... developer / gamer

A couple weeks ago I was accepted into the Shadowrun beta. A little late I know, but better late than never. Rather than give a review, since the non disclosure agreement has been lifted for this game I'd like to just share some thoughts and details that some people might find interesting. As far as strategy and gameplay, here's how a typical game goes for me. Keep in mind, I'm no professional (yet), but I can hold my own when it comes to amount of kills per game:

Round 1 starts and I sit there as an Elf contemplating as to what I'm going to spend my money on first. If I know my team will be of similar skill to myself and work as a team I will usually go with buying resurrect the first round in hopes of constantly having more than one gun aimed at opponents nearby. If I know my team will be full of n00blets who won't work together, I decide if it would be better to purchase enhanced vision so I can look through walls, or if it would be better to be well armed with an SMG. Lately through trial and error, I've started to get the SMG first off in that situation.

I've found that in the first couple of rounds, you usually will not rack up many kills, it's after you've gained your mobility and weapons where you can really have the freedom to move in for a kill and get out of there fast. After a few rounds, As an Elf I prefer to have teleport always on hand and assigned to the left trigger. Next I prefer to have an SMG, and a shotgun or rifle armed as the second weapon depending on the map. I will use the top left bumper for swapping out magic/tech, and then use the top right bumper for enhanced vision. Everyone's different, but I've found this to be the easiest way to remember what button combinations to press in the heated battles.

I know my strategies will change sometime in the future. But hopefully I've given someone a little bit better idea of how Shadowrun is played. I know I get tired of reviews that seem like more of an exercise in marketing buzzwords, and I don't think this game needs anyone like me to market it... it's simple... gamers will try it, and it will catch on or it won't.