By: Mark Wilson

"Daddy, why does the Internet hate you?"
FASA Studio manager Mitch Gitelman's daughter

Since its announcement at E3 this year, FASA Studio's Shadowrun for Xbox 360 and Vista PC has not faired well with fans and the press alike. The dissention starts with FASA's choice to make an FPS instead of an RPG and snowballs to artistic direction and excluded features. Microsoft flew me (along with a few other writers) out to Redmond, WA to visit FASA and check out Shadowrun. Florian and Eliza, you're going to hate me for this, but Shadowrun looks to be a great game - not like a monstrosity at all. Except for the trolls. They are pretty much monsters incarnate.

For those who've never visited the Microsoft campus, it's beautiful (hilly, there are trees everywhere, unicorns still roam) - too bad everyone stays locked up inside working on projects. While I got in trouble for taking a picture in the waiting area (guess there was some top secret info around that would only show up on a digital camera), I found the building I was in to be pretty dull. It was a standard, white-walled office compound...until you reach FASA. There, cubicles are obsolete as they cannot hold the weight from thousands of empty Red Bull cans.

Art
The character art you remember from E3 is dead. Art director Even Hirsch explained to me that it wasn't just Shadowrun fans that thought the art was lacking, but his peers as well. "We were 50% complete with character models at E3, and now we are 40%." Most models in the game are still placeholders with no texture, but the human is finalized. He is no longer cartoony, but is still (intentionally) short of realistic. While I had a big problem with the artistic style after E3, I now think that the game is shaping up to more look like the Shadowrun we grew up on. While characters don't have the dirty, punky look of the RPG book art, they have a cohesive design that I see evolving more city grime if a future Shadowrun title ever finds its way back to Seattle.

Lineage Troll, Meet RNA Troll

In terms of art within level design, there are three types in SR, but one that really caught my eye was RNA headquarters (the big, evil corporation who wants to take over the world). Hirsch explained that he wanted the feel to be "dehumanizing", and International style architecture allotted a look that resonates with fascism and Bladerunner (my word) at the same time. Plus, the naturally tall levels will likely offer intricate yet intense air battles.

Gameplay
It's a simple setup. Games are multi-rounded capture the flag battles where you get to upgrade your character each round. You start by choosing your race (human, elf, troll, or dwarf) and spend money to buy tech, spells or weapons. Every race can buy anything - there are no restrictions. However, the more tech you buy, the less overall magic you will have (it's an essence system like the RPG) and obviously some races are better suited for some abilities. For instance, you can give a troll magical abilities, but he won't have the recharge rate of an elf. Similarly, you can give an elf a rocket launcher, but he will fire it with much lower accuracy than a troll.

I don't want to run through every specific detail of the game, but I'll mention a few features I really enjoyed that prevent the game from being just another FPS.

Teleportation: This was by far the most innovative ability of the game. Say you are a fast but vulnerable elf. You turn a corner to meet an enemy troll (essentially a tank). You sprint toward a dead end to find yourself trapped. What do you do? Teleport right through the wall. Shit! Enemies see me in here too. Run right at a dwarf gunner, teleport through him. Now, either attack from behind or teleport through the floor to the unoccupied basement. This is not an exaggeration of how natural the ability feels after a few minutes. Combine teleporting with a backpack glider and you can go anywhere in levels that are designed with lots of vertical space. It's unbelievably fun.

Resurrection: So what's the big deal? There is no respawning in SR. Say you have three teammates die in a highly occupied area. You are alone. Hit a button by their corpses and all of them spring back to life. Too powerful? A sniper takes you out and everyone you resurrected slowly loses their energy until they die. Also, it means that killing an enemy isn't enough - you have to "clear the body" or shoot it until it disappears and cannot be resurrected.

Smartlink: This is a tech ability that in the original RPG makes you shoot more accurately. In SR, it completely changes your aiming sights and you are far more accurate while moving, etc. Also, it disables friendly fire: when you walk into a large battle you can simply unload your clip without worry.

Sexbot: I'm just f'ing with you all. Or am I?

"Until we get it in gamers' hands, they're just not going to get it. They can't," said Gitelman. And he is right. The gameplay is different than any other FPS I've picked up - it's fluid, strategic and quirky - and little I've read has done it justice. Let me compare the above elements to Prey. Wall-walking and gravity shifts should make for exciting Prey multiplayer, but I lost interest within five minutes. All the elements from SR are no more impressive than Prey's on paper, but add far more to the actual gaming experience - probably because the development team has been playtesting every day since week three.

XBOX 360 vs. PC
The biggest surprise of my visit came when Lead Designer John Howard (also lead designer on Halo) told me that the Xbox 360 players actually had an advantage over PCs in multiplayer battles (pre-tweaking). All the matches we played were mixed-platform, and no one had noticeable better control or aiming, so I think SR multiplayer cross-platform will work fine. As for user mods and maps, however, they will not be available in Shadowrun.

"[User-created content] is something I really want to be able to do," said Howard. "Obviously it's the next direction; it's the next big thing all of the games for the platform should be able to tackle."

They'd better. Or else we're gonna write something mean. Really mean. Making fun of their mommas mean.

Live Marketplace
FASA is already planning to release additional tech and magic through Marketplace downloads. The long-term success of this game will depend on having enough features to keep players hooked, because while I had fun playing the game, I was already wondering what other Shadowrun elements they could squeeze in. Cough - monofilament whip - cough. And so far the team only talks about two modes of gameplay, and both are reiterations of capture the flag. I hope at launch there are more, because Shadowrun is centered around the multiplayer experience, and I don't want strategies to get tired. Don't expect much in terms of single player.

uhhh...we think you missed the launch

Is it Shadowrun?
"One of the biggest challenges of realistically doing it and making a game that will actually ship, was how can you cram all of this into one game?"
- John Howard, Lead Designer

I'm getting flamed on this either way, but I'm going with yes. Even with significant parts of the RPG completely missing, when you use flesh-embedded gadgets to look through a wall at a troll and dwarf...standing side-by-side holding guns, it feels like Shadowrun. Also, Shadowrun technology is about getting the edge to survive in a world richer and more powerful than you - and that's exactly how technology functions in the videogame.

"At its root, Shadowrun is about what happens when magic returns to the world," said Gitelman. "I can stand up, look anybody in the eye and say this is Shadowrun. Is it everything in Shadowrun? No, that's why we get to make more of them."

While it's comforting to know that FASA values Shadowrun and sees this game as the potential start of a new era for the once-tabletop title (be it in FPS or RPG form), we hope FASA keeps cramming everything possible into this version. Look for Shadowrun in "early" 2007. Mark Wilson

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