Shadowrun Review:

Shadowrun is a first person shooter with obvious sci-fi elements that incorporates a selection of ancient magic and futuristic gadgets into the player's arsenal to use during gameplay.

There is no single-player campaign with Shadowrun, it is a multiplayer only game and this is reflective in the games price. You can play offline against A.I. opponents or bots as they are better known. Shadowrun truly comes into form on Xbox Live, where communication plays a vital role in the success of your team.

Shadowrun is Microsoft's hope for pushing their Live service further than the Xbox 360 and onto PC gamers with cross-platform play which will enable gamers on the Xbox 360 and Windows Vista to play against each other seamlessly on one service.

Gameplay:

There are a total of six training missions to work through, you do not have to do these but I recommend you run through them as they are very informative. There is a lot of information to "take in" and remember so it is certainly worth going through them before doing anything else. Once you pickup the basics from each training mission the game will then launch you into a multiplayer match with bots, essentially putting your newly learnt skills to competitive use.

During the course of training you will be introduced to several races, when playing multiplayer you can choose from a human, elf, troll, and my personal favourite, a dwarf. Each race has specific advantages and disadvantages, for example an elf can auto regenerate his own health by standing still in a safe place for a short time; where as a human starts with more money so they can essentially purchase more items early on. There are a selection of items of which you can buy using the game's money which you can also earn by killing enemies and supporting your team mates during each round. The following are probably going to be the most useful gadgets and magic which you will likely end up using early on in Shadowrun and these are the glider, teleport and resurrect - there are many more than these including Summon, which unleashes a nasty beastie to protect certain areas and demolish any nearby enemies.

There are a few game modes to get you started once you've got training out of the way. These include, Solo match (bots only), private match (friends or bots) and lastly the Live community which of course allows you to play against Xbox 360 and Windows Vista gamers.

There are three modes of play also; these include Raid, Attrition and Extraction. The objective is similar for all the game modes with some variations on each mode of play. Depending on which team you are on you may be on offence or defence, the two teams are the RNA Corporation (blue) and the Lineage (red). The objective of the game mode Raid is to protect the Artefact if you are on the RNA Corp team or to steal the Artefact if you're on the Lineage team and deliver it to a marked destination on the map. The game mode Attrition is basically a team slayer game type but the individual who is carrying the Artefact has the benefit of having the enemies locations indicated on their HUD. You can attack enemies with the Artefact if need be or drop it and use your equipped weapons, magic and technical gadgets again. In the other game modes where the Artefact is the main objective it obviously pays off if your team communicates and protects the Artefact carrier. Extraction is the final game type, basically the first team to secure the Artefact and return it to their base wins the round - this typically means that there will instantly be chaos at the Artefact's location. From my experience everyone typically runs or glides in throwing grenades, teleporting like crazy and summoning massive demons around the Artefact's area. It is down to your respective team to watch the Artefact carriers back and protect him on the way back to the base as he attempts to score the Artefact for the win, obviously the opposing team will be hunting the Artefact carrier down or rush over to the enemies base to meet and greet him with a shotgun to the face as he attempts to score.

I'm somewhat mystified by how much fun I am having with this game thus far, I have seen all the usual trailers and screenshots and thought the game looked good, but it just plays oh so damn fine, so much more than I anticipated. I think anyone who likes the first person shooter genre will have a great time with Shadowrun, even more so if playing with buddies and you're used to the social aspect of multiplayer gaming on Xbox Live.

Graphics:

Shadowrun appears visually very slick and well polished; some of the maps look very interesting in terms of design and visual flair whereas some others look rather bland in comparison but all in all everything looks very nice. The character models easily stand out the most as they do look well polished and in some cases, comical but they just look so unusual, after all it's not everyday that you see a dwarf wielding a katana. The trolls probably look the most impressive as they are massive and their fur stands out particularly well on them too, as do the spikes which appear on them as they take damage.

Audio:

The menu music I don't find to my particular liking but it does seem to suit the game's style very well. Sound effects and generally everything is spot on with gunfire, katana slicing, grenade explosions, and magical sound effects. Simply put everything seems to gel very well with the on screen action, the only thing which kind of seems out of place is some guy's voiceover at the beginning of each round... game on!

Longevity:

Shadowrun is certainly no rental, if you like playing multiplayer with your buddies then this is a must have game. It's certainly no serious shooter as it's just all about fun and constant mayhem with magical trickery. It's a multiplayer only game so longevity wise this depends on you and your friends. There will surely be some downloadable content for Shadowrun sometime in the near future, perhaps adding some new game types and new maps at the very least. Achievements are also known to add longevity for some gamers though it appears the achievements can only be gained whilst playing on Xbox Live and not solo with bots.

Overall:

Shadowrun is a magnificent multiplayer adventure that is sure to keep you entertained for as long as you wish to play. Guns, gadgets, magic and the bizarre... what's not to love?

There is a multiplayer demo on the horizon for the marketplace and this is currently scheduled for June 6th. I recommend trying the demo out and see how you get on, I'm confident any first person shooter fan will be able to get stuck in straight away and find the enjoyment and humour that comes along with watching a dwarf slice and dice the hell out of a summoned demon.