A sequel, System Shock 2, was released by Looking Glass Studios and offshoot developer Irrational Games in 1999. The game was a moderate commercial success, with sales exceeding 170,000 copies, but Looking Glass ultimately lost money on the project. ![]() It was later placed on multiple hall of fame lists. The developers sought to build on the emergent gameplay and immersive environments of their previous games, Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss and Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds, by streamlining their mechanics into a more "integrated whole" it is considered one of the defining examples of an immersive sim.Ĭritics praised System Shock and hailed it as a major breakthrough in its genre. System Shock 's 3D engine, physics simulation and complex gameplay have been cited as both innovative and influential. Assuming the role of a nameless security hacker, the player attempts to hinder the plans of a malevolent artificial intelligence called SHODAN. The game is set aboard a space station in a cyberpunk vision of the year 2072. It was directed by Doug Church with Warren Spector serving as producer. Still a good game.System Shock is a 1994 first-person action-adventure video game developed by LookingGlass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. It's been done a lot since and I'm a little non-plussed about it here. (It kind of did Metroidvania things before that was even a term) But I wasn't blown away by the mission design, it was a lot of backtracking, getting items, unlocking doors, etc. This game has a whole lot of "firsts", some of which are a little surprising. It's fun how 90's this whole experience was, and how much passion the developers had for all these little systems to drive the game built around them. The conclusion is a little abrupt but it could have been worse, I'd take a fast boss fight over a tedious one. It really scratches that player agency itch by giving you lots of systems to play around with and obstacles that don't have one obvious way to pass. And there's a lot you can accomplish with the movement-between all the crouch leaning and toggling various cyber upgrades. It feels more like piloting a submarine than controlling a person but it's generally consistent. I like this sort of thing, you can explore the station at your leisure and get a handle on the controls. You're dropped into the station with little guidance. Shodan being a constant presence is great, you get the feeling she's everywhere, always watching you. But I have to admit I've been spoiled by all the innovations in conversational dialogue systems that have came around throughout the years, audio logs feel like a compromise in comparison. ![]() The audio logs here are a first for video games, and it's alright way to do exposition and worldbuilding. The variety is somewhat impressive too, with each deck have a distinct visual style. Everything feels like it's there for a purpose, and the size alone makes it feel authentic. But as far as depicting a decrepit space station, it's remarkably successful. Visually it's in the era of 3D games that couldn't render everything as polygons, so characters and items are 2D sprites, which admittedly looks a little strange. It's rough in presentation, and the controls takes some getting used to, but it's an competent immersive sim with some great atmosphere and level design. ![]() Take advantage of the love Nightdive has given this masterpiece, please, and play one of the greatest PC games of all time.Ī revolutionary FPS that still remains fun today. While the sequel gets a lot more attention, I think the original is a much more consistent experience start to finish. System Shock was in a class of it own in 1994: The level design, the audio immersion and voice acting, the environmental flipping storytelling. Next thing I know I am in the original Citadel Station, desperate to escape. I picked up the remake on release, then opened the original just to, you know, get a looksee and stroll down memory lane for five minutes. SHODAN is actually doable, for one, even if facing her is still a chaotic, confusing mess. The controls are still a smidge archaic, but a lot faster to grow on you. Coming from someone who played the original (but could *not* beat SHODAN in cyberspace no matter how hard I tried), the Enhanced Edition released by Nightdive really is the way to experience this game. Remains one of the most immersive horror experiences all these years later.
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