System Shock: Enhanced Edition (PC)

Developer:

LookingGlass

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Release Date:

1994

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Systems:

DOS, Mac, PC-98 (EE version: Windows)

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm checking out the original System Shock, a game I've somehow never played. Well okay maybe I put it on for five minutes once and got scared off by the controls, and I did play the demo of the remake, but this is something I'm mostly clueless about. It's a big gap in my important video game knowledge. I mean up to this point I assumed I'd be playing as the guy with the chunky metal headwear from the box cover, but that's apparently a Cyborg Elite Guard. Seems like the player character is the guy in the sneaking suit on the right.

My gimmick for Super Adventures this year is that I'm playing games that have appeared on someone's top ten list and I found System Shock at #9 on PC Gamer's Top 100 from 1996... even though it actually came out in 1994. I guess it's the kind of game that takes a while to win people over.

System Shock was LookingGlass's next immersive sim or '0451' game after the Ultima Underworld games and introduced something absolutely crucial to the genre: a door locked with the code 451. There are many things locked with the code 0451 in many games, but this is its origin. The game probably introduced other things too, I'll let you know if I spot anything.

I'll be playing Nightdive's Enhanced Edition, which is an entirely different thing to Nightdive's upcoming remake. It's basically the same as the original game, just with modern resolutions, redefinable controls, video options, that kind of thing. They likely even patched a few bugs while they were at it. Plus it comes packed with lots of bonus features, like artwork, guides, the soundtrack (in MP3, FLAC and MIDI!) and even an interview with Warren Spector, which I need to remember to watch. It also includes the original version of game and a copy of DOSBox to run it in, just in case the Enhanced Edition isn't authentic enough for you. Very handy if you happen to be taking screenshots to compare versions.

Okay, I usually play games for an hour or so, but I suspect this is going to need a bit longer than that. I'll keep going until I've finished the first floor, or at least succeeded at something. I'm sure someone will eventually want me to flick an important switch and I will make sure that switch gets flicked.

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The game begins with an intro cutscene set in the cyberpunk city of New Atlanta in the year 2072. Ultima Underworld's intro was hand-pixelled but here they've gone with pre-rendered 3D. It was rendered in SVGA quality as well, 640x480. Well, 600x300 if you remove the black border.

This gentleman with the knock-off Watchmen shirt is Hacker and he's just begun unauthorized entry into the TriOptimum corporate network. The narrator doesn't mention why, or what he's looking for. Though she does mention that he tries to access protected files regarding space station Citadel and this earns him a visit by a corporate SWAT team.

TriOptimum exec Edward Diego offers Hacker a deal (off screen, to save them from having to animate him), saying that the charges will be dismissed if he performs a ...service. Those ellipses are right there in the text.

Turns out that Citadel Station is run by an AI called SHODAN and Diego would like Hacker to get into the computer and remove its ethical constraints. It's like he's never played Portal. In return Hacker will get a military-grade neural interface screwed into his brain (and a ride back home I'd assume).

System Shock (CD Version)

Well that's a bit creepy. It looks like they've filmed an actor's hands and composited them into the scene.

Suddenly SHODAN hijacks the narration to mention that with her ethical constraints removed she was able to re-examine her priorities and come to new conclusions. Probably really evil conclusions, I expect.

Here's some trivia for you: the original plan for the game didn't actually involve SHODAN, TriOptimum or even Citadel station. The game was going to be called Alien Commander and take place on the TCS Tiger's Claw from Wing Commander, like how Ultima Underworld takes place in the Ultima universe.

Wing Commander (DOS)

We could've dropped by all the old rooms like the bar and the barracks and seen them recreated in full 3D! Actually they probably would've been completely redesigned and entirely unrecognisable, judging by how Wing Commander's 3DO port (and the movie) turned out, so it's probably for the best that the idea was scrapped.

Amazingly, Hacker isn't introduced to an airlock once the job is done and he actually does get the military-grade neural interface he was promised, along with a six month stay in their medical facilities to recover from the brain surgery.

