The OFFICIAL Shadowrun topic- Out Now!

The lack of reviews is really scarry. I want more CAG reviews. Kwanza was helpful. Whats the graphics like? smooth? impressive?
It's almost like MS is dareing gamers to buy this game without reviews or a demo. Yes they had the beta, but I sure didn't get in and I tried.
This begs the question, what is the track record for MS published games on the 360 having a review or demo prior to retail? What comes to mind:
PGR3- pretty sweet
PD0-Okay?
Kameo-meh
Gears - great
viva pinata - I enjoyed it, quality title
crackdown - I wasn't a fan, but it is at the least mediocre
to decent - for me it was all about H3 packin

Someone else look and see if any of these games have come out sans review and sans demo.
 
I bought this game today just on a whim because I was bored. I really had no intention of buying it but a free copy of lego star wars 2 from CC pulled me. I'm actually pleasantly suprised with it. I'm having lots of fun. It's like counterstrike with oblivion type spells mixed together. From what I've played so far I'm glad with my purchase.
 
[quote name='-Never4ever-']...a week from now. M$ isn't doing anything...[/QUOTE]
First, I have to point out that calling Microsoft/MS "Micro$oft/M$" hasn't been funny or clever for well over two years now. It's annoying. Stop.

Anyways, on to Shadowrun. This game is retail suicide. Sure, many other online-geared games have succeeded (Battlefield series, Counter-Strike), but they had their redeeming qualities. For everything Shadowrun does right, it does two things wrong.

Right:
It's creative/unique
Wrong:
It's needlessly complex.
It's a bastardization of a great lisence

Right:
It features cross-platform play
Wrong:
Cross-platform play means 360 players get auto-aim while PC players get their controls slightly gimped to compensate
Cross-platform play also means no private/dedicated servers on PC, greatly decreasing the games lifespan. Why do you think older online-only games are still afloat?

Right:
...?
Wrong:
The art style blows
It's full price for online-only with no longevity (see above)
It only has 9 maps. Most other online-only (Battlefield, Counterstrike on PC) were worth it because modders were constantly churning out new content. I doubt Shadowrun PC will be very moddable because it's all about cross-platform play...


In conclusion: It's a full-priced online-only game with a crappy artstyle, no longevity, a dead-on-arrival mod/mapmaking scene....

This will tank at retail.


And for those who brought up Counter-Strike on Xbox:
It was $40, was an already popular game, and shipped with 20 maps, not 9.
 
Having played it a bit more, I would agree that there are a few gameplay nitpicks and concerns I have. One, which should go away in due time, is that a majority of the people online are playing elves-- and for good reason, they have the most magick, are the fastest, can self-heal etc. They are a little frail, but whenever Ressurect is available as soon as the first round, you just can keep on truckin'. There are other strats out there that will take them down, but since all the gametypes are built around bum rushing an artifact-- most people are playing the fastest race.

Longevity, as others have mentioned here, is definitely a question to ask later on down the line-- and most of the posters are right for the reasons they've explained. I have another. For a game that is all about multiplayer-- There is absolutely no stat-tracking whatsoever. You see basic numbers between rounds, and thats it. Thats the thing thats bugging me. I'm having a blast playing it-- the game is DAMN fun-- but I have no way of sharing it with my friends who play outside of the match proper.

I can't message my buddy with my stats, or even direct him to something in game to take a look at it-- and theres absolutely no save film sharing. CS was like that at launch too-- but the PC community had dedicated servers and mods available to basically right any wrongs. It seems with the proprietary nature of the PC/XBox360 connection this isn't going to happen ever. Thats what worries me-- the game is a blast, but there aren't any legs built into this thing. There is no clan support--a nod to the integrated nature of Live. Even then its still cumbersome.

With talks of FASAs dismissal or reorganization in the air even before the game went gold, many on the official forums seem to think that this is all we get. Its sad really, the game in and of itself is awesomely fun, I just don't see it living long enough to grow into what it should become.

That said, still enjoying it wholeheartedly, but like many of you-- I think the game is stillborn in a few months when bigger and better things come down the pipe if the community aspects of the game aren't addressed and soon. Given Lives Track record of delivery--I doubt its going to happen, and if it does it may be too late.
 
