Levels and gameplay

Another unique aspect of the game are the levels. We got to play on one relatively small level in the game (the final version will support up to 16 players) that took place in a bombed out research building. The big difference in Shadowrun’s levels compared to others in the general is that they are truly multi-leveled. From the basement of the building to the very top , the level featured a lot of levels to access and it’s safe to say that players will use all of them . Other levels in the game will include some slick looking RNA Global offices and a ziggurat setting as well. It’s currently unknown how many levels will find their way into the finished game.

So what about the gameplay itself? In a word, fast. In our brief gameplay sessions against the FASA development team we found ourselves yelling and screaming at our teammates to win each round. The round allows the player to win more money so they can buy access to more magic, more tech and more weapons and as the rounds progressed each team was able to use more and more specialized abilities. The gameplay type we played was with RNA Global defending an artifact while the Lineage attempted to steal it and reach a helipad on top of the level before RNA Global wipes them out first. Attacker can used teleport to quickly move in and steal the artifact but they better beware of magical traps like crystal spines that can sap the attacker’s life. Defenders can use enhanced vision to determine where the enemy is going even through walls. The end result is that the game, while still having a bit of a learning curve, seems to offer a lot more variety and gives players more strategy and tactics than a relatively simple shooter like Counter-Strike.

As has been revealed before, Shadowrun will be one of the first games to use Microsoft’s Live Anywhere, which will allow PC and Xbox 360 owners of the game to battle each other and we got to do just that in our playtest sessions. When asked if the PC’s keyboard and mouse combo could defeat an Xbox 360’s controller set-up we were told that was not the case and that they would be taking great pains to make the game have an equal playing field for both platforms. And what about cheating on PC versions of the game that might crop up in Xbox 360 matches? The team was a big vague but did say they are aware of the issue and are also taking steps to make sure that the matches will remain free of cheaters in both platforms. If you don’t want to deal with online multiplayer, Shadowrun promises to have support for bot play as well and players will be able to play co-op games against bots or populate matches with mixes of bots and real players.

Visually Shadowrun is still a work in progress (there were a lot of placeholder character and weapons models in our preview build) but overall the look of the game is still promising, especially in the environments with the unique multi-level maps. As the screenshots that accompany this article show, the game definitely has a look that’s somewhat akin to the pulp adventure covers and artwork of the 1930s. Unfortunately, the team wouldn’t comment on whether or not there will be any mod or level editor tools released (we are not hopeful on this point) nor on whether there will be any downloadable new content for the game (although the team seemed to want to add that aspect to the title) There will be some kind of multiplayer beta demo released for both platforms at some point since they want some feedback from a large number of players in order to refine the game.

While the game is still a ways away from release (sometime in 2007) the team at Shadowrun sold us on their vision on a new and different look at the multiplayer shooter during our brief visit this week. Indeed the team refers to it sometimes as a fast paced RPG. Our gameplay sessions were a lot of fun as we learned more and more on how to combine the game’s unique mix of weapons, tech and magic (sometime to the detriment of our character’s lives) and if the team can keep the balance of all of these features just right we think they could have a lot of converts from players from other games. We hope to get more info about Shadowrun and perhaps some more playtime in a more complete version of the game before it’s release sometime next year.