Message no. 1

From:	John Fox <johnf@*****.EDU>
Subject:	Review: The Shadowrun Video Game
Date:	Sun, 7 Nov 1993 15:59:49 -0600

Hello,
I recently saw the Shadowrun video game for the Super Nintendo in
a video rental place. I checked it out for three bucks and played it on a
friend's machine. Here are some facts and observations. Please note that I
am not an expert on video games.

1. This is an adventure type game where you go from place to place getting
loot, money, meeting people, and apparently fighting (I didn't get to any
fighting scenes) The basic plot is very Gibsonian: you wake up with
amnesia and you have some data implanyed in your brain. The character's
name is also based on Gibso: Jack Armitage.

2. The rules are extremely simlified versions of the rpg. There are a
couple of spells you can learn, a few itmes of cyberware, and a couple of
guns. One thing I didn't like was the strength characterisitc. This ranged
form 0 to 6 but determined which guns and armor you could use. For
example, you had to have a high score to use a SMG. The game also uses
hit and spell points instead of the condition monitors in the rpg.

3. I never got to see the magic or matrix parts of the game. My first
problem was that my datajack didn't work. Next, I had to find three items
so I could visit Dog's shrine. I found a shiny dog collar, but that was
it.

4. Two items I couldn't find were a gun and a credstick. I needed the
credstick to use a phone and the gun to fight the hitman that are
everywhere in the game. As you can see, I didn't get very far.


5. One funny thing was that the game avoided anymention of alcohol. It had
clubs instead of bars. The "clubs" served ice tea!


To sum up, this game tries to capture the SR atmosphere, but does a poor
job. It seems that there are not enough options on how to proceed.
Too much is predicated on finding items that probably only exist in one
place but should be very common, like credsticks. Don't waste your money
on this one.

John Fox
johnf@*****.edu