Hopefully more info comes about. Like if the PC community can host their own servers somehow eventually. Or if we'll get some updates/patches? But at $60, not many people are going to buy this in my opinion.

But it does look fun, and i would love to play it at a cheaper price.
 
I'm not going to get this, because $60 is way too much for an online-only FPS game. However, this game is making me consider renewing my Gamefly account, just for games like these, AKA; games that I really want to play, but wouldn't pay MSRP for.

So I might have the game in a week or so.
 
I had a coworker buy it and a few customers. I told each one that I'd been eagerly awaiting it but the lack of reviews had me concerned. A customer and the coworker both called back and said they were enjoying the hell out of it. I hope it goes on the retail site soon.
 
I've heard the graphics are quite rubbish. Things like no animations for climbing ladders and such.

This game never had a chance..
 
Well, so far user reviews on GameSpot have given it an 8.8 (out of 247 reviews). So that's promising...but they were likely on the beta and enjoyed it hence their purchase.
 
What's matchmaking like? Is there a party system? I'd read early on that they wanted to implement a Halo-esque matchmaking system. That would be a big swing in favor of the game for me.
 
[quote name='SynGamer']Hopefully more info comes about. Like if the PC community can host their own servers somehow eventually. Or if we'll get some updates/patches? But at $60, not many people are going to buy this in my opinion.

But it does look fun, and i would love to play it at a cheaper price.[/QUOTE]

Syn, it's been confirmed now that there is no option to just have PC users play other PC users, it just puts you into a game with other people just playing the game. So no dedicated servers ala Counter Strike or Battlefield 2 or anything, it's the same way it is on Live.

I've heard there really isn't a way to even determine who is on the PC and who is on 360 - maybe there is a way, but there is no marker next to your name or anything that signifies it.

So yea, I only know of one or two people in all the PC gaming forums I visit that actually have the game - most people don't seem to care. No modding, no mapmaking, no nothing means people don't really care. And to think the only way to get more maps is to buy them from MS?

Pfft.

I was really excited but I don't see this one having legs at all.

If MS dropped this game with a ton of maps and the ability to make more maps, it would have done a lot better.
 
[quote name='Roufuss']Syn, it's been confirmed now that there is no option to just have PC users play other PC users, it just puts you into a game with other people just playing the game. So no dedicated servers ala Counter Strike or Battlefield 2 or anything, it's the same way it is on Live.

I've heard there really isn't a way to even determine who is on the PC and who is on 360 - maybe there is a way, but there is no marker next to your name or anything that signifies it.

So yea, I only know of one or two people in all the PC gaming forums I visit that actually have the game - most people don't seem to care. No modding, no mapmaking, no nothing means people don't really care. And to think the only way to get more maps is to buy them from MS?

Pfft.

I was really excited but I don't see this one having legs at all.

If MS dropped this game with a ton of maps and the ability to make more maps, it would have done a lot better.[/quote]

I understand, but there is always the chance of a patch. Or user hacks. Or something. It amazes me that they would release a product so reliant on the developers servers.

No map making? Thats been nearly a standard feature for PC games for god knows how long. I mean, the game looks fun, but they screwed everyone. The PC gamers got to pay $10 less, but they will still be held back by the 360 owners since the servers are linked. So if there even was the option to make maps, the 360 owners wouldn't be able to play, and so they would have had to of marked players someway. The 360 owners get the controller controls, but damn, the more i think about this game, the more i want to shoot someone (who worked on it). Great idea, and i'm all for cross-platform online gaming, but what has been done here with Shadowrun is just pathetic.
 
I am so so tempted to buy this game, especially with the deal at circuit city its taking everything in me to just hold out so I can rent it first.
 
[quote name='SynGamer']I understand, but there is always the chance of a patch. Or user hacks. Or something. It amazes me that they would release a product so reliant on the developers servers.

