Why is shadowrun for the 360 dumped on so much?

[Slate]

I don't understand. Why is shadowrun on the 360 dumped on so much? I like it a lot, It has unique online play. Is it because there isn't a story and very little single player? Or is it because it is based off of a genesis game of the same name that was a great RPG and people were expecting the same from this?

[G-Boobie]

I don't understand. Why is shadowrun on the 360 dumped on so much? I like it a lot, It has unique online play. Is it because there isn't a story and very little single player? Or is it because it is based off of a genesis game of the same name that was a great RPG and people were expecting the same from this?

Unique online play? False. It's a total re-do of Counterstrike, or even more accurately, the multiplayer of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, right down to tanglevines and generic CTF gameplay.

It may also be that the game simply wasn't done when it was released. No climbing animation, missing attack frames in third person 'sword mode', weird glitches in hit detection, horrible match making, stupid bots, etc. etc. etc. etc.

I don't think it was necessarily a BAD game.... it just wasn't nearly as good as the PR people at Microsoft wanted you to think, and it was absolutely NOT worth sixty bucks. Period.

[JLukas]

I've never played the game myself, but I think the reason might be because it was released at the same time as the Halo 3 public beta and it got a lot of comparisons to that.

[Gabriel]

I don't understand. Why is shadowrun on the 360 dumped on so much? I like it a lot, It has unique online play. Is it because there isn't a story and very little single player? Or is it because it is based off of a genesis game of the same name that was a great RPG and people were expecting the same from this?

Before it was a Genesis game it was a pen and paper RPG.

And that's really one of the main problems I have with it. It's a game based on a RPG property, and instead of making it an RPG, they made it a FPS. It really seems all of FASA's great RPG and tactical properties became really lame cookie cutter action games.

[roushimsx]

And that's really one of the main problems I have with it. It's a game based on a RPG property, and instead of making it an RPG, they made it a FPS. It really seems all of FASA's great RPG and tactical properties became really lame cookie cutter action games.

This.

Also, lack of content for the price. The PC game got fucked by requiring Vista and DirectX10 to run (easy to hack out, but then you can't play online...which destroyed the whole point of playing the game in the first place).

I think it could have turned into a pretty solid FPS/RPG hybrid (either a light one like Project Snowblind with more emphasis on action or a middle of the road one like System Shock 2 / Deus Ex / Vampire: Redemption that walk that fine line ever so perfectly) rather than what they made it.


Before it was a Genesis game it was a pen and paper RPG.

And the SNES version came out before the Genesis one as well, playing a bit like Ultima 8 mixed with a bad Sierra adventure game. :(

[swlovinist]

The Snes Version is an adaptation of the Computer version. I prefer the Genesis one. I personally hate what they did with this franchise, which was pretty much nothing. I have already rambled on other posts about how I hate this game. Here is why:

1. Horrible homage to the pen and paper and rich environment...horrible story tie in
2. When you take a pen and paper RPG and make a shooter with very limited customization....lame
3. It is like asking fans of halo to accept Halo if it was thrown into a puzzle game... the whole premise blew.

Bottom line: This game sucked, the people spoke with their wallets, and the company got canned from MS. This game is an example of people in management making poor decisions about what gamers would like to see and play. FUCK THIS GAME.

[Half Japanese]

I'm with you, I don't understand the immense hatred for the game. I understand that it's shoehorning something that is firmly one genre to a completely different genre, but what resulted stands on its own extremely well.

Unfortunately, the whole affair was cursed right out of the gate, meaning lots of people tagged it as a failure without ever giving it a fair shake. I'd be willing to bet that of the multitudes hating on it, very few of them have actually played the game. This public perception basically turned the game into a stillborn, with no new content, a weak community and little hope for redemption. It's pretty sad really, but I've always been the type to root for the underdog and seek out sleeper hits, so it's something I've grown completely accustomed to.

[heybtbm]

Unfortunately, the whole affair was cursed right out of the gate, meaning lots of people tagged it as a failure without ever giving it a fair shake. I'd be willing to bet that of the multitudes hating on it, very few of them have actually played the game. This public perception basically turned the game into a stillborn, with no new content, a weak community and little hope for redemption. It's pretty sad really, but I've always been the type to root for the underdog and seek out sleeper hits, so it's something I've grown completely accustomed to.

Not at all. I completely disagree with the statement above. Most gamer's negative impressions were directly based on the demo from XBL. After the tutorial section stopped and the actual gameplay began, it was more than obvious that Shadowrun was a weak online FPS. It was almost embarrassing when compared to its FPS peers at the time. The fact that it had no single player campaign, yet still cost $59.99, sealed the deal.

To say gamers didn't give the gameplay a fair shake is just ridiculous.

[Half Japanese]

Not at all. I completely disagree with the statement above. Most gamer's negative impressions were directly based on the demo from XBL. After the tutorial section stopped and the actual gameplay began, it was more than obvious that Shadowrun was a weak online FPS. It was almost embarrassing when compared to its FPS peers at the time. The fact that it had no single player campaign, yet still cost $59.99, sealed the deal.

To say gamers didn't give the gameplay a fair shake is just ridiculous.

I completely agree that the pricing model was ridiculous, coupled with the fact that they shafted PC gamers in order to push Live. Also, they made the incredibly bone-headed move of launching the game when the Halo 3 beta was in full swing, ensuring a significant chunk of the FPS-playing online crowd already had their hands full with a much more hyped title. As it stands though, copies are easily obtained under $20, and you can't go wrong for that much, though it's largely dependent on how many people are still playing online.

If this had been launched at $39.99 or $29.99 do you think it would have made a huge difference in the game's success? I'd say not a huge difference, but at least there might have been some downloadable content for it.

[swlovinist]

I actually played this game in length, No I still fucking hate it.

[roushimsx]

If this had been launched at $39.99 or $29.99 do you think it would have made a huge difference in the game's success? I'd say not a huge difference, but at least there might have been some downloadable content for it.

I think it would have been pretty killer if they had released it at the $30 download/$40 retail price point. Kind of like what was done with Warhawk (PS3), but a bit less expensive and with a bit more marketing push. The reduced price would have helped fend off complaints about price/content ratio and in conjunction with XBL availability might have increased the number of impulse buys.

Probably wouldn't have been too practical to do thanks to the requirement for games to support the core system and the small size of the premium's hard drive :(