Shadowrun Hands-On

FASA, which has existed as a corporate entity in various forms over its two and a half decade history, is responsible for a number of predominately fantasy and sci-fi universes, largely created as pen and paper roleplaying games but frequently adapted to other mediums--notably including video games. In fact, one of FASA founder Jordan Weisman's early goals when working on the hugely popular BattleTech franchise was to eventually turn it into a video game. This had happened by the late 1980s, along with the following decade's sadly short lived venture into virtual reality with the Virtual World line of gaming centers, and in 1994 Weisman founded video game developer FASA Interactive to do in-house adaptations of FASA properties. In 1999, the company was acquired by Microsoft and is now under the Microsoft Game Studios banner.

Despite the RPG source material of FASA's properties, FASA Studio--as it is now named--largely considers itself to excel at multiplayer action games. The company has shipped games such as MechWarrior 4 and Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, the Xbox followup to SOCOM developer Zipper's PC title Crimson Skies, itself an adaptation of a FASA RPG. Now, FASA Studio is in the midst of developing its first game based on the fantasy/cyberpunk Shadowrun universe, yet another FASA RPG property. Previously, Shadowrun has been adapted by various developers into three separate console RPGs, one each for SNES, Genesis, and SEGA CD. Microsoft's announcement during this year's E3 of a new Shadowrun game was preceded by months of rumor, but many were surprised when the game turned out not to be another RPG but rather a multiplayer-only--plus bots--first person team-based action game. I recently had the chance to visit FASA and spend some time with both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game, and playing against seasoned FASA pros. FASA has spent months weathering criticisms from Shadowrun fans regarding the direction being taken with the game. To that, studio manager Mitch Gitelman recites the mantra that Weisman laid down for FASA Interactive: "Gameplay trumps everything." Gitelman explains that, despite having written an enormous amount of lore for several substantial fictional universes, Weisman has no problem modifying source material to fit a fun game. To that end, he worked extensively on the background for the new Shadowrun game, ensuring it all works into the established mythos. When it comes down to it, it's unlikely that this will be much consolation for devout Shadowrun fans who feel burned by the fact that you can't actually be a shadowrunner in the game, but them's the breaks. The Shadowrun universe is based on the concept that magic exists in the natural world, and resurfaces on a cyclical basis about every 5000 years. In December 2011, magic returns to the world, causing drastic changes. Formerly dormant magical DNA in humans is reawakened, many humans are transformed into mythical races such as elves, dwarves, orks, and trolls, and ancient magical sites reemerge. Among these is a great ziggurat located in the Brazillian town of Santos. Meanwhile, human society has become dominated by massive sovereign corporations. ("Yeah, yeah, every game has that," admits Gitelman. "You know why? Because it's real. It's not fantasy, it's prediction.") Some companies, such as the growing RNA Global corporation, seek to control the world's magic. RNA sends a research expetition to Santos. Opposing RNA is an ancient society called the Lineage, charged with keeping magic free and open. Those two factions make up the playable teams in the upcoming Shadowrun game.

