System Shock 2 - Still Irrational's Best Work

[Aubrielle]

Bioshock was alright, says Eurogamer, but System Shock 2 still remains the studio's finest achievement.

2007's BioShock blew everyone away with its momentous second-act twist. The scene in which you finally encounter Andrew Ryan, your body buzzing with adrenaline after the rigmarole you've gone through to find this megalomaniac, only to be delivered the debilitating narrative gut-punch that you've been guided like a puppet the entire time, is often considered one of gaming's greatest feats of storytelling. In fact, so successful is this scene that it ends up hurting the remainder of the game. The flurry of half-baked ideas that follow - your plasmids don't work, you're sort of a Big Daddy - fail to rebuild the momentum which leads up to that clarifying moment.

It's also surprising that, at the time, more people didn't see it coming, as the setup and delivery echo an equivalent reveal penned by Ken Levine in System Shock 2, the game to which BioShock was marketed as a spiritual successor. On deck four of the ill-fated spaceship Von Braun, the character you've been working with for the first half of the game turns out to be the dead puppet of SHODAN, the malevolent AI introduced in the original System Shock.

It's only when you examine the two side by see that it becomes clear why this is. Both are games dedicated to the exploration of player agency, or more specifically the lack of it. BioShock saves all of its narrative impact for a single moment, a spectacular power-fantasy that pulls the rug from beneath the player's feet two-thirds of the way through. By comparison, System Shock 2's revelation is basically SHODAN's way of saying hello.

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[wiretripped]

I've never played SS2, but it looks like that article contains heavy spoilers.

 

[JDR13]

I've never played SS2

*Backs away slowly*

"Something is wrong with this one."

 

[wiretripped]

Eh, don't know why, but I missed it back in the day. Those early 3D graphics are kind of hard to stomach nowadays, so I never started it. Plus, my backlog is just… huge.

I'll gladly play SS3 though, if it turns out decent.

 

[txa1265]

Bioshock was alright, says Eurogamer, but System Shock 2 still remains the studio's finest achievement.

Is that even a statement that needs to be made?

I love Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite, but SS2 is ... Well, one of the best.

 

[forgottenlor]

I played Bioshock before SS2, and was surprised that despite the similarities which were fresh to me in Bioschock and therefore not so fresh in SS2, I liked SS2 much, much better.

My favorite Irrational Games game remains Freedom Force 2, though. I know. I'm weird.

 

[Aubrielle]

Sorry about the spoilers, Wiretripped. I thought I was the only person that hadn't played SS2. >.> I assumed everyone else already had or was a fan...

 

[Zloth]

No, no way! You two must have played it! It's... it's just not... oh, I know! You played it but you forgot. Good move. Those monkeys still give me bad dreams.

 

[rune_74]

I played Bioshock before SS2, and was surprised that despite the similarities which were fresh to me in Bioschock and therefore not so fresh in SS2, I liked SS2 much, much better.

My favorite Irrational Games game remains Freedom Force 2, though. I know. I'm weird.

I really enjoyed freedom force...would love to see them do another game in that vein with some modern improvements....maybe a reboot like they did with xcom.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

The Bioshock series is really bad, way too much linearity and heavy handedness and there is always someone telling you what to do. It's System Shock turned into Call of Duty. You literally can't walk for one minute without someone telling you something on your walkie talkie. It's not a classic at all, it's just a result of pure hype by gaming journalists who want easy games that take them by the hand.

The Von Braun is much more brutal and you are forced to explore and venture into dangerous rooms all the time. That feeling of being lost and threading dangerous paths is completely gone in Bioshock. Also the Von Braun is very well designed and looks like a real place. "Rapture" is super tiny and linear and feels like a mishmash of random ideas that vaguely look "retro".

I think the only hope to make games this good is Otherside Entertainment because they are mostly all 50 years old industry veterans who won't compromise to these modern trends.

The ironic things is that many design trends that we associate with the "decline" were in fact started in System Shock 2, a game that sold extremely poorly but which was memorable to most game designers. The problem is that they took these trends much too far.

The whole of the Bioshock series is utterly forgettable and passable.

Also Ken Levine is not a good writer. Bioshock Infinite in particular is very obnoxious with its message of "anglo-saxon protestant culture and manifest destiny are evil!!!" that permeates every single facet of the game.

 

[Stingray]

The Bioshock series is really bad, way too much linearity and heavy handedness and there is always someone telling you what to do. It's System Shock turned into Call of Duty. You literally can't walk for one minute without someone telling you something on your walkie talkie. It's not a classic at all, it's just a result of pure hype by gaming journalists who want easy games that take them by the hand.

Well put. Bioshock isn't a game, it's a semi-interactive B movie. And not a great one at that, partially due to the obvious and obnoxious agenda that you described.

Freedom Force, on the other hand, was amazing. Still think SS2 is better, though.

 

[JDR13]

Not sure why people feel the need to exaggerate, but the Bioshock games aren't nearly as bad as some are claiming. In fact, they aren't bad at all.

The only legitimate knock is that they aren't RPGs. Other than that, they're very good at what they do. Bioshock Infinite was one of the best games I played in 2013.

No one is going to argue about SS2 being Irrational's best game though. That's pretty much a given. Thing is, they didn't do it alone. SS2 was co-developed by Irrational and Looking Glass Studios.

An interesting fact that a lot of people might not know is that SS2 was originally being developed as a different game. It was changed to SS2 after Electronic Arts became the publisher. It's probably the only example I could think of where EA being involved actually had a positive effect on a game.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

Bioshock Infinite was slightly less obnoxious in this regard, and they did improve exploration and had better features and combat... but it's still System Shock lite. In fact much less than System Shock lite.

It's Coca-Cola classic (back from when it was still made with real sugar)... to RC diet cola, that has been expired for two years.

 

[txa1265]

The only legitimate knock is that they aren't RPGs. Other than that, they're very good at what they do. Bioshock Infinite was one of the best games I played in 2013.

Totally agree - my older son is playing Bioshock Infinite on Steam while home from college for break and it is cool seeing him experience it. Really cool game.

 

[Silver]

So why this re-evaluation of System Shock 2 from the gaming journos? Wasn't that long ago that I got the impression they weren't even aware of SS2 and praised Bioshock to the high heavens.

Have spiritual successors and the kickstarter audience forced them to re-evaluate? I think they have.

 

[Stingray]

Most game "journalists" are in their early 20s and have no clue about what happened in gaming more than like 10 years ago until someone points it out to them.

Also, "EPIC STORYLINES!!!!11" like what's in the Bioshock games tends to impress people that young more than it does others, IMO. Most of us (avg age of RPGWatch is around 40+ last I heard?) grew up on gameplay-focused games - something that Bioshock sucks at.

 

[Silver]

Most game "journalists" are in their early 20s and have no clue about what happened in gaming more than like 10 years ago until someone points it out to them.

Also, "EPIC STORYLINES!!!!11" like what's in the Bioshock games tends to impress people that young more than it does others, IMO. Most of us (avg age of RPGWatch is around 40+ last I heard?) grew up on gameplay-focused games - something that Bioshock sucks at.

They do seem easily impressed. Story only works for me when gameplay elements are strong, bioshock was too shallow for me. Couldn't finish it as it got repetitive and boring despite best intentions.