The “pixelized” look of textures when you get up close was an art design decision. They wanted the game to both look modern and sleek while still calling back to the original. I actually quite like it and think it makes the game look far more unique than if they just went with all high-res textures.
@@thefantasticfiend No problem! The way you spoke about it in the review made me think you had the impression it was just a technical issue, so I wanted to share that with you. Appreciate the review. Loved this game beginning to end. Can't wait for the remaster of System Shock 2 coming soon!
I honestly found the elevator music playing during the stations destruction kinda humorous since the up beat/tone of the song is almost in sync with that is going on during the scene. I honestly had fun with it, but I can see how it could be distracting and out of place. Edit : Fixed a couple grammar errors. P.s. I am an insane person who likes cyberspace in SS (1994) more than the remakes due to the same reasons. The new one is too much arcade-y and I'm not a fan.
Ive only played the enhanced edition. The structure of the original is awesome though. Almost a proto-sandbox type of deal where you can travel too and fro betwern decks. Once Shodan starts really coming after you, it creates such a wonderful excitement
Just got around to playing it, I was hesitant because I didn't know how well it aged and some people said it was hard to know where to go. In all honesty it holds up amazingly well and the games directions are rather easy if you pay attention to the audio logs. It just takes time because it's not a chase the checkpoint kind of game. Therefore it takes patience because when given a task it may take an hour before you actually reach the location by exploring.
Yeah, I was fully prepared to get lost since Citadel station is kind of legendary for being very labyrinthine but I ended up having no issues whatsoever in the remake. All I had to do is be diligent with the audio logs, try to collect them all and pay attention to what they say. Every story important room or corridor has a giant sign above the door that says what it is, all the others have no signs. It's a bit immersion breaking but it makes it very easy to follow the logs. Honestly I can't believe people still get lost.
Congrats on the well crafted video. Another target audience of the game is fans of the original. Having played the original, I was waiting for this a long time. We were extremely happy that NightDive went back to the drawing board after fans complained about the original demos, and did an extremely faithful remake. Still, I do think including those Objective hints in the game itself as an option would have been great for new players.
Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Also thanks for that new perspective, I never played the original SS1. I'm glad fans like yourself kept NightDive on task.
Imagine if instead of bloated-budget games like asscreeds or gow's we would have more games like this releasing each year. Classic game design should be brought back, games that appeal to 'everyone' are just unsustainable money-sinks.
Games like this DO release each year. Those games are sustainable because an obscene amount of people do like those gameplay loops, but their existance shouldn't affect you.
We can't have that, as the only thing major studios care about anymore is either 1. proving how woke they are, or 2. predatory micro transactions. Making old good games even better, updating graphics, controls, UI, but otherwise leaving the premise intact is NOT on their radar.
We *fiancee and I) just purchased System Shock for both our Xbox Series X and PS5. I missed the first game when it came out, but I was a huge fan of the second. System Shock was always one of my bucket list games that you have to play at least once. I just about fell out of my chair when I saw this was finally a go. Now, I think what Night Dive Studios has done is nothing short of incredible. The game both looks fantastic and plays super smooth. My one and only complaint (so far) is the way some of the enemies look. They have a rubbery look and feel to them that looks especially strange when you hit them on the ground. It's such a strange look that it immediately pulls me out of the game.
