New Shadowrun details from CES 2007

CES 2007 has brought forth more details regarding Microsoft and FASA Interactive‘s upcoming Shadowrun game, shedding some light on the game’s multiplayer features as well as revealing a few more in-game abilities for players to tinker with.

First of all, multiplayer is definitely the name of the game in Shadowrun. Those who want to play solo only have two options: play with bots or repeat the tutorial stage over and over. It supports up to 16 players on any combination of computers and consoles via Microsoft’s Live Anywhere service, and as with Xbox Live, PC users will have to pay a monthly fee to play games over Live Anywhere.

According to reports from IGN, Shadowrun has only two multiplayer modes right now: Raid and Extraction. Microsoft representatives said that these two modes are finalized, although more modes may be added at a later date. This news comes as a bit of a downer, actually. For a game that is geared almost 100% towards multiplayer action, two modes just doesn’t seem to be enough to ensure Shadowrun‘s longevity.

The depth and amount of character customization available to players add quite a bit of variety to the game, though, as well as the multitude of strategies that are involved in picking which abilities to go with and how best to use them. Microsoft also revealed a few new abilities and techniques to the IGN staff, including a Demon Hunter that you can summon and order to hunt down your enemies, the Strangle Vines spell which ensnares your target, and the Smoke ability – essentially the Shadowrun version of x-ray vision.

While all of these new details have made us even more excited to see exactly what Shadowrun has to offer (like its non-TrueSkill matchmaking system), IGN also reported that Shadowrun has slipped from its previously scheduled “early 2007” release into “spring 2007.” The delay is disappointing, but the time could be used by the developers to add even more features – and hopefully more multiplayer modes – to the game.

Via IGN

CES 2007 has brought forth more details regarding Microsoft and FASA Interactive‘s upcoming Shadowrun game, shedding some light on the game’s multiplayer features as well as revealing a few more in-game abilities for players to tinker with.

First of all, multiplayer is definitely the name of the game in Shadowrun. Those who want to play solo only have two options: play with bots or repeat the tutorial stage over and over. It supports up to 16 players on any combination of computers and consoles via Microsoft’s Live Anywhere service, and as with Xbox Live, PC users will have to pay a monthly fee to play games over Live Anywhere.

According to reports from IGN, Shadowrun has only two multiplayer modes right now: Raid and Extraction. Microsoft representatives said that these two modes are finalized, although more modes may be added at a later date. This news comes as a bit of a downer, actually. For a game that is geared almost 100% towards multiplayer action, two modes just doesn’t seem to be enough to ensure Shadowrun‘s longevity.

The depth and amount of character customization available to players add quite a bit of variety to the game, though, as well as the multitude of strategies that are involved in picking which abilities to go with and how best to use them. Microsoft also revealed a few new abilities and techniques to the IGN staff, including a Demon Hunter that you can summon and order to hunt down your enemies, the Strangle Vines spell which ensnares your target, and the Smoke ability – essentially the Shadowrun version of x-ray vision.

While all of these new details have made us even more excited to see exactly what Shadowrun has to offer (like its non-TrueSkill matchmaking system), IGN also reported that Shadowrun has slipped from its previously scheduled “early 2007” release into “spring 2007.” The delay is disappointing, but the time could be used by the developers to add even more features – and hopefully more multiplayer modes – to the game.

Via IGN