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#4627997 - 06/03/23 02:12 PM System Shock  
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The System Shock remaster released a couple days ago. I picked it up. Comments and reviews are quite good. From what I've read Nightdive Studios pulled it off, by both keeping faithful to the original game in all the right ways, yet changing the most dated aspects and bringing it in line with modern expectations. Lets face it, the AI in the original was really rudimentary. Now it's more like a shooter in the way we think of them today. In 1994 all of this was just kicking off and this remaster addresses these issues and brings System Shock up to date. Enemies can now take cover, and flank and offer a much better challenge than they did all those years ago.

I picked it up last night and played for a half hour. Graphics are certainly way better than what Looking Glass gave us 30 years ago. It looks better than Black Mesa did to me for example. So it's all been updated, but retains the fantastic sound design that Looking Glass was so good at. I'm too early in to it to make a proper assessment, but the general consensus is that this remaster manages to nail it by keeping what was great about the original but making the necessary changes for a modern audience.

In the short time I played I realized how old school this is, which I think, over time, will prove to be one of its charms. Like how you interact with objects, and how the levels are designed. I was having an issue where voices were too low volume. Maybe a setting I can change to get this where I want it.

System Shock is a classic in the most literal sense of the word. Looking Glass is one of the best studios to have ever put pixels to a PC. I hope a few of their other titles get the same treatment down the line. A remastered Dark Project or Metal Age would end up in my library for sure.

System Shock @ Steam

System Shock review @ IGN


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#4627999 - 06/03/23 03:08 PM Re: System Shock [Re: DBond]  
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Destructoid gave the remake a 9 out of 10.

I have played a little so far, but my main issue is I've memorized the game because it is one of my all time favorites... smile I guess that's not a problem, really.

Those who have never played this one are in for a treat!

I do hope they give us an option to play with the original's music at some point. I have a Sound Canvas midi device hooked up to my PC, so I can always play the midis in loop(they sound much better than you think, as the Sound Canvas was actually used by studios in the 90s to record the audio folks would play back on the game CD), but System Shock would procedurally alter music in the game world depending on your situation, which is something you seldom hear in modern games. Entire parts of music could be restructured--not simply injecting pieces in at certain moments.


Remake is solid, and excellent.

Weird you're having issues with player voices, I did not notice any, but I play with quadraphonic speakers.

#4628006 - 06/03/23 05:14 PM Re: System Shock [Re: DBond]  
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I'm using headphones and the voices were low. Like in the very beginning there's a radio you listen to and I could hardly hear it unless I stood right next to it and even then it was hard to hear. And when Shodan speaks that's weak too. I could just mix it, by turning down everything but the voices and then turning master volume up. Or maybe there are different settings like surround, headphones, stereo, etc that I need to change. I didn't spend much time with it yet.

Maybe they'll remaster System Shock 2.


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#4628011 - 06/03/23 10:51 PM Re: System Shock [Re: DBond]  
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I picked it up but haven't played it yet. The original was one of my favorites as well. There was legitimate relief when you completed a floor run and were safely back on the elevator. Also, even though the original enemies were sprites, they had inertia and would continue to stumble towards you even after you killed them, which was super creepy. I can't remember any other game at the time that did that, enemies would just crumple on the spot. In fact, I don't even think there are many games that do that now, thirty years later...


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#4628016 - 06/04/23 11:22 AM Re: System Shock [Re: DBond]  
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It's very good! Very hard also but that could be just me being a bad player lol

#4628021 - 06/04/23 04:19 PM Re: System Shock [Re: DBond]  
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Hi Mace, welcome to SimHQ smile


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#4628031 - 06/05/23 02:37 AM Re: System Shock [Re: DBond]  
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So is there no such thing as clearing out a level of enemies in this game? I'm also having a bit of a problem figuring out the #%&*$# circuit puzzles.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4628040 - 06/05/23 12:11 PM Re: System Shock [Re: DBond]  
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Enemies respawn yes, so you cannot clear a level permanently. Shodan does not allow such things. Maybe once you've reduced level security to 0 it may stop?

