hosted by Microsoft for PC users would be available until at least the beginning of February 2008, at which time plans for their future support would be evaluated.

The official Shadowrun forums were closed on January 31, 2008, and the announcement also stated the Shadowrun.com domain name would soon be transferred to Smith & Tinker

Smith & Tinker

Smith & Tinker is an American electronic entertainment company founded in February 2007 by Jordan Weisman, Jeremy Bornstein, Lenny Raymond, and Kev Ray. Weisman later brought in Tim Lebel and Joe Lawandus...

, the company which licensed the electronic entertainment rights for Shadowrun from Microsoft.

Sales

As of July 31, 2007, the game sold roughly 162,000 copies in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

according to NPD Group

NPD Group

The NPD Group, Inc. is a leading North American market research company. The NPD Group consistently ranks among the top 25 market research companies in the independent Honomichl Top 50 report, which the media and the research industry acknowledge as a credible source of information on the market...

with 150,000 being in sold on the Xbox 360

Xbox 360

and the remaining 12,000 on the PC. Upon release Shadowrun debuted as the sixth highest selling game out of 40 titles for the week ending June 2, 2007, in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. Shadowrun fell off the UK charts the week ending June 30, 2007.

External links

Shadowrun Official Site

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Plot

Gameplay

Reception

Sales

See also

External links