System Shock Demo

It's sort of hard to give an objective opinion about a project like this with what's been shown, but I'll do my best with what I've observed in the extremely limited play area the devs provided. There's some areas where there's some potential for positive results. The level design is fairly close to the original game, which is fine as that's a strong point to this day. It's a bit rough around the edges, but it is an alpha; some little touches, like Mira's head in the vent are missing. Having the 451 code right by the medical key is disconcertingly handholding, I thought maybe they'd hired the Bioshock Infinite team for a second. Hopefully that will be removed with the final release. Combat also needs several balance checks. The Sparq Beam's overpowered right now, even though it's no longer hitscan (I don't agree with that, but on the other hand it fits in with the System Shock 2 lore). The melee combat is awful, the lead pipe takes too long to connect. If that carries over to the Laser Rapier later on, it'll be rendered useless. Aside from the PC's current attack code, the loot RNG is too generous. Got enough batteries off the Serv-Bots to last to the Security Deck! The audio is the weakest part of this, disappointingly as that's the one area LGS games always were top-notch in. Granted this is a different studio, but this IP and Thief's should in general have a rich soundscape. This doesn't. The music is disappointing, hopefully something resembling the arranged soundtrack from the Mac version of the first game can be implemented. Also the environmental and other sounds were a bit flat, and could use some touching up. And why get a new VA for Rebecca if she sounds exactly the same as the old one? Finally I think the Bloom and post processing is overboard, and could be toned down a bit. It's very garish. Some other graphical assets are obviously placeholders, but that's fine as an alpha. Overall: mixed. Huge fan of the first game, but this still needs work.

tl;dr - I like the game but I'm not a fan of the cinematic pickups and think the combat is off. First things first I have completed both the Original System Shock along with it's sequel, and I will not let it tint my view of this demo with nostalgia. I was quite impressed with this demo but I have a few concerns to voice. Let's start with what I liked: - Wonderful graphics, this game really pushes Unity to it's max - Faithful aesthetic, however a little too neon for my tastes - Tetris inventory system And now for my concerns: - Where are the audio logs? This was a major part of the original game and I have to say it felt really upsetting and odd to open the first locked door by copying a code written right beside it, in case you haven't played the original or don't remember it well the first door code was revealed to you by listening to an audio log, which was a great part of the originals immersion - Cinematic cut scenes for hardware and software pickups, I really hope these are only for the first few ones because I can see this becoming very irritating and ruining immersion - Combat, I know this is pre-alpha but I have to point this out. The combat is, for lack of better words; awful. The enemies have much bigger range then you for melee and attack far too quickly so you almost always take damage when getting a hit in on them, as for the gun you get in the demo, the hit boxes on the enemies felt really off, and I found myself missing. To conclude this review, I see a lot of potential in this game however all this praise and acting as if the fact that it's pre-alpha means we shouldn't point out flaws is wrong, in fact I'm sure that by releasing this demo, their goal was to find out what the fans want, and to see what we want to change before the final release, along with the obvious goal of creating hype and attracting donators to their Kickstarter.

What I've been able to play of the demo has looked promising. Textures are overall a bit pixelated, but the art direction looks nice; a hybrid of old and new. I do like the animations for restoring health and for recharging electricity. Though the animations for installing upgrades to the neural implant would do better if they were sped up a little. Swinging the lead pipe is a bit sluggish and doesn't look as though it carries impact when it collides with the mutant's body. Also, the mutant has more speed and more reach when it comes to the attack. Serve bots are well-animated in their attacks, but they don't consistently fall over onto their backs when they've been destroyed. (It'd be a bit more helpful if their bodies were lying on the ground to communicate that they were defeated, instead of subtly being slumped over. Though this could add tension to the survival horror atmosphere.) There's not any audio logs to pick up, unfortunately, but given that this is an alpha, that's understandable. I'd appreciate the ability to replay the initial obtained email, though. A two-weapon limit is something I hope will go away in the future, though there only seem to be two weapons in the game at this point anyhow, so that's a bit less of a concern. Music does reflect the survival horror atmosphere, but doesn't quite evoke that cyberpunk feeling. (The original game was able to accomplish both, with a mixture of atmospheric tracks, techno/industrial music.) The demo keeps crashing down in the hallway of what appears to be the maintenance section. Also, there's a clear lack of graphics options beyond resolution and field of view, and it would be nice if there were more options. Lastly, the framerate is a bit inconsistent and could use some refinement. The changes to how the UI is handled is more userfriendly now. All in all, the art direction is aesthetically pleasing, and the controls are responsive, and the level design is fairly close to the original. Promising demo!

Overall I am pretty pleased with the demo. They really nailed the overall aesthetic of everything, and the gameplay is pretty solid for the most part. I have a few things I wish to mention that I hope will be worked out later on in development. I had several crashes and some things (grenades) are bugged, but it's a pre-alpha after all. - You reach is too short. Enemies have a much longer reach than the player, so you have to stand on their toes to hit them with your weapon. - Combat feels sluggish and there is (currently) no ability to hold your weapon ready to swing. - Things look a bit too shiny. Everything sorta has this oily sheen to it. It reminds me of some Unreal Engine 3 titles like the Riddick games. - There doesn't seem to be any graphical options other than changing the resolution. I am not sure if this is just because it's an alpha or not. This is intended as constructive criticism. From what I've seen so far I have high hopes for the final release. I'm very glad that Nightdive put out a demo in the first place. Unfortunately many devs are unwilling to do that for some reason nowadays.