Hey everyone! Here is a weekly look at X-Box games that never got the praise they deserve!

So today we are going to talk about the ill-fated Shadowrun for the 360!

FASA Studious at first wanted to create a game based of the Shadowrun universe but wanted to turn the commonly known Cyber-Punk Pen and Paper RPG into a full blown First-Person Shooter. The original concept had a Single Player mode but was scrapped for the development of the PC version so Microsoft can promote Games for Windows Live (According to one of the Game Testers known as ext360).

The game was reminiscent of Counter Strike with its round by round purchases which many praised (due to CS’ popularity of course). Its shooting mechanics were detailed and rewarded the player for the most accuracy, it was also based of the Halo 1 engine which led to further praise form the Competitive console community…

But that was just the problem.

The only people that played this game was the competitive console community and believe me those numbers were very, very small. The game featured elements that no other game has ever tried to accomplish in an FPS. Not only could you teleport through walls but you could also see through them too! It was as if FASA was giving you every cheat code in the game!

Well as it turned out so did the other guy…

Everyone was on an even playing field, which made the game so creative. On top of that the game featured some of the best shooting I have ever experienced in a console game. You basically had to crouch to get a good shot on your Rifle but had to rely on your tech and magic, as well as your team, to get you out of sticky situations. Add that to the 4 races you could play (Human, Elf, Troll, and Dwarf) each with different rewards and penalties, and you had one of the most unique and creative shooters of our time!

So, why isn’t it the most played game on Live?

Well this could translate to a multitude of things which I will break down in bullet points:

1) There was only Multiplayer in the game (most FPS games are expected to have an Single Player, sadly)

2) Lack of different game types online (there were only 3)

3) There was barely any marketing for the game

4) FASA went out of business

5) Halo 3

Now while that last one may seem like a blast to Halo 3, it certainly was not. The Halo 3 beta was released a week after Shadowrun came out which practically killed the user-base of the game.

So if you are still interested in this game the only place where people actually PLAY the game is on MLG (I am sure you all have seen the people with MLG in their Gamertags!) They still have a solid fan base for the game but is quickly dying due to no support for the game from FASA (they don’t exist!). People also play in the Matchmaking but because there is no rank in the game (FASA did not want people cheating) it led people to just quit because there was no “reward” involved, although to me a tea-bagging achievement is the greatest reward ever!

From a personal standpoint, although I listed the reasons above I will say this:

PEOPLE WILL NOT PAY $60 FOR A MULTI-PLAYER ONLY GAME!

That was the nail in the coffin before the game ever released…

While it was a fantastic game, sadly, some things are never meant to be. Maybe the world is not ready to reinvent the First-Person Shooter and FASA was just too ahead of the game.

Only time will tell…

Join us next week as we talk about a personal favorite on the orginal Xbox Phantom Dust