System Shock® 2 (1999)

The most anxious gameplay I've ever experienced. System Shock 2 is an iconic FPS with RPG and horror elements that are tied in this package incredibly well. It also includes a great story that has been told with interactive storrytelling and environmental clues (which became pretty much a standard for the "Shock" games since then).

I had already played Bioshock and I was aware of its status as the "spiritual succesor" to System Shock. But never got the chance to play it and my thinking process was: "If its like Bioshock, why play it? I'll keep playing Bioshock" Oh, how wrong was I. When GOG gave the game for free some time ago, I took the chance to play it and see what was all the fuss. Since I didn't played the game when it launched, my view of the game wasn't coloured by nostalgia. After finishing it, it became one of my favorite games of all time. It made me notice just how hollow Bioshock really was in comparison. I was enthralled by the games setting. The Von Braum was eerie and claustrophobic. The sound design is superb and the RPG elements are surprisingly deep. Playing on Hard made specialization meaningful. You can't become an expert in every aspect of the game. You have to compromise. If you try to upgrade everything to become a "Master of All", you can get to a point where you can't progress any further since the game becomes too difficult. As I mentioned, the sound design is spectacular. It's probably my favorite aspect of the game. It's foreboding and creepy. It makes the game feel almost like a survival horror. Hearing the enemy before you can see them is an unnerving experience. You can witness this game philosophy in games like Alien: Isolation and, to a lesser degree, Dead Space where the emphasis on atmosphere through sound design is the foundation of their creepy settings. It's a wonderful game and a must buy for anyone who dares to call themselfs a gamer. One of the touchstones of the industry that sits on the apex of game design along side masterpieces like Deus Ex, Thief, Half-Life, Ultima, Silent Hill, Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda and Doom. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. BUY IT!

My #1 rated game of ALL-TIME.

This game is a GEM, so so many poeple have never played it and are missing out. Its similar to a spaceship horror survival version of HalfLife with limited ammo and errie atmosphere designed to raise your heart rate. What makes this game unique is the class/rpg elements such as skills, magic, weapons skills etc. This game will run on almost any half way decent mac or pc which makes things even better. HOWEVER, it is dated, to fix this there are new texture pack mods that can be downloaded. This makes textures and objects go from 128x128 res to 4096x4096. The gog version of this game is officially "up to date" with the patch but does not include the textures. You can add them or play without, either way its an amazing experience and a must play! if you need help installing the textures shoot me a message, ill duck.

I just beat the game yesterday, and it was an incredibly rewarding experience through and through. It's impressive that a 17-year-old game can still manage to create a terrifying atmosphere and keep you on the edge of your seat even with its low-polygon (yet crisp) graphics. It pulls it off with an intriguing story, great sound design, a dynamic music score, and a desperate lack of resources. You've been sent to a spacecraft to investigate the mysterious elimination of the people aboard it after they touched base with an alien planet, clued in by a daisy chain of voice-acted audio records scattered around that the crew left behind. All the while, you're conspiring with or against some sort of artificial intelligences. The game imparts an undeniable sense of desolation that makes it all so eery. You hear nearby enemies moaning and taunting you before your see them. The music changes to a rapid drum-and-bass track when shit is going down. And, most of all, your inventory always feels so damn precariously empty. The game rewards you for exploring the ship, which you'll do anyways because every bullet or health hypo you find feels like Christmas. You need to be thrifty to make it through the harder difficulties which is a large part of the atmosphere. Every enemy you meet takes a toll on your inventory and you'll realize the real threat of the game is the slow attrition of your supplies. You have a variety of skills and stats to invest points in throughout the game from the classic STR/END/AGI/etc stats to weapon specialties like Energy/Heavy/Exotic and Psionic abilities which act like spells. You'll need to specialize if you plan on making a dent in end-game enemies, but you'll only be able to max out a couple paths. Expect to be save-scrumming on Hard or Impossible. If you don't like that, then play on Normal. I beat it on Hard but I save-scrummed so much that I should've went with Impossible. It took me 19 hours to beat the game.