Shadowrun: PC vs Console

[Troll King]

The new Shadowrun game, based on the same dice-based paper-and-pen RPG that produced several other video games over the years, is coming out soon, and this one has the unique honour of being the first FPS to pit PC users and Xbox360 users in direct head-to-head competition.

Of course, people are going to say that the PC has the advantage because the mouse offers superior pixel-perfect accuracy, but here's the rub: the aiming system has been adjusted (PC users would say nerfed) so that the target reticule is a circle instead of a cross. And when I say circle, I mean about the size of a small coin. Your shot will hit SOMEWHERE in the circle. Other factors are present to, in theory, even the playing field. There are other gameplay elements too, and guns aren't necessarily going to be the best options in every situation.

I'm going to be attending a media event Thursday night where the press gets to preview the game and play it, head-to-head, on both the PC and 360. I'll let you guys know what it's like, hands-on. But until then, let's hear what you guys think about this.

[Dameon Angell]

I'll destroy your PC version from my 360.

[K2Grey]

My only experience is widespread hatred of the game on the Shadowrun dumpshock forums over the irrelevance of the game to its supposed source material.

[Dack Falu]

lol aiming with analog sticks

[Troll King]

Having playtested it last week, I have to say it surprised me. They had both PCs and Xbox 360s networked, and most of the PCs had Xbox 360 controllers hooked up to them. Gameplay was fairly even between PC and 360 systems, which was probably due to the game being programmed with the controller in mind. Even on the PC with a keyboard, the front end menus used icons with pictures of the controller buttons. Switching skills and spells during a game is also easier on the controller than on the keyboard as the dual joysticks work more intuiatively with the menu. Doing the same on the PC took a bit longer, making you a sitting duck for a few seconds.

The use of spells and tech in addition to your weapons make this game feel different from the usual FPS game. The minion-summoning spell in particular was interesting, as it conjures a giant glowing beast that hunts down opponents. It got a bit cheesy at one point when one team summoned 3 of them at the same time. Nevertheless, it was pretty cool to see minions from opposing teams going toe-to-toe. It almost made everyone stop shooting for a second just to see which minion would win the slugfest.

I don't know if Microsoft's strategy of requiring Xbox Live membership to play over the Internet will work for them.

To read more about the playtest, read this article.