System Shock® 2 (1999)

I played System Shock 2 for the first time few months after its premiere and I instantly have fallen in love with this game. It's one of those few games, where everything is exceptional and works well together. To start with - it's an FPP and RPG hybrid. You can't go through the game ignoring any of these aspects - there's not enough ammo to shoot through the levels. You will have to make use of all your skills together: hacking, repairing and maintaining your gear. On top of it you can use your psionic skills - hit you enemies with freezing projectiles, pull objects with kinetic redirection, drain hit points from your target or use 32 other abilities. What I liked most about System Shock 2 is its story - it's both scary and engaging. You always feel lonely and terrified of what's lurking behind the corners. Everything adds to this atmosphere - the mutants look horrifying and yell at you, the environment is hostile, there are blood marks everywhere. Eric Brosius music makes you even more tense - I still remember the hydroponics music: both jolly and twisted. You can read audiologs left by the crew which make you familiar with the events that happened and you will often see the effects - the whole environment tells the story, which is what I consider the peak of immersion. All in all I recommend this masterpiece to everyone - although the graphics may feel a bit dated, the whole game still has its charm.

To cut a long story short, System Shock 2 is a legendary game, a rare gem of the very end of the 90s. System Shock 2 is a 3D sci-fi horror stealth action game with strong RPG character development elements. While the visuals may seem rather dated by modern standards, the angular and "roughly cut" appearance of the game characters seem spot-on for a game like System Shock 2 and only adds to the horrifying atmosphere that the setting of the game is filled with. The sounds of the various enemies you're going to encounter are at least as terrifying. Where the game truly shines, however, is its gameplay. While the game focuses on action with pronounced stealth elements, it also gives the player an opportunity to develop the character in a variety of ways, choosing between three distinct character classes, each of which is associated with its own unique playstyle, and giving the player the option to develop various skill trees. The atmosphere of the game is always tense - the enemies are plenty and strong, the mysterious events surrounding the player are developed carefully and slowly enough to build suspense and keep the adrenaline level high. In conclusion, System Shock 2 is a unique game which deserves to be loved and played through at least once by every loyal fan of truly great old games out there, and it's finally DRM-free on GOG!

Look up System Shock 2.4, SHTUP, and System Shock REBIRTH, if they aren't already part of the GOG package. The 2.4 engine enhancement mod allows for HD resolution and full interface scaling. SHTUP is a texture pack and REBIRTH is a high-poly count model pack. They're pretty easy to apply, and make the game a joy to play on a modern system. They worked great on my boxed copy of the game. Otherwise, I envy you if this is the first time you've played this game. It is a true classic, excellent in almost every way. The biological terror of the Many aboard the USS Von Braun awaits your puny human efforts to dislodge it. Go get 'em, and don't forget your wrench.

If you've already played System Shock 2, I don't have to tell you anything and you're probably just looking for the "buy now" button. It's on the right hand side on the top of the page. If you're unfamiliar with SS2, you're in for a treat: It features an extremely dense atmosphere, driven mainly by the grizzly setting, the very elaborate but still unobtrusive storytelling, the scarcity of resources (you never have enough ammo, you've got limited access to healing and so on) and solid sound design. From a gameplay perspective, it is the perfect blend of RPG (your choices in skill development severely affect your playstyle and your inventory is very limited - think Deus Ex here), Horror-Adventure and Shooter (every bullet counts!). It is possible to play SS2 cooperatively with a little patching, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend doing that for the first playthrough; take your time, explore the environment, enjoy the story. Since you can only focus on a subset of skills in your character development, the replay value is pretty high. (Also, the player model, which you don't see in single player, is so ugly it makes you cry.) Anyway, in closing, let me stress this one more time: This is a game so close to perfect as it can possibly get. Do yourself a favor and play it.