SHODAN has to end her narration here though as Diego edits this information from her files, removing all knowledge of this entire intro. Man, I've heard some unreliable narrators in games before, but I've never come across one that's gotten hacked, turned evil and then had her memory erased during the narration before.

Alright, I've successfully reached the main menu.

Oww, my ears! What the hell's gone wrong with the music? It sounds like everything's playing with the wrong instruments. I think I'll be playing this with the headphones off for a bit, at least until I get into the game proper.

This is basically the same menu you get in the original DOS version, with a 'Modifications' option bolted onto the top. I'm little surprised they haven't enhanced anything else for the Enhanced Edition, like maybe added a little anti-aliasing to the text.

Hang on... I recognise this font from somewhere. I mean I know they used it in the TV show Babylon 5 sometimes, but I'm certain I've seen it in another video game at some point. I just can't remember what it was, and it's very frustrating.

Okay they actually have added a lot to the options screen in the Enhanced Edition, including the option to turn the enhancements off if you just want the classic experience. The brand new ability to redefine controls is the feature I'm most interested in, though may take me a bit of experimentation to get everything right. A few of the actions it's given me to map are a bit unusual.

Man, this font is really bothering me now. Maybe if I can run the text through one of those font detection sites I'll be able to find out what it's called and then work from there. For all I know there's a thread on some forum somewhere all about games that use this specific font and if I know the font's name I'll be much closer to finding it.

Oh damn... I always assumed that System Shock was one of those awkward old school games that only the most stubborn or talented players ever finished, but there's separate difficulty settings for every aspect of gameplay and they go down to 0! None of this was added for the Enhanced Edition, this is a game from 1994 with a story mode! You can also turn the story, puzzles and even the keycards off and just play it as a pure shooter if you want.

The settings default to '2' but I'm tempted to put a few of them down a notch. I won't though, because when I'm writing about a game I always leave everything at normal or medium. I'm definitely not putting 'Mission' up to '3' as that apparently adds a 7 hour time limit!

Alright, it turns out that System Shock's menus feature a font called 'Stop EF', so that was a bit tricky to search for, and I've managed to find a few other examples of games that have used it. There's Academy: Tau Ceti II, Alien Breed: Tower Assault, Auto Duel, Breathless, Ebonstar, Stargunner, Walker and even Wing Commander's pretty much using it for its logo. So there is still one tiny link between Wing Commander and System Shock after all!

Right, now that I've got the font off my mind I'm ready to give System Shock my full attention. Though first I want to see what the original, non-Enhanced version looked like back in 1994.

System Shock (Floppy Version)

Damn, I think this neural implant needs calibrating, I'm getting information overload here. I don't know if the game expects me to be able to remember all of this, but it's not going to happen.

I can get the gist of it though. There's buttons along the sides and the bottom of the screen that flick between stuff, there's meters on the top, and I can even switch to fullscreen if I don't want this retro interface taking up so much precious space.

Alright, here's what the shiny new 2015 remastered version looks like:

Aside from the higher resolution, anti-aliasing and better textures taken from the Mac version it's pretty close! There's an option to add bilinear filtering and smooth the textures out, but I don't think it's a good match for this art style.

I should get moving and find some pants to wear but I'm curious to see how this compares to Ultima Underworld from a couple of years earlier.

The first thing I've noticed is that System Shock is considerably more blue. It's also got a more advanced engine that doesn't distort the walls when I look up and down.

Looking around is still a bit awkward in System Shock, but the Enhanced Edition has added a 'free look' toggle that brings the game a couple of years forward into the Quake era of first person shooters. It makes a huge difference to be able to turn your head freely with the mouse!

For one thing it's a lot easier to take screenshots of loot when I'm not tapping 'look up' and 'look down' to get my head tilted the exact right amount.

