I know this took a little longer than it should to get back to talking about Shadowrun, but it has given me plenty of time to fall in love it, and then back out of love with it. I want to write about what has drawn me back to Shadowrun time and time again despite all my thoughts brought up in the product analysis. Next time, I’ll write about all the issues I have with Shadowrun – and how I would have done things differently …
Interdependence
While almost every online game has “team” modes – very few (hardly any on consoles) involve players being reliant on each other. In Shadowrun, each team needs multiple people to “sacrifice” a power-up slot for a healing or resurrection ability. Good teams have Rezzers and Healers, bad teams have Elves with Gliders, Smartlink, Smoke and the Sniper Rifle. I love knowing that someone has my back if I die, or that sticking close to a particular player is smart because he drops trees in big fights. I like to rely on people – it’s why I like Online Multiplayer gaming, I like that it teaches gamers “don’t always be a dick”. I like that Shadowrun rewards the healer and the Rezzer – I’m bloody awful at killing people but I can still be pretty high on the “team list” by rezzing my suicidal teammates.
