The original System Shock is about to receive a complete remake, which will allow fans of its spiritual heir BioShock to discover the origins of the myth.
Unless you played System Shock at least 20 years ago, chances are even the Enhanced Edition of the original game is a little weird to play today. The original System Shock was launched in 1994, long before first person shooter controls or even 3D navigation were standardized across the industry.
If you’ve been trying to catch the game since then, you’ve probably hit a brick wall directly with your head. But System Shock is considered a classic – not a cult classic, but a true classic – and has heavily inspired the legendary BioShock series. If you want to see what kind of game deserves such acclaim but you are under 38, then you need to play the System Shock remake.
The Legend of System Shock –
It’s simple, really. What we need is System Shock, with all the puzzles, items, enemy placements and everything else that made the game iconic, but with modern controls and menus, so that someone younger than 30 can play without. having to learn how to use a manual gearbox. But System Shock goes a little further, and even evokes the look of an early 90s game.
Nightdive Studios isn’t trying to hide that System Shock is old with a complete rewrite, it’s trying to make that experience palatable to modern palates while remaining as faithfully old-school as possible in terms of look and gameplay.
New generation graphics, but not too much –
For example, textures and patterns are rarely very detailed. An opening sequence sees you sitting behind your desk, opening a quirky laptop, and the objects on the desk are edgy, even the donuts are pixelated. The game almost always dances on the line between detailed and low-poly. From a distance, the corridors look immaculate, with each protruding bump on the wall being made up of a series of entirely modeled polygons, not simple bump-mapped textures.
The dark atmosphere causes light sources to stand out strongly, while illuminating the environment, and each model in the scene casts accurate shadows, making this world believable. The mood and graphics of this modern System Shock remake are unlike anything we’ve played recently. It’s closer to something like Alien: Isolation, thanks to the use of light and the space station setting, but the well-polished visual style and RPG mechanics make it unlike anything else, even the original.
The “new” gameplay –
As you explore the space station, you will fight against robots and mutated creatures, all while talking to you about Shodan, the AI who has full “control” of the station and has gone mad. You will destroy security cameras and monsters in equal measure, as you hack control panels and slowly make your way through this labyrinthine spaceship.
The controls are more familiar to shooter fans than ever before, but this isn’t a shooter at all. System Shock is a hardcore RPG, and while you might play it with guns and shotguns leveled in the course of the adventure, you won’t be able to do it as if it were Doom. On the contrary, you will carefully make your way through corridors full of dangers, actually using barely the arsenal of weapons that you will build for yourself. But all that power will come in handy when, ultimately, you have to confront Shodan.
System Shock, the verdict (for now) –
System Shock is truly a classic, or at least that’s what we’re told. With this new remake, we’re thrilled to finally be able to experience the game firsthand, without having to take driving lessons. If it’s going to be atmospheric and engaging to the end, then it might be a must-see.
Written by Dave Aubrey for GLHF
04 September 2022 – 11:53
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