The circuit puzzles require a continuous loop from red to red and cannot pass through blue. I reckon you know this already.

I've now dropped a few hours in to this one. I never would have played this were it not for the remaster. It's so cool how old school this is. There is nothing showing you where to go or what to do, just like it used to be. If something is hidden it will remain so unless you happen to find it. A game where you probably want to take notes! I mean, come on. This is the way it was, and as games have evolved to be more friendly to the player, where flashing bits and objectives icons have sprung up to guide us along, I've rather gotten accustomed to it. To be thrown back in time, as it were, is really cool. Games we played in the 90s were all like this, although System Shock is a cut above most of its contemporaries, isn't it?

Combat probably isn't as good as I made it sound above, which was based on reviews and Steam comments. Melee is pretty bad in that campy 90s sort of way. Once you have some guns it gets a little better, if only because you're taking less damage. The AI is not much beyond the 'rudimentary' level I was talking about. But then I'm still in the hospital level, so maybe things will change down the line. But combat isn't why you play a game like System Shock. It's about the exploration, piecing together the story of what happened and about defeating the evil antagonist. And after all, it's all rather your fault.

Playing this game just crystalizes all those times I called Prey (2017) System Shock's spiritual successor.


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#4628041 - 06/05/23 12:21 PM Re: System Shock [Re: DBond]  
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Thanks for that info DBond. To be honest I'm finding it difficult to get into this game after a couple of hours of playing it but I'll play it some more and give it a chance.

And yeah, the melee combat is laughably bad. It's like out of a Monty Python sketch.

Actually System Shock reminds me of another game I tried to get into but just couldn't a couple years ago which is "Soma".


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4628044 - 06/05/23 12:40 PM Re: System Shock [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Originally Posted by PanzerMeyer
Thanks for that info DBond. To be honest I'm finding it difficult to get into this game after a couple of hours of playing it but I'll play it some more and give it a chance.


I can understand that, and there was a point about an hour in where I was rather lost and uninspired. Do I really want to play a game like this in 2023? But I've stuck with it, got some decent weapons, and the exploration of the dungeon space station is starting to propel me. I played SS2, but I don't believe I played this game in the 90s. So at least for now I want to keep going. But yeah, you would need to embrace the camp to want to keep going. It's pulling me in, but I can understand those who find it less appealing.


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#4628048 - 06/05/23 01:02 PM Re: System Shock [Re: DBond]  
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If you don't have it yet, find the Sparqbeam pistol. That is a game changer for taking out cameras and mutants alike. And the pulse rifle for robots. The sparqbeam uses energy as ammo, so in theory it is limitless as long as you can return to a charging station. With these two weapons, exploration gets a lot smoother.


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#4628049 - 06/05/23 01:04 PM Re: System Shock [Re: DBond]  
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Originally Posted by DBond
If you don't have it yet, find the Sparqbeam pistol. That is a game changer for taking out cameras and mutants alike. And the pulse rifle for robots. The sparqbeam uses energy as ammo, so in theory it is limitless as long as you can return to a charging station. With these two weapons, exploration gets a lot smoother.



Yes, I have the electrical gun. It does work quite well. What irks me are the constantly respawning enemies.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4628060 - 06/05/23 02:36 PM Re: System Shock [Re: DBond]  
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OK, then you're good to go I reckon. But that won't make you like it either smile

For the pulse rifle

Go through the first cyberspace portal, which is like a space shooter. like Zaxxon or something. Once through there the medical armory is now unlocked and the rifle is in there


Does anyone know if you reduce level security to 0 do the respawns stop? But I guess by the time you've done that you're ready to move to the next level so respawns are just something you'd need to put up with to keep going


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#4628079 - 06/05/23 08:34 PM Re: System Shock [Re: DBond]  
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No idea for 2023, but the original game, the respawn was always active once enemy numbers fell low enough on the level - it was sometimes better to thin them out and then run past/avoid the last few than to hunt down everything, as that would trigger a respawn level-wide.

