System Shock - Everything about it

HiddenX

HiddenX

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Gameinformer tells us everything we need to know about the System Shock series:

Everything You Need To Know About System Shock

Otherside Entertainment, currently developing the Kickstarted Underworld Ascendant, has revealed that they're developing a new entry in the System Shock series, the last of which was released in the tail end of 1999. Here's why that's a big deal.

Back in 1994 gaming was in a very different place. Game demos were passed around on floppy disks. Doom and Civilization ruled the world. Windows 95 wasn't even a thing yet. Looking Glass Technologies, which housed innovators like Warren Spector (Deux Ex), Doug Church (Thief) and Harvey Smith (Dishonored), was known for the revolutionary role-playing series Ultima and wanted to create an immersive simulation that wasn't fantasy-based. They opted for science fiction, and System Shock, a first-person adventure game that cast players as a hacker going up against an artificial intelligence known as SHODAN hell-bent on destroying Earth, was born.

At first glance, the original System Shock looks like a Doom clone. There are pixelated corridors where all sorts of nightmares lumber and roll about, such as reprogrammed droids or humans who have mutated into zombies thanks to corrupted cybernetic implants, all of them looking to turn you into red paste. However, the similarities end there, as the game reveals its role-playing tendencies by requiring you to use an inventory system to store items and to loot the bodies of destroyed enemies. Player movement is a bit clumsy and so is using the cursor to interact with the inventory or objects in the environment. As a result, System Shock is a game where you have to exercise caution to survive since you can't rely on twitchy reflexes to save the day. You have to plan your battles carefully while lurking in the shadows, learning which weapons work best against which enemies. [...]
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BTW: Format92 spotted that System Shock 3 is coming...

More information.
 
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I am surprised by the lack of comments on System Shock news in the recent newsbits. Maybe it just reflects the tastes of the forum folks. When I was younger, I used to love long turn-based rpgs (and I still buy them all eventually - just don't play them too often). I now get much more excited about action-adventure, single character fare (like Gothic, Skyrim, Fallout, Deus Ex, etc.). It seems like there is a lot of love for Deus Ex at the Watch - so why not System Shock? Or maybe we are just the silent majority... :)
 
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I love system shock, don't comment much on it but I am definitely looking forward to seeing what these guys can do.
 
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System Shock 2 was a masterpiece. I really hope, but doubt a lot, that System Shock 3 will be as good as.

But for sure will back any KS or FIG or whatever !
 
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A lot of us have talked System Shock to death already and it's highly regarded here. And most of us have been disappointed by similar decades later sequels. Need to see more about the game than hear a voice for me to make anything more than gushing idiot comments.
 
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Thrasher said:
A lot of us have talked System Shock to death already and it's highly regarded here. And most of us have been disappointed by similar decades later sequels. Need to see more about the game than hear a voice for me to make anything more than gushing idiot comments.
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Yes, okay, but... geez. The magic is long out of computer games for me, as it is for most of us... it's fun to get your hopes up occasionally (IMHO). I hear what you are saying as to some sequels, but I thought the Bioshock games were certainly good as spiritual successors, so it can be done (unlike Master of Magic, for example, where apparently a sequel CAN'T be done).
 
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Thrasher said:
For me Bioshock was a weak sequel to ss2. RPG elements dumbed down or missing.
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Sounds like you were a victim of your own misplaced expectations. Bioshock was never advertised as any kind of sequel nor was it claimed to be an RPG. Although I can understand how some people might have been expecting more RPG elements due to all the coverage it received at sites like this.

I think all three Bioshock games are great for what they are.
 
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I had no expectations like that. To the contrary, to those that were paying attention it was fairly obvious that Bioshock was not going to come close to ss2 in RPG elements. Thus claiming "spiritual successor" was pure marketing bullshit for those who prefer RPGs over shooters.
 
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I know you'd rather fantasize about everyone's expectations, so I'll be clear about this. I expect SS3 to be a shooter with interchangeable power ups, inline with the Bioshocks, and nothing like System Shock 1 or 2. Another FPS doesn't excite me.
 
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JDR13 said:
Cool. I'm hoping this means we won't be hearing you bitch about it later. :)
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Oh come on now, this is rpgwatch, I thought that was the new direction.
 
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Thrasher said:
Just put me on ignore and save yourself the grief. :rolleyes: They'd be a lot fewer wasted discussions like this one.
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I have no issues with you...I don't really ignore anyone anyways.
 
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