Since I've been ousted to a degree on Blogcritics, let's talk serious RPG gaming versus online shooters.

As a professional author, I wrote three of the Shadowrun novels (Preying for Keeps, Headhunters, and Run Hard, Die Fast). I know the Shadowrun universe from the pen-and-ink game and from pulling on the skins of characters for the novels I wrote. Shadowrun, the RPG, is all about running for your life through the shadows that make up the world of 2050. Players sign on with a shadowy Mr. Johnson, and agreed to achieve a certain assignment for a specified amount of money. The players want the money to upgrade their personal weapons systems and/or magical abilities.

In the novels I wrote, the characters inevitably ran up against harsher circumstances than they believed they would, and had to run for their lives against superior forces without getting blackmailed by someone else who was using their efforts as a smokescreen for more duplicitous undertakings. That's the element I loved that's missing from this computer/console game. There just aren't any real stakes, no mysteries, no bad guys that you learn to hate and have to outsmart.

A lot of the game product designed by FASA included twists and turns, and surprises for the player. No one knew how a "run" was going to turn out until the last bullet was fired for the last spell was cast. That was one of the things that drew the players to the game. In all the game product, there was even a shadowy "bulletin board" then held rumors, half-truths, and outright lies for the players to consider, fear, or use against other players.

Microsoft's version of the game is beautiful - absolutely a stunning visual treat. From the opening sequences to the training sessions, the game is so well choreographed that I wanted to see the movie. If you watch those sequences and training sessions, it sounds like there is a solo campaign ahead. But those well-done pieces work against the finished product in its present incarnation. They really highlight what's missing in this game.

The game environment provides well laid out an artfully executed levels of play. There are plenty of hiding places, ambush spots, and interesting sights to see - the first few times you see them. After you play them over and over again, everyone knows where those hiding places an ambush spots are. And the interesting sites become tedious and leave you wanting more.