System Shock - FPS that changed PC Games forever

HiddenX

HiddenX

The Elder Spy
Staff Member
Original Sin Donor
Original Sin 2 Donor
Supporter
Joined
October 18, 2006
Messages
20,175
Location
Germany
Henriquejr spotted a re-published article from PC Gamer about System Shock:

System Shock was the FPS that changed PC games forever

In this classic feature, Jim Rossignol looks back at the real reason BioShock exists.

We're digging into the PC Gamer archives to publish pieces from years gone by. This article was originally published in PC Gamer issue 182, Christmas 2007.

Back in the summer of 1994 everyone was getting excited about Doom 2. Everyone was wrong. The only game that mattered was System Shock.

It was a defining game for me, and for the handful of others who played it. Doom 2 was fun, but System Shock was changing our perceptions about what gaming could be. It was the big step forward from Ultima Underworld, with a physics system, realistic textured environments, complex AI, and a towering, terrifying story of isolation and persecution aboard a malevolent space station. This was the first showdown with megalomaniac computer SHODAN, and it's something I'll never forget.

[...]
Click to expand...

More information.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
20,175
Location
Germany
I never played the original System Shock so I'm hoping it will be a good game on its own without relying too much on the nostalgia value. I do like the theme and the idea in general.
 
Joined
Apr 26, 2023
Messages
1,249
Vaelith said:
I never played the original System Shock so I'm hoping it will be a good game on its own without relying too much on the nostalgia value. I do like the theme and the idea in general.
Click to expand...
I think there's a good chance you'll enjoy it even more since you didn't play the original. Nostalgia often sabotages the experience when it comes to remakes.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
39,518
Location
Florida, US
Too lazy to look it up but does this game predate half-life. I missed the first system shock but loved half-life and then played system shock 2 some years later - lets see - i guess it does - half-life 1998 system shock 1994; system shock 2 1999 (i think it played it around 2002; i got caught in a game my sister gave me as a hand me down called wiz 8 for a while in 2001/early 2002 - it took me a *long* time the first time i played it; and another game in the bundle she gave me was some weird game called bg 2 that took even longer). Oh how could i forget the other stack of disks in that box she sent me - some truly bizzare games called might and magic iv,v,vi,vii - that one box caused me to switch from fps to rpg - even if didn't actually know they were rpg at the time.
 
Joined
Jun 26, 2021
Messages
302
notdart said:
Too lazy to look it up but does this game predate half-life. I missed the first system shock but loved half-life and then played system shock 2 some years later - lets see - i guess it does - half-life 1998 system shock 1994; system shock 2 1999 (i think it played it around 2002)
Click to expand...
Have you played Black Mesa? It's a full remake of Half-Life. Definitely check that out if you haven't already.

Nightdive Studios is also working on an enhanced edition of System Shock 2. It's supposed to be release shortly after the SS remake, but I haven't heard anything about it lately.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
39,518
Location
Florida, US
JDR13 said:
Have you played Black Mesa? It's a full remake of Half-Life. Definitely check that out if you haven't already.

Nightdive Studios is also working on an enhanced edition of System Shock 2. It's supposed to be release shortly after the SS remake, but I haven't heard anything about it lately.
Click to expand...
Yea I played black-mesa to completion not so long ago; it was ok - the last portion turned into sort of a portal type game - it was fine but could have been a bit shorter - i don't remember how the original half-life finished up other than being radically different. Not sure i'd replay black-mesa again - i mean don't get me wrong it was a quality piece of work but when i play fps game i lean towards the run and shoot (faster pace) or the more deliberate puzzle - but the stuff that lies in between doesn't grab me as much as it used to. I'm finally playing a bit of the recent doom game - and the first section seemed fine - not sure if it gets better/worse or stays the same.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jun 26, 2021
Messages
302
notdart said:
Yea I played black-mesa to completion not so long ago; it was ok - the last portion turned into sort of a portal type game - it was fine but could have been a bit shorter - i don't remember how the original half-life finished up other than being radically different. Not sure i'd replace black-mesa again - i mean don't get me wrong it was a quality piece of work but when i play fps game i lean towards the run and shoot (faster pace) or the more deliberate puzzle - but the stuff that lies in between doesn't grab me as much as it used to.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've heard the Xen section in the remake overstays its welcome. I played and finished Black Mesa before they released the Xen levels so I haven't experienced them yet myself
notdart said:
I'm finally playing a bit of the recent doom game - and the first section seemed fine - not sure if it gets better/worse or stays the same.
Click to expand...
I really liked Doom Eternal. It's very gamey, but it has some of the tightest gameplay in the genre. The expansions are brutal on the higher difficulty levels.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
39,518
Location
Florida, US
HiddenX said:

System Shock - FPS that changed PC Games forever​

Click to expand...
Mmm, looks more like a failed path opening FPS to RPG but never achieving sell enough to mark that much PC games. What games in that path? Some marking but no big influence on PC Games, SS2 obviously, eventually Deus Ex 1&2 in part, but certainly not Bioshock 1&2 that was more a gave up. Sure you can find good more modern FPS RPG but I doubt any come from SS1&2 or Deus Ex 1&2. And no, Half-Life 1 is no RPG Shooter, I don't remind either HL2 was one.

Marathon series did it too in parallel, smaller team lower budget but much more modern gameplay than the original SS extending the bad UI design of the otherwise great game that was Ultima Underworld. In my opinion MM1 was much better than SS1 original, but the SS1 remake will probably be another affair when there's most certainly never ever be any MM1 remake. :)
 
Joined
Oct 14, 2007
Messages
3,258
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom