Shadowrun, for the uninformed, is a pen-and-paper game in the style of Dungeons and Dragons, but with a very futuristic and dark setting. It blends technology and the reemergence of magic and fantasy races into the modern world. It's a very compelling world that holds a great deal of intrigue and infinite possibilities. With such a lush and inventive role-playing game at their fingertips, what could the new development team make but the most natural of transitions? Shadowrun will be on the Xbox 360 and the PC, and it will be reincarnated as a first-person shooter.
The game will be bringing a few pieces of its source material's flavor, with technology and magic becoming a large strategic element to the game. The two forces will be opposing each other, thus the more magic your avatar has the less technology he or she can use. In the vein of technology, characters can "equip" (if the game follows the setting, it would likely be a cybernetic implant) a visual aid which allows them to see heat signatures through walls. Tech heads could also whip out their handy glider and swoop into or out of battle in a floating maneuver somewhat like a horizontal jetpack. On the opposing side, magic users can conjure a magical tree that heals all within a radius. Budding magic could also teleport short ranges, appearing instantly about ten feet in a direction of their choosing, including up through floors. Finally, with enough skill, magic users can even revive fallen comrades on the field.
CCG writes - "It’s pretty crazy to see how far video games have come since they’ve been commercially available in 1972. From 2D 8-bit games of the past to massive 3D games containing trillions of polygons. Although I was born in the 90s, I’ve played many games that originated from the 70s and 80s. Jetpac in particular came out in 1983 on the ZX Spectrum by the company we know as Rare. I did not have a ZX Spectrum, but I was introduced to the game in Nintendo’s Donkey Kong 64, as it was a minigame contained in said entry of the Donkey Kong franchise. The goal of Jetpac is to fly your little astronaut around a 2D plane collecting pieces of your ship, and then fuel to fly away. Various aliens would try to ram into you, so armed with a blaster, you would defend yourself. This would pretty much repeat until you lose all your lives. Believe it or not, this was a critically acclaimed game way back in the 80s."
Yami from Twinfinite writes: "There’s a neat little level editor also revealed and while I didn’t know the original game, Jetpack 2 looks like it can be a fun time for newcomers as well as, I suppose, a blast from the past for old fans. It’s listed as having a release date of Q2 2014. Check out the trailer above and Steam Greenlight it here!"
A video bulletin of some of last month's retro gaming news.
This month’s episode takes a look at the Turbo Everdrive for the PC Engine, a sequel to DOS title Jetpack, a new release for the Atari Jaguar (kind of) and a host of ports…
i hope they do this right...i was disappointed that it was announced as a FPS.
never should have gone in this direction. maybe they will put a heavy infuence of RPG elements into the mix and make it more like the way oblivion tackles rpgs.
I think it looks really good, and I'm looking forward to finding a good balance of tech and magic.
They really dropped the ball when they made this a FPS. This should have been a strait RPG , anybody that plays Shadowrun or used to play Shadowrun knows it has one of the most interesting core stories in modern science fiction. This coulda been a huge expandable franchise. My god if they had the money to make it a MMORPG , the sky would be the limit if the game was done well. At this point I am extremely unexcited about this title and will wait and see what becomes of it. Be aware Shadowrun fans that the company that purchased the license from FASA has put a disclaimer on there site basically saying this game has nothing to due with the Shadowrun canon but the name. Later
I am just sitting back and waiting for the preview and review on this one