Shadowrun

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Shadowrun Hands-On Continued..

-- September 18, 2006 by: Chris Remo

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.

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