Also, look at all this loot I just found in the cupboard! I've got a lead pipe, a standard access card, a navigation and mapping unit v1, a staminup stimulant, a system analyser v1, a berserk combat booster and a briefcase. No clothes though. I guess I'm supposed to assume Hacker put some pants on before I took control.

It doesn't seem like I can take the briefcase with me, but inside I found a data reader and #2-4601-06.MAY.72. The data reader icon started flashing like I had a call, so I clicked it and checked out my log.

The text's kind of tiny, but I can make out the important bits: the code to the healing suite is 451 and there's some useful stuff under the grating "north" of the healing suite. I've got to remember to look out for some grating so I don't miss out on the treasure.

I also got an audio diary, which is both good and bad. Good because it introduced the concept and inspired games like Doom³ and BioShock, bad because they used employees and friends for the cast and you can tell. Plus there's an annoying sound in the background of this audio clip and I'm not talking about the music this time.

The interface would be a lot more visible if I put the resolution down, but you can kind of see the speaker's portrait on the left, a picture of what they're talking about on the right, and the transcript in the middle.

"Listen to me very carefully. Something has gone terribly wrong on Citadel station. You might be the last survivor. Communications are being jammed. We know that something on board is attempting to harm humanity. The mining laser is being charged for a possible strike against Earth populations. On your level is the office of a Dr. D'Arcy, who may know something about the laser. The office is located near the central hub, on a balcony, with the medical icon clearly visible. When the laser is destroyed, you will have to reach the bridge and stop whatever is responsible for the catastrophe. We believe that the biological labs and security systems have gone haywire, so be careful. If you pull this off, we will be able to get you out alive. Good luck."

Oh c'mon, I already had the door code and the location of the grating treasure to remember and now I've got all this to fit into my brain as well? I haven't even left the first room yet! Okay: the code is 451, there's grating to the north, D'Arcy's office has a medical icon, I need to destroy a mining laser and then get to the bridge. Does a space station even have a bridge?

There doesn't seem to be a journal but I can just check the logs again for a reminder. The game's on-line help system is also reminding me I can double click on things in the world to interact with them.

Plus I can right click on things to smack them with a lead pipe!

This hostile 2D SERV-BOT wasn't much of a threat and I was able to smash him to pieces in just a few hits. The developers decided to drop Ultima Underworld's system of holding the button to charge every attack and so combat is much faster now, thankfully. I just keep swinging wildly until it's done.

Then once the hostiles are neutralised I can search their bodies for... uh, beakers? I gotta admit, I was hoping for something better, but I'm going to just keep taking everything until I know what's useful and what isn't. Or until my fingers fall off because of all this double-clicking.

There's also a couple of security cameras in here and the on-line help feature is strongly suggesting I introduce them to my pipe to reduce the security level. I don't know what the security level affects, but lowering it sounds like an awesome idea.

Hang on, I know Portal's GlaDOS took a lot of inspiration from SHODAN, but is the way you can break cameras in that game a deliberate System Shock reference as well?

There's a keypad over there next to door, but I'm going to keep exploring this little area first before I head out into the next bit of dungeon. I've already found a reusable healing bed, who knows what else could be here!

An SV-23 DARTGUN! That definitely seems worth double-clicking on. And I'll double-click that ammo over there as well while I'm at it. It doesn't seem like I've got any attributes or skills to level up, so I'm presumably equally proficient with all weapons right from the start.

I found a reusable energy recharge device in here as well, so that's both my meters in the top left taken care of now. I'm going to have to remember where this place is and hope that the healing and recharge machines don't run out.

Okay, doesn't seem to be anything else to find here, time to type "451" on the keypad by the door and see what's outside.

System Shock (Floppy Version)

Turns out that there was a HUMANOID MUTANT outside. Fortunately he was about as much of a threat as the Serv-Bots.

There's a pre-recorded greeting from SHODAN playing, telling me what's on each of the floors. It seems like useful information but my brain's already too full trying to remember Dr D'Arcy's office and the grating with the treasure. Also the mining laser, that's important.

