Shadowrun

"From a non FPS player"

This is coming from some one who really doesn't like FPSs (First Person Shooter). I got shadowrun for the 360 because I was told by the store clerk that it was online only and that you are able to customize your character and upgrade it... Needles to say (as we all know that many game store clerks don't know squat about what they sell) he was wrong. There is no character creation or advancement whatsoever in this game. I was really disappointed when I found this out (The hard way) I was even more disappointed when I found myself stuck in a 1st person perspective, I never liked not being able to see my character and the box was very misleading on this as all the screenshots are of characters in action and non show a 1st person view. All this aside, I decide to give it a shot and not give it in for a few bucks. I go for the training, after I finished them I decide to try the campaign... There is no campaign (DO'H).

I ended up being pit up against a bunch of bots who gave me little challenge. So I decide to go online. After a few matches (and dozens of deaths and a few kicks for sucking) I get the had of it and really start to enjoy the dang thing.

At the beginning of each round you have a period of time to buy weapons and skills. Each class begins with $2,000 except the humans who start with $2,500. This money can be used to purchase anything that I mentioned before, but you can't buy everything on the first round. $2,000/$2,5000 aint all that much. Skills start of at $2,000 and weapons start at $500. You earn money be defeating enemies, but this isn't the only way to earn money. Anything that you do to benefit your team earns you the mullah. A party member dies and you resurrected him? You just earned yourself a bonus pay for the next round. Planted a tree of life and teammates used it? That's another bonus for your wallet my friend. You aren't very good at fighting, but you are awesome at evading fire and running like a little scared girl? Grab the artifact and make a run for it, if you make it to the drop point… you guessed it, KACHING!

I was on a match today, I didn't even shoot a gun or swing a blade in the entire match, but I was 1st place because I was grabbing the artifact and delivering it to the drop point and resurrecting. By the time we got to the last round I had so much money I didn't know what to do with. Speaking of extra money, you can also choose to donate money to other teammates in $250 increments. Why would you want to do this? Because like I said before, you start each match with a set amount of money. It doesn't carry over to the next match and neither do your weapons, in fact, if you are killed your weapons drop to the floor and anyone can pick them up. Yes, I know it would hurt like a kick in the nuts to buy a $5,000 rocket launcher with, let's say, 4 extra rockets (That's a total of $9,000) and loose it to someone. But that's why you should be a team player. If you team play you earn money and that $5,000 rocket launcher you just lost wouldn't make you end up using only your pistol the next round because you think you can do it all yourself and don't need to help anyone. Help each other and on doing so you will all have good gear to win the next match. And watch your aim, shooting a teammate will cost you money. Look well where you throw that grenade because blowing your teammates up can cost you the few bucks you where waiting for to buy that weapon or skill you wanted so badly.

As I said before, this is all coming from someone who really doesn't like FPSs, but Shadowrun has gotten me stuck to the couch for many hours these past few days and I bet it will continue to do so for many hours, days, weeks and hopefully months to come.

Final thought:

I was really disappointed with the lack of character creation/customization in Shadowrun, but the intense battles and team play made me let this slide. The lack of a campaign mode is a real bummer and the fact that you really can't play this with friends on the same console is a major flaw by my standards. The graphics and sound are well done. I wouldn't recommend this game if you don't have a gold live account because playing with bots is just boring, but all in all. This is a really fun game and I have enjoyed it very much and will continue to enjoy it for a while. I hope there is some DLC out soon too, because I would really like to see more of this game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/07/07