System Shock

*reviewing version 1.1.17082 of game* The System Shock 1 Remake is almost perfect as far as remakes go. It captures everything we loved about the original game and added some tweaks and improvements. I recommend it for fans of the original or any sci-fi FPS fans that enjoyed games like Alien Isolation or Prey (2017). Here are my praises and nitpicks: + fantastic audio quality: the voice acting (some people didn't like it, but i did!), weapon sfx and ambient tracks are top-notch and really well done! + Fancy Retro Visuals: The visual fidelity is great despite it emulating the aesthetic of a super old game. There's a couple spots where the game stuttered and dropped to ~45-50 FPS (executive level and grove mini levels). Otherwise this is a well optimized game with numerous graphics settings to ensure it will look incredible on new machines and run just fine on old setups. + Tons of fun weapons!: I tried 75% of the weapons and they all had great animations with fantastic sound quality. The remake kept all the weapons (i think?) with the various ammo types and I really appreciate having such a wide variety of guns to choose from. + Cyberspace/Cybercombat isn't perfect, but a billion times better than the original: The original game had some gameplay mechanics that aged horribly. In my opinion, the Cyberspace combat was one of them. The remake's Cyberspace was much much better, but nothing to go nuts over. - Lame Boring Final Boss: I won't spoil anything, but basically, you can't die and the mechanics in defeating the final boss aren't obvious. I personally hated the original game's final boss, so this wasn't anything to complain too much over. - Enemies only react a little to being hit: No obvious stagger or pain state. Kinda annoying, but nothing game-breaking. Keep in mind this replicates the old game pretty well, so the levels are still quite a maze to navigate through (a FUN maze, however!). All in all, a fun remake and easy recommendation!

This is an atmospheric and visually arresting remake of a highly influential classic, which leaves the core gameplay largely unchanged. For fans of immersive sims it's a no-brainer, but those accustomed to modern gaming may be in for a different kind of "shock." The remake focuses mainly on updating the most dated aspects of the original, namely the graphics, audio, interface and controls. The game has a unique cyberpunk horror aesthetic which is both colorful and dark, combined with a graphical style that looks simultaneously high resolution and pixelated. The upbeat 90s soundtrack is replaced with a cerebral and creepy score similar to Prey in some respects, with a touch of industrial and metal during combat. The end result is fantastic, and I really could not get enough of the atmosphere it creates. Gameplay wise, I would describe their approach as very conservative. They have brought in a few elements from System Shock 2, namely a grid-based inventory and currency that you can spend at vending machines. But in terms of level layout, puzzles and direction, this is essentially the same 1994 game, for better or worse. This means that the levels are often similar to Doom levels, being somewhat abstract and maze-like. They've touched up some things here and there, but the core layout is the same, to the point that guides for the original game also work with the remake. You'll have to learn the ins and outs of each floor to be successful. This approach also means that there is no list of objectives like modern games would have. You'll have to pay close attention to your surroundings to find and listen to audio logs to give you hints at what to do next. If you miss something, you'll probably end up having to do some backtracking. I think this is unfortunate as it will turn away some modern gamers who don't have the patience for that sort of thing. If you can deal with this old-school approach however, chances are you will highly enjoy this remake, as I did.

I am pretty sure this is the first time I can give a game 10/10 score! I've spent 3 days or 45 hours to beat it on 1/2/1/2 difficulty. Honestly I love it so much that I didn't want to leave the place! I love the combat, I love puzzles, I love sound, music, voice acting! I love level design, secrets, enemies, weapons, graphics! I love the fact that it was not destroyed with modern politics and that it was not anti white! This game is a rare gem and gets on a shelf with other modern classics like Kingdom Come Deliverance, X3, Deus Ex: HR and the Witcher series.

I don't have any serious complaints and this is one of the best games I've played in years. FYI the GOG Galaxy overlay and achievements don't seem to be working. The devs say it's on GOG's end.

Longtime huge fan of the original, was looking forward to this one. The engine and gameplay are generally excellent, the best part of this remake and certainly factors better and more accessible than the original. Faithfulness to the original is also generally very good (especially early in the game, though...annoyingly enough this aspect drops off quite a bit in the late game stages). On the surface and initial play impressions, this remake seems excellent. However. The voice acting is...atrocious. Just awful. Not sure if the devs just voiced the game themselves (always a bad idea/outcome) or used neighborhood buddies or what, but the end result is that the voice acting is so amateurish that it ruins the story immersion. Add to that the fact that a lot of dialogue has been altered (and in almost all cases, made a lot worse - the writing of the original was truly excellent). It can be surprising how badly this ruins the play experience for such a story-driven game. A shame really...with better voice acting and dialogue, this could have been a master remake. Other negatives include the new portrayal of cyberspace. As annoying as the original's could sometimes be, this remade version may actually be worse. And, I think they fell down on the late-game finale sequences. There was a lot of potential for improvement, but blown...the original's late-game is much better. PROS: Excellent engine, much improved gameplay over the original. CONS: Very poor, amateurish voice acting and dialogue alterations. Cyberspace and end-game sequences are generally worse than the original.