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Shadowrun Demo coming June 6th
FASA has given word on when we can expect the Shadowrun demo to hit Xbox Live Marketplace. As a means to give gamers with Halo 3 Beta withdrawal a quick fix, it will go live on June 6th. It will feature Power Station, and the gametype Raid, with Humans and Elves. It also won't have a time restriction for play, so you may frag to your heart's content, and it doesn't have an announced expiration at the moment. Full breakdown of what's in the demo after the break.
Shadowrun goes gold for 360 and Vista, coming 29th
Shadowrun, the absolutely inspired first person shooter that combines contemporary weapons, magic and advanced technology has gone gold. The first cross platform PC-360 FPS will be hitting retailers on May 29th, just in time for a blogger's 22nd birthday two days prior. We can't wait to get our hands on title and play against the best keyboard and mouse has to offer. Or at least play the demo first. If you want to know what all the fuss is about, check out our above linked coverage on the game, or our most recent Fancast. Finally, should you make the right decision and pick up this game, take a look at the credits, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Shadowrun so wants to be Halo
Over at FASA Studios' IGN blog they posted a few screenshots of Shadowrun from back in the good ole days, way back when they were prototyping the game IN Halo's engine. As you see above, in the earliest stages they simple broke open the Halo code, popped some Elf and Troll heads on a few character models, colored up the HUD a little bit, and there you have it ... instant Shadowrun prototype! But thank god the screens are from the prototype and not the final build, otherwise someone would have some serious explaining to do. Head on over to FASA's IGN blog and read about what goes into creating great maps, it'll make you have one of those cool "ah ha" moments.[Via Shadowrun the blog]
Shadowrun Achievements pinged by Enhanced Vision
Matt Webster, better known as "fall" in the Shadowrun community, played the retail version of the game, revealing the Achievements to the world. Overall, they seem pretty balanced, actually encouraging players to give various magic, races and weapons their due play time. The cool thing is because of the lack of ranked matches, unless specified, you'll be able to get Achievements in private games with your friends. We all know how difficult the alternative can be. On top of that we've got 6 Secret Achievements, including the lone one worth 100 Gamerscore. So, Training Levels aside, what do you plan on trying to unlock first?
Shadowrun Devs to have IRC chat with fans
Matt Webster, aka fall over at the Shadowrun Forums, has announced that since the beta is ending on the 30th (We know, it sucks), the devs at FASA Studio will be having an IRC chat that Monday, from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM PDT. There are going to be prizes available, so if the fact it's Shadowrun didn't sway you, free swag should definitely do the trick. It will take place in the #Shadowrun.FASA chat channel, on the Gamesurge server. Will you join in on the fun on IRC, or the beta itself on its last day?[Via HushedCasket]
FASA talks Shadowrun's take on teamwork
Bill Fulton, a Game Designer at FASA, put up a blog entry at IGN discussing the implementation of teamwork in Shadowrun. He goes on to discuss the interdependent dynamic of the races and how a team requires a proper balance of Elves, Trolls, Humans and Dwarves to perform well. He then touches on the communication aspect, and the measures at which FASA went in order to help keep your teammates informed on what's going on. The Situational Awareness system is really handy for those who can't verbalize that tactical information efficiently, or better yet, help those out who aren't using a headset. Finally, he touches on the money aspect of the game, going into detail about how players are rewarded and penalized for their team based actions. For his full entry, click the "Read" link below.
Want in the Shadowrun beta?
Xbox 360 Achievements is giving away two beta invites to Shadowrun. So, if you want a chance to play in the beta and either didn't sign up, or feel your chances of getting in with the weekly lump of newcomers is too slim, then this is your shot. The contest is pretty easy, shamelessly plug x360a somewhere on the interwebs before 11:59 (GMT) on Wednesday, March 28th. Sure, the free publicity is a little cheesy, but Shadowrun is Shadowrun, and the more people who get a taste of how awesome and deep this unique FPS is, the better. Full rules are available at the accompanying thread.
Shadowrun boxart, release in early June?
Com Raven, over at the Shadowrun forums came across the boxart for Shadowrun at EBgames, albeit for the PC version. It looks pretty nice and has some cool action in the foreground and background. The RNA teleporting Human weilds a Katana with a Troll with Glider in tow (commonly referred to as a "floating tank"). The Lineage Troll and Human return fire with a minigun and rifle, respectively. Also worth noting is that the Pre-Release is listed as shipping on the 29th of May, so perhaps Shadowrun is due in early June? Full resolution boxart also available for your scrutiny.[Thanks, Com Raven]
Shane Kim vs. Shadowrun haters: Fight!