Hey I think this might be the exit from the healing suites, which the grating could be around here somewhere.

System Shock (CD Version)

Here's the CD version of the classic game, just to show off its higher resolution compared to the floppy version. Everything's still a lot chunkier than in the Enhanced Edition, but that means you've got a fighting chance of being able to see this hacking minigame I've found by examining a wall panel (bottom left screen).

I don't know if it's the first hacking minigame in video game history, probably not, but it's pretty much what you'd expect. I have to rotate a bunch of + and X shapes to get the current going from one side of the box to the other. Completing the line lowered the panel, revealing a new area under the floor. Maybe this is my grating treasure!

There's still one thing about this interface I don't understand though: what does that monitor on the top left that looks like an electrocardiogram or something actually mean? Is it just there to look sciency?

Oh there you go, it displays energy usage, fatigue and chi waves... whatever that means. There's no sleeping in this, unlike Ultima Underworld, so fatigue is apparently the game's way to make sure I can't leave autorun on all the time. Because that would be terrible.

I went exploring the path under the floor and it was going great until I ran into a Borg drone with a gun, who burned through my entire health bar just a few shots. I'd barely even popped my head around the corner! The guy's very fast and very accurate.

At least I got a death cutscene, showing Hacker's lifeless body being converted into a cyborg spider thing. I only need to see it once though to take a screenshot, so I'll try not to let that happen again.

Fortunately the game lets me save any time I want, so I haven't lost much progress.

Continuing down the path under the floor seems to have taken me into the maintenance tunnels, and it's nice that I can tell that just by looking at the place.

This is far from the earliest game I've played where you get to explore a spaceship or space station in first person and shoot monsters, but it's a lot more sophisticated than something like BSS Jane Seymour or Silent Debuggers.

Silent Debuggers (TG-16)

Though Silent Debuggers does do that thing System Shock does where you get messages as you walk around!

Man, I wish System Shock let me walk as fast as this. You can sprint for a few moments until your stamina fatigue meter runs out but otherwise you move painfully slowly.

Bio contamination 9 LBP huh? That sounds like something I should be concerned about.

I've opened up a side room with some crates in it, but I'm not keen on getting bio contaminated while fishing through them for loot so I guess I'll turn around and leave them for now. I don't even know if that kind of thing wears off by itself or I need to find an antidote.

This game has a very distinctive look to it, but there's something about the colours and angular walls that reminds me of Perfect Dark sometimes.

This particular room looks entirely System Shock though. I found a rear view mirror upgrade so you can see what it looks like behind me as well! Unfortunately the thing updates so slowly that it's too frustrating to leave active. Plus it's probably eating through my batteries.

The maintenance tunnels were a dead end so I've hiked all the way back to the room outside of the healing suites. There's lots of doors here so I'm going to check them all out before heading down that big corridor on the right.

I found a cyberspace terminal behind one of the doors! And now I'm very confused.

It's pretty straightforward to navigate, I'm just flying around tunnels like in Descent, but why I'm flying around tunnels and what I'm supposed to do in them is a mystery. Do I collect the shapes? Avoid the shapes? Why is cyberspace in the 90s always a UX nightmare?

Even the tunnels are confusing, because they're (almost) all wireframe instead of filled polygons. I keep bouncing into the invisible walls. Oh, did I mention that there's also a time limit?

It's hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure I failed to achieve anything on my first attempt. But I went back in, flew into a lollipop, and opened a security lock. My reward: a magpulse gun!

Hang on, I think I've found the grating "north" of the healing suites! So that's something else I don't have to remember anymore; it's a real relief. Plus now I get to claim the treasure!

I'll add the dart gun and frag grenade to the collection I'm building up (see: middle window). There's also some vision improvement patches there, but I don't need them yet and I don't need the side effects either. Ultima Underworld required candles and torches to see anything in the gloomy catacombs of the Stygian Abyss, but these gloomy catacombs have light switches so I'm fine.

