System Shock Remake History, Comparison and Analysis
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- Опубліковано 16 чер 2024
- An examination of the 2023 remake of the 1994 sci-fi cult classic PC immersive sim, System Shock created by Looking Glass Technologies. In this video I look at the history of the original, the struggles developer Nightdive Studios encountered while developing the remake and then compare and analysis various aspects of the original and remake.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
2:05 History of System Shock and the System Shock Remake
11:20 List of major changes in the remake
11:45 Gameplay comparison and analysis
14:24 Cyberspace comparison and analysis
16:23 Level design comparison and analysis
20:18 Graphics and animation comparison and analysis
27:36 Remake performance analysis
32:01 Sound effects and voices comparison and analysis
38:43 New game mechanics in the remake
41:06 Story comparison and analysis
42:51 Hardware attachment changes
44:21 Weapon comparison and analysis
47:22 Difficulty comparison and analysis
48:50 Heads up Display (HUD) comparison and analysis
50:37 Music comparison and analysis
54:31 Cutscene comparison and analysis
58:17 Enemy design comparison and analysis
1:00:31 Boss fights comparison and analysis
1:03:07 Miscellaneous additions, comparisons with analysis
1:10:54 Final thoughts
comment to boost this chads algorithm
It's not always fair.
As someone playing system shock for the first time through the remake this is a nice recap of a history I knew little to nothing about, keep up the work
I’m glad to be here on the ground floor - may you make a gazillion UA-cam dollars
This game boots up and plays perfectly on my original Xbox One. Its beautiful. Yeah the elevator and tram rides are long, but thats fine.
Shodan's voice has been burned into my memory since I watched my dad play System Shock 2 as a kid. Is anyone else unsettled by hearing her normal voice? I feel like if I met in in real life I'd either run away or do whatever she says.
My dad bought the original back in the days, with me and my brother being allowed to play it (I guess he did not really check what the game was about). We set the difficulty basically to zero, as we did not have any clue what to do and how to fight, but the atmosphere was still amazing! Loved the game ever since 🤩
One correction that I can't tell if it's already been stated in the comments: The original System Shock does NOT use static lighting. It had to be dynamic, due to Intels 486 platform shipping without a feature. I forget which one exactly. So, all of the lights are dynamic, but extremely limited in their context. Looking at the released source code, you can see that the lighting works by assigning an emission value to a single pixel, and then fading between that and the base texture over a given number of frames.
That was a very thorough comparison between the two games and a nice little history lesson about the genre.
Keep up the good work!
Excellent video! Really interesting are all the minor changes, the only thing from the original I’d really want is the bio circuit bridge aesthetic, the feeling that Shodan is actually making her way into our world than just ruling it from afar, that being said I also enjoy the cathedral theme in the remake! For once a fantastic remake!
There is a way to add notes. Just start typing after you add marker to the map. I used it all the time during my walkthrough. But maybe it was added after your video.There's no visual indication though, like a blinking cursor, so I found out about it by accident.
Glad to see I'm not the only one who headbangs to the Reactor theme.
I actually love the bridge. Yes, it's very different, but i found it also extremely oppressive, that was not an area where I felt good in at all and just wanted to finish it. Not sure if it was the architecture or the overall dark tone. But I understand how it could be seen as a letdown coming from the original.
Subscribed, keep up the good work!
DUDE AMAZING VIDEO, I hope the algorithm blesses you pretty soon
This video is really great, I hope you get some more view man, you deserve them.
Fantastic video. Great job!
I use the same strategy for every boss. Berserk patch, reflex patch, EMP, laser rapier, win.
Supremely excellent video. Well done.
One of my biggest criticisms towards this game is in hit feedback. Enemies don’t obviously react differently depending on ammo type as they’re still bullet sponges regardless and have no differing effects. They also generally just stand there and take it until going instantly limp in a really unsatisfying and amateur looking way.
Your mic sounds really nice, by the way.
Well done.
Great analysis!
Very decent analysis
Good shout
this was a rly comfy and interesting video :>
Good video
Any thoughts on the 1.2 update? Excellent video btw
I very much want to see a System Shock 2 remake. I would love to see the dreary style and what Nightdive does with it
Ah, someone new to subscribe too.
Yall comment to boost the algorithm.
By the way Im looking forward to buying the game
Greaet video. Need more views, system shock rocks!
maaan
31 views...
u deserve better for sure
prayin on YT algorithm to praise ur content up
keep goin hard bro
The bridge has unused concept art for the hr giger esque elements and there is cut dialogue for a more fleshed out SHODAN fight let’s hope they patch it like they said
Quality vid
Niiiiiice!
7:09 I'm so glad that you mentioned Malba Tahan's mods, as they really were pivotal to bringing System Shock back, making it run flawlessly on modern systems..shockingly. Yeahh. All that was missing was support for the music, which Night Dive fixed. I wonder if Malba ever collaborated with Night Dive. I never heard anything about him since he released those mods...