I have no idea, how your channel got recommended to me, but I sure am glad it did. Nice video, mate! Can't wait for another one! Also, nice books collection)
I just got this remake yesterday, and every time I hear one of the security camera noises, I start looking around for a security bots from BioShock, out of pure habit😂
I've been playing this game and it is SO GOOD. Deus ex is my favorite game, and although this is quite different, not crazy amounts of choice, but very similar design ideas. Like very similar. I see where DX got many design ideas. What a great game and to think it games a remake of a 30 year old game to get some great game design. Bring back not knowing shit and having to figure out like it's a damn calculus test. The amount I get lost and have no clue what to do next is 500x better than a flashing way point that basically says "over here stupid"
I agree. I like the base experience being the no hand holding "good luck, bud" approach. I also think having the option to turn on waypoints lets everyone experience the game and that's always good. The more the merrier. :)
It's funny, people had the same complaints about the Cyberspace sections of the original (on top of some people actually getting motion sickness). But I think that they were obligated to keep those portions included as part of their faithful recreation - though I don't think that there was any law against making those sections shorter, which I do believe most people would have appreciated. I have yet to play this game - once I heard about the remake, I made the decision to wait. But an Immersive Sim, such as Thief 1 & 2, or the modern Prey, or classic Deus Ex games, is defined by the player's ability to create their own solutions to a problem, particularly by means of the environment, objects within the environment, or tools at your disposal. Or any and all combinations of those elements. Can you enter an area through a door, though you might be attacked immediately, or go around back and climb through a window? Maybe you can't reach the window, but there is a dumpster that you could climb on if you can push it into place. But the dumpster is behind a locked gate. If you didn't end up using the grenade you found last mission, you could blow up the gate. Or maybe, if you explore the basement of a building down the street, you will find a sewer grate, and if you can find a way to open that grate, you can find a secret passage into the building you are trying to infiltrate, and this more obscure solution allows you the most stealthy, and most rewarding entrance out of all possible solutions. Those are some examples of what defines an Immersive Sim. As close to an approximation of navigating the game world as if it was the real world as the game is able to achieve. So much so, that players will invent solutions that the developers did not even anticipate. Like, "Here's a world and a bunch of tools - Good luck." That's what made games like Thief and Deus Ex so iconic. I don't know if System Shock has this kind of Immersive Sim interactivity, but judging by what I know about the original, I don't think so. Although you can move about pretty freely within levels, I believe that the solutions to each level are pretty much on rails. So no, it's an action-horror, but not an Immersive Sim. Someone correct me if I'm wrong...
While I fully support individual freedom of choice, I usually set the "music" slider to zero on any game I play; I don't want to be warned that combat is starting or ending. I prefer to be surprised, besides in any decent game, the environmental audio is sufficiently clueful.
New to your channel, first video I've found from you, and boy, gotta say, super underrated channel! Your take on System Shock is valid & a very genuine take, and I love how you approached the game and the topics you discussed. It's very well written and thought out and I hope your channel finds more success, you definitely deserve it!
Not going to "extreme heights" really feels like a nuanced, intentional decision. A big theme is that you are an insect to shodan - she isn't a malevolent "out to get you" antagonist. She has her own plans that she is doing, and you are just an annoyance. The elevator music playing as the station explodes is a juxtaposition. The station explodes, but to shodan it is a minor complication. You have a huge victory destroying the virus, but are now trapped in the seat of shodan power. The games end similarly emphasizes how your "big victory" is still a relatively small thing. Saved humanity, but everyone on the station still died. Stopped shodan, but were responsible for releasing her, and she is still one removed ethical constraint from going back to her fatal plans. The hacker sitting down exhausted, rejecting the job offer, and going back to hacking is accepting the "you are a small cog in a big machine" situation. The deed is done, you aren't a hero, and all you want to do is get away from this and go back to living your life. There are no heros, no grand victories, just trying to live another day
I thought the remake was fantastic, it took good things from the first and combined them with some good things from the second (and even Bioshock, its' spiritual successor) to feel like what I would expect the game to be like if it were made today, so I think it was an excellent remake. As for the graphics, I thought everything looked really good and I liked the pixeliness of things when you got close to them, it gave the sense of an old school game with a fresh coat of paint. You could think about it like a restomodded car. It's still a 1977 Firebird, but it has some modern features and creature comforts, with a higher quality paint job than it had in the 70s. Overall, a great game that reminded me of the games I played in the 90s as a kid that didn't hold your hand, and I love that about it. I'd say worth every penny. Oh, and the cyberspace sections are an improvement in every way save the lack of progression. I agree that finding an upgrade or two for those sections would have been nice, some of em were a slog.
Edit: sorry I typed this while half asleep and i have no idea what I was trying to say after the first sentence Im glad you mention the CPU number and having it written down. This game can be extremely tough on the player but and this looks like an interesting and terrific graphics
Lol no worries! Thanks for watching the video and commenting :) I had to make the tip list, I had to give the people a chance to not suffer if they wanted.
