I laughed, I cried, I got even. Here's to hoping for more dedicated servers.
I became very excited playing this game initially, I thought the team strategy mixed with the very fresh magical twist was fantastic.
And while not perfect, the graphics were upper shelf stuff, save a few seemingly unfinished animation sequences and the like.
For overall experience with the game, I was pleasantly surprised especially after receiving poor reviews from so many.
I only wish that there were some dedicated servers to play on, as without a GOLD account with Windows/xbox LIVE, this is all you will have access to.
I thought perhaps something was wrong with my game every time I tried to join a game it would say "YOU NEED BE LOGGED IN WITH A MULTIPLAYER ENABLED ACCOUNT TO PLAY". After long research and MANY unanswered attempts at requesting support from Games For Windows, I have come to the conclusion that I will be playing this game alone, with bots.
I can only hope that SMITH & TINKER will grow into their own and do something with this title, perhaps even run a couple of dedicated servers themselves so that those of us who for one reason or another are unable or unwilling to pay another $50 a year for access to other players can play.
This game is definitely in need of more maps and developer support, and while I understand the situation with FASA closing, GFW should have picked up the slack, since it was MS who dropped the ax.
But for anyone who was not into the original Shadowrun games RPG and the like, this will be a fun game to play, as long as you are willing to pay for LIVE, unless you don't mind playing the bots.
For anyone who was an original fan of the Shadowrun Universe, well I think you may be more offended than not with this game.
I will definitely raise my score to a 9.0 or better on this game if I ever get to play it online, like I said, the mix of Tech and Magic are a refreshing way to blow away the enemies.
EDIT (March 27th, 2008):
I have activated my "free month" to Gold, and am immensely enjoying the multiplayer experience. I only regret that I may actually wish to continue this experience if at least for a little more than a month.
I still believe the game could use a little tweaking, but after more playing I am definitely raising my score of this game from my initial 7 to a 9.
This game is definitely worth a look, and if you already have live gold, you will get some good multiplayer out of it, no question.
EDITED Again...
This game has overtaken any other in my favorite games of all time. I can not get enough of this game, it grows on me more and more.
With the loss of cross-platform voice ability in November, 2010, I thought the community would disappear, and I too would lose interest. I won't lie, I miss the vocal banter, and the ability to have a team mates back when using the voice, but truthfully, it has not hurt the community playing it too much, and I too still play it more than any other game.
This game has a certain uniqueness to it that begs to be played. I still am not the best at it, but I have gotten better.
Win or lose, I still immensely enjoy Shadowrun, and if you've still not played it on PC or Xbox, what are you waiting for?
Edit:
Over half way through 2011 and this game is still going fairly strong. That to me says it is a special game. I'm glad I'm still playing regularly.