Shadowrun (1993 video game)

Shadowrun
File:Shadowrun box art.jpg Shadowrun box art
Developer(s)	Beam Software
Publisher(s)	Data East
Platform(s)	Super NES
Genre(s)	Action role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single-player

Shadowrun is a cyberpunk action RPG for the Super NES adapted from the pen and paper RPG Shadowrun by FASA. The game was developed by Australian company Beam Software (now Krome Studios Melbourne) and released on November 1 1993 by Data East.

The player takes on the role of Jake Armitage, a courier who is shot and nearly killed in the streets of Seattle in the year 2050 by a hit squad. He wakes up in a morgue with amnesia. The remainder of the game follows Jake as he attempts to uncover his own identity, the identity of the mysterious figure who wants him dead, and then attempts to complete his mission.

Gameplay

As an action RPG video game, Shadowrun combines both the statistical factor in the tabletop game with real-time gameplay. For example, the player controls Jake, moves him around using the controller, and when attacked, must use guns or magic commands to respond. Some battles within the game require sharp reflexes. This is further complicated by the fact that the Seattle in the game is a tough city - practically every screen contains at least one hidden assassin who, from random locations, opens fire on Jake; the player must immediately find the source of the attack and respond or risk death. At the same time, Jake builds up "karma" from killing enemies. Karma can then be allocated by the player into different attributes, skills, and magical powers.

As the title of the game implies, Jake is described as a "shadowrunner," a mercenary character common within the Shadowrun RPG. Moreover, in the game, Jake is able to hire other shadowrunners as henchmen, though it is possible for the player to win the game without hiring a single shadowrunner.

In interacting with non-player characters, Shadowrun uses an unusual system. Whenever Jake hears a new and unusual term, this word is highlighted, then added to a sort of database of terms he can use. From that point on, when speaking with NPCs, Jake is able to ask them about this new word; only in this manner can a player progress with the game.

The game also includes an unusual way of entering into cyberspace, known as the Matrix. Using a cyberdeck, Jake is able to hack into computers to retrieve information, as well as gain more money, which in the game is nuyen (noo-yen). During such scenes, the gameplay becomes two-dimensional while an icon of Jake moves through cyberspace, fights intrusion programs, and retrieves data. As in the original RPG (and cyberpunk literature in general), if the player dies in cyberspace, he dies in real life as well.

Plot

The story opens in Seattle, Washington, where Jake Armitage (a homage to one of the main characters in William Gibson's novel Neuromancer), is shown being murdered at the hands of armed gunmen. A shapeshifting lupine figure rushes to his side and is seen casting a spell over Jake before leaving hastily as the medics arrive on the scene. Later, Jake reawakens on a slab in the city morgue. He must now get his bearings and find out who put him there. Upon leaving the morgue, a punk who witnessed Jake's shooting recognizes him and flees, believing that the assassins will now kill him too. In his panic, the punk runs into an alley and is shot by a hitman who has come to finish Jake off. Upon slaying the hitman, Jake is approached by the "Dog", a shamanistic totem who gives him a warning before vanishing into the shadows.

The rest of the story is spent investigating the events leading to Jake's shooting, learning the identity of the shapeshifter who saved him, as well the person who ordered his assassination, a mysterious crimelord named "Drake". It is revealed that Jake is a courier who was carrying a program in his "head computer", a computer built inside his brain. The program was designed to destroy a malevolent artificial intelligence, which the sinister Aneki corporation is trying to protect. The company is being aided by Drake, who is in reality a dragon and is behind the entire plot.

The storyline is loosely based on the first Shadowrun novel, Never Deal with a Dragon, by Robert N. Charrette.

Music

Music was composed by Marshall Parker.

Differences between versions

The ROM image of an unreleased beta version of the game contains a much more crude script than the release version of Shadowrun. For example, one line is changed from "morgue guys" to "chop shop guys."

The Japanese version of Shadowrun has a significantly longer introduction than the English version of the game, and also has a vertically uncompressed Shadowrun logo on the title screen. The same script as the North American and PAL versions are used, but Japanese subtitles are added.

Reception

Shadowrun garnered favorable reviews after its release, but it sold poorly, partly because of low shipping numbers.

External links

• Shadowrun at MobyGames