In a recent interview with Gamasutra, Shane Kim spoke at length about Microsoft's decision to turn Shadowrun -- a classic pen and paper RPG franchise -- into a first-person shooter. Gamasutra notes that many Shadowrun fans were (understandably) miffed when they discovered that the new Shadowrun title would be an FPS. In response, Kim states that Microsoft has been battling that reception and trying to convince players that the game is worthy on its own merits. Kim notes that while Shadowrun may not be an RPG, fans will be pleased to see that FASA has been faithful to the Shadowrun universe while adapting it to an FPS. Kim goes on to say that many skeptical Shadowrun fans have come away impressed after actually playing the game. Kim believes word of mouth is what's needed to convince the rest.With the NDA on the Shadowrun beta lifted, you can rest assured that you'll be getting plenty "word of mouth" from us in the near future.Any Shadowrun fans out there also on the beta? What do you think, is Shadowrun for the 360 faithful to its roots?
Shadowrun Beta NDA lifted
Over the past 4 months, beta testers for Shadowrun have had to acknowledge the NDA and keep tight lipped about the goings on in the game. Today, FASA officially lifted the NDA, and testers are allowed to speak freely about their experiences in the game. FASA reminds us that the beta does not use final art, and to consult their screenshots to get an idea of how the game will look. Also, the gameplay is constantly being tweaked and balanced, including feedback from the testers themselves having a prominent effect. For example, before the patch when it was just Elves and Humans with a portion of the Tech and Magic, the shotgun was not that effective. After the patch added all the remaining tech, magic and races, FASA also changed the balance of the weapons, giving the shotgun a significant boost in power. Some think it's been given too much power and that it's effectiveness at range should be reduced. When running into FASA devs online, as they do play the beta frequently, they've said that the shotgun's current stats aren't final, though they are closer than in the initial build. Another example would be that in the beta, Humans take a smaller penalty to their available essence than any other race for the tech they equip. It's been confirmed that there will be no penalty to their essence for any tech equipped, which will drastically change the balance of the game between now and June. In any case, should any extraordinary occurrences take place in the beta, our blogging testers will definitely keep you up to date.
No custom game types in Shadowrun
In an interview with GameSpot, FASA's Bill Fulton revealed that Shadowrun will not support custom game types for multiplayer. In other words, players will only be able to play the three specific game types that ship with Shadowrun when it launches this June. Fulton told GameSpot that FASA decided not to have custom game types because it caused player confusion. In his words: "we don't support playing public multiplayer games with custom modes. It often just leads to awkward situations where you join a game playing something weird that you don't want to play." We're not really sure we follow Fulton's reasoning, as custom games are typically limited to friends only. At any rate, Fulton goes on to say that there is nothing that prevents players from agreeing to certain "house rules," but Shadowrun contains no hard code to support them.So, if you want to play nothing but snipers and katanas, you'll have to rely on the honor system. Does this development affect your anticipation of Shadowrun?[Via Shadowrun the Blog]
Shadowrun beta invites sent out
It's time for Shadowrun fans to get pumped up, because a new batch of beta invites have been sent out! Yesterday, Microsoft notified lucky Xbox Live members that they were in the beta by sending out invite codes via email. So, if you haven't received one yet then Microsoft didn't think you were cool enough. For those of you lucky enough to get in the Shadowrun beta all you have to do is download the 888MBs and start playing. And a big thank you goes out to all the fanboys who flooded our inbox with this tip. It's awesome to see such eloquent use of the tips form and excitement for the beta ... you guys rock! Quit reading already, check your email, and get online to play some Shadowrun![Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]
FASA wants you for Shadowrun LAN test
Microsoft and FASA Studios want you to test Shadowrun at their Redmond campus, that is if you are a l33t gamer. FASA is testing out some Shadowrun LAN style this Saturday, March 17th and needs some testers. The requirements for this four hour LAN session are that you need to be 18 years of age or older, live near the Redmond area, and either ranked in a major PC/console tournament or have a rank of 32+ in Halo 2. If you feel you are more than qualified then head over to the official forums for details on how to sign up. How freakin' cool is that? Being invited to the Redmond campus to play some Shadowrun with other competitive gamers in a LAN setting ... can you say sweetness? We only hope the few lucky gamers will be treated like royalty and showered with finest sodas and munchies Microsoft can buy.[Thanks, Eric]
EGM: Shadowrun releases in April
The never sleeping spies at EGM report that Shadowrun will release next month. This comes as a bit of a surprise, especially considering that FASA would only say "spring" when we inquired about a release date last week at GDC. Of course, if the latest EGM is right, we certainly aren't going to complain. We enjoyed our time with the game at GDC and are looking forward to taking on the real thing. Anyone planning on picking Shadowrun up if it launches next month?
