Get to know Shadowrun:

Two enemies use their gliders to reach the top of the structure

Disclosure: The following information was taken from information already in the public domain. Below is my attempt to rally that wealth of information together to share with you. This game has not yet been released so it is still in development and everything is subject to change.

(Be sure to watch the Gametrailers.com gameplay footage after you read this article.)

Shadowrun is a first-person shooter coming soon to the XBOX 360 and Windows Vista gaming platforms. It will feature the Live Anywhere service allowing PC and XBOX 360 players to play in the same game. This game is multiplayer-online and supports up to 16 players in a match.

I am really excited about this game. Right now, I will certainly pre-order it (most likely the Vista version). I actually think that this could be a great community game for all of us. It has elements of HALO and Counter-Strike as well as RPG’s and RTS’s. Yeah, it is going to be a different kind of FPS.

A team member is resurrected

First you’ll pick your side: the megacorp RNA Global or the resistance called the Lineage. Next, you’ll pick your race: a human, an elf, a dwarf or troll. Each character has different traits. For instance, some run a little faster and others are able to take more damage. Trolls turn to stone when being hit. Elves regenerate their health and have a higher essence level with allows them to cast more spells. Humans can carry more technology. Dwarves take away essence from the players around them.

At the beginning of the game you are given a “buy-in� screen and an amount of money. With that you buy items for use in the game. You can buy weapons, magic, or technology. How you spend your money and what you buy will directly affect your teammates and how the later rounds of the game are played. The better you do in the round, the more “bonus money� you’ll get after the round to spend on better weapons, more tech or magic.

In front of this sniper, a Tree of Life was cast

Some types of magic are resurrection (ability to revive a teammate), the tree of life (a magic tree which gives off health to those around it), and teleportation (the really cool ability to teleport several feet in any direction). Wikipedia states that you can buy magic for “turning into smoke for invulnerability, summoning a monster to do your bidding, casting a field of lethal crystals, and blowing a powerful gust at enemies and objects. Purchasable tech items include enhanced vision, which allows the player to see through walls, a glider, which enables short distance flight, wired reflexes, which greatly increases your physical attributes, anti-magic generators, Smartlink, which gives you greater accuracy and other specific advantages. Weapons include a sniper rifle, SMG, a shotgun, a minigun, a semi auto rifle, a rocket launcher, and a katana for assassinations and ninja style tactics.� From a visitor who went to the developer’s office:

Magic

• Strangle: a growth of magic crystals that hold and suck the health out of any player. Great for blocking doorways or impeding the path of the flag-runner.
• Teleport: moves you through space about 15-20 feet in the direction that you were previously moving. If you want to go down a level, then stoop. If you jump and teleport, just make sure you hit teleport before you start going down, or else you'll teleport down. Teleport+Glider=flying.
• Smoke: I don't remember seeing this in action - but this turns you into a puff of smoke, and renders you immune to almost all damage. Sounds like something I could use in L.A. :)
• Summon: brings a magic creature to life! You can direct it to guard an area, or to attack a specific opponent...and it doesn't stop chasing until either it dies or the player dies. Great fun! Use as diversion tactic, obstacle, or to throw the other team into a random frenzy right when they are about to score.
• Resurrect: brings your teammate (or you) back to life. The person who does the resurrecting becomes the "lifeline" for the player. If your resurrector dies, then you start "bleeding out" - meaning you've got about 10 seconds to live!!! Best antidote to bleeding out is the Tree of Life...either get under it, throw it down or die :)
• Tree of Life: indiscriminately restores the health of any player that stands under it.
• Gust: it's like a force-field or gust of wind that pushes your opponent back and disorients them momentarily. Great at close range against an opponent waving the Katana (or Artifact).

Tech

• Glider: great when used in combination with teleport - if you Jump, teleport UP, then glide, you'll find yourself flying across the room. It's also good prevention against fall damage.
• Enhanced Vision: lets you look through walls and see your opponents anywhere on the map. It's great to have one player on your team use enhanced vision and call out the locations of your opponents.
• Smartlink: this is like a neural connection between the gun and your brain - turns you into a fast-acting killing machine. I didn't get to use this, so I'm not sure exactly how it enhanced the gameplay - but you can see one of the devs using it (briefly) in the gameplay video I shot.
• Hologram: hmmm.... I didn't get to see this! Not sure how it works, or even if it's in the final build! But sounds like a cool diversion tactic.

Windows Live on Vista. Comparing gamerscores.

The glider takes you to a great hight and allows you to glide safely to the ground

About gameplay? TeamXBOX had this to say after playing it at a trade show: “The action in Shadowrun is very fast-paced, especially once the magic powers and tech get thrown in the mix. These are largely defensive and supportive in nature, so you'll still be relying on good old fashioned firepower to take out your foes. Best of all, you can map up to three to your controller at any time, meaning you can find your favorites and string them together. Our personal favorite combo was the glider tech and the teleport magic, which allows you to alternately glide from high areas and teleport through walls to get to your objective. The smoke power is cool, too, letting you turn into a puff of mist to avoid your enemy's attacks, then pop back into solid form to fell him.�

The artifact is the object of possesion in Capture the Flag-like gametypes.

“Even if you DIE - you can select a player on your team to "shadow" and you get to watch them as they play. You can move the camera around them, and you can shout out warnings, like "there's a Troll right behind you" or "I'm right above you - resurrect me because it's all about me. We found this particularly useful when our teammate was carrying the Artifact (SHADOWRUN's version of the "flag") - we could tell them where to run to avoid getting ambushed, and when to drop it and turn and fight.�

Supposedly in the next few months, a demo will hit the XBOX Live Marketplace. Get it and jump in on the multiplayer action.

Watch part of a CTF match. See the Tree of Life and Teleportation. Watch it here: http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2007/01/10/shadowrun-ctf-with-a-magical-twist/

Report: You WILL be able to play in RANKED games WITH your FRIENDS. Shadowrun won't use TrueSkill: http://360arcadians.net/content/view/38/54/

Information gathered from:

http://mthddirector.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!44B2A6A4F28696F0!794.entry (for a detailed report of playing this game, read this guy’s review)
http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1513/Shadowrun/p1/ (TeamXBOX spills some beans)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowrun_%282007_video_game%29 (Wikipedia has some info)
http://forums.shadowrun.com/forums/ (developer forums)
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/s/shadowrun/ (xbox.com game page)

Update: found a walk-thru for this game on YouTube: