Tl;dr: I recommend the remake if you want to experience System Shock as a game. However, I recommend the original if you want to understand how and why was System Shock such an influence. What I liked: - Weapon changes - Most of the levels are faithful to the original. - Enemies look distinct and creative. - Vending machines, recyclers for junk items, ATMs, etc. - Simplified UI, but it kept the original's funky vibe. Grid inventory is a huge upgrade compared to the original, However you can't customize the views like in the original and can't type after placing markers on the map like in SS2. - New VO for logs and messages. What I didn't like: - The hacker wasn't supposed to handle weapons this good. In the original, certain guns kicked you on the ground. I missed this feature as it takes away from the "immsim" experience. - Grid UI could have been more flexible - While the movement and leaning was simplified in a good way, I would have liked a system similar to the new Wolfenstein, where you have a dedicated button for leaning in any direction. This way you would have the ability to crawl, hide behind boxes and shoot above them, etc. - I missed the dynamic music system the original had. There were blog posts by the devs how they want to implement this, but ultimately we have the "usual" exploration and combat music. I also felt that the music just can't keep up with the game. The original helped the player a great deal to understand what is happening in the environment. - Lack of dark corridors, horror atmosphere. Maintenance for example is just super bright and the music is not as distinct as in the original, so it feels like just another level. I couldn't even breath when playing the original. - The cyberspace didn't get the grand reimagination as I hoped. - The puzzles are fine, but the variety is lacking. - The last bits were just too unrefined. The bridge level and the main boss fight were underwhelming after Security. No biomechanical stuff, either.
Feels like a game before Doom but after Wolfenstein. Nice art style which is more modern found in many indie games than retro ones, fast gameplay, tons of secrets and easter eggs. I really like the weapon side grades and the themes of the episodes. What I didn't like: Sometimes too dark levels, no quick save, medium difficulty is too easy and hard is too hard, sometimes cheap tricks from enemies, inconsistent level design, underutilized magic spells and a lack of option to replay certain episodes. That last one really pissed me off because I missed a secret on a level but I had no choice to go back and explore the rest level. Overall great fun and I really recommend it.
-Movement is great. No restrictions, all freedom! -Shooting is satisfying. I love the animations for the most part (see below) -Melee is improved especially the combo system. Tho the heavy attacks have been removed -The looks great. I love the weather effects very much! -Music! -Slicing dudes to pieces never gets old. Set pieces are nice and the level of destruction is very cool. -Zilla City. Nuf said. -Weapon variety. -Funny characters. -I miss Hoji tho Kamiko is great and funny as well. Hell my favourite part is when she mocks Lo Wang at Hojis grave. That was a nice touch. -Armor system is integrated to the gem system and there is no armor pikcup anymore. -No classic weapons. Including the original katana which was available in the remake. -The levels are repetitive. Little variety on themes. -Level generation often bugs out and breaks the game. There were cases when I had to restart the level because I stucked between levels of 2 merged building. Basically houses inside houses and other funny stuff. -The gem system is overwhelming. It requires too much management and the upgrade interface is not as good as in the 2013 version. -No more berserking enemies. -No shuriken. -Where is the classic Shadow Warrior arcade machine? We have Alienware everywhere and those are indestructible for no reason. -Fortune cookie should have been a health boost and there are too many of it. -No alt fire for guns but they have ADS instead. This was a really big disappoint! -Chapter system were better in the 2013 version. In this one you are just jumping from mission to mission without any link between them. The whole pacing is off. -Where are the flying enemies? The drones are basically ground level enemies without legs. There is no real threat in the air. -No puzzles. -Can't "use", fire, slice while casting chi powers. This wasn't the case in the previous game. This is an unnecessary restriction. -SMG reload animation is slowed down and looks silly. Maybe it's a bug. It's the same as in the previous game but really slow. -I miss the ammo check animations when pressing the reload button. I can live without them but I liked them in the previous version.
