System Shock® 2 (1999)

By far the best video game, or really any piece of entertainment I've had the privilege of being allowed to see and play. The game is a superlative masterpiece and has held up extremely well over the 17 years this game has been in existence. No surprise considering the geniuses behind it really, but it's truly astounding how incredible this game is too play. It might be difficult the play at first with its very 'PC' controls and UI, but once you get the hang of it, you'll feel like a goddamn magician at work or something. The game blends perfectly RPG, Survival/Horror, FPS, Adventure and even a little bit of strategy, particularly in how you go about your relentless struggle to survive aboard the Von Braun and later the UNN Rickenbacker. The game offers up almost limitless replay potential with its RPG elements and levelling system. For example, there are several weapons and gameplay elements that I haven't even explored even 17 years after first playing it. If you can get passed the heavy polygons (and if you can't there's several texture mods that fix that) then you will find one of the most engaging, terrifying and just fun games ever made. Everything seems just right in System Shock 2, everything is so realistic and plausible, it's not just a 'loot your friends desk whilst he's stood right next to it' game (*coughDeusExcough*), it's almost like a simulator, taking you into the terrifying world of giant corporations and cover-ups, feeling more and more real the more times you hold 'W' to go forward. I have never in my life played a video game that has made me feel quite the way I do about System Shock 2. Half-Life came close, but honestly, it pales in comparison to this. As does almost every other critically acclaimed game from this time period (Deus Ex, Quake 2, Daikatana (as if that game could even lick the path this game trail-blazed). Please buy this game immediately, GOG is really the place to get it. £7.59 is nothing for the amount this game will give.

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.

I love the game's atmosphere. They clearly put a lot of effort into building the ships and it's an interesting adventure. It's also quite a disturbing game. I found it exceptionally unnerving on my first play. And the story is compelling and keeps you driven to finish the game. The RPG elements are interesting, but I felt a lot of that was redundant or uninteresting. The respawning baddies are irritating, and so is the weapon degradation. And the later areas of the game don't have the same level of quality as the earlier parts. I found the layout of the second ship to be somewhat nonsensical. Overall this is a classic sci-fi horror first-person RPG experience.

This game oozes atmosphere. You are alone on a big space ship with the ominous Shodan, known from System Shock 1 as your opponent. Or is she an ally? Because there is a new entity too. The Many. Play the game to find out more. It is very immersive, great sound, great pacing, several ways to play it. It was the pinnacle of computer games at it's time and it has aged well!

System Shock 2 is a first person "RPG lite", as I like to call it, much like the first game. However, you actually get stats to upgrade this time around and quite a few diferent abilities to invest on, which will dictacte how you will aproach your obsctacles in each level. The fist game, imo, was held back by it's unintuitive UI and lack of item and upgrade descriptions. Not the case here, as it actually tells even a lot more than it needs to. Which was great. Inventory management is an even bigger importance now than in the first game, as you have more limited space to carry items, weapons and all of that. You can, of course, upgrade your inventory space if want. Better weapon diversity in this one with different kinds of ammo for varying weaknesses. Story is even more engaging than before, with tense atmosphere, well done voice acting and intimidating antagonists. Pacing was good. Visuals were good at the time, on par with other fps. It has some really cool moments visually. Level design is pretty good. While each level is not as large as some were in the first game, it has some items to find and chests to unlock, logs and all of that. It strikes the perfect balance between things to find, do and level size.