Shadowrun. A critically acclaimed role-playing game, heralded by fans with a distinct cult following... or so I hear.

Chicks dig scars. Do you dig my scar?

Yes I've never played Shadowrun. Not the pen and paper version, or any of the previous console incarnations. Don't kill me! It's the reason I was given the game as everyone else hid behind protection of their bibles and threw Holy Water at me.

As such, I'm going to look at Shadowrun purely as an FPS in this review and not the bastardisation of classic role play gaming some may choose to call it.

Shadowrun is a team-based online first person shooter. Set prior to the events that shaped the Shadowrun universe, the game sees forces from RNA Global at war with the resistance team known as "The Lineage".

Shadowrun is intended solely as an online game. Offline players are greeted with bot matches and not a whole lot more, so if you're not on Live you might want to stop reading now.

On my first impressions with the game, I instantly noticed that Shadowrun has a distinct Counter-Strike feel to it. You have two teams divided into offensive and defensive sides. Each round begins with a buffer period to purchase items and ends when all team members from one team are dead or the objective has been accomplished.

He's behind you! He's behind you!

Thankfully, Shadowrun comes into its own from its cyberpunk roots, providing users with a whimsical array of fantasy races, magic powers and future technology to keep the action fresh and frantic. Character types include the standard Human, along with Dwarves, Trolls and Elves, each with their own respective strengths and weakness, emphasised by their fantasy history. You are given three equipment slots with which to flesh out your character - giving them all manner of abilities, from teleportation and gliders that see you darting about the stage, to defensive magic abilities to hide away from the action. You are essentially able to customise the way you play to your own degree of individuality.

Shadowrun works great as a team game. More than simply just having a band of sharp-shooting team-mates, it is essential for your success to communicate with your team to ensure that you have a necessary balance of magic, tech and weaponry on your team to succeed. Abilities such as Tree of Life and Resurrect grant a player a medic type role and are typically used by Dwarf players who have greater supplies of essence, whilst those more into all-out force may opt for a rocket launcher and mini gun combo, whilst adding Enhanced Vision to their inventory to hunt down their prey, typically a Troll-type role. Greed never seems to be an issue; if you don't share and cooperate then your team-mates won't be willing to help you out.

You are also able to transfer funds to another player mid-match so they can purchase a necessary item if you're feeling generous.

It can be forgiven that Shadowrun is online only in this day and age where more and more console players are purchasing brilliant titles such as Halo 2 and Gears of War without even touching the solo campaign. Unfortunately, the title has received a wealth of criticism for unstable connections and game searching that left you with enough time to whip up some Peking duck. I know I for one left the game running for over two hours attempting to find a game the first time I went to play online, only to find myself fed up and turning the console off in frustration. Thankfully in the time span that I have had to review the game, the problems plaguing connectivity and stability have been rectified. It is unfortunate though as some players have already been scared off by the initial problems and rightfully so.

Get more BANG for your buck with online play!

As an online game, now the biggest problem it faces in the market is establishing a solid gaming community. Without one the game simply cannot work. When attempting to play against friends who already owned the game, I attempted to convince them to play a match in the game, but nine times out of ten I failed miserably to draw them away from online staples like Rainbow Six Vegas and Gears of War. These same players had been put off by the aforementioned connectivity issues but we can only hope things will change. There are plenty of games out there at the moment, but if you can convince some friends to purchase the game, you'll be set.

As a vehicle to push the connectivity between Xbox Live and the PC equivalent, 'Games for Windows – Live', the question must be asked, how does the game stack up when fighting computer vs console? The answer is, possibly surprisingly, "quite well". The development team have implemented features (most likely to the disgust of our desk sitting brethren), that both aid console gamers and disadvantage Windows users. Xbox players are provided with aim-assist technology that provides a slight attraction as the reticule hovers over an enemy. It is not game-ruining and is only to the level to minimise the advantage of the precision obtained with a mouse. Also, as you move, the size of your reticule increases as your accuracy depletes. This bridges the divide behind the fast paced turns console gamers can only dream of.

Everybody was Kung Foo fighting...

There's nothing overly bad about the game, but it still doesn't feel like a complete package. Overall the game still feels like a beta, you just have a sense that it was rushed to provide support for the sluggish sales of Vista. With only nine maps and three game modes it leaves a lot to be desired. Hopefully in the near future we will see downloadable content (free preferably!) emerge on the marketplace.

As for Shadowrun fans, it's up to you. I can't tell you how much it has bastardised your cherished series, as frankly, I don't care. Fans should take faith in the fact that it is the first videogame to actually be developed by FASA, the creators of the original pen and paper game. Even then, they have based the game in an earlier period of time, prior to the events that formed the Shadowrun Universe as had been previously explored. So, if you choose, you can merely think of it as an expanded universe side-story.

I for one hope that Microsoft doesn't give up and a sequel emerges to flesh out this barebones package. Its not the most impressive game around, and the graphics feel distinctly sub par for a flagship title, but it is fun and shows a lot of promise.

If you can find the game for under $50 it is, in my eyes, a worthy purchase.