Shadowrun Xbox 360 demo today

By Tom Bramwell Published 7 June, 2007

As if by magic. Or tech.

The official Shadowrun forums declare that a demo will be released, er, half an hour ago on Xbox Live Marketplace. So, 2am PDT.

There's no sign of it yet according to Internet hero Kristan Reed, and apparently there's no immediate plan for a Windows Vista version ("We haven't announced [it]").

Update: It appears to be sitting pretty now on Live Marketplace, weighing in at approximately 1.07 GB.

The Xbox 360 demo includes the first three training chapters, bot and online multiplay, the Power Station level, Elf and Human races, four types of magic, three types of tech, and six weapons including the katana.

Specific details are all on the forum.

Shadowrun - released last Friday - is an online multiplayer game derived from the pen-and-paper RPG series of the same name. One of its headline features is the facility for PC and Xbox 360 owners to play against one another on the same servers.

For more on how it all works out, bob your fairy way over to our Shadowrun review, which takes in both versions.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (34) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Mildew #1 5 years ago

    After some of the reviews this has got i'm giving this a miss

  • Tejstar #2 5 years ago

    Online play against PC owners too?

  • bdc #3 5 years ago

    I'm giving it a miss simply because Games for Live is a hideous abomination of an idea. You do NOT force PC users to actually pay for features that has always been free since the advent of gaming.

  • optimusprym8 #4 5 years ago

    People I know who have bought it are really enjoying it so looking forward to trying out the demo and y'know, forming my own informed opinion of the title...

  • TheJanitor #5 5 years ago

    so basically the demo is almost the entire game!

    hah, see what i did there

  • souljacker2000 #6 5 years ago

    pointless game

  • lennon #7 5 years ago

    @bdc - As I understand it you dont have to use a Live account to play other PC players only if you want to play cross platform. (That might be wrong but I am sure that is what I heard)

    And I have to say although the game is scoring low most of the reviews are very positive. I dont usually like online games (CounterStrike was the last one I really got into) and this game is excellent and I am really enjoying it. The point is the game is really well balanced and that there is always a way to get one over on even the best opponents.

    Worth trying rather than dismissing.

  • Dizzy #8 5 years ago

    "You do NOT force PC users to actually pay for features that has always been free since the advent of gaming. "

    As long as you don't play versus 360 people nothing has changed and all is still free.

    BTW despite the low review scores the gamers are super positive and lots of people are playing. Good stuff. I guess this will be a cult hit.
    Edited by 1 at 07/06/07 @ 11:01

  • Freki #9 5 years ago

    I like the game. I like it quite a lot in fact. I have the PC version and already have a Gold account for my 360 so there is no additional cost to me. Also you can play it against other PC players only with a silver account, you only need a gold account to play against 360 gamers.

    The main issue with the game is in fact its cost. It is a full price tag for what is in reality a multiplayer only game. The actual game itself is quite a good team based shooter with the tech and magic options adding quite a bit of depth.

  • SBfistfun #10 5 years ago

    Online play against PC owners too?

    I think you mean "Online play against PC pwners too? "

    Or it would have been had they not nerfed the aiming system

  • lennon #11 5 years ago

    "The main issue with the game is in fact its cost. It is a full price tag for what is in reality a multiplayer only game."

    I have to say I find this argument slightly odd. I dont remember this ever being a problem with the likes of Battlefield games or UT games in the past so why its of concern now is beyond me.

    I paid £29 for Battlefield 2 and I paid £32 for Shadowrun. Harldy a huge difference.

  • menage #12 5 years ago

    I'll try it, still curious but the lack of SP makes this a pass.

  • Darren #13 5 years ago

    As someone above said, it sounds like this free demo is better value than the full game seeing as the retail copy has so little content in the first place! Nice... had absolutely no interest in buying the game but I'll certainly take a look at the demo! LOL

  • Rushy #14 5 years ago

    I really want to play this demo over lunch, hopefully it'll arrive before then but with it being late already I'm worried that its not going to appear for a while :(

  • Dizzy #15 5 years ago

    BTW if you wanne play the demo please play the tutorials first or get ready to be owned like never before.

  • asphaltcowboy #16 5 years ago

    Looking forward to playing the demo. If it's good and I can get it cheap, I might pick it up (but Forza 2 arrived this morning!)`

  • Caimbeul #17 5 years ago

    i wont play it due to the blasphemy over the shadowrun franchise - its an RPG and should remain so.

