GameShark | PC | Reviews | Shadowrun Review

One big issue is that the PC version of Shadowrun from an interface standpoint definitely looks like it was ripped wholeheartedly from the Xbox 360 version. Menus in actual gameplay boldly tell you to press the “Y” button to look at your current party of players, the “B” button to cancel out of a menu, and to use the triggers to cycle between pages on the scoreboard. The problem is that while they can be clicked on and used they use the exact same graphic for the individual buttons of an Xbox 360 controller, and the intuitive idea of pressing the “Y” or “B” keys on the keyboard does nothing.

Though those are aesthetic concerns and admittedly minor ones at that, a more pressing concern is that while the game fully supports voice chat at the same time neither a read through of the manual nor examining the in-game options screen points at the ability to communicate via chat text to other players. Chat text has been seen on the screen so it can only be guaranteed that such functionality does exist, but when the mere ability to communicate via text is an undocumented feature it can only be viewed as a legitimate problem. The salt in the wound for many PC gamers is that Shadowrun for the PC does require that one is running the Windows Vista operating system and will not work under Windows XP, while at the same time there are no truly compelling reasons for such a requirement to exist as the title doesn't feature DirectX 10 support and the lack of XP support is undoubtedly going to leave many a PC gamer in the cold.

It's not that Shadowrun is a bad game; in fact the gameplay is at times a lot of fun thanks to the tech and magical abilities, but it was clearly designed first and foremost for the Xbox 360. The lack of Windows XP support shuts out a legion of potential PC customers, the connection issues are more than a bit annoying, and the single-player bot play is at best uninspired. Add in the fact that the game fails to really use the Shadowrun license to full effect and you are left with a decent enough game that very few people are going to be able to play, and one that Shadowrun fans may not want to play--a bad combination.

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