Slashdot Mirror
Shadowrun vs. Shadowrun
eToyChest's regular 'I roll 20s' column today looks at the different faces of Shadowrun in the world of Videogames. Before the most recent, ill-conceived, 360 title there were several other attempts to bring the rich cyberpunk-meets-Tolkien world to gamers with controllers. Some met with more success than others. From the article: "In the Genesis Shadowrun, you played an actual Shadowrunner, the sort of guy a corporation would pay to do their dirty work, and then deny the existence of after the fact should things manage to find a fan and hit it. Moreover, you were given the ability to create a character designed after whichever abilities and archetypes you found to be most savory, and as a result, a huge array of hybrid character styles were available, creating a game with a good deal more replay value than most Sega Genesis action RPGs."
Microsoft rewrote the timeline and setting for this game, so it is not in continuity with the tabletop RPG. It may be more accurately described as a game loosely based on Shadowrun.
Hmmm, take a product that somebody else produced. Modify it slightly, slap your name tag on it, and sell. Sounds familiar.
The Xbox is looking more and more like the video game equivalent of an elephant graveyard.
It has become the platform where old video game companies and titles get lame and go to die on.
I've been trying to find the Genesis version at flea markets and used game stores around here for a while, without much success. The only person that had it wanted as much as the game probably cost when it was new.
I felt it was a lot better than the SNES version, which was incredibly linear. The Genesis version let you free-roam for the most part, in both "the Matrix" and the streets of Seattle, and complete the missions when you wanted. I figure that I looked at it the same way kids look at San Andreas today.
It also made the first Gibson novel I read (when I was thirteen or so) all the more entertaining. "Wait a second, Black ICE, Chiba City, Runs...I know this!"
Shadowrun was amazing. You could play the game however you wanted with so many aspects -- street tough fist-fighter, gunman, magic user, sneaky spy, charismatic talker... combine the endless customizability with the party system (3 characters in your party at a time), the story, and the great gameplay and you end up with an amazing game.
Take the piece of crap Microsoft is making and you have... a big, smelly, piece of crap.
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
At this point in time, I'd trust the Dystopia mod for HL2 to give me a better interpretation of Shadowrun than Microsoft will.
Same here. Been GMing the game since the first edition came out.
Initially when I heard that there was going to be a 360 Shadowrun game coming out I had figured it was an RPG and fully intended to purchase one of the consoles solely to play this game.
Then I find out it's to be a first person shooter...and then I hear that they are ripping out the entire history and starting from scratch in a rather warped way...then I see the movie promo for the game and see that it's a deathmatch game with pointy eared avatars, some magic (rocket launchers by any other name...), and what looks to be a rez spell...What the heck? I also seem to recall reading something about magic being a finite resource controlled by possession of a handful of artifacts which seem to be the "prizes/flags" you fight for in the game?!?
Honestly, Microsoft, why did you bother getting the license if you are going to completely gut the entire game world? All you do is annoy those of us who love it...and for people who don't know it, well why would they care about the Shadowrun name being on the game in the first place?