  • lennon #18 5 years ago

    Oh dear

  • thedaveeyres #19 5 years ago

    A travesty. Give us a proper Shadowrun!

  • Dizzy #20 5 years ago

    "i wont play it due to the blasphemy over the shadowrun franchise - its an RPG and should remain so. "

    Of course only the real SR fans play the P&P game. F*ck computer versions!!! Seriously... maybe stop playing computer games based on P&P stuff altogether.

  • 1Dgaf #21 5 years ago

    Guys, just give it a go. It's free, you can delete it in disgust later.

    If you've ever liked first-person shooters you ought to try this game. With a group of people working together, it's really very good. Reminds me of Tribes in some ways.

  • spookyzombie #22 5 years ago

    It's up on XBL now. 1.1gb.

  • Rirekon #23 5 years ago

    Honestly, this is well worth trying. It knocks the pants off Counter-Strike for a start!

  • Xerx3s #24 5 years ago

    I'm giving it a miss simply because Games for Live is a hideous abomination of an idea. You do NOT force PC users to actually pay for features that has always been free since the advent of gaming.

    They don't. Silver is free and allows you to play online. Get your facts right before you fall into zealot frenzy.

  • Liggur #25 5 years ago

    Silver does not allow you to play online

    [link url=http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/memberships/?WT.svl=nav
    ]http://ww w.xbox.com/en-US/live/membershi...[/link]

    Silver Membership

    * Create your gamer profile
    * Create and maintain a friends list
    * Access Xbox Live Marketplace including Xbox Live Arcade, demos, and trailers
    * Send and receive text and voice messages
    * Join in special Xbox Live Gold trial opportunities
    * Access massively multiplayer games

  • asphaltcowboy #26 5 years ago

    Silver lets you play online against other PC users. Silver does not let you play online with your 360. Xerxes knows what he's talking about (most of the time ;))!

  • kangarootoo #27 5 years ago

    @Caimbeul

    There is a phrase for that. Cutting off your nose to spite your face.

  • jlaakso #28 5 years ago

    I do not get the price issue. I paid full price for Battlefield 2 and I've certainly played it more than most single-player games. Yes, it's useless without online and a good community to support it, but that's multiplayer for you.

    Anyways, really looking forward to trying this. Too bad if the community's not big enough for long term gameplay, but I don't know, games like Tribes 2 certainly held on to a community for a very long time besides neever being massive hits.

  • neosalad #29 5 years ago

    might need to delete cache again. cant seem to d/l this demo!


    i deleted cache about a month ago. seems weird i'd need to do it again.. grrr

  • DUFFKING #30 5 years ago

    loving all the people dismissing this without trying it.

    Tis great! Will be buying this asap

  • BBIAJ #31 5 years ago

    Personally, I'd never even heard of the Shadowrun franchise, I'm not a massive fan of online gaming, and prefer Deathmatches to team games, but I took the plunge with this on the 360 at launch, as I really liked the style, setting, and pre-release hype.

    And I have to say that it hasn't disappointed me yet!

    Far too many people are dissing this game prematurely for seemingly commiting herecy on their beloved pen & paper/RPG baby.

    FASA wanted to take Shadowrun down this route for some time, now they have.

  • Liggur #32 5 years ago

    @ asphaltcowboy

    What games allow you to do this?
    I thought Shadowrun was the first PC vs 360 title.
    It doesnt say you can play vs PC's on the MS Live page, it might say it in the Games' manual (that I havnt got yet)

  • bioreit #33 5 years ago

    @ Liggur

    A silver Live account on PC lets you play Shadowrun against PC players of the game.

    If you have a 360 and want to play Shadow run (or any other game) online, you need a Gold Live account.

    If you have a PC and want to play Shadowrun against 360 owners, then you need a Gold account.

    If you have a PC AND a 360 and you already have a Gold account for one, you do NOT need another Gold account for the other.

    This really shouldn't need to be spelled out this clearly. I feel like I'm talking to my eight-year-old niece...


    Oh and echoing the comments against all the people saying they don't like it, having NEVER played it once in their lives, or that they will refuse to try it 'on principle':

    Jesus Christ people - YOU are the reason why good games die and all we get are crap rehashed versions of the same old effluence year after year.

    Edit 1: Angry typing makes my spelling say bye-bye
    Edited by 1 at 08/06/07 @ 11:47

  • Liggur #34 5 years ago

    @ bioreit

    No need to be condescending about it.

    I just didnt know that Live Windows also had Gold and Silver levels, as Im not interested in PC Live.