I gotta be honest though, double-clicking on all these items is starting to get really old, and so is this music. It's kind of bearable, much better than the title screen theme, but it's been on a loop for ages now.

A little further on I ran into another Borg drone and a turret thing (called a Hopper). I decided to test out my new magpulse gun and took care of both of them with a single slow ball of green each! This magpulse is fantastic, shame I've only got five shots left now.

I was going to go further down the corridor, but I got shot in the back and decided to make a speedy tactical retreat without even stopping to see what hit me. That one shot took off all but two notches of my health bar so any hesitation here would be death. Fortunately I remember where the healing suites are, with their amazing health machine.

SOON

Well I guess I've found out where the video game trope of messages scrawled on the walls comes from. We're near the dawn of environmental storytelling here, and the story seems to be that they tried to resist and then died.

This is a pretty horrific situation, because now I've got to double-click on all these bodies to search them for loot, and then double-click on all the loot individually. Actually, I'm going to go look in the controls menu to see if they've added a QoL feature to fix this, because I can't imagine I'm the only one who's noticed how annoying this is.

Ah, I can map quick pickup to the mouse and grab each item with a single click, awesome. There's also a button to turn the music off! Awesome, I'll get a Deus Ex playlist set up to put on instead.

System Shock (Floppy Edition)

By the way there's a little dude up at the top of the interface which can be used to change how you're leaning and crouching etc. There's keyboard commands for it as well, but it still seems like something I'm going to mostly forget about.

Check out the way the view bobs around though. This is the original floppy disk version of the game, there's nothing enhanced about this, but it still moves in a way that Doom wishes it could do. It's a little more technically demanding though, that's part of the reason it starts off with this huge border by default, while Doom's environment takes up most of the screen.

I was smashing through mutants no problem in this room, I wasn't even that worried about my low health, but then that assassin in the back with the rifle hit me once and that was it. Fortunately I had a brilliant plan: load my last save and then run away to the health machine.

Even with full health he took a few tries to kill, but I've found a new gadget that helped a lot: the sparq gun. This thing shoots an energy beam like a Star Trek phaser and it has infinite ammo. Well, okay it runs off my own power supply, but I can just recharge that. The downside is that it overheats if I keep firing, but I'm a Mass Effect fan, I can deal with it.

A little further on I found another hacking minigame. This time I had to drag wires around until the power got through and the forcefield bridge activated. Not much of a puzzle, but then the game's only just getting started.

Hey, there's a crate over there! I hope it's got a bit of ammo or a single grenade inside like most of the other crates I've found. One time I found skulls inside, which was less useful.

I'm just exploring right now by the way. I picked a direction and I'm heading in it until I reach another dead end. I haven't seen any sign of Dr D'Arcy's office yet, but it could be just on the other side of... whatever this place is. Hang on, I just remembered that I can click on the scenery and it'll tell me.

Oh, it turns out that I'm surrounded by cracked reactor tiles. I've blindly wandered into a damaged reactor and if I touch the floor I'll get radiation poisoning. This is not ideal.

Hah, just nailed this guy with a surprise leaning prone phaser shot to the face.

It wasn't a surprise to him all the other times I tried it, but after a few reloads I finally got him first! I might not have the room here for clever tactics and I likely couldn't dodge his shots even if I did, but I do have the power of save-scumming. Right, time to save and then check the next corner. Or maybe this would be a good time to hike back and heal up.

I wonder what the best way to get back to the healing suites would be now. I've got a minimap but it's kind of mini. I really only use it to tell me where I haven't been yet.

Oh cool, there's a proper giant-sized automap here, to go with this giant-sized level. Bloody hell that's a twisting complicated maze. With lots of exactly 45 degree angles.

The map's not quite as pretty as the one in Ultima Underworld, but I can still click on it to add important labels, which is cool. More games need that feature.

It's just a shame that it seems impossible to clear the whole place of enemies permanently. One time I ran back the healing machine I found the room was filled with mutants. Not helpful! Maybe reducing the security level helps with that. I'm gonna continue smashing cameras and carry on hoping.

