Packed with orcs and elves, you might fear that Shadowrun is a foray back into the world of fantasy.

But it comes with a nice "X Men"-esque twist: it’s set in the future, at a time when magic has been rediscovered as a weapon, leaving the entire world battling for control of its powers.

Leading the resistance against a nefarious group wanting to use magic for evil, a coalition called the Lineage bands together and the fight begins.

Shadowrun plays out as a first-person shooter, which might surprise veteran gamers who remember the original game of the same name 20 years ago, which was an old-school role-playing title.

Much like Halo 2, (and probably many games in the coming months), Shadowrun is a Vista-only game. This has had gamers fuming on internet message boards, angry that it’s shutting out the vast majority of players, and accusations that it’s a ploy to force PC users to upgrade to the new operating system.

So straight away it loses a star for compatibility issues, but for those who have Vista, how does it play? Well, before we mention the gameplay, it should also be noted that there’s no single player mode: this is strictly online gaming. However, once you get started (and you might find it takes a little longer than you hoped because of delays on the servers) you’ll find a fun, if rather vacuous, offering.

Shadowrun attempts to integrate an element of role-playing with the typical first-person shooter. You choose your character from the familiar list, spend money on upgrading the weapons he or she uses, and you can make use of all manner of twisted magic. While it’s a welcome idea, it doesn’t quite come to fruition in the gameplay.

The main problem with Shadowrun is the lack of any real feeling of achieve ment. There are three game types, each with a slightly different style of gameplay, and a nice mix of conflicts, but it’s often tricky to find consistency in the flow of the action.

Some battles are great, while others don’t play so well, and that can be a little irritating. However, it’s a nice idea that you can play against Xbox 360 players, and this kind of cross-platform gaming will hopefully become a standard soon.

It looks fantastic in places, with the fantasy critters of yore brilliantly melded with a dystopian South American urban setting, but the characters are a little lacking in lustre. However, apart from the occasional glitch, which is maybe to be expected in a game that depends so heavily on being online, the presentation is solid and smooth.

If you can forgive the fact that it runs only on Vista, and the lack of a single-player mode, there’s lots to recommend in Shadowrun. However, in all it feels less like a finished article that demands immediate attention and more like just the beginning of a franchise that could get better next time around.

Vista compatible: Yes