No map making? Thats been nearly a standard feature for PC games for god knows how long. I mean, the game looks fun, but they screwed everyone. The PC gamers got to pay $10 less, but they will still be held back by the 360 owners since the servers are linked. So if there even was the option to make maps, the 360 owners wouldn't be able to play, and so they would have had to of marked players someway. The 360 owners get the controller controls, but damn, the more i think about this game, the more i want to shoot someone (who worked on it). Great idea, and i'm all for cross-platform online gaming, but what has been done here with Shadowrun is just pathetic.[/QUOTE]

No map making because 360 users wouldn't be able to use the custom maps I guess, unless they bundled that software in there - which would have been REALLY smart, actually, this way PC users can make custom maps, share them with the 360 people.

But why give out maps for free when MS can just charge $4 for two maps down the line? It makes sense from a business standpoint.

Even if there *is* the option to only specify PC users only, PC users still are gimped because there will be no mods, no extra maps (no one will pay for maps, as evidenced by the BF 2 booster packs, nobody plays those), no nothing.

I know Microsoft wants to push 360 / PC cross system play, but this was the WRONG way to do it, imo. A map editor would have been brilliant, because the PC users have the tools to make awesome maps, and 360 users would get to use those maps (and download them) when they joined games that had them, similar to the PC.

This is just a wasted opportunity. There could have been a lot of great ideas to unify 360 / PC players but this whole thing just seems completely rushed.
 
Oh it was definitely a wasted opportunity. I was just thinking of how awesome it woudl have been to have a community page to go to in-game (menu wise) where you could refresh and see new user maps, top rated user maps, most downloaded, etc. I mean, the only problem i could see with the map maker is that PC users would be able to play, but would the maps be loadable for the 360 owners? Hell, screw that, if they could have included a cross-platform map maker that could be downloaded online, used by ANYONE, and then uploaded so that BOTH PC and 360 owners could play...that would have been game of the year worthy right there.

Not sure if that was clear, so a little recap: ship map maker with PC version, but also make the tool available for 360 owners to download on their computers, so that everyone can make maps and upload them to the community. For 360 owners, they would simply go to the community page in-game and download their maps as well as others and there you go.

God, such a wasted opporunity...
 
[quote name='SynGamer']Oh it was definitely a wasted opportunity. I was just thinking of how awesome it woudl have been to have a community page to go to in-game (menu wise) where you could refresh and see new user maps, top rated user maps, most downloaded, etc. I mean, the only problem i could see with the map maker is that PC users would be able to play, but would the maps be loadable for the 360 owners? Hell, screw that, if they could have included a cross-platform map maker that could be downloaded online, used by ANYONE, and then uploaded so that BOTH PC and 360 owners could play...that would have been game of the year worthy right there.

Not sure if that was clear, so a little recap: ship map maker with PC version, but also make the tool available for 360 owners to download on their computers, so that everyone can make maps and upload them to the community. For 360 owners, they would simply go to the community page in-game and download their maps as well as others and there you go.

God, such a wasted opporunity...[/QUOTE]

Well, Far Cry had a map maker on the 360 version, correct? So put the map making tools on both the 360 and the PC versions, and still implement a sort of community page like you talked about. So if Far Cry could do it with user created maps, Shadowrun certainly could have done it.

The only problem is that Microsoft wouldn't see a dime on user created maps, and then they release their own maps and charge up the ass for them and nobody pays for them because they are getting maps for free. It's all about the almighty dollar, it seems.

To me, it just seems when they implemented cross platform play they built up the 360 one, dumped the code to the PC, and cut out everything that makes PC games work in the long term, that could have been good ideas for the 360 version as well.
 
For an online only game, the maps should be free. Simple as that. Its the least they could do to make up for no single player.
 
[quote name='gundamxzero']I am so so tempted to buy this game, especially with the deal at circuit city its taking everything in me to just hold out so I can rent it first.[/quote]

qft
 
[quote name='gundamxzero']I am so so tempted to buy this game, especially with the deal at circuit city its taking everything in me to just hold out so I can rent it first.[/quote]

I feel the same way. I think I'm just going to get it through yourfree360games.com
 
[quote name='SilverPaw750']
And for those who brought up Counter-Strike on Xbox:
It was $40, was an already popular game, and shipped with 20 maps, not 9.[/QUOTE]

You may want to read those tea leaves again. Counter Strike shipped with a $50 price tag. Gamestop gave away a limited edition case sleeve with pre-order. I know because I was the only bastard who actually bought it for $50.