GDC 07: Shadowrun hands on
The room is set up with two very large Samsung HDTVs. In front of one monitor is a slick gaming mouse and keyboard. In front of the other is an Xbox 360 controller. We sit through the expected spiel: Shadowrun has magic, trolls, dwarves, all that stuff. But how does it play? Is it fun? Microsoft's Michael Wolf and FASA's Technical Chraracter Designer, Michael Lowrance, sure make it look fun. Finally, we get our shot (that's me and two folks from Game Informer). I'm holding a pad, my foe wields the KB and mouse. I'm a dwarf. He's a troll. Time to ask it again: is it fun?
FASA sheds light on Shadowrun's offline experience
Eurogamer sat down with Mitch Gitelman and went over some Shadowrun details. First off, Mitch clarifies that in terms of the solitary experience, there are six training sessions that players can play, after each of which there is a skirmish match against bots for you to test out the related game mechanics from that lesson. On top of that, you can play matches against bots on any gametype in any arena to practice strategy and learn the maps. So while there may not be any split screen, you still can play offline against bots who are perfectly capable of using the tech and magic effectively. They'll resurrect you if you die, teleport to flank enemies, and call out enemy positions using Enhanced Vision and Situational Awareness. The interview also has details about the online experience, confirming that there won't be ranked matches. Although, we now know they are using the TrueSkill equation for matchmaking purposes, but not showing players what that ranking is. Expect a hands-on report from Richard down at GDC soon.
Shadowrun lacking campaign and split screen [update 1]
Over on the official Shadowrun online forums a question was posed to whether or not you could play local multiplayer split screen online or offline after hearing a rumor that there wouldn't be the option. In came Kimona, lead program manager of FASA Studios, to confirm that there indeed would be no local (LAN style) multiplayer or split screen for that matter. According to Kimona, the reasoning behind the choice was to "focus on making what we have even more polished and clean". And with information we learned earlier we now know that Shadowrun will not have any campaign mode or local multiplayer split screen as it is strictly an online multiplayer game. So Shadowrun enthusiasts, we think that not including split screen kinda sucks, but what's your opinion on the way things are shaping up?Update 1: We've made a mistake guys and read the forum's question wrong. What Kimona was talking about was having no online or offline split screen and says nothing about system link or local multiplayer. So, there will be system link goodness, but simply no split screen ... sorry for the confusion.[Via IGN]
Shadowrun PC cross-platform requires Live Gold
In the latest Shadowrun trailer, there is a little snippet that you Games for Windows users may want to pay attention to. We all know that to play Shadowrun's Xbox 360 version online, you're going to need an Xbox Live Gold account. Likewise, to play Shadowrun cross-platform on Vista, you're going to need a Gold Live account for Windows. At this point, there hasn't been any pricing announced with regards to Gold Live accounts on Vista, so there's no telling what may be the better deal. Also, given that they explicitly state "cross platform", that may mean that PC only servers may be playable with Silver Live accounts and will be free of charge. Interesting food for thought. Do any of you plan on playing Shadowrun on your PC?[Via Joystiq]
New Shadowrun trailer impresses
This post was written on Wednesday, when the previously announced Shadowrun trailer was briefly available from the Shadowrun website. Lucky for us, we managed to grab it before it was mysteriously pulled. Unfortunately, the uploaded trailer disagreed with YouTube. But, now the trailer is all over the place, so, without further ado, we present you with the latest Shadowrun trailer. The trailer is actually pretty slick. We like the fact that it emphasizes tactics over pure firepower or twitch reflexes. That's a message that Microsoft is going to have to make loud and clear if they want Shadowrun to appeal to more than just the hardcore audience. Then again, we pretty much represent the hardcore audience, so we'll be plenty happy as long as the game delivers the goods. You can watch the trailer after the break.
Shadowrun questions answered
There's a canned Shadowrun Q&A floating around that details some of the game's lauded features. First of all, the question and answer session explains Live Anywhere and how it works on a PC. Essentially, it's exactly the same as it is on Xbox 360. Playing on Vista, players will have access to voice chat, friends lists, gamerscore, acheivements, and (eventually) Marketplace. The rest of the interview reads more or less like a laundry list to propagate the game's bullet points. For example, the controller vs. mouse debate is covered, with FASA studio manager, Mitch Gitelman, who notes that the game was designed for both from the ground up. Gitelman says that approximately half the testing team are Counter-Strike players and the other half are Halo players, and none complain about unfair advantages. While mouse players may have an aiming advantage, they can still be outclassed by players with a better grasp on magic and techniques. Finally, the game supports 16 players online and should ship with 8-10 maps. Hit the "read" link for the Q&A.In related news, the official Shadowrun website should post a new trailer some time today. We'll keep you posted.
