System Shock® 2 (1999)

Alright so this review comes after the 2023 release of the System Shock Remake by Night Dive Studios. Everybody knows System Shock 2 by now. Play it, buy it. End of Review. What I want more to say is, even though I played and finished the second installment multiple times I absolutely wished for an upgrade. So, we definitely need a System Shock 2 worthy of our times. Remastered Version? - DEFINITELY, Remake? What? like for the first game? OMG YES PLEASE just take my money already, I promise to wait patiently.

I played System Shock 2 using the "SS2 Newbie Modding Guide" It's heavily recommended, it fixes a myriad of issues and very slightly improves the visuals in a way that doesn't clash with the originals vision. As for the game itself, It's a classic! Intriguing, scary and complex. The voice acting was a mixed bag in the beginning, but it did get better as it went along, seems they saved their best voice talent for the latter half of the game. The RPG mechanics are cool, complex and unbalanced. You can get yourself into trouble, so make sure to do a little research on what stuff means while playing, It'll help a a lot for a first time player. If you haven't already, go play it!

This was a difficult but rewarding game. I just completed it - it took me over 41 hours, and that was on normal difficulty. How are some people saying they did it in about 13?! The story is original, the atmosphere intriguing and the range of weapons is cool. But it's so frustrating in parts. I encountered many weapons I couldnt use because I didnt have the skill level - the same goes for many of the psi powers. And I found enemy attacks highly damaged me but my weapons hardly inflicted damage on them - especially the shotgun. Especially those irksome spiders - how can they take 8-9 blasts of shotgun and still not go down? Overall its really good and I wished I played this back in 99 when it came out

One of the best RPGs ever made. This game can be unforgiving at times (infuriatingly so, even), but there is nothing quite like it; no other game allows you to express yourself nearly as well as System Shock 2 - and imagine me saying that about a game entirely without dialogue choices. Choose your weapon skills, your equipment, your implants, your character stats, your tech stats, your upgrades, your item usage, etc. and etc. You only get the one go around - play it safe or play it risky - but make it through to the end. The story, the dialogue, and most importantly, the atmosphere are just a hell of a great bonus.

Arguably one of my favorite games ever created. A brilliant mix of FPS, horror, and RPG in a beautiful cyberpunk package. Many today will much more so know of the BioShock series, which is a spiritual successor to the System Shock series. And if you are a fan of them at all..You absolutely must try this one. It is not a super fast paced action FPS like you would find in Quake or Doom, however it does have moments of such. It is much more cerebral and a "Thinking man's shooter" as I've always put it.