EVENTUALLY

I've found the exit lift! Man, it feels like it took me a lot longer than it did on floor 1 of Ultima Underworld, but I'm done with this place! I mean I'll probably have to come back, because I haven't actually achieved anything here, but I'm ready to explore some new corridors for a while. Maybe even turn the music back on and see if it's changed.

Oh, turns out the lift is currently locked by SHODAN security and isn't going anywhere yet. Well, at least I opened up a shortcut here to get back to the main area. The level's circular, so the more of these doors I open, the less walking I have to do to get back to places.

EVENTUALLY

Nothing about this room seems safe, especially with that guy on the left staring at me, but there's a lever here and I'm tempted to pull it. I mean what's the worst that can happen? Infinite robots start pouring out of that machine on the right? It turns me into a cyborg? I can deal with it.

Oh, flicking the lever actually cancelled the cyborg conversion. That sounds good!

This room seems important. My first clue was when SHODAN phoned me up to tell me that if I go in there she'll kill me. Also each of these nodes I destroy drops the security level by a lot. Destroying security cameras takes off 1% or 2%, these seem to drop it by 16% each. I might get it security to 0% with just these four nodes!
Hey SHODAN really doesn't know who I am! Diego actually did delete all the files about my identity. Incidentally SHODAN's image here doesn't quite match her look on the System Shock 2 cover. I blame airbrushing.

Anyway, I blew up the nodes without issue, which came as a bit of a surprise after SHODAN's warnings. I was expecting a million enemies to swarm in. Then I walked out of the room and found an army of Borg Drones lying in wait.

Then after the bullets stopped flying I woke up here! Turns out when I flipped the lever on the cyborg convertor I turned it into a BioShock-style resurrection machine! Though unlike BioShock's Vita-Chambers, this doesn't come with a monetary cost. It doesn't fully heal me either mind you.

Alright, now that I've destroyed the nodes and brought the security level down I'm going to try the lift again to see if I can reach floor 2 yet.

SOON, ON FLOOR 2

Floor 2 sucks!

I haven't even stepped out of the elevator yet and I'm already getting swarmed with mutants.

Yeah I'm definitely starting to get the impression that all the floors are full of bad things killing all the good people. I'm surprised by how different this place looks compared to floor 1 though. In fact with the brown walls and floor-to-ceiling posters this looks more like Wolfenstein 3D right now.

I really expected the strange blue walls of the healing suites to be a feature of the entire station, but this is very different.

Speaking of the healing suite, I need to run back and get some health. I mean I could just use some of my 28 medipatches, but why would I waste precious resources when I can just run back? It won't take long, I opened up that shortcut next to the lift.

EVENTUALLY

I've been fighting a lot of tough robots here and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing about them. So far my usual tactic has been to unload all my ammo on them with no obvious effect, then reload my last save and one-shot them with a magpulse round instead. It's been working well so far, but I've only got the one magpulse round left and I want to save it until I really need it.

It's ridiculous, because it's not my tactics or reflexes letting me down, I just can't figure out how to damage the damn things. I just keep getting Hacker killed and respawned over and over. Enemies respawn as well over time, but luckily it's only the weak ones so far or else I'd be really screwed.

I know, I'll try one of these 16 frag grenades I've been hoarding!

Crap, turns out I don't actually know how to throw grenades. I mean I threw it, I just didn't arm it first, so it just landed next to the hopper harmlessly. Right, new plan, I'm going to shoot the grenade.

Holy shit, shooting the grenade worked, it blew them both up! I may be dumb but I'm also a genius. Shame I wasn't smart enough to get a screenshot of it though.

Damn, the library is locked. I need an SCI access card, which could basically be anywhere

Wait, am I even supposed to be going in here yet? The message at the start said 'something something D'Arcy's office, the go to the bridge', so I suppose I still need to find this office. Actually, I've got a better idea, I'm going to check my audio diaries to see if I've been to D'Arcy's office and just didn't realise it because the graphics are kind of abstract at times.

