System Shock® 2 (1999) is included with the purchase of 25th Anniversary Remaster.
System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster by Nightdive Studios brings to you the modernized remaster of the FPS/RPG classic, featuring Cross-Play Co-Op multiplayer, Mod Support and more.
I...
Windows 10 (64-bit required), Intel or AMD Dual-Core at 2.0 GHz, 2 GB RAM, GPU with DirectX 11 or Vu...
Description
System Shock® 2 (1999) is included with the purchase of 25th Anniversary Remaster.
System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster by Nightdive Studios brings to you the modernized remaster of the FPS/RPG classic, featuring Cross-Play Co-Op multiplayer, Mod Support and more.
It’s the year 2114 and as you awake from cryo sleep on the FTL ship Von Braun, you are unable to remember who or where you are… and something has gone terribly wrong. Hybrid mutants and deadly robots roam the halls while the cries from the remaining crew reverberate through the cold hull of the ship. SHODAN, a rogue AI bent on the destruction of mankind has taken over and it's up to you to stop her.
Delve through the corridors of the derelict ship Von Braun and immerse yourself in the story rich atmosphere and environments. Explore deck by deck and unravel the horrifying fate of the Von Braun and her crew.
System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster Key Features:
Cross-Play Co-Op multiplayer.
Choose from 3 branches of the Military; O.S.A, Marines or Navy and experiment with different play styles.
Additional Mod Support
Up to 144FPS performance with ultra-widescreen support.
50 Achievements to unlock.
Enhanced Characters, Weapon Models and Animations.
I was worried that Nightdive might add some so-called "quality of life" features that plague many modern games—like quest markers, mandatory minimaps, non-toggleable map icons, or other forms of handholding, not to mention constant quest update notifications—but thankfully, none of these are present in this great-looking remaster. Thank God!
Thank you, Nightdive, for this beautiful work. I finally feel like a player again—actually playing a game. The game looks better than ever and runs flawlessly! The original was an instant classic, and this remaster is set to become the definitive version of System Shock 2.
Nightdive delisted the original System Shock 2, which cost ~$5, so they could sell you this overpriced “Remaster” — that is, if you consider retroactive gameplay changes derived from fan mods and questionable texture changes a “Remaster” (mods that, by the way, are 100% free and could be applied to the original GOG release at the player’s discretion!).
Now you get to pay $25 to not have that privilege!
The funny thing is, Nightdive was founded in 2012 specifically to preserve System Shock 2 — no, I’m not kidding.
Honestly, this is just shameful from a preservation perspective. I have absolutely no issue with this “Remaster” existing; I just detest the fact that the decision was made to delist the original game, and thus impose unnecessary restrictions on those who want to experience the original 1999 release on modern systems (i.e., the people who made Nightdive what it is today!). It absolutely reeks of corporate money-grabbing.
Night Dive pulled the original version (which came with the NewDark fan patch pre-installed and ran like a dream on modern operating systems) and put it behind a $30 paywall for a $10 game. Which is what this "Anniversary Edition" is. Nothing more, nothing less.
Ok, so let's review the "Anniversary Edition" on its own merits. It's basically the fan-remastered version lazily slapped into Night Dive's one-size-fits-all candy wrapper Kex. The upside here is that console peasants finally have a chance to experience what playing an actually good game feels like.
You, reading this review, probably don't care to play this on a console, so here's the downside: This is hands down the shoddiest, glitchiest version of Shock 2 yet. And the sad part is: most of these glitches were never even part of the original version of Shock 2, let alone the NewDark version.
To make up for the half-assed Kex port, Night Dive slapped a bunch of fan-made graphics mods and gameplay tweaks on top to give a superficial pretense that actual work went into this thing.
Skip this thing, play the far superior un-Kexed original version instead. If you happen to not have the original version in your library by the time it was pulled, don't spend money on this thing unless it sells for a buck or two, which is what the original version used to sell for.
System Shock 2 gets a well-earned 5/5 stars from me. One of the greatest games of all time and (along with Thief The Dark Project) my personal favorite.
This cash grab, on the other hand, gets a 1/5. For shame!
Game: 10/10, Remaster 7/10
This is one of my favorite games ever. It's not without flaws, but I still enjoy it so much I can't help but rate it 10/10. It's a vital piece of gaming history and you should play it.
Since others have described the game well already, I'm going to focus on the remaster quality. In short, it's acceptable and does a good job of preserving the game for the future, but it could have gone a bit further in some ways (at least on release-- some things could be patched).
Some of the pros that cannot be achieved with a modded version of the original are: remade cutscenes, new enemy models (there are enemy mods available but they are terrible), new engine features such as antialiasing, ambient occlusion and high frame rate (120fps+) support, working multiplayer, and scans of things like concept art, box art, manuals and guides. It's also probably more stable in general (I have had zero issues there), and it supports mods if you want to mod it further.
However, it's missing a few things that I feel should have been included, such as: more granular audio settings (you can't change voice volume for example, only "sound" and "music"), the ability to adjust the UI scale (it's a bit tiny by default at 1440p), an FOV slider, and motion blur settings-- there appears to be some motion blur on camera movement to my eyes which cannot be disabled. It's not terrible looking or egregious, but the option should be there.
I do wish the remaster was also more extensive in terms of visual changes, but I suppose it's understandable due to the budget (it's not going to be selling millions of copies or anything). Overall, this is a great way to play an all time classic without having to fuss around with installing mods on an old version, and includes several good features that you can't get otherwise.
I played both SS1 and SS2 when they come out. I was there.
Enjoyed both.
This is a faithful remaster. Mostly graphical and minor changes and balancing; like firearm deterioration and a few other things.
Honestly, aside better textures, overall, it is as I remembered.
Weird 3D models and animations and all. But that's part of the charm, isn't it? ;)
Either way, this get the thumbs up from me, as is as good as I remember but better.
So why 4 stars?
Well, in all honestly, I still believe SS1 is the superior game. This is something I felt back then as well.
SS1 present better story. More interesting environments (the Citadel is just up there) and I found the graphical style of the citadel more fascinating. Shodan is damn intriguing.
Also, the 3D models in SS2 aged very poorly, even with the remastering touch.
But hey, just play SS2!
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