When joining a Shadowrun server, you'll choose your team, either the RNA Global corporation or the Lineage. These teams, each consisting of up to eight players, are functionally identical in gameplay terms, though they of course have different sets of skins. Shadowrun is not a class-based game, though the game's distinct spells and equipment along with the small-scale character persistence from round to round mean that players who are actually cooperating with their teams are likely to slot into something of a role by the end of a game's six rounds. Currently, the game has two gametypes, both variants of Capture the Flag. Extraction is basically classic CTF, with each team protecting its own flag and trying to steal the opposition's. Raid is similar to Halo 2's one flag CTF, with one team defending a single flag and the other team attempting to steal it. The centerpiece of Shadowrun, and what largely sets it apart from objective-based team games such as Counter-Strike, is the game's surprisingly deep magic and tech system. Each player starts out with a certain amount of initial money, and then gains more in game by killing enemes, scoring points, and performing various beneficial actions. A game of Shadowrun is made up of six rounds, each four minutes in length. At the beginning of each rounds, players have access to a buy menu where they can acquire weapons and tech. Weapons in Shadowrun are fairly rooted in reality, but are very archetypal in nature, covering broad weapon classes rather than going in-depth into a huge arsenal such as in Counter-Strike. There's the pistol, submachine gun, medium-range rifle, sniper rifle, shotgun, rocket launcher--the type of stuff you've come to expect from an FPS, essentially. Then, there's the katana, which is extremely short range but also extremely powerful when used successfully. Shadowrun's tech and magic are where the game distinguishes itself. Interestingly, none of the spells or tech abilities are outwardly offensively oriented, though they can certainly indirectly result in enemies taking damage. In general, they are defensive or related to personal mobility. One of the game's staple skills is teleport, which does just what it implies and is remarkably intuitive and functional given how uncommon it is in this sort of game. When activated, you immediately teleport about eight meters in whichever direction you are currently moving. This means if you're strafing, you can be firing in a separate direction than the direction you're about to teleport. If you're falling and about to land on a roof, you can teleport and you'll end up down below, inside the building itself. Likewise, jumping and teleporting effectively confers a vertical boost. Once you become accustomed to teleporting, it is difficult to pass up buying it as soon as possible. It becomes a crucial part of the game, both for getting around the map quickly as well as for evading enemy fire. Since the same skills and tech in Shadowrun are available to all players (given enough money, of course), you become adept at anticipating enemies' teleports and keeping a bead on opponents as they zip around. I was impressed by how natural it feels in the context of the game. On the tech side, a similarly useful skill is glider. This too is just as it sounds; when in the air, activating glider greatly slows vertical descent and gives a bit of a boost to horizontal momentum, making it possible to cover great distances, particularly if starting from a high point. One of the most widely used ability combos in the game combines and glider. Combining the two skills when jumping in a given direction gives a huge boost in that direction followed by glider's slow descent. This is ideal for reaching ledges that are much higher than one would ordinarily be able to reach. Some of the experienced players can pull off amazing feats of agility and speed using this trick. Continue to the next page to read about some of the possibilities afforded by Shadowrun's magic and tech. _PAGE_BREAK_ One of the best parts about Shadowrun's tech and magic system is that it is full of interesting such combinations and results that come with one ability's interaction with another. The wired reflexes tech ability can give players a temporary but significant speed boost; this too combines with jumping and glider to produce impressive results. The gust spell is simply a burst of air that pushes back another player while causing no damage. In general, this is used to create an inconvenience for an enemy, for example by blowing him or her off a ledge just as they are approaching the flag. Howeer, when used on an enemy who is in the form of a puff of smoke, a spell that makes them invulnerable to gunfire, gust will actually cause damage. Enhanced vision allows players to see the location of friendly and enemy players in any direction within a given range--even through walls; combined with teleport, this can make for some stealthy kills. Casting tree of life summons an actual tree which slowly heals a player, friend or foe alike, when within a certain proximity. In a pinch, it can also serve as cover in a firefight. One spell creates an overgrowth

