System Shock: Enhanced Edition

First time I've ever played this game and boy, does it ever hold up. Not even time can damper this classic! I didn't realize how influential it was... so many games have ripped this off. System Shock is a very immersive adventure-horror FPS that sucks you in and takes hold; well-acted dialogue, memorable level design, an unsettling villain in SHODAN and a solid soundtrack that'll keep a place in your mind. That's what GOG is supposed to be about: good, old games. And this one is one of the handful I can name that truly lives up to its reputation, even decades later. (And I haven't even played the sequel yet!) After experiencing this classic, I can't help but think that something human has been lost in this soulless age of smart phones and "social" media. I mean, what ever happened to passionate game development like this? Everything is so bloody shallow now.

I used to believe that SS2 was the strictly better version of SS1, but having just replayed the original... I'm reevaluating that opinion. The first time I played System Shock, it was after the sequel had already endeared itself as my favorite game, and so I wanted to finally check out the game that started the legacy. I remember at the time that in spite of the wonky controls and the cramped screen, I was thoroughly impressed. "It's no SS2" I thought to myself. "But it's pretty good, I'm glad I played it once." And that was all I thought was warranted. However, with the enhanced edition providing mouselook control and full screen resolution, I decided to give it another go, 17 years after its original release. It's one of the best games ever. Absolutely. It is immersive, and action packed, and tense, and engaging, and terrifying, and smart, and, just really really fun. I decided to play it on the hard story mode with the 7 hour time limit (I made it! 6 hours and 36 minutes) and let me say: it is exhilarating running through a labyrinth of service panels blasting away cyborgs and mutants while hacking a locked door to get access to SHODANS computer nodes and then using stimulants to sprint down a hallway to preserve precious seconds that are mercilessly ticking away. I don't know of any other game that utilizes so many different game elements and ideas so well in establishing the atmosphere and setting of its own world. I used to think the sequel, but even SS2 lacks much of the elegance of SS1's design. It is equal parts action game, metroidvania game, puzzle game, platform game, and yet none of those different aspects feel forced or out of place. They all dynamically intertwine to bring your experiences on Citadel Station to life. I also love in the original how deliciously bad SHODAN is. It truly feels like an over-powering, uncompromising inhuman threat. When she foils your plans and mocks you for it, man, it stings. But it makes beating her glorious.

The Enhanced Edition is a significant improvement that I'd say is well worth the $10 asking price. It's undoubtedly the best way to experience a game that had been unjustly forgotten, a game that was in it's heyday both wildly innovative and painfully backwards. That 'backwards-ness' is substantially improved here, resulting in an experience that is quirky but not uncomfortable, though it does have a learning curve... it took me an hour or so to get adjusted. Patience is required. The music is great, the gameplay is immersive, and the antagonist is deservedly iconic. It's not flawless, but I highly recommend it. Additional thoughts: The only weakness I found in the story came with its ending -- the build up is excellent, but once the finale is reached the game concludes almost immediately. It doesn't give enough time to take in everything and feel satisfied. But, I suppose the journey is more important than the destination. Some have described System Shock as a sort of Metroidvania, and I'm inclined to agree. Citadel Station consists of 9 decks (levels) connected by elevators. Aside from collecting keycards and solving circuitry puzzles, you'll need to find character upgrades in the form of environmental equipment to progress, and this sometimes involves back-tracking to previous decks. System Shock wasn't designed with mouse-look in mind at all, so interactions handle somewhat like a Point&Click Adventure game; inventory management is handled in the bottom half of your HUD, not in a separate/pop-up menu (and the game doesn't pause while you're sorting through your gear). For example, rather than reloading being bound to a hotkey, you reload by clicking an icon in the lower HUD -- you must move your cursor off of your target and down into your HUD to reload. Overall, System Shock supports more methodical, slower-paced fighting that is the complete antithesis to DOOM.

The enhanced version of System Shock makes mouse and keyboard controls somewhat usable to modern players, especially the much-needed "mouse-look" mode. It is still a very old game with many outdated designs. There are no mission lists, mission clues, mission markers, etc., to guide you where to go and what to do. You have to remember what to do by looking up notes and writings in the game. You can, however, type notes on the map, which somewhat makes up for the lack of mission clues. Regarding mouse-look, you have to manually enter and exit mouse-look mode in order to perform actions that are possible only in one mode but not the other. Other odd designs include having to crouch and uncrouch with separate keys, and lean and unlean with separate keys. There is no shortcut key to pick up all content in a container; you must pick up one item at a time, and by double-clicking to boot. These controls were considered cumbersome even at the time. But any self-respecting player must still play this game to see how this game jump started a whole genre. There are no side missions, so you can finish this in 15-20 hours at a leisurely pace. But the map sizes are still pretty big by today's standard. Fully 3D-rendered walls, ceilings, and floors are used, but items are all 2D sprites only.

A great classic, way ahead of its time in many ways. I find the game engine very interesting, it is more advanced than the DooM engine for sure, it has nice looking Room- Above-Room/3D bridges, slopes and it is tile-based. Looking Glass had alot of creativity designing the maps and using slopes a whole lot in various ways, creating very cool map design and geometry. I advice to check the controls in options to get used to them and once you do the game plays like a dream. Mouselook is a god-send compared to playing the MS-DOS version. An IMPORTANT note here: The game defaults to General Midi which can't be changed on its own in the options. That soundfont is horrible and totally ruins otherwise a terrific soundtrack so dont play using that! I played through the gaming using a OPL soundfont, but its matter of taste what you choose for yourself but do change it! There is a guide to setting up VirtualMIDISynth here which i HIGHLY recommend :) : https://steamsolo.com/guide/soundfonts-midi-and-you-a-guide-to-improving-system-shock-s-music-system-shock-enhanced-edition/