Purchase new weapons and abilities each round in an extraordinary arms race to increase your options and open up new tactics for your team. Gather your team from four different magical races, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. And fight for control of a magical artifact that can shape the course of the world.

FASA, has invited “competitive gamers” from both the XBOX and PC gaming worlds to go LAN the Shadowrun beta on the Microsoft campus. Those interested must apply for the invite via email and state their uber-leet credentials. More details can be found in this forum post on the official Shadowrun forums.

The LAN will be this Saturday, March 13th from 7PM until 11PM in Redmond, WA. You must be at least 18-years old and meet these requirements:

PC gamers:

At least one of the following for any PC FPS:

1. Have played at least one season in a CAL-M equivalent or higher division.
2. Have played in a large international LAN tournament, such as the CPL, WCG, or WSVG and finished with at least one non-bye victory.

Console Gamers:

At least one of the following for Halo 2:

1. Rank 32 or higher on Live.
2. Have played in a large LAN tournament, such as the WCG, WSVG, or MLG and finished with at least one non-bye victories.

Who do you contact to sign-up? Email a-mattwe@microsoft.com titled “MS Gamer Contact” with the following information:

Your real name
Your gamer name
Your competitive game of choice
Your email address
A summary of competitive gaming experience

Features :

• Gametypes—In Raid, RNA Global has secured the area around the artifact but have not yet acquired the knowledge of how to touch or move the artifact. The Lineage, however, has learned the ability to pick up and move the artifact and have decided to raid RNA Global to steal the artifact.
• Environments—Sitting in and around the city of Santos, Brazil, five different areas are being fought over between The Lineage and RNA Global. Each environment will have multiple maps, each with their own objectives.
• Weapons—From the incredibly short-range Katana to the powerful Sniper rifle, weapons in Shadowrun™ play a major role in both tactics and strategy.
• Tech—Cybernetic enhancements and individual enhancements are new technologies on the battlefield but they have already started paying dividends. A properly equipped modern soldier can travel both faster and quieter, gather data at incredible speeds and confuse his enemies in ways the previous generation of soldiers could only dream about.
• Magic—Magic, while often more subtle in use than machine guns or rocket launchers, reshapes the battlefield in ways never before seen.
• Races—The different races in Shadowrun each bring unique abilities to combat. Ranging from the Troll’s hardening ability to the Dwarven capacity for absorbing magic, the race you choose will help decide the flow of the battle around you.