One of the most memorable games ever created for the PC has to be the original System Shock. At a time when game engines and graphics were beginning to get better, many developers concentrated on making their games prettier and more technologically complex. But System Shock still put the focus where it belonged - on the GAME. It involved a complex storyline that was well written, while still maintaining a nice look.
Those who played the game will remember Shodan, the rogue AI that was your nemesis as you defended Citadel Station. This time, 42 years later, the TriOptimum Corporation has built the first inter-galactic starship - the Von Braun. You play as a cryogenically-preserved military unit on board the ship, which turns out to be not quite the technological marvel that it was famed to be. You awaken in the face of disaster, as explosions and other strange happenings are taking place on the ship.
System Shock 2 uses a modified version of the Thief: The Dark Project engine, and this game really shows off how versatile that engine really is. The most basic part of it is a very advanced 3D engine, but incorporates a complex inventory manipulation interface as well. The environment in System Shock 2 is beautifully rendered, and as creepy as it gets. It is the perfect visual portal into this wonderfully scary world.
Sound effects are excellent, with the more subtle ones making you glance over your shoulder nervously as you explore deeper. Play this game in the dark for maximum effect. The musical score is also right on target - very moody, but never overwhelming the experience.
Gameplay is a mixture of action and role playing, much like the original. Quite a bit of thought was given to character development, since it is easy to set up but quite detailed - rarely will anyone play a character with the same statistics at the beginning of the adventure. A detailed training mode starts you out right, giving you a nice insight into the controls and inventory manipulation. Advanced training shows you the strengths of each of the three branches of the military you may choose from - Marines, Navy, and OSA. Marines are the toughest physically, and begin with the most weapons skills. Naval personnel are more knowledgeable technically, and the OSA concentrate on their psi skills. When you are prepared to begin the actual game, you first choose one of these service branches to set your primary statistics. Then, for the first three "years" of the game you choose from a series of missions that will further enhance your persona. These are not played out, simply chosen and give you a more defined trait set. After that, the Von Braun mission takes you into the heart of the game. During the mission, the option of upgrade will present itself, and you will further refine your skills. I found that a well-balanced skill set suited the mission best, as concentration in a single discipline will leave you short on some necessary abilities. In fact, I found this to be the only weak part of the game - the need to pursue everything in order to complete the mission. Had there been more options to take on challenges in different manners, the individual skills would have mattered more. And while there are some places where an obstacle may be circumvented in a couple of ways, it is fairly rare to find a real difference otherwise. Your basic option is to shoot through a situation or find the standard workaround, if one is available.
This is not to say that this is a real problem with the game, because it isn't. More options would have been nice, but the game still holds its own strongly. The storyline isn't just good - it is completely creepy and can scare the pants off you in certain places. I just love it when a game can evoke such a strong sense of fear in me when playing (or any emotion really), and System Shock 2 succeeds perfectly.
The interface within the game has its good and bad points. The good is that it is easy to configure, control, and features a wealth of options. The bad is that it is SO complex, many players will undoubtedly feel overwhelmed, at least at first. While fairly user-friendly, there could still be a couple of shortcuts to particular options. For instance, an option to automatically take you out of inventory mode when attacked would be nice, as I found myself fumbling with the controls when this happened to me. For the most part the interface works well, but could have been simplified a bit to make the learning curve simpler.
Perhaps one more thing I should mention is the overall difficulty of the game. While multiple difficulty settings do exist, they really only set spawn rate, and basic enemy resiliency. The game itself is tough. At times, frustratingly so. One thing I would have loved to see is a brainier "adventure" mode. This game would have done well to add a non or limited combat mode in favor of a more cerebral workaround. In fact, many of the puzzles are difficult enough to justify this as it is.
Overall, this game is a marvel. I was very happy when I heard that this game was in development, but never thought it could be nearly as good as the original. I was pleasantly surprised when I found that it is not only much better than I had originally anticipated, it is completely worthy of the name System Shock.
