The Shadowrun beta has ended. EnragedGnome wrote that it ended a few hours earlier than expected over on SR.thx.com. That was odd, I guess. I know one user in Germany actually couldn't play early this afternoon because the time has already come for that timezone.

I agree with what Gnome said. It was great to be a part of the development process. FASA listened to what we had to say and actually changed the game based on our feedback. I was fortunate to be in the beta when just several dozen players were playing it outside of the Microsoft campus. FASA has named bots after some of the testers. They gave Crackdown out before the game was released. They are handing out a lot of swag for the testers. (They even flew some people out to Microsoft to play the game). It was a good ride and FASA was very cool throughout the whole process.

More importantly, I found a new shooter that had a lot of replay value even if we had limited options and just two maps. I played the same two maps with XBOX-quality graphics and limited weapons, magic, and tech for many hours each week. I thought the gameplay was so good that I would play the same bare version of the game.

I wish more of you could have played it.

Will THX like this game? I hope so. A demo will be made available sometime around the launch date (unknown). I'll definitely keep lobbying for you guys to buy the game.

I think if everyone gave it a try, they would like it. Shadowrun is a shooter that allows you to play your game on your build in your way. Like to play slow and snipe? Then build your character that way. Like to be sneaky and fast? Then build your character that way. Like to play a supporting role? Then play that way. Just select your race and select your upgrades. There are some older testers (some have grandkids) in the beta that are quite good at Shadowrun. They may not be the best shot. But they are good at the game.

I think Shadowrun could easily bring back the LAN on Live feel. I even feel that this game would be great on LAN. After all, the party system is based on an improved version of the HALO 2 party system. Actually, the game itself has deep, dark Bungie roots.

Oculus, jayWHY, and Gnome will vouch for the game. They'll be ordering it for one of their platforms.

What do I have planned? I'll be buying the game for PC (and likely 360 if THX adopts and we have LANs). I'm going to play it a lot*. I've actually got dedicated SR servers already lined up. I only expect to play Shadowrun and HALO 2 (PC) for the rest of the year. I'll likely try another game or two (like Quake Wars and UT3).

I'm also going to try to hold a Shadowrun LAN at my house (or in the brewery?**) after the game is released. Some of the top beta testers live within a few hours of here. Also, other beta testers have said they would attend. Maybe in fact some testers will come. Ideally, I'd like to get a FASA representative out here, too. Working on it. More on that later.

So, yeah. The beta is over. Good news for me is that HALO 2 (PC) comes out next Tuesday. I'll be taking the day off of work for that one.

* That said, I haven't played the PC version of the game. If I feel that FASA has tweaked the keyboard and mouse too much, I likely won't play the game on PC. Cross-platform play is dangerous. A lot of balancing has gone into the gameplay to slow down the keyboard and mouse players. If I'm a lot better on 360, I'll play on 360. However, since I feel constrained with a controller surely I'll like it on PC better even if the aiming reticle has been skewed and some graphics effects made exclusive to the console.

** Got to work that one out. Good rock if it does. Uber cool space for LAN party.