System Shock

I tried to play the 1994 original a few times, but the controls were too clunky. A shame because System Shock 2 is one of my all-time favourites. Now I'm here in 2023, playing the remastered version and I'm hooked. I want to thank the developers for making this such a great experience and keeping it so close to the vibe of the 2 originals.

I played System Shock for the first time in 2021 and loved the game despite all its gameplay issues. What made me like the game the most was its setting, story and soundtrack. Only two of these elements are present in the remake: the design of the city station and the story. The visuals of the game have been recreated faithfully to the original and brought to more modern graphics. all the details of the station's wall panels are similar and with the same vibrant colors as the first game. However the soundtrack of the remake is completely different from the original game and in a bad way. The soundtrack of the first, was captivating, strange, noisy and even disturbing in some places but it was not BORING like that of System Shock (2023). For me the music was half the ambiance of the game and without it the remake seems soulless, without the strangeness that made the original game a unique experience. Despite this, the game deserves recognition for making the experience of playing System Shock more beautiful and accessible despite having killed the original soundtrack.

It's been a long time since I got so invested in a video game. This is immersive sim at it's purest and is a very faitful recreation of the original. If you like metroidvania style games with a great atmosphere, this game is a must have.

I played System Shock when it was released back in the days. It was an experience. While technically good but not overwhelming, all its style, the feeling, the mood were captured excellently. Its story and SHODAN were not only remarkable but remberabel and some of if found its way into pop culture, deservedly. In 2015, I've played the enhanced edition and even though over two decades lay between between the two versions, the feeling of '94 came back immediately. So there I was again, on that station, fighting and hacking against an fearsome AI, with pen and paper marking important thing since the lack of a log. T'was fun. And now, fanfare, System Shock Remake. I bought it, I downloaded it, it startet it, '94 again. The good '94, I might add. Not the "First I have to free some conventional memory before I can play and the screen is small and the controls are okay but not really good and it's all a bit clunky despite being a fantastic game, but we didn't complain since we didn't have anything". System Shock Remake is in fact the "'94 System Shock through rose-colored glasses made real"-version. Up-to-date-ish graphics, slightly pixalated for old people's delight, gently updated controls, some subtle QoL adjustments and still that mood and feeling together with sweet nostalgia. I'm very glad they that they have held back on modernization. Granted, System Shock, no matter what version, is not for everyone. It lacks many comforts of modern games, like a quest log, waypoints, frequent respawn points. And maybe I'm a bit biased through the mercy of an early birth. Nevertheless, total recommendation. For old people like me it's fantastic game mixed with a blast from the past, for younger audience it's a opportunity to play a fantastic game mixed with the experience to get a feeling how games were in the more or less good old days.

At first I couldn't stand this game. It seemed cold, boring and unsatisfyingly difficult. Then I realized, in the old days, you would have got a helpful manual with the game (it was very difficult to play games in the 90's if you didn't first read the manual). So I used the gamepressure guide. It didn't feel like cheating, and I finally started enjoying it. Then I was hooked and couldn't stop playing.