Review: Shadowrun for Windows Vista
While not the best FPS to be released in recent memory, Shadowrun provides an updated Counter-Strike knock-off with innovative additions but is handicapped by insane system requirements and a Vista-only release.
It was clear from that very first E3, when we first saw and heard about Shadowrun, that FASA Interactive was specifically and methodically trying to unseat Counter-Strike as the master of online multiplayer FPS’s. Which is too bad, because perhaps if they had focused less on trying to be the next Counter-Strike, this good game could’ve been a great game.
Gameplay in Shadowrun consists of one of three gametypes, Raid, Extraction, and Attrition. All game modes involve the use of the “Artifact” in one form or another. Raid consists of one side or the other attempting to grab the Artifact and bring it to their capture point, much like 1 Flag CTF in Halo 2. Extraction is more akin to Neutral Flag, where both teams must attempt to acquire the artifact and bring it back to their respective capture point. Attrition is, IMHO, the more innovative mode when it comes to use of the Artifact. Attrition is like Warzone in Gears of War, except posession of the artifact grants that team the ability to see the positions of all other members of the opposing team.
Unfortunately, I fear that Cliffy B was right in showing us how old and tired game modes like CTF can be. At least Halo 2 and 3 have the advantage of providing nigh-limitless combinations with the plethora of settings that can be tweaked and adjusted. Granted, Counter-Strike also lacks much of this customization, but there are some key differences with Counter-Strike.
Which brings me to my next point about Shadowrun, which is lackluster dedicated server support. The last time I played, there were a grand total of 7 dedicated servers accessible. Now, this isn’t due to lack of servers. I assume that just because I couldn’t see them, there must be other dedicated servers besides DS 07 and DS 09, but unfortunately I am denied the choice of logging onto them.
Unfortunately for the now-disbanded FASA Interactive, every successful multiplyer FPS on the PC in the past ten years has had the benefit of having a free, dedicated server, which can be run on platforms other than Windows, such as Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. This is obviously far superior to the “Games For Windows – LIVE” implementation where NO dedicated server can be run without first logging into Live. Even Major Nelson had to create a bogus Gamertag to be able to run a dedicated server 24/7. Good thing it doesn’t require a Gold account to host a dedicated server… but it does show a general lack of understanding on Microsoft’s part: that the Counter-Strike community revolves around locally-run dedicated servers that can be hosted cheaply on almost any hardware. Tying down your dedicated servers to an online service like GFW LIVE is not going to foster the grassroots communities that perennial favorites like Counter-Strike and Unreal Tournament were able to do.
One last bone I have with Shadowrun is that unless you’ve spent $700-$1000 bucks upgrading your gaming rig in the past 6 months, gird thyself for horrible framerates. The minimum requirements for Shadowrun include 2 GB of RAM, an Nvidia 7800 or ATI X1800 and believe me, those systems will NOT have steady framerates even with every video options turned down to the lowest possible settings. I’ve run Halo 2 Vista on my rig and I’ve not seen anything like the performance problems that Shadowrun seems to have. And don’t even get me started on game-breaking bugs that were seemingly ignored in a recent title update.
But enough negativity. Shadowrun does excel in that it’s magic and tech addons that you can purchase during play DO create an addictive multiplayer shooter. There are lots of different combinations, and it doesn’t seem that any particualr power or addon is overly imbalanced compared to the others. You will see a lot of favorites like katana-wielding, sped up elves or minigun toting Trolls, but every one of these popular combos has a definite and easily applied counter-tactic. They aren’t always obvious, requiring skill and experience to properly conjure, but that just goes to show how well these varied features were planned and tested. Kudos!
The maps, though originally appearing dull and lifeless in early demos, are typically well-balanced, and not so convoluted as to make finding a firefight a laborious task. And they look MUCH better than those early demonstrations.
So, in conclusion, on the 360, I would’ve given this game a much higher score, but horrendous PC support, technical problems, and another craptacular console port force me to give Shadowrun 2.5 out of 5 Aeropausonauts.
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Too bad that the development team decided to ignore the almost 18 years of publications and backstory to implement their own rendition of the Shadowrun universe. If it was necessary to set the game in the future (or past, depending on your point of view) of 2031, there are plenty of cannon events that would provide plenty of gameplay. For example the Eurowars or the rise of the Ghoul Nation of Asamando, the formation of the UCAS and the nanosecond buyout. Any of these examples could be used as a backdrop and storyline for this game.
Also, it is worth noting that the game has been hacked to run on Windows XP, although I cannot attest to the game quality, nor the hardware required.
Oh, hey! How’s it going?
Yeah, I completely agree. Their munging of backstory did not earn them any respect, even AFTER they half-heartedly tried to rework it to be more compatible with canon.
And supposedly it will run on XP, though those cracks don’t allow any kind of multiplayer, even if you do have a legally purchased copy of the game.
Well the reason for the Live requirement is because PC and 360 users play on the on the same servers. They wanted to make sure it was cross platform and not split into communities on Live and communities on PCs off Live.
I played through the Shadowrun beta and had a lot of fun on the 360. It’s a well balanced game but it’s not going to sell much at $60 for an online only game without any extras and not many maps and game types. I’ll buy it when I can get it from Gamefly for $25.
But requiring Live does not necessarily preclude having a free, downloadable dedicated server package like almost every other major online FPS has had, which was my original point. They almost completely destroyed the possibility of any kind of local grassroots communities from forming.