Shadowrun

In addition to renting Bobby, I also rented Shadowrun for the XBox 360. When Nick brought his XBox 360 over for the bachelor party, I had the opportunity to watch him play the demo for the game. From what I saw, it looked pretty cool. Before jumping in and buying the game, I took the opportunity to rent the title. I have played through the six training sessions and have played a few multi-player games with computer bots. So far, I would submit the following thoughts:

Pros

• While not role-playing, it has enough elements to be passable.
• I appreciate the magic/tech enhancements and how they make combat fun. Nothing like having a machine gun, but also having the ability to fly and pass through walls. You don't usually expect that.
• Races allow you to pursue RPG-like classes. Elves make good healers, Trolls good fighters, Dwarves actually have some thief-like abilities.
• Matches consist of a series of games, so one match can take some time. You earn money for doing good stuff and you can buy enhancements. It's a unique system.

Cons

• As many folks have commented, there is no campaign mode. Given the deep RPG background of the Shadowrun game, it would seem to cater itself to a campaign mode.
• For $60 new, you don't get a whole lot of variety. Nine boards, 4 races, eight weapons and various enhancements. I can see this game getting old after awhile and it doesn't seem to warrant the price tag.
• Switching between magic and tech enhancements can be confusing and time consuming. You also only have 10 seconds between rounds to buy enhancements. I wish you could modify this.

Overall, this is a game that I might buy when it comes down from its initial price tag. I can see paying $30 for a used copy, but not $60 for a new copy.