Good review! I agree that the game does feel like a rollercoaster of moments of a good game sparking through, whilst some others stinking more than what the cat left in his litterbox as a gift. I think the main issue of the game stems from a solid base that has all these others systems stacked ontop that aren't as solid. Like the scrap and coin system, It never really goes anywhere besides weapon upgrades, which to me should of been a reward for exploring like the Cyber-upgrades. It feel like they tried to take the cyber-rig upgrade system from SS2 and backport it into the remake whilst keeping it in line. It comes close to being a cool idea, but when your 5 hours in and throwing all your items on the floor, just so you can load up on scrapable items just to get an upgrade, it sort of falls apart. Cyberspace is also a great example. As you said, it's fun when its easy, and there's not alot of enemies. But later in the game as the maps get bigger and the enemies more verbose and tougher, it ruins it. Though I don't agree that they should of made it this separate "Arcade" game. Cyberspace is a huge part of the original, and whilst not better in it, you could see what they were going for. I think they should of gone back to the drawing board, as someone who doesn't suffer from motion sickness, I needed to take breaks. I do agree though that the Cyberspace upgrades should of been in the real world appose to the cyberspace. I think the most damming aspect of the Remake is the feeling of rushed development in the later parts of the game. Security feels like a first draft that didn't get revised much, as the layout just confused me, which lead me to spend an hour running around looking for the door button. Not to mention the final boss, which honestly is one of the worst ones I've ever played. What's sad, is that there's unused dialog in the game that hinted at a more intense and better boss fight. As someone who backed the Kickstarter, and ultimately had to wait years and years for a product that doesn't quiet deliver on everything I hoped for, I just feel defeated. It's a good game, not great. not bad. They plan to release new updates to "Fix" alot of the problems, but I'm afraid that I don't want to really go back and play it again just to see 1 or 2 changes.
09:00 : Whaaaat 😲? this is such an excellent ending … full with irony and perhaps mixed with a dose of pessimism I guess ,the “chilling/relaxing” music plays while everything is being demolished ??? such a contradicting scenery/emotions and thus …. what a brilliant idea !! By the way ,I’m sure you know it although you didn’t say it , this “elevator-theme” was also used in the original SystemShock(Enhanced Edition) ,so it combines a sense of nostalgia(for the older players) as well. P.S. : I love SHODAN ,an A.I. who perceives herself as a Goddess and with such an excellent voice !! in my opinion she is the most iconic character in video-game history !! And ,as you said ,the original 1994 SystemShock was a pure masterpiece in everything and *sooooooooooo much ahead from its time* !! *The graphics , the audio ,the music ,the atmosphere ,the enemies ,the puzzles ,the cyberspace* …. *everything so far ahead* !! so sad that even today few games can match it … P.S.2: And by the way ,I believe that this remake although a novel attempt ,still it can’t outperform the original System Shock(Enhanced Edition) and neither the 1999 SystemShock 2 .
Excellent video! Well put, great humor and very informative for casual player who want to dabble into something more serious :) I will be waiting for more of your videos! Ps. I've already played demo a while back and liked it so because of that and Epic sale I bought the game and put it in my backlog which is quite long :p. Your video motivated to put it on top of the list ;) Ps2. In my opinion pixelation of textures from up close is nice touch and throwback to original, giving the game some retro feel without subtracting from great lightning and high level of details . I am a guy who always go for best graphics and yet i really loved it as it give game so much character.
Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. :) Hop back into System Shock! Also this channel has been a great reason to get through my backlog. :p Also that's fair I never thought about the graphics that way.
This was a quality video. Interesting without being pretentious, not infested with lame jokes every four seconds, the editing didn't make my eyes bleed or give me a migraine, and you talked intelligently about a franchise I love. Liked and subscribed. Make more, because you're better at this than you give yourself credit for, and UA-cam needs all the quality content it can get. But yeah, System Shock... loved the originals - I did prefer the sequel, but that's more because it really ramps up the creep-factor (the cyborg midwives still give me the shits), and Shodan is utterly unhinged, but I did enjoy Nightdive's remake too. The art style was great, Terri Brosius' voice work as Shodan remains hugely entertaining, and they're obviously big fans of Looking Glass Studios' work. A fitting tribute.