Some of the bigger/tougher enemies were 'specific' ones which didn't respawn, while the basic mutants, hoppers etc would spawn back into levels after you'd killed enough. I forget the details of which wouldn't respawn, and the new game is different.

SS2 behaved similarly - clear areas sufficiently and replacement enemies would spawn in, but a small zone cleared would remain clear if the level was still otherwise populated.

#4628138 - 06/06/23 01:29 PM Re: System Shock [Re: DBond]  
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Thanks for the info Lieste.

I still haven't found the elevator, which is where you can store stuff right? But I must be closing in. Explore a section, return to the surgical bay to rejuvenate, and then off to a different section, in radial fashion. Such an old school vibe. Honestly I don't know exactly what I'm to do, but that's the way it should be I reckon. I just woke up in this place. Just keep exploring and piecing it together. But taking down security and looking for stuff seems to be the way to go at the mo.

Can you return to a level at any time having left it? This is so old school that I worry I might miss something that is critical later, which I think is possible.

The only certain thing I know of in this regard is

After destroying the computers a code is displayed in red. I need this for the end game, so need to write it down. I haven't done much for spoilers so far, I like discovering what I can on my own. But I did read about this


I wonder what else is essential to know to complete the game?


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#4628161 - 06/06/23 04:26 PM Re: System Shock [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Originally Posted by PanzerMeyer
So is there no such thing as clearing out a level of enemies in this game? I'm also having a bit of a problem figuring out the #%&*$# circuit puzzles.


They will keep coming. smile Best strategy is kill only what you have to and try and survive.

Prey was modernized System Shock with all the bells and whistles, including challenging AI and combat. This is where things began. AI in games was far simpler back in 1994, hence all the puzzles, instead.

#4628163 - 06/06/23 04:34 PM Re: System Shock [Re: DBond]  
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No crouch-jumping though it seems biggrin

The advice I gave about the circuits is not complete, as I came later to a different sort of puzzle to light up an energy bridge. Honestly I'm not sure what I did to get it to work, but it did. Had me stumped for a bit. Then I moved something and boom, it completed. It had me stumped enough that I looked it up. But that only showed that there are different possibilities, probably down to which difficulty you choose for puzzles. I set everything to normal. So I didn't actually find a solution to the puzzle I had, but tripped over the solution anyway.


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#4628165 - 06/06/23 04:47 PM Re: System Shock [Re: Mr_Blastman]  
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Originally Posted by Mr_Blastman


Prey was modernized System Shock with all the bells and whistles, including challenging AI and combat. This is where things began. AI in games was far simpler back in 1994, hence all the puzzles, instead.


I totally see the influence of System Shock in Prey but at least Prey didn't have respawning enemies.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4628166 - 06/06/23 04:48 PM Re: System Shock [Re: DBond]  
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Yes, you can crouch jump. smile I have gotten into a few corners one is not supposed to by doing so.

#4628187 - 06/06/23 07:41 PM Re: System Shock [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Oh, no way. I'd have to look for these now I guess.

Originally Posted by PanzerMeyer

I totally see the influence of System Shock in Prey but at least Prey didn't have respawning enemies.


Maybe not literally? But areas would become re-populated. Like the main lobby over time would have bigger and badder enemies. You could clear it, set up defenses and come back later and it's all wrecked and enemies are there. Or like around the arboretum, same thing happens. Maybe it does all over but since those are hubs its easier to notice. Or outside Morgan's office mimics would reappear having killed the last batch. So yeah, not respawning really, but ramping re-population. Before buying System Shock I had kicked around another run in Prey. Might do.

In System Shock what can be done about the proximity mines? Only avoid or detonate? Can they be disabled and picked up? Like Fallout you could grab 'em quick. Usually smile


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