Shadowrun was originally a pen-and-paper role-playing game set in a future world where ancient magic exists alongside advanced cybertechnology. Imagine Shadowrun's fans' shock and surprise to see Microsoft, through developer FASA Studio (which takes its name from the original developer of the Shadowrun pen-and-paper game), distill the complex essence of the game into an online-only, first-person shooter video game.

Players are divided into two teams, fighting over a magical artifact placed somewhere in the map. In sticking to the core concept of magic versus technology, players can purchase various weapons, magic spells, and cybernetic implants to thwart the opposition. After purchasing your weapons and abilities, players then compete in one of two capture-the-flag-style modes (the magical artifact mentioned earlier being the flag), or alternately in a team deathmatch where the objective is simply to wipe out the enemy.

Although the game itself is well put together, well balanced, and thorough, it omits several key components. Chief among them are the dearth of game modes - there are only the three multiplayer modes listed above - as well as the inability to customize a particular game session's parameters. This significantly hampers the fun factor. Also, for a game that prides itself on being team-oriented, there's no way to create your own clans (teams consisting entirely of your online friends, as opposed to the random matchmaking done by the game), which is dumbfounding.

There are also connection issues, as it takes upwards of five to 10 minutes for the game's automated session finder to find an available session to join, and no manual session browser, so you get a game where too much has been left out to truly make it gratifying. Shadowrun is enjoyable enough to be worth a rental, it's just not worth a full purchase - at least not yet. There may be additional downloadable content coming in the future that may make this worthwhile.

Shadowrun is an Xbox 360 exclusive, and is rated M for Mature.