Night Dive really needs to streamline the item recycling mechanic. The auto vaporizer function could be built into an item or cyberware. Sacrificing a small amount of inventory space and/or energy would be worth it to make the task of vaporizing items less complicated. And I still can't get over the fact that item/corpse vaporization via energy weapons isn't possible in the remake. How is Plug N Play Man able to vaporize items in his inventory anyway? Lemme shoot stuff with the sparq to vaporize them! It's one of the funnest parts of the original! I prefer a clean station, thank you.
I actually wonder if NightDive, with all credits due, just took System Shock Portable made by the System Shock community and distributed for free, repacked it and released commercially as an Enhansed Edition?
It was kinda bummer, wasn't it?
Comment boost, u do good stuff on older games
56:05 "Why does Tri-op have the mandate to detain random citizens anyway?"
... i imagine they don't...
:S
Actually they're the only ones allowed to do that. North America as the continent is completely owned by TriOptimum. A "government" exists but has only some minor tasks. So the police and every other enforcement and political branch is entirely owned by TriOptimum and thus they definitely can and will detain random citizens when they break their rules. Actual quote from TriOptimum: "We value human life, but corporate secrets must be protected at all costs".
1:07:20 MF, i beat the chess game and wondered why there was no reward, well... back to Beta Grove :D
what patch version were you reviewing here, please?
I know it's a minor gripe, but I really wish they'd kept Diego's original voice actor. The new one leans way too hard into the bland, evil, stereotype. The original VA may not have been a professional, but he embodied the 90s power executive perfectly.
0:33 Doesn't count - Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee is moreso a remake of Pokémon Yellow, rather than of FireRed/LeafGreen.
For one, it sticks with the original 151 (plus Meltan, Melmetal, and Alolan regional forms for some reason), when FRLG had Johto and Hoenn Pokémon also in their code (and thus they could be traded in, which isn't possible with LGPE).
For two, LGPE lacks content that FRLG added to the base Kanto experience, such as the VS Seeker, and most importantly, the Sevii Islands (as well as the ability to rematch the Elite 4, with stronger teams that include non-Kanto Pokémon).
For three...the whole Pikachu/Eevee-as-starter was only done in Yellow, where the rival gets Eevee (the only Poké Ball on Oak's desk) and the player of course gets Pikachu (freshly caught). FRLG, on the other hand, goes with the classic Bulbasaur/Charmander/Squirtle choice, not Pikachu or Eevee.
For four, the game lacks battle mechanics that FRLG had, such as held items - when Yellow, being a "Gen 1" game alongside Red/Blue, also lacked held items (they weren't a mechanic until Gold/Silver, or Gen 2). Additionally, LGPE's Candy mechanic can be seen as an analog to Gen 1/2's "Stat EXP" system, allowing every stat to end up maxed out - when by FRLG's release, the 510-EV cap (and 255 in a single stat) had replaced Stat EXP, making it impossible to max out all stats.
Im big deus ex and bioshock fan yet i cant realy get into system shock, even new one
That's because the new one is bad and fanboys like to pretend it's good. I'd instead recommend playing system shock 2, and then playing the updated original shock if you like 2. If you liked Deus ex, shock 2 was more atmospheric. The thing is the upgrade path is a trap, only hacker with certain upgrades are viable. Shock 2 then has an unofficial new game+ when you know the door codes because there's a certain door with weapons and armor early game you don't know the code until later.
That's because they're completely different experiences.
Bioshock is a pretty straightforward action game with very simple level design and Deus Ex has a lot more verticality, as well as filling the levels with non-combatants who you can talk to.
System Shock is a dungeon crawler on a spaceship. There's nobody else there, it's just a big maze full of monsters, loot, key items, and traps, with the progression being focused on working out vague instructions to progress.
If you don't like mazes or you can't handle ambiguity in the instructions you're given, you won't like System Shock. If you want to have a conversation with another character where you can ask them questions about what you are supposed to do, you won't be able to do that.
I feel like the most obvious problem is that there's no such thing as an "immersive sim" in terms of game design, it's a really wishy washy term that is more descriptive of the underlying objectives when it comes to the level of interaction with the game environment that they're aiming for, but has nothing to do with how the game plays. If nobody had told you what an immersive sim was you'd never think that Thief, System Shock, Deus Ex, Ultima Underworld, Bioshock, ect. were remotely similar to one another.
Final fantasy seven remake was garbage. Kingdom hearts fantasy more like. system shock had such a crap ending that ruined the game
its stupd age of remakes, and remakes of remakes.... no new ideas
so I just finished the game and boy are there aspects about the game that feels like they just want to waste my time. Within the first 10 minutes I realized that in this game I will be garbage recycling hundreds of individual pieces of trash in such a slow clunky way. Feels disrespectful to the players time.
"ImMeRsIvE sIm" Ugh... Can we retire this fucking term already? It doesn't mean anything besides "a game that is combination of different genres" and looking at it nowadays, ANY modern game can be a fucking "ImMeRsIvE sIm".
