Bungie plays, and talks about… Shadowrun

Halo 3 wasn’t the only thing Bungie’s been playing, it seems. Their story of the day is an interview with the people (rivals?) of FASA Studios about their shooter offering, Shadowrun. Seems like there’s a bit of cross-pollinating going on between the two teams.

As well as a little smackdown. Lead designer John Howard invites the Halo community, through Bungie, to “Bring it.”

And when you bring it, as the FASA devs describe it, Shadowrun will be a different animal compared to Halo multiplayer. Where Halo is focused on fair competition, Shadowrun is about social fragging, notes Bill Fulton: needs strong teamwork, “no visible skill (although we still matchmake according to player skill),” and players can play with the same team for succeeding matches.

And there’s magic in the Shadowrun air. Literally. Bill says “if you try to play Shadowrun like it is Halo 2, you’ll get yourself pwned. Hard. Shadowrun has more tactical choices than Halo 2 and other FPSs, so you have to learn to think in completely new way to use the magic & tech effectively.”

About that cross-pollinating thing: the Halo engine actually was the basis for the prototype gameplay for Shadowrun, before they moved to FASA’s proprietary Badger engine. Having Halo 2 around allowed the devs a feel for what they wanted from Shadowrun before Badger was ready for use. John used to be lead design for Halo as well as Shadowrun, and the FASA game’s concept artist is also working on Halo 3 concept art. It is one big family that loves to “Bring it!” to the field.

Halo 3 wasn’t the only thing Bungie’s been playing, it seems. Their story of the day is an interview with the people (rivals?) of FASA Studios about their shooter offering, Shadowrun. Seems like there’s a bit of cross-pollinating going on between the two teams.

As well as a little smackdown. Lead designer John Howard invites the Halo community, through Bungie, to “Bring it.”

And when you bring it, as the FASA devs describe it, Shadowrun will be a different animal compared to Halo multiplayer. Where Halo is focused on fair competition, Shadowrun is about social fragging, notes Bill Fulton: needs strong teamwork, “no visible skill (although we still matchmake according to player skill),” and players can play with the same team for succeeding matches.

And there’s magic in the Shadowrun air. Literally. Bill says “if you try to play Shadowrun like it is Halo 2, you’ll get yourself pwned. Hard. Shadowrun has more tactical choices than Halo 2 and other FPSs, so you have to learn to think in completely new way to use the magic & tech effectively.”

About that cross-pollinating thing: the Halo engine actually was the basis for the prototype gameplay for Shadowrun, before they moved to FASA’s proprietary Badger engine. Having Halo 2 around allowed the devs a feel for what they wanted from Shadowrun before Badger was ready for use. John used to be lead design for Halo as well as Shadowrun, and the FASA game’s concept artist is also working on Halo 3 concept art. It is one big family that loves to “Bring it!” to the field.