OK, so I guess everyone hated this game. Why? And do I really need Windows Vista to run it?

I'll let others handle the first part, but if you're asking about Vista, you probably already know you don't actually need Vista to run it. It's possible to tweak a single setting somewhere and in so doing enable the game to happily run on XP.

Happily is not a word I associate with this game.

My gaming group keeps waiting for the price on the 360 version to come down so we can indulge in vivisection of it's short comings.

Lack of any sort of single player=Completely lame IMO.

Plus you can teleport, jeebus leave that to Portal damnit!

The game does run on XP, with minor issues. However, you don't want that bad mojo, friend. There is no shadowrun in what you seek, just pain...

If that ominous warning didn't frighten you off, I'll just have to expound.

The game is set in 2018, or thereabouts. It's basically Counter-Strike with elves. There are no orks, and all the races have special abilities, like elves regenerate and have the fewest hit points, dwarves have anti-magic fields and so on. The game was released basically as betaware (because they knew the ax was following, and didn't have time to wrap up the job). It has something like 8 maps and no single player at all. It has a number of documented bugs. Since FASA disappeared shortly after release, we have been guaranteed there will be no new maps, no patches. What you see is what STABS YOU IN THE EYEBALLS (or WYSIWSYITE as they say in IT circles). Because it is getting no support, people are dropping it, and since it's multi-player only, that means you'll be playing against bots, unless you get a group of friends drunk enough to consent (remember, passed out counts as consent!)

Like I said, stay away. I'd consider buying it if I saw it for like $2, but I'd store it in a lead box in the garage, well away from my other games.

No.. Orks?! Are you serious! Ork's are clearly my favorite meta type!

Not orks. No shadowruns, for that matter. It's a corporate team against what are basically 'homegrown terrorists' lead by immortal elf scum competing, literally, for a magic flag. No decking either. Nor rigging. Nor astral space. And did I mention people can be brought back from the dead and can teleport?

So.....

Quick question. If it weren't for the SR name, would the game be any good?

hell no, call it anything else and it would still suck, it just would not get the suck on our favourite franchise . . a rose by any other name . .

My understanding is that it wasn't a fatally flawed game design. It's just that it had zero support post launch and FAFSA went down like a bunraku parlor... anyways. It might have turned out to be a decent game if they had a dedicated team patching known issues and dedicated to balancing gameplay and...

Ah who am I kidding, to hell with this game.

compare this game to Counterstrike or 'UT1 or Quake . . even then it gets poor ratings when it comes to maps and play-modes and the such . .
the only thing it MIGHT be better at is graphics . . but if all a game does is look pretty, it ain't worth the time spent installing it . . go look at some nice pictures or movies downloaded legally for free . .

That's what I figured even if the hype machine has been working overdrive on this one.

Hmm... In my estimation, the high point of the game was that I got to play a good SR4 Shadowrun game on their official video game forums.

That would be about it.

The very next day after the Shadowrun video game was release Microsoft announced they had closed down the FASA team/department. The game had not been out for even a full day before the people producing it were shut down. I had always thought it was one of the dumbest things FASA ever did to split their gaming licenses up like they did; that is why you will not see WizKids/Catalyst marketing a computer version, and I think a media version, of Shadowrun. Now we are at the whim of Microsoft to release any of the old FASA products via a computer game.

Technically, Shadowrun for PC/XBox was released May/June, depending on where you live, and FASA Studios was shut down in Sept.

It's not a Shadowrun game. If you squint real hard, it loosely resembles SR, but... <shrug>

As for the game itself... It's not half bad. The magic aspect of it made for a very different style of FPS. I had a good deal of fun with it for a couple weeks.

Thast said, it has what are IMO two fatal flaws...

1) No campaign mode. Not even a short one. All it has is a few tutorials.

2) No split screen play on the 360. WHich means I can't have a couple buddies come over and go to town. If we could, this game might have gotten a bit more play, as a couple of us did have fun with it. But neither of us is gonna sit at home and play online with each other. We'd rather hang out in person (and so we can punch each other when we get cheesy )

Bull