"Pixelated" style of textures will age better than ANY modern game. Artstyle is the key to game's eternal life, just ask Thief trilogy.
The new voice actors are mostly terrible. They're doing whole "Let me do 15 dramatic pauses in one sentence" Oscar-bait horseshit that I'm sick of seeing in every modern movie.
OG "VAs" may not have been good, but they weren't tryhards.
56:09 - Probably 'cause he hacked into their systems? I know I don't appreciate a security breach by some random asshole.
🤷♂
1:04:22 - YES, IT HAS. If you had respawns at 0%, then it's probably a glitch.
Your unwarranted anger and bitterness comes across as exceptionally juvenile.
Whether you like the term or not, there are still aspects of gameplay one associates with an “immersive sim” that aren’t found in many games - modern or not. Yes, it’s a poor term with a poor definition, but through its consistent use regarding certain styles of games (and not others despite technically fitting its definition), one can grow a greater understanding of exactly what kind of game it’s referring to and in turn, the definition narrows.
The pixelated graphics look dated on release, as opposed to regular textures taking much longer to date. Sure, the pixelation can help it in the long run, but in the short term, it looks gimmicky and ugly. It also just doesn’t gel well with a game that utilises all of these other modern rendering techniques and it actively hampers otherwise great looking assets. It has also become a serious cliche within games that are throwbacks to bygone eras and comes off as an excuse to be lazy rather than a genuine attempt to make the game age better two decades down the track. If the primary purpose of the remake is to make the game look better, then why would you actively prevent that by making it look like a garbled mess as soon as you get close to anything? I also think this is an out of date argument. This isn’t the age of early 3D anymore. I don’t believe games today are going to age nearly as poorly as those from the late 90s and early 2000s. We might be utilising 16K textures in the future, but we have more than enough polygons and high resolution enough textures to sell the effect now. It’ll be down to refinement at this point. Older 3D games only held up so poorly because their characters resembled a stack of blocks more than people and textures were so blurry text was barely decipherable. And while I agree about art style, I don’t see how it’s directly relevant as an argument, and Thief is a weird one to mention considering it always had filtered textures.
I’d personally rather professional grade actors overplaying the drama than random people off the street sounding as if they’re voicing characters in a cartoon for infants.
56:09 that’s obviously not the point he was making. Corporations don’t enforce the law themselves. If you leaked Apple’s personal information, would you expect Apple themselves to come and break down your door? No, the police would... if you’re going to be a smug little prick, at least make certain you’re right.
1:04:22 WHY ARE YOU YELLING
If it didn’t happen in the original, and it still didn’t in the remake, can you fault him for believing that it’s intended design? Especially when a lot of the game functions identically to the original? That’s only logical. He was also uncertain. Your petty passive aggression is yet again unwarranted.
You come off like someone who watched way too many TotalBiscuit videos back in the day and now holds slightly elitist points of views irregardless of context.
Grass touchy
What sort of loon would think that pixelating art automatically makes it good? That's just sad.
Just no, the original was superior. I even think the voice acting is better, as the new actors suffer from actor drama and bad fake voices. I don't like the rebalancing changes at all, the map changes, the art style, none of it. I preferred the unity version, but overall not allowing texture filtering and being a worse game means I ultimately prefer the DOS game more. Especially the midi sound track. The remake is not what I wanted, and improves nothing. Worth buying on sale and playing once, but is completely a failure as a game and doesn't break ground like the original. You can PRETEND it's good all you want, but the game clearly wasn't a big success, and that's because the developers weren't faithful or broke ground. It's just another bad remake among numerous other bad remakes, and everyone is sick of these remakes done under developer "vision" that don't respect the original, add new content that's good, or respect what the fans wanted. Shock remake is solely what the developers wanted, which is why it failed. Meanwhile the guys who made palworld said they designed their game according to what the players would want, and that's why it succeeded. Duh.
fuq is ur jib
@@titsmcgee1538 common sense? Devs jumping off a bridge and wondering why they go splat. Maybe not jump off the bridge or use a bungie cord or parachute bare minimum? But if you make that suggestion, the devs act like reserve psychology contrarians and double down on bad decisions. Which is a problem with 99% of modern game devs who refuse to take suggestions from the community and ruin the IP. Blizzard, Bethesda, etc. The new games aren't even being made by the original devs, they got fired or left then the Corp hires a 3rd party from India to make slop with all the actual work being put into the store and how to monetize. Even if it's not outsourced, it's still different devs and the devs don't respect feedback or make the game good. The devs from Ubisoft complained about Elden Ring, and it's like maybe realize your concept isn't perfect. Palworld got it right, make the game something players want to play. Interplay's motto used to be, "By gamers, for gamers". Games aren't played by shareholders. Design the games for the players. I don't think the system shock remake is what anyone wanted, it's not a good remake for the old players or new players, it just sits in this middle ground area that alienates everyone. If I wanted to play shock 2, I'd play that, and I'd never buy a remake. Shock 1 was supposed to be action not horror.
Good video