I picked Shadowrun up at Circuit City with a free copy of Arcade Unplugged. I'm enjoying it a lot more than the Halo 3 beta right now. It'll be shelved in two week's time for Tenchu Z, but I'm getting my $60 worth out of it.
 
[quote name='terribledeli']You may want to read those tea leaves again. Counter Strike shipped with a $50 price tag. Gamestop gave away a limited edition case sleeve with pre-order. I know because I was the only bastard who actually bought it for $50.

I picked Shadowrun up at Circuit City with a free copy of Arcade Unplugged. I'm enjoying it a lot more than the Halo 3 beta right now. It'll be shelved in two week's time for Tenchu Z, but I'm getting my $60 worth out of it.[/QUOTE]

You're not the only one, I bought it day 1 as well, AND I didn't even have live until a month afterwards. I bought it thinking it was still shipping with Condition Zero.
 
For those who have purchased shadowrun and forza 2 (deli I'm lookin at you), which would you pick if you could only buy one? I'm on the fence between these games.

There are still no reviews of this game from any websites! It's been out for 3 days already at retail!

As to the map issue - I agree 9 maps is not enough for an online only game. A map editor sounds real complicated to get to work between PC and 360.
The solution would be to release some maps for free, but wouldn't that screw with the whole MS standards of charging for more content ala Gears map pack fiasco?


I truly hated the mechwarrior games fasa made, now they are just looking me in the eye and dareing me to risk $60 bucks to feed my shooter habit.
 
I just bought the game yesterday and after playing it all day, I can honestly say it is a very fun multiplayer game. It is more than enough game to hold out till Halo 3. The matchmaking is almost identical to Halo 3. You can create your own party invite friends play offline with your friends against bots or go online. Though it is 9 maps they are huge, comparable to many of the large Halo maps. Not only are they big they have many floors.

Many people are afraid of trying this game out and it's no suprise since its 60$ for a multiplayer game only. (no campaign just training missions) If you don't like Halo controls you won't like SR. The controls are very similar to Halo 3, even the jump height is almost identical. Then you add in the stuff that makes it different. There are no vehicles, everyone keeps asking me. You get insane magic tricks and gear. Teleport, Wind, Resurrect, Glide, Laser Vision, plenty more. There are no respawns it's like Gears where when you die you don't come back. If your team mate has the Resurrect spell he can cut his magic power in half to revive you. If the person who Resurrects you dies you bleed out like in Gears. To get gear and magic it uses the counter-strike system where you use money You make money by doing anything that gets you points killing resurrecting flag carrying etc. Even if your not a Halo fan you still might like it so try the demo at least. ONLY the controls are like halo everything else is pretty much different. It has a learning curve so don't expect to play like a pro your first couple matches. There is a lot more to say but I should start working on my teabagging achiement now. :booty:




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http://kotaku.com/gaming/shadowrun-fever/shadowruns-viral-achievement-264987.php

Apparently, one of Shadowrun's achievements is the Shadowrun Fever, something you get, I've been told, by tea-bagging someone who already has the fever. That's right, it's an achievement and a venereal disease, but unlike the kind that blinds you or slowly drives you insane this one just awards a batch of points, 25 I suspect.
I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect the only people who currently have the fever are the developers. I'd like to add that I am a great big idiot, because despite playing with them for hours over several days, I never managed to dip my coin purse. Brian Crecente
 
http://kotaku.com/gaming/shadowrun-f...ent-264987.php

Apparently, one of Shadowrun's achievements is the Shadowrun Fever, something you get, I've been told, by tea-bagging someone who already has the fever. That's right, it's an achievement and a venereal disease, but unlike the kind that blinds you or slowly drives you insane this one just awards a batch of points, 25 I suspect.
I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect the only people who currently have the fever are the developers. I'd like to add that I am a great big idiot, because despite playing with them for hours over several days, I never managed to dip my coin purse. Brian Crecente
 
