System Shock: Enhanced Edition

I never played either System Shock game back when they came out- eventually I heard about SS2 for its fame on several lists of the greatest games ever, gave it a try, and loved it. But the first game hardly ever got mentioned, as though it were just a mediocre placeholder until the greatness of the sequel. Well, I've finally played it, and it deserves far more praise than it gets. Full disclosure, I only played the Enhanced Edition, so I may be a little biased, but this game was immerse, fun, scary and pretty much perfect. The graphics, while dated, are very good for the era- Dark Forces came out a year later and looks like a blurry, primitive mess compared to System Shock. The voice acting is kind of amateur, with the exception of SHODAN, who sounds just as menacing and creepy as in the sequel. The controls are a little awkward for the first few minutes, and there's a lot to figure out all at once, but it quickly becomes fluid and easy, and some quirks, like having to physically switch to your weapon, unload it and reload a new clip instead of just hitting a "reload" key, add to the realism, atmosphere and strategy of the game rather than being annoying. The game gives you a wide variety of weapons, ammo, and bionic implants, which keeps things interesting and fun, and lets you develop your own styles against the different enemy types. But best of all is the level design. It's immensely satisfying to explore Citadel Station, unlocking new areas and conquering new challenges. The game rewards you well for exploring every corner with shortcuts between areas, hidden caches, and crew logs that expand the story, and everything feels like it has a purpose, or at least had one before SHODAN's army rebuilt it into a death trap. The 3D cyberspace sequences add some variety to the gameplay, and add to the impressive worldbuilding. All in all, this game deserves a place of honor equal to its sequel. Play it, you won't be disappointed!

Superb. So much to explore, and the feel of being there. And still scares when suddenly door starts open behind u revealing security bot2. Only negative might be controls. I like the enhanced edition contriols, other version had differenf one, which i did not like. But when You master them, all is ok. Only whished some window modes sould have had keyboard shortcut. As i recall this was 1st games giving u options to lean,

System Shock borrows a lot from Ultima Underworld but simplifies the RPG such that there's no NPCs. Everything is in form of audio or video disk recordings or notes you find which provide clues. You're on your own against a horde of hostiles and your job is to ...well you will see. The engine has been overhauled adding a lot of modernized controls and functionality and better graphics. Highly recommended!

I want to make it clear that the System Shock franchise is amazing. Both games were pioneers of their time and System Shock 3 falling into development hell before the rights were aquired and the project killed by a chinese conglomerate was extremely disappointing. Equally disappointing is nightdive'$ treatment of the "enhanced edition". Clearly put out as a quick cash grab to hype/promote their remake 2 years later at a significantly higher price. "Enhanced edition" was released in 2021. As of this review it's still currently on patch version 1.2.16. This is significant because this patch introduced horrific micro stutter that's so irritating it makes the game a chore to play, completely ruining the experience. They have also failed to fix the reactor code randomization problem that has been present since day one. Also still unaddressed. To add insult to injury, nightdive'$ support act ignorant to the problem. I have emailed them regarding this asking when it will be fixed. They play dumb pretending not to know about it. When I replied with multiple links to other players reporting the same issue, they simply closed the support ticket, choosing to do nothing. I know many see nightdive as a savior of classic games but this clearly isn't the case. CEO stephen kick talks a big game about old titles and not wanting to do wrong by them but his companies actions speak louder than his panderings. Blade Runner was released in a joke state. Blood "fresh supply" is still a broken mess and they have abandoned System Shock "enhanced edition" in a steaming pile of garbage over 4 years ago. Clearly maintaining games after the initial spike in new release sales is not profitable when you can instead move on to the next shiny toy to rinse/repeat the process all over again. Sadly, this is a patterned history. Follow the cess pit status of System Shock "enhanced edition" here: hasnightdivefixedsseeyet(dotcom) 4+ years and counting... Pathetic.

The first 3PS-RPG I ever knew of. I first played this game off of a CD-ROM on my super state of the art pentium-50. Revisiting my high school PC gaming days, I felt the same fear that the games perfectly imagined, dimly lit hallways invoked: Haunting cyborgs chanting from behind hidden panels, waiting to invoke their desire to bring you to the machine mother. Silent assassins hitting you from above, before you could know they're there. The first time I saw a Cortex Reaver. This game was just as fun replaying 15 years later, as when it was state of the art. If you are a modern FPS-RPG and/or Cyberpunk fan, file this under your "required reading" tab, so you know where a ton of your interests came from. C: CDSHOCK -Don't forget to salt the fries!