"Althea, I have important news for the Resistance. There's only one way to destroy the laser before SHODAN has a chance to fire it. We have to fire it ourselves, while the station's shields are raised. The backlash should destroy the laser. We'll need to get the isotope x-22 from the Research level to charge up the shield generator. On the Reactor level, we need to turn on the shields and punch in the safety override code so we can still fire the laser. The laser firing controls are back on the Research level. My notes back in my old office on Research contain more information, and the library there should have the override code. I'll go back tomorrow morning."

Yep, I had been to his office and I do need to get into this library. By where would I find this... oh the SCI card was on an enemy just hanging around nearby. Problem solved!

BUT THEN, 5 MINUTES LATER...

Oops, I accidentally destroyed the world.

In my defence, when I see a button like this that says 'laser control' I think 'security laser grid' not 'giant Bond villain satellite death ray'. There really need to be some kind of warning on this thing. Also maybe they shouldn't have equipped the station with a laser powerful enough to devastate the Earth from all the way over in Saturn's orbit! When the two planets are at their closest they're still 746 million miles apart, so that's one hell of a laser.

Well, at least SHODAN's invited me to the celebration.

Wiping out civilisation counts as a game over, so this seems like as good a place to stop playing as any. Especially as I've also got to give the Medical Demo of the upcoming System Shock remake a try.

System Shock Remake - Final Demo (PC)

It's not actually called System Shock Remake, but I can't just call it System Shock, that'd be confusing.

Look at those graphics! Sometimes a remake will reimagine away all of the charm of the original art design, but this is blatantly drawing from the DOS game's distinctive textures and bold colour scheme. The level layout is also very familiar, so I think they've left that more or less the same as well. The developers got off-track after an engine switch to Unreal and were going to do their own thing for a while, more of a reimagining than a remake. But then they course-corrected, got the original team from the Unity prototype back and went back to a more faithful design, and it looks fantastic. They've really made it work.

Here, have a box full of comparison shots to browse through. I've thrown in screens from the 2016 Pre-Alpha Unity demo as well, just for the hell of it:
 

01 / 12

Enhanced Edition

02 / 12

Remake Pre-Alpha

03 / 12

Remake Final Demo

04 / 12

Enhanced Edition

05 / 12

Remake Pre-Alpha

06 / 12

Remake Final Demo

07 / 12

Enhanced Edition

08 / 12

Remake Pre-Alpha

09 / 12

Remake Final Demo

10 / 12

Enhanced Edition

11 / 12

Remake Pre-Alpha

12 / 12

Remake Final Demo

❮ ❯

Well, the remake is definitely darker, but there are other changes I've noticed as well. It's got a hotbar inherited from Deus Ex and the inventory is a lot more like System Shock 2, which is cool if you like a bit of inventory Tetris. The music's also a lot more appropriately menacing and atmospheric, and it seems that the audio diaries have been rewritten and re-recorded with professional voice actors. Well, except for SHODAN, who remains Terri Brosius. Because she nailed it.

The demo's gameplay's still very 1994 though and it seems to have inherited a lot of the classic game's weaknesses. Which makes sense really, seeing as they've been trying to keep it as faithful as possible where it counts.

What's weird is that the demo has actually made me more interested in playing more of the original game. Partly because the demo crashed constantly on my rig and Enhanced Edition's been solid, partly because it's got the 'interact' and 'attack' buttons flipped and I want to see if that remapping helps in the classic game. Actually I've changed my mind, I want to give System Shock 2 a try now! I've barely played that one.


CONCLUSION

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I thought I had an idea what to expect from System Shock after playing Ultima Underworld earlier this year, and knowing a little bit about System Shock 2. I figured there'd be a lot of messing around with the inventory, weapon degradation, skill points, maybe a bit of space magic. But no, my experience with the game has been pretty straight-forward and action-packed. I have found some upgrades, like the rear view mirror, but so far it seems like the only way you become more powerful is through finding superior weaponry... and the ammo to actually use it.