of magical crystals that can block a path by causing significant damage to players that come in contact with them. These can be efficiently destroyed with anti-magaic grenades, which will also inhibit spell use on the part of actual players if they explode nearby. There is also a summon spell, creating a minion that will either guard a given location or hunt down a specified enemy player. Then, of course, there's resurrection, a skill that can make you a very valuable member of the team. It too does just what it says, but a resurrection caster has more responsibilities than just casting the spell. After resurrecting somebody, that resurrectee is bound to the caster; if the caster dies, the saved player will start to slowly lose health, and must find a tree of life to stave off death as long as possible. Players can only be resurrected if their bodies are intact, and you can destroy a dead body by shooting at it for a little while, so it is common to see players rush over to recently killed opponents and pump their corposes full of bullets. Interestingly, resurrection is actually an area of effect spell. The spell consumes a lot of magic and in most cases the caster will only be able to maintain one resurrected player at a time, but if it is cast in the vicinity of multiple dead teammates, they will all get the benefit of the res--and all be subject to bleeding out if the caster dies. Gitelman described a rather impressive situation outlining the type of situation that might occur by the hand of a well practiced Shadowrun player. An elf might see a troll with a minigun through a wall on the second floor of a building, using enhanced vision. The elf teleports through the wall and kills the troll while the troll is spooling up his minigun. As the troll's two companions come up the stairs, the elf jumps out the window, uses glider to reach a sniper perch, and headshots the two enemy team members. When the opposing team draws a bead on his location, he turns into a puff of smoke and escapes to safety. This sort of situation actually seems quite possible given some of the maneuvres I saw FASA team members pull off. Of course, all along the way in that hypothetical scenario, there are methods to counter the elf. The Shadowrun team was sure to build maps with vertical movement in mind, given the presence of abilities such as glide and teleport. Part of that process was including glider and teleport "lines," or aerial paths that are designed to be taken advantage of with those abilities. If, in the elf example, the window-to-perch route happened to be a common glider line, an opposing team member could easily have anticipated the player's strategy and teleported to the top to intercept him. All of the various spells and tech abilities going on all the time can be a bit overwhelming, but the game's learning curve--at least based on a few hours of playtime with other, much more

experienced, players--was surprisingly manageable. Due to the money system, a six round game tends to start out pretty basic, with players only having their bare minimum spells and abilities, but then become quite intense and complex by the last round. The spells are also balanced out by the game's Essence system. Along the left hand side of the screen is a vertical row of circles, the Essence meter. Every time a spell is cast, it consumes an amount of Essence proportional to that spell's relative power. This Essence regenerates over time. Tech abilities do not cost Essence to use; rather, they have a permanent upkeep cost and sometimes have their own brief cooldown period in between usages. So, if you have glider equipped, it will keep one unit of Essence locked, and that Essence cannot be used to cast spells. At the beginning of a game, you'll choose your race, and that character will stay with you throughout the six rounds. Each race has its own unique abilities. Humans in Shadowrun are jacks of all trades, as they so often are in video games. None of their physical attributes, such as agility or toughness, are superior to the other three races', but neither are they deficient. Humans have a racial bonus in that equipping tech demands less of an Essence upkeep, and in some cases requires none at all. They also start out with more funds than other characters. Elves are the fastest of the four races, and the most magically attuned. Their Essence bar is bigger than that of humans or trolls, but their health bar is the smallest among the four races. However, their health bar slowly regenerates over time, even when outside the proximity of a tree of life; this causes them to glow and can make them easier targets for fire. Trolls are huge. That is, simply put, their most distinguishing characteristic. They are slow exceedingly tough, and are more mobile with heavy weapons such as miniguns than the other races. They also have a stone skin ability that takes effect when under fire: as a troll takes damage, his skin hardens and his movement slows even more, until he essentially becomes a rotating, shooting statue. This makes the troll a good tank or long range support character or tank. The dwarf is the most unconventional of the four races. Dwarves are tougher than humans and elves, and smaller targets than the other races--which can be helpful. They also have what is by far the biggest Essence meter. Unlike the other races, this meter does not refill over time. Despite having lots of magic potential, dwarves are the "anti-magic" characters; to regain their essence, they must get within close proximity of another character and drain that character's Essence over to their own Essence bar. This makes the dwarf the trickiest character to use, as it's tougher to be able to count on having a teleport ready in a pinch, but offers a lot of possibilities for subterfuge. Dwarves also have a similar effect as anti-magic grenades on the magic crystal formations; as they approach them, the crystals disappear. Turn the page for final impressions of Shadowrun. _PAGE_BREAK_

