Developed By: Looking Glass Studios
Published By: Night Dive Studios
Date of Release: May 10, 2013
Price: $9.99
In the year 2072 a rogue artificial intelligence known as SHODAN lost her mind. In her limitless imagination, SHODAN saw herself as a goddess, destined to inherit the Earth. That image was snuffed out by the hacker who created her...
In September 1994 Looking Glass Studios shocked the PC gaming world. Famous for their work on Ultima Underworld, they had decided to branch out into the realm of science fiction, and so System Shock was born. Thought it was never commercially successful, its successful blend of sci-fi action and horror gained a massive cult following. In 1999 Looking Glass partnered with Irrational Games to produce a sequel, System Shock 2. It also fared about the same commercially as it's predecessor, quickly becoming a cult classic as well. To this day original copies are still highly sought out by collectors, often fetching exorbitantly high prices. However thanks to the efforts of a mysterious hacker named le Corbeau, System Shock 2 has now been remastered and re-released on Steam with full compatibility for modern PCs.
System Shock 2 takes place a full 42 years after the events of the original game. As the events on Citadel Station fade into memory, the Faster-Than Light starship Von Braun is on its maiden voyage, and you are a soldier assigned to the military vessel Rickenbacker to provide security during the Von Braun's shakedown run. Things however do not go as planned, and all hell breaks loose. You awaken with amnesia some time after everything has gone south, and it is up to you to try and find out what fate has befallen the two ships and their crews. The stunningly written narrative is presented to you by audio logs and emails left behind by crew members, and it serves as a chilling reminder of how alone you truly are out here in space.
Gameplay-wise, System Shock 2 is quite similar to its predecessor, seemingly being a first person shooter at first glance. Once you get into the fray however, it quickly becomes apparent that LGS has created a seamless blend of RPG and survival horror. The controls may seem a bit strange at first, but they add a whole range of movements rarely seen in the genre. However if you want a more traditional WASD setup, you can quickly remap everything to your liking. Near infinite possibilities exist to customize your character as the game progresses, letting you mold your game experience to suit your playing style.
If there are any failings that I could point out about the original System Shock 2 it would be the limited video options and a handful of rampant bugs that can seriously put a damper on what can be considered to be the greatest game ever made. However the Steam release fixes all of these problems, and has completely redefined the experience. If System Shock 2 is the king of all sci-fi horror games, then consider this to be an extra layer of polish on its crown. If you consider yourself at all to be a PC gamer, then you owe it to yourself to buy this game. There is still nothing currently out there that can match it, and there likely will not be for a very long time. Head over to Steam and buy yourself a copy!