[quote name='ryanbph']http://kotaku.com/gaming/shadowrun-f...ent-264987.php

Apparently, one of Shadowrun's achievements is the Shadowrun Fever, something you get, I've been told, by tea-bagging someone who already has the fever. That's right, it's an achievement and a venereal disease, but unlike the kind that blinds you or slowly drives you insane this one just awards a batch of points, 25 I suspect.
I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect the only people who currently have the fever are the developers. I'd like to add that I am a great big idiot, because despite playing with them for hours over several days, I never managed to dip my coin purse. Brian Crecente[/quote]

I've never done this in games before but if it gets me an achievement, I guess I'm going to have to.

Must be a secret achievement. I don't see it on the list.
http://www.achieve360points.com/game/shadowrun/

Still haven't brought myself to open up my copy though...thinking of trading it for C&C3
 
Yeah, i just read that and found it quite funny. This game could have been amazing if it had a single player campaign making it worth the $60.
 
I picked it up today, but I won't get a chance to play until tomorrow. At least I'm off until Monday. Anyway, shoot me an invite to get a CAG game going!
 
Just bought it tonight at CC and got a free table tennis, and after 3 hours or so of a private match between myself, a friend, and 4 bots I have been having a great time. The magic & tech really was a big wow factor at first, and now that I have had some time with it, I really feel like it has added a crazy other dimension to the FPS. Kind of speed chess like. When there is a lot of concentrated action in one area it looks like all the players are on crack, and the frame rate seemed to hold up pretty good. Nothing noticable to a layperson like me.
Biggest problem so far: I haven't been able to join a public match through matchmaking. Maybe I just haven't stared at the matchmaking screen for long enough, but could there be issues already? Were others able to join public matches via matchmaking?
 
[quote name='NWgamer666']Just bought it tonight at CC and got a free table tennis, and after 3 hours or so of a private match between myself, a friend, and 4 bots I have been having a great time. The magic & tech really was a big wow factor at first, and now that I have had some time with it, I really feel like it has added a crazy other dimension to the FPS. Kind of speed chess like. When there is a lot of concentrated action in one area it looks like all the players are on crack, and the frame rate seemed to hold up pretty good. Nothing noticable to a layperson like me.
Biggest problem so far: I haven't been able to join a public match through matchmaking. Maybe I just haven't stared at the matchmaking screen for long enough, but could there be issues already? Were others able to join public matches via matchmaking?[/QUOTE]

First match takes a while-- the non-viewable, but highly important Truskill ranking you have is causing the problem. Since most people are now ranked in some way, new players have to find a match within a certain range-- which can be difficult. Let it sit, get in a match, and then stay in a party--after that you should get matches really quick :)
 
No map making? Thats been nearly a standard feature for PC games for god knows how long. I mean, the game looks fun, but they screwed everyone. The PC gamers got to pay $10 less, but they will still be held back by the 360 owners since the servers are linked. So if there even was the option to make maps, the 360 owners wouldn't be able to play, and so they would have had to of marked players someway. The 360 owners get the controller controls, but damn, the more i think about this game, the more i want to shoot someone (who worked on it). Great idea, and i'm all for cross-platform online gaming, but what has been done here with Shadowrun is just pathetic.


Microsoft wants to systematically take away the freedoms (and free stuff) that PC gamers have enjoyed for years, to create the PC/360 equivalent of a global government*, and if people on either platform make this game a success, it'll only get worse.

It won't happen all within this year, or even by the end of the decade, but by the time Vista is the dominant OS, your PC gaming experience will be virtually indistinguishable from your 360 (or 720 or whatever) one.

*--A little 'Art Bell paranoia' analogy for ya!
 
[quote name='jollydwarf']No map making? Thats been nearly a standard feature for PC games for god knows how long. I mean, the game looks fun, but they screwed everyone. The PC gamers got to pay $10 less, but they will still be held back by the 360 owners since the servers are linked. So if there even was the option to make maps, the 360 owners wouldn't be able to play, and so they would have had to of marked players someway. The 360 owners get the controller controls, but damn, the more i think about this game, the more i want to shoot someone (who worked on it). Great idea, and i'm all for cross-platform online gaming, but what has been done here with Shadowrun is just pathetic.


