The long-awaited Shadowrun is finally upon us. I had a hunch about this game from the beginning. At the beginning of the year I was heckled in the office for the idea that a D&D inspired game with elves, trolls and magic would produce a competitive gamer's dream. But Shadowrun had all the right elements to take a huge step in competitive gaming's direction. It was multiplayer only, had Halo 1 talent onboard, and rumors were that they were getting top CS players as testers instead of the clowns that just think its cool when things blow up real biglike. The developers were very obviously ripping off CS and Halo and fusing that with a franchise that allowed them to put reason for magic and new ideas into the game, but these are all good things. This game reminded me of the development ideas behind Warsow and hopefully this becomes a more and more used idea in game development and further propels the genre of multiplayer-only games.

I had a chance to get a relatively early sneak peek in the beta a while back, and I really loved the game. I thought the game was far from perfect, but miles ahead of any competitive console shooter since Halo 1.So now the final retail build is out, and though I only have had to play it for one sitting, the game feels mostly the same. There are a few new animations and effects, but I didn't notice a lot of gameplay change. Gust seems to be a lot more powerful, perhaps powerful enough to make me buy it now. Some weapons are a bit more accurate and the pistol is now always available which is great. I am sure some other things have changed, but I didn't get super in-depth with the beta and haven't had a chance to get immersed in the retail game yet.

The reason I didn't get super involved with the beta was because I feel that this game could be a lot better at its core. My main gripe is still present in the game, which is that the game is more about using your magic than your weapons. This may have been a gameplay choice or one of the many nerfs to try to make the cross-platform play more balanced, but I can't help but imagine that it was the latter. I wonder how much better this game would have been if your shot was as important as your tactics (a la Halo 1).

Aside from the feeling of gunplay being deemphasized, the rest of the game I love and am pleasantly surprised how well the different magical abilities are pretty well balanced while keeping a really diverse offering. They are even better balanced than in the beta. MLG sent FASA a ton of feedback and from initial impressions and conversations with some of the other staffers who have got a chance to play more than me, it seems like they listened. I just hope that the post-launch support is there to fix the soon-to-come exploits and cheating that tends to ruin competitive multiplayer online experiences. As the game evolves, I am sure there will be the need for tweaks to gameplay mechanics and such.

I'm pretty excited about the maps, in my initial run-throughs they all seem pretty solid and only one or two seemed too big for 4v4 play. Though there seems to be a leaning towards 6v6 play, I just don't see that as a good thing for competitive gaming. Things like keeping teams together, marketing players, splitting prize money, coordinating schedules, and just overall consistency are MUCH better when teams are comprised of 4 players instead of 5 or 6.

I'm a little on the fence about the usage of the Shadowrun license. This game has very little to do with that beloved franchise, and it seems that many shadowrun fans have taken this as a slap in the face. Though I only casually played the old genesis and snes versions on emulators, I personally enjoy the usage of the license. It adds another layer of interest and casual top-level SR nostalgia. However, being a competitive gamer, and not too invested in the Shadowrun franchise, I see the skinning of the game as Shadowrun from a different perspective. I understand why SR fans are upset, and when Halo starts spawning all of these multiple games from RTS to MMO to cell-phone side-scrollers I am sure much of the Halo OGs will have similar complaints.


So Shadowrun is amazing. It's my new game. It's what I have been waiting over a year for since Halo 2 evolved past me. Despite being such a milestone for the sport, I can't help but worry about the negative ratings and feedback from the casual gaming crowd. Though these do not matter to the hardcore gamers, large-scale public interest filling tournaments is what creates legitimate competition.