Shadowrun looks quite a bit different than it did during its initial E3 unveiling. It has largely ditched the more stylized rendering, and now features a much more realistic, but very slightly exaggerated, look. The team noted that it was put in something of a rough spot having to showcase the game several months ago, as it took the approach of doing all the design and balance work first before worrying about nailing down all of the graphical design. As such, the game has been fully playable and complete for some time, but even now there are placeholder assets and unskinned models. All of the completed character models look very good from a technical perspective, and the environmental design and lighting is very well executed. Some of the actual environment textures are lower resolution than one might expect, but the team was quick to note that it is still constantly polishing up all aspects of the game. The visual design itself is a little flat in terms of color and character compared to the prior revision, but then again I'm generally an advocate of less realistic styling in games. Let me be clear: my brief hands on time with the game was extremely enjoyable. This is a very fun, very creative game. It should be noted that I was not previously familiar with the Shadowrun universe, other than simply having been aware of its existence. I do not claim to offer any fan's perspective of FASA's treatment of the material. I am speaking only from the perspective of a video gamer who has been playing PC shooters since essentially the genre's inception. This game, however, is unlikely to spawn a hardcore competitive scene. Part of this is due to how different it is from the more straight up fast paced nature of most competitive shooters, but part of it is that FASA appears to be specifically looking to keep the game from going too far in that direction. Despite the game being an Xbox Live title on Xbox 360 and an Xbox Live Anywhere launch title for Windows Vista, the game does not feature leaderboards, nor does it save player stats, even locally. After the six rounds of a game has ended, you start fresh. Lead designer John Howard, also the lead designer on Bungie's Halo (Xbox, PC), is concerned about the negative effect these features have on an online community in a multiplayer action game setting. FASA believes that, essentially, by removing persistent ranking and making each game its own distinct experience, cheating and poor sportsmanship online will become less important to certain players.

Speaking for myself, I am perfectly happy with this setup, having been a cynical casualty of the Halo 2 Xbox Live community. That said, if that is indeed the route that is being taken, it is unfortunate that the game currently has only two game modes, with few user-definable match settings. I asked the team whether more modes are forthcoming, and they said that it is a possibility, but nothing is set in stone. Particularly in a game such as this, where it is clearly based around teamwork over straight deathmatch, allowing players to get creative with gametypes goes a long way in extending replayability. FASA is hoping that the game will ship simultaneously for Xbox 360 and PC in early 2007, though that decision is ultimately up to Microsoft. I was able to try out both the Xbox 360 and PC control methods, and both work exactly as one would expect according to the standards of the two platforms. On the Xbox 360, the game uses the dual analog stick setup of Halo and other similar shooters. On the PC, it's standard mouse and keyboard. Having tried both, the PC version seems to have the edge. Part of this was no doubt simply because my PC gaming heritage made for an easier (and more accurate) experience from my end, but it is also a huge benefit to be able to map spells and tech to a variety of locations. Buy menus and hotkey assign menus were also more quickly navigated using a point and click interface. The PC version also supports the Xbox 360 controller for those who want a bit of both. Still, the Xbox 360 version of the game controls well and should work fine for those console shooter fans. So, the game seems to be shaping up quite well. Is it Shadowrun? That seems to be the million dollar question, but I really don't know. "When you've got an elf and he's got a minigun and he's casting spells left and right, that's Shadowrun," said Gitelman. "I can stand up, look anyone in the eye, and say, 'This is Shadowrun.'" The game will undoubtedly continue to take flak from certain members of the property's fanbase--perhaps rightfully so, perhaps not--but hopefully nobody dismisses it as a video game out of hand on that basis. I went into the play session with fairly neutral, perhaps even negative, expectations, but the game looks to be a blast. Microsoft Game Studios plans to ship FASA Studio's Shadowrun for Xbox 360 and PC in early 2007. Check out our Shadowrun artwork gallery as well as the game's post-E3 screenshots.