Microsoft wants to systematically take away the freedoms (and free stuff) that PC gamers have enjoyed for years, to create the PC/360 equivalent of a global government*, and if people on either platform make this game a success, it'll only get worse.

It won't happen all within this year, or even by the end of the decade, but by the time Vista is the dominant OS, your PC gaming experience will be virtually indistinguishable from your 360 (or 720 or whatever) one.

*--A little 'Art Bell paranoia' analogy for ya![/QUOTE]

The best thing I can see coming from this situation is that game developers start moving to the macintosh for additional freedom.
 
There's a review up on Eurogamer. Certainly doesn't do much to sway me... Basically nothing terrible said about the actual game, but they dock it pretty hard for being a full priced release. Call it the equivalent of a good Counter Strike mod. Personally, an on-line only game imo should ship with 20+ maps and a lot of modes. This really sounds like MS seeing how little they can get away with selling for $60 and then adding insult to injury through dlc.

6/10

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=77198
 
I've noticed that Achievements glitch, from time to time -- or something.

There have been some instances where I've yet to receive certain Achievements, and other instances where it takes a couple tries.

Weird.
 
Well...

6.0/10 from Eurogamer
6.9/10 from GameSpot

Biggest complaint seems to be that it looks unfinished/unpolished and doesn't have enough maps for its price. I think i'll wait for a few price drops and that DLC. Perhaps MS will release it for free depending on sales.
 
[quote name='ryanbph']http://kotaku.com/gaming/shadowrun-f...ent-264987.php

Apparently, one of Shadowrun's achievements is the Shadowrun Fever, something you get, I've been told, by tea-bagging someone who already has the fever. That's right, it's an achievement and a venereal disease, but unlike the kind that blinds you or slowly drives you insane this one just awards a batch of points, 25 I suspect.
I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect the only people who currently have the fever are the developers. I'd like to add that I am a great big idiot, because despite playing with them for hours over several days, I never managed to dip my coin purse. Brian Crecente[/quote]

Yes, this is true. And the Fever secret achivement is out there. I know people that has it and I know is spreading like wild fire. Of course, still disturbing to see 4 dwarfs humping the same troll O_O


The game is fun, is addicting and it has problems that we did not see in the beta. Most of them been things I actually enjoy in the beta that where changed in the final game.

Maps:
I hope that Fasa releases new maps, but the ones we have are HUGE! Most of the maps are pretty big and reminds me of Motorstorm in that sence. One map...but many ways to go about it.

Animation:
The ladder animation...yea...I dont know what happen there. I thought it was a Beta thing, but i guess at the end they decided to keep it like an elevator. Is faster that way that doing the full on animation and you can slide up and down fast enough not to die while your character is climbing. I hate diying in a game because my character went into an animation to keep realism and I cant get out of it till it finish. So it has it's pros and cons.


I got it on released day, because a free copy of GUN was to tempting to pass. Plus it makes the game at around 40, which is something I would pay for it any ways.
 
[quote name='fieldkillah']I got internet herpes. (the shadowrun fever achievement)[/quote]

Great achievement! Rented the game yesterday and this was the first achievement I got. I cracked up when I looked up how I had earned it. Despription they give you is "Shadowrun Fever - Catch it!":applause:
 
I had a lot of fun playing this over the weekend. Once you get the hang of it and get in a team that works together, the game really shines. The lack of maps and modes aren't that big of a deal for now, but hopefully we'll see a few more as free DLC.
 
I got the Fever too. This game is so much fun, I started playing at a little before 9 on Friday, and stopped playing at 1 in the morning. Much fun, as long as you don't play with jerks.
 
It would seem to me that MS wouldn't want to release any DLC for free, what with the whole gears maps fiasco (or am I misenterpereting this?). Wouldn't that undermine the value of other DLC or be seen as aknowledge of the fact that they overcharged gamers for shadowrun?
 
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