Shadowrun is a game that, unintentionally or not, has managed to drum up a fair amount of controversy for a few big reasons: It's a Windows Vista only game so XP users are out of luck; it is the first official title to support cross-platform play between PC and console gamers and it is using the Shadowrun license…but it doesn't actually work it into the canonical scope of the original pen and paper RPG. In other words, it pretty much wastes the license entirely. You’re left with a multi-player shooter that carriers with it the Shadowrun name, but it doesn’t really feel like a Shadowrun game.
When the game starts, you pick a race and have at it (and you can change your race between rounds). Elves have the ability to heal themselves over time while not taking damage, dwarves have a higher capacity for performing magic abilities, trolls are most effective as meat shields, and humans are your stereotypical “we really don't excel or fail miserably in any one field” contestants. However, none of this is any different than any other “class” based shooter.
The innovative part comes when you throw magic into the mix. Shadowrun boasts a fairly diverse array of magical and technical abilities that you can purchase for your character by spending money earned while playing rounds. The ability that forces you to completely change how you play a first-person shooter is Teleport magic, which effectively allows you to zip through walls, objects, people, and any other obstacle. Need to get up a floor, but can't find the stairs? Jump and teleport right up there through the measly few feet of concrete and steel in between.
Technology is also prominently used, such as the ability to temporarily locate all enemies and friendlies on the map, grenades that create an anti-magic field around them, and the ability to use an implant which greatly increases the accuracy of any weapon you use. Where the real fun comes in is when players combine the use of technology and magic, such as teleporting through the exterior wall of a four story building then gliding down to safety, or throwing a grenade and then using the Gust magic to blast it a much farther distance than it could possibly be thrown.
What this all boils down to is that matches in Shadowrun often start off semi-traditional with each side purchasing a shotgun, rifle, or SMG and a few clips off ammo. As rounds are completed and players earn more money to spend on upgrades you start to see elves that wield katanas and teleport through walls, snipers gliding from post to post, and trolls that have the deadly combination of a minigun and enhanced accuracy. The first time a dwarf teleports through the wall you are standing near and blasts you point blank you realize that standard first-person shooter tactics must be thrown out the window and that the gameplay is much more creative than the genre type generally leads one to believe.
Shadowrun is the first game to bridge the gap between the console and the PC, and for the most part it is impossible to distinguish what platform each player hails from, and there is definitely not the serious rift in gameplay ability that one would expect when pitting keyboard and mouse users against those with a gamepad. Mouse aiming feels a bit loose and at times seems detached from what one would consider to be fine control, which does sometimes significantly detract from the gameplay.
That is, of course, when one can actually get into a game and play. While in other games you can locate a server and begin play in a matter of seconds, Shadowrun falters, and it can sometimes take several minutes to successfully enter a match in progress. This is great for hungry sandwich makers, but not so much fun for those itching to actually, you know, play the game. Shadowrun does support offline play in the form of bots, but like other games that are primarily meant for online play the bots really don't make for that enjoyable of gameplay and oftentimes can get hung up on level geometry.
