If you listen closely, you might just be able to hear a confused video gamer struggling to find the single-player story mode in Shadowrun. Guess what? There isn't one.

After the mandatory six-part tutorial, you can only play online against other players or in a simulated multiplayer match against computer-controlled "bots." While not without a few interesting features, Shadowrun is merely an average first-person shooter that should be half the price.

Let's start off with what is worthy. It's the first game that's playable on both the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows Vista, and players on both platforms can compete against each other in online matches with up to 16 friends. Unfortunately, you need to subscribe to the Xbox Live Gold service ($50/year) to do so. PC gamers, however, can play against other PC players for free (Xbox Live Silver membership).

Based on a pen-and-paper role-playing game (RPG) of the same name, Shadowrun fuses weapons, ancient magic and special abilities. Think of it as a kind of team-based Counter-Strike game, but with the ability to sprout wings to glide off steep ledges, teleport to other spots on the map, summon creatures to do your bidding and see-through walls. Races include humans, elves, trolls and dwarves. There's a lot of fiction behind this game, making it even more disappointing that there's no single-player story to sink your teeth into.

While sometimes fun and frenetic, the three multiplayer modes -- Raid, Extraction and Attrition -- wear thin after a short while. Perhaps if the game was $30 instead of up to $60, and didn't cost anything extra to play gamers on another platform, Shadowrun might be a worthy buy for action fans.