System Shock® 2 (1999)

A friend and I were comparing notes on this brilliant game when it first came out. I was telling him how I was glued to the screen, how I couldn't stop playing it, how it was the absolutely perfect fusion of a FPS and an RPG, and how scary and moody and awesome the ambience was. He, on the other hand, insisted he could only play for an hour at a time. Naturally, I asked him why; he answered "Because that's how often I have to empty out my shorts. Damned monkeys." It really is that scary, and it really is that good. If you're on the fence, don't be. Just get it. You won't be sorry.

Simply amazing. The classic of all classics.

Sadly the quality of the Graphics, which way back when in '99 were groundbreaking, do not hold up today. Buuuut, the Gameplay is still top notch. And the Replayability is great with 3 Base Archtypes to start with.

This game is not for those extreme shooter fanatics, where bullets are just an easy giveaway, or even those of the faint-hearted, as this game will definitely scare the hell out of you for so many hours. But that didn't make this game a classic. It's actually all of the elements that are piled together to form this game. The horror elements. The sci-fi elements. The FPS. The RPG. The story. The music. The atmosphere. The psionic ablilities. The nanites. The cyber modules. The ghosts. The OPS. The villain. Well, basically, the list goes on. There's so much variety in this game, from the places to the weapons, to the powers, and to the enemies. The best part of the game, of course, is the atmosphere. You'll never know how many hours you logged in, because you keep on concentrating. You'll never know when the enemies would show up (and you'll hear them in what direction, that's scary), never know when your guns start to break up, never know when the bullets run out... I mean, hell, you never know what's going to happen! And that's the beauty of it. You kept on thinking all throughout: it challenges you to prepare for the worst, with all the horror surrounding you and scaring the hell out of your senses, which will definitely make you sweat of course. I got disappointed this is a commercial failure back then. But in GoG.com, so many years after, this game is the most requested by far. It seems, our generation knows classic better than before.

1'st played it back in 99 and imo it was well ahead of its time, then. Play with headphones and minimal lighting & SS2 really draws you in. Could never get it to run on XP but now GoG has it I'm grabbing a copy. If you haven't played it, do yourself a favour and check it out!