The game's more of a metroidvania survival horror than an RPG, except instead of exploring a mansion full of zombies you're exploring a space station full of mutants and robots. Though it's not stingy with the saves, and for that I am thankful, as I eventually found myself saving before every fight. Plus even the godlike ability to reload my saves until I got it right I was still struggling to make much progress before running back to the health machine. I suppose I could've used some of those medipatches I was hoarding, but like I said it's a survival horror and I didn't want to use any resources I didn't absolutely have to.

Part of the reason I was struggling in combat sometimes is that certain enemies were laughing off most of what I could throw at them, and I wasn't keen to throw the rest over to see if it worked. I know I should've tried more grenades, or maybe a berserk patch and a lead pipe, but I was still figuring out what my options were. The other reason I struggled is because the combat really isn't much good. Either an enemy would shamble over to me, or they'd hang back and nail me instantly with a perfectly aimed shot that took off a third of my health. Dumb-as-bricks hitscanners with fast reflexes that just stand there tanking shots aren't much fun to deal with. I wasn't seeing the emergent gameplay emerge, and even if I could've dodged their shots there isn't the room for it in the station's tight corridors.

The game's level design is definitely from that pre-Duke Nukem 3D era, where the level's name was your main clue to what the place was supposed to be, but even though the layout's a bit abstract there is a feeling that you're exploring a place. You have an increasing amount of freedom to wander through a simulated space station and see what's in there. That was the hook of the game for me, going around and filling in the map, maybe even finding some loot if I was lucky. It doesn't give you much for winning fights, maybe sometimes an enemy will have some bullets on them, but killing enemies means they're not around to bother you anymore and you get to wander more freely. Well, until they start coming back.

Unfortunately the music made it hard for me to get immersed in the atmosphere, and even though I turned it off it kept coming back on every time I loaded a save! Which was all the time. Maybe it's actually a well-regarded soundtrack, maybe it gets better, I don't know, but it really wasn't working for me. Especially that menu theme. Plus the interface is really awkward, though that's considerably less of a problem if you've got the mouse-look patch, or you're playing the Enhanced Edition like I was. The Enhanced version has quite a few improvements over the original, but being able to refine the keys and look around with the mouse has to be the biggest game changer. It's funny how the classic game's so advanced and forward thinking that it has the option to turn the story off and play it as a shooter, or vice-versa, but it came out in '94 so it has no mouse-look or redefinable keys. All these new quality-of-life improvements can also the turned on or off (or just ignored), so there's room to recalibrate the game to your pleasing.

The remake seems even slicker, and it shows just how solid the original foundations are. Which is what you'd expect really, seeing as so many games have been built on them. This was a huge influence on games like System Shock 2, which didn't start life as a System Shock sequel, Dead Space, which actually did, and Prey (2017). In fact any game where you're exploring a place after a disaster, piecing together what happened with audio diaries, clues in the environment, and writing scrawled on the walls has some System Shock in its DNA. It's just a shame that it doesn't have a message saying 'NEW LOG - PRESS BUTTON TO LISTEN', as I kept forgetting what I picked up (assuming I even noticed). When I finally stopped to check through my logs I found I'd missed a ton of story, and maybe even a keycode or two. Fortunately it keeps track of which ones you've heard. It doesn't keep track of what it is you're meant to be doing though, there's no journal, no quest markers, so you have to have a good memory or a notepad handy. Not that it bothered me much, as I wasn't headed anywhere in particular anyway. I was happy just exploring, and flicking every lever I came across. Until one of them wiped out humanity that is.

And I think I actually was happy playing this, despite everything. I wasn't expecting it to win me over, but it kind of did.

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Thanks for reading! If you want to leave a comment about System Shock or take a guess at what the next game's going to be, there's a box underneath waiting for your text.

Plus if you can think of any other games that use that 'Stop' font, let me know.