Cyberpunk Classic RPG Shadowrun Online

Back in the day, Shadowrun was one of the best RPGs around. Blending Cyberpunk with fantasy, Shadowrun was set in a future filled with hackers, mercenaries, wizards and orcs. Mega-corporations and dark lords of magic co-existed with similar goals. It was (and is) an awesome game. Adapted to the home console system for SNES, the game was a major hit and still demands high prices online.

A next gen video game failed to grab the attention of the gaming community a few years back, but all that may change with this announcement from Cliffhanger Productions.

Here at Cliffhanger Central we have been busy sticking it to the megacorps and trying to go solo on developing the game. So far we have gained at least enough creds to go into pre-production and will kick off our development next month. That being said – if any of you can spare a Million or two, we are happy to help you spend it. But until the money comes raining down on us, here are some answers to the questions we get asked the most:

So, what will Shadowrun Online look like?

Well, it will have a perspective camera in a 3D setting, much like our Jagged Alliance Online game, which we are currently developing. (for a peak at that one, you can go to http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/jagged-alliance-online-preview-a-classic-reborn-for-the-browser/ , who have the latest info from our gamescom version.) So, it will be a decent quality, but it won’t be what some call AAA. The reason for that is simple: We are doing a browser based game. This means anyone can access it at any time from their PC, no downloading, no hassle. But that also means we need to limit visuals. I hope you agree that gameplay is king, so we think the visuals are decent enough.

Here is a very early prototype (with even less visual quality) we did for Shadowrun to play around with camera angles…

What can you tell us about the game?

Well – not too much yet that is going to actually stay that way. Some of you may have followed the discussion we had over at the Dumpshock forum and we continue to get good input from fans. We have also secretly launched SHE – the Shadowrun High-Council of Elders, a group of current and previous editions writers and artists and Shadowrun alumni who have worked on the pen and paper game or had their hands in Shadowrun Mods or community work. They will make sure we don’t stray from the path of righteousness and continuity in adapting Shadowrun to the world of online games. We are going to work closely with Catalyst (American Shadowrun publisher) and Pegasus (German Shadowrun publisher) and may have some nifty surprises for you further down the line.

Enough already – what about the game?

The game will feature two major parts – the action map, where you (and your friends) do missions from stealthily infiltrating a secret Renraku research facility to punching the lights out of a major Aztechnology outpost with guns blazing. Hacking, magic and gunfights are all part of that and will be done simultaneously (so nobody needs to go for pizza while your hacker battles Black ICE for two hours).

The second part will be the legwork and mission preparation. This will happen on a city overview map, where you can try and use your contacts, skills or resources to gain info on the mission goal, acquire blueprints, bribe guards or prepare the right soft or spell for your endeavor. This will be closer to rolling the dice on an action and getting a short narrated outcome. Each of those actions will cost action points (and if you want to get better odds you may want to spend more action points on a specific objective).

So if you don’t have the time for an extended session, you may just want to spend a couple of AP to prepare and make sure you get the most out of your mission when you actually want to tackle it.

For more information, check out the Cliffhanger Productions newsletter.

The Dark Knight faces the Court of Owls in Scott Snyder’s Batman

When DC Comics revamped their line-up with 52 #1′s, there were some comics that thankfully continued onward with their already established record of success. Scott Snyder had already impressed readers with his Black Mirror and Hungry City story lines as well as the Gates of Gotham mini-series, so it was a major relief when it was revealed that he would remain a member of the modern Batman bullpen.

The latest series has involved a mystery that hearkens back to the establishment of Gotham City and a sad period in the Wayne lineage. Faced with a strange shrouded killer, Batman is told that the Court of Owls, a long-standing urban myth, is a real secret society that has been operating in secret throughout Gotham for generations. When he investigates the possibility, he discovers that there is a lot about ‘his’ city that he does not know.

While the killer himself is interesting enough, what I find most appealing is that Batman isn’t just facing one adversary but an entire conspiracy with ties running into the legacy of Gotham City and knowledge that surpasses his own immense intellect. I enjoyed Snyder’s run on Batman previous to the 52 re-boot for many reasons but one of them was that it featured Dick Grayson under the cowl. Many fans questioned this decision (especially given that EiC Dan DiDio had expressed an intent to kill the character off) but it opened up so many possibilities. Gone was the brilliant and near-flawless crime fighter and in his place was a courageous hero who could very well be killed each issue. This was not Bruce who commonly had a secret plan up his sleeves, this was Dick who, while hardly new to the game, was not his mentor.

When DC brought Bruce Wayne back into the Batman costume, it placed a new challenge to writers. Wayne had stood up to Darkseid, fought his way through history and even out-schemed the Black Glove. From this point on, the foes that Batman faced would have to be far more dangerous than ever before. Snyder meets this challenge with exceptional skill by inventing the Court of Owls…

Scott Snyder has teased the secret appearances of new Batman villains The Court of Owls.

The Swamp Thing writer revealed that visual clues to the group appeared throughout his year-long run on Detective Comics and his Batman: Gates of Gotham miniseries prior to his move to Batman in DC Comics’ New 52 titles.

His run on Detective Comics has recently been collected in the Batman: The Black Mirror hardcover, with art by Jock and Francesco Francavilla.

“I had so much fun on the ‘Black Mirror’ run with Jock, Francesco and Dave B – not just issue to issue – but brainstorming and talking ideas that would play out over the whole year, that it got me thinking about my next big Batman story early,” Snyder told iFanboy.

“So by the time we were heading toward home plate on it, I had the bones of this year’s Court of Owls story down for myself, too. I told Jock and Francesco some of the beats and we thought it’d be fun to start lacing a couple glimpses of owls into the final issues. Same with Gates [of Gotham].

“The idea was to really make the reader feel – like Bruce – that the Court has been hiding in plain sight for years, built into the stone and glass latticework of the city itself, tucked into the history, the shadows.”

Batman #4 will be released on December 21.

Via: http://www.digitalspy.com/comics/news/a354045/batman-scott-snyder-teases-the-secrets-of-the-court-of-owls.html

The monthly Batman comic book, along with Detective Comics and Batman and Robin are outstanding and highly recommended, but I must give more acclaim to these two collections by Scott Snyder that belong on your shelf:

Batman: The Black Mirror

Batman: Gates of Gotham