System Shock® 2 (1999)

Hello. I first play this game back in 1999. I was addicted right away! I was nineteen years old then. Now I'm 36, and played last night , no lights with headphones on. Still scare the shit out of me, and I have been in ISAF forces in Afghanistan for 3 years :D Game is great, I love it. Thanks, and pray the Lord and pass the ammo! -Staff sergeant (SSG) E-6

System Shock 2 remains a stunning example of what a PC game is supposed to be. It offers you choice, terror, and an unforgettable experience that will draw you back to it again and again. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I haven't played it in probably 10 years, due to a lost disc, but having spent a few hours with it again tonight, I find that I continue to be fascinated by it. You cannot throw money at this masterpiece fast enough.

I've herd so much about this game recently, I thought it would be great. It's far from it. The bad guys thus far are just laughable. They remind me of those goofy people in Serious Sam - you know, when the programers put their images on NPC as easter eggs. This game takes a lot just to learn all you need to play it; it is over-complicated, and just not worth the effort. If you know this game, and want the nostalgia, then GOG has granted you a boon. It is otherwise seriously out-dated, and can be summed up as another type of boon: 'Boon as in, "Baboon."

I recall when first playing this game. It took me a little while to get the hang of the controls and mechanics and I didn't have much of a high expectation. Several days later, I could not accept this game even ends. It had every part of my mind satisfied. Story, mechanics, progression, pace, rewards. the acting, to name a few, were almost perfect, if NOT perfect. I can just go on, and on. And today. in this contemporary time, this game is appreciated even more for what it offered me. It's one of the very few games that gave me a guilty pleasure of terror, and relief, while offering so many different ways to solve a task and that sought-after endorphin rush of achievement. This game defines why I love games.

Simply put, the best game ever - and it traumatises me just as badly as it did on release. Overwhelming, terrifying but ultimately fair, it is a reminder that the greatest games are more than a collection of mechanics - they are works of art. Buy this game.