For a title hyped as being Microsoft’s premiere game in the new unified Xbox 360/Windows Vista Live service, Shadowrun had very high expectations. It was for that reason that we approached the title with great caution (anyone remember the over-hyped Fable?). What we found was a mediocre game wrapped up in the premise of a first person shooter, with RPG elements tossed in. Don't get us wrong, there are a lot of things to like in Shadowrun, but sadly as an overall package it fails to impress. Technically, artistically, and in terms of gameplay it is a mess. The only thing that brings it up is how interesting the game's core really is.

The setting of the game is taken from the tabletop RPG of the same name. However, the major difference is that the RPG is set in 2070 whilst the game is set in 2031, just a few years after magic is released back into the world. This is a great setting for the game and could’ve really provided an interesting backdrop for a storyline. But sadly, the only lore and hints at the game’s universe are in the small manual and the training levels.

Perhaps one of the coolest parts about this game is the combination of magic and technology. There is just something so badass about teleporting and flying around a map whilst cutting down anything that gets in your way with a samurai sword. Or becoming a massive troll with a huge chain gun and mowing down anything that moves.

The cool factor increases when you are playing with a good team. As the game plays in a best-of-eleven round format, the first few rounds are spent frantically buying magic spells and tech (which are not lost when you die) and trying to create some sort of move set in the three slots you are assigned. A good team spreads out the spells and classes they are using in order to be a more effective killing unit, i.e. getting an elf to become a healer, tanking with a troll, and so on. A good team will work dynamically, creating move sets to combat what the other team are using, effectively turning the game into a rock-paper-scissors affair.

This rock-paper-scissors turns into a problem when you find that you are losing a match simply because you weren’t using the right rock to combat the enemy’s scissors. This wont be immediately apparent however, as it’s so fun to teleport round a map, waste someone with a troll, or exploit the healing trees. But after a few rounds the novelty wears off, especially with the less-than-satisfying weapons.

Guns are hideously inaccurate, causing the “Smart-Link” technology to almost be essential if you want to hit somebody. Aside from a headshot with the sniper rifle, guns are very underpowered and just plain lacking in impact. At times you wonder if you are actually firing a gun, or just a high powered paintball marker. Sure, the rocket launcher does a lot of damage, but it costs a crippling 5000 nuyen and only comes with one round.

The weapons are designed to prevent a superior player from just mowing down an opponent with a headshot and destroying the body with another, but what is creates damages the core element of arena FPS games – the shootouts. Instead you have to hope that your group of three spells is stronger than the enemy’s and you have enough time to empty a whole clip into his body before you get attacked by more enemies. This proves to be tiresome after the first 20 times. Essentially Fasa Studios created an RPG instead of the shooter it was claimed to be.

The game features little to no customisation beyond selecting your character class and move set. There is no way to change the appearance of your dwarf or even change the number of rounds you wish to play. What makes matters worse is the horrible semi-cell shaded art design and terrible movement animations. When you climb a ladder your character freezes in spot and just floats up it, and in the modern age of gaming, you expect just a little more than that. The complete lack of a physics engine is also frustrating, especially when your character appears to have little to no gravity. It’s just plain ugly.

The matchmaking is average at best, with it taking us up to 20 minutes at times to find a match (we're not exaggerating here; one match actually took 20 minutes to find). However, once in a match there was almost no lag, which was one of the redeeming factors. Of course, no lag should be acceptable, since the cheap-looking, poorly animated characters have a meagre nine maps on which to play, and essentially two-and-a-half modes to play in.

Releasing a multiplayer-only game with only nine maps and no choices apart from cleverly renamed Team Slayer, Capture the Flag, and Capture the Flag (but only one team gets to try) isn’t just boring, it’s also insulting. Add to that the fact that you can’t even play every mode on every map and you wonder why, that in this day and age, the developers didn’t think to add more maps or basic customisation to make up for it.

The other thing that got us was the severe lack of PC players. In all our time playing the game we played a grand total of one PC gamer, and for the premiere game of the unified Live service, it's not a good thing when you start to wonder if you will ever get those cross-platform achievements.

A slight cushioning to the downfalls of this game is the price: it’s relatively cheap. As long as shooter fans don’t expect a good Counter-Strike style, skill based shooter and RPG fans don’t expect a comprehensive RPG combat system, you should still find at least something fun about playing this very average game.