If you like games with these sorts of themes and motifs, then you probably enjoy-joy movies like Leviathan, DeepStar Six, Endless Descent (aka 'The Rift'), and Shadowzone. They call came out in 1989-90, so they all have "that" look and vibe. Oh! Did you ever see 'The Black Hole' from 1979?! How about 'THX-1138'? Pretty sure both of those influenced 'Beyond the Black Rainbow'. 7:08 Totally Die Hard! 7:48 GLaDOS meets Handsome Jack 12:28 That scene, and the face-rot scene from Last Crusade, are fairly accurate depictions of the curse described in Zechariah 14,12. 13:49 S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Anomaly, which is a stand-alone mod, has something like that. You can customize just about every aspect of both gameplay and progression do0mficulty-go-nuts a go go. 15:02 Combining the annoyingness of Half-Life's headcrabs with the unfairness of the Borderlands saga's various kamikaze-type enemies. 16:19 Like the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s inventory system is based entirely on weight. 16:33 / 25:19 Also similar to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-go-nuts. 16:56 Can you stash stuff like you can in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-go-nuts? 19:40 Did you ever play any version of Gyruss, Descent, Sub-Terrania, or Microcosm? 20:14 If you like Columbo, you might also like Kolchak: The Night Stalker. 26:39 Looks like a rave venue or whatnot.
I wanted to insure that people knew what they getting into. The game is very unkind. I can only recommend it to a particular kind of player. I appreciate you watching the video. :) Also nice! Did you manage to beat System Shock 2? That game destroyed me.
You know when you blow up the station and the elevator song play it feels great for me because it represents the simplicity and minimal feeling that you can get from all parts of game If we have something different like kujima style it ruines the vibe of the game And also about the immersive This game drowns you inside it Its not about the choice Its about the experience you get The experience that you find no help You are on your own You have to learn the story and mission progress yourself There's no cutscene that cut you from experience the game You are all in the game But i agree with you about the cyberspace In one word it sucks
Pretty sure the elavator msuic playing while the station explodes was a bug as it didn't happen to me :S but yes more horror SS2 style would have been awesome
I enjoyed the remake as a fan of the originals. I would have liked to see some concession to modern games but the gap isn’t huge. It’s still totally playable and enjoyable.
Hey so they changed the ending so it made sense for system shock 2, originally you "kill" shodan instead of factory resetting her, and the elevator music was the point, other wise nothing would play, you're in space
Good video. I agree, the ending was bs. But overall the atmosphere and gunplay were great. Edit: also, the textures are meant to look blocky. They are there to give You a throwbsck feeling of playing the Game in the 90s.
I didn't expect to hear a mini rant about Thor: Ragnarok in this video but I was pleasantly surprised! A very fun movie but one of Marvel's worst in terms of not being able to let a serious moment breathe.
Just crossing the game I came to Diego. I play everything on 2. The puzzles are not difficult, although the game is a little confusing. A particular problem for me is that English is not my mother tongue, I don't know it perfectly, so it's a little more difficult for me to grasp everything. For example. i managed to catch from multiple audios that the code for one door in the warehouse is "The code is 8%$#...", "the end of the code is probably 8" so you get to the door and go 808 - nothing, 818 - nothing , 828 - nothing... so I wonder if I understood correctly.... 838 - green light :D
The reason why this game is considered an immersive sim, is that it was one of the first games to have a lot of the mechanics and ideas that would get carried over into the more mainstream immersive sims. The original had physics not really seen before as well as all the mechanics and tools that you could micromanage to cater the experience to your liking. It's not a lot by today's standards, but that's why many people (myself included) consider it a proto- immersive sim.
I played (and failed at) the original SS1 and it's so fucking hilarious to see "you only need 4 plastique" and "keep Abe Ghiran's head" 30 years later. It was a great remake though, couldn't have hoped for more! (The effort showed btw, great work!)
This game hates us less then the original IMO. The Shotgun in this game is actually useful from what I understand (I'm picking my copy up later today) Seriously who on the original thought including a Shotgun but only including Rubber Slugs as ammo made sense? Call me crazy but if I'm under attack by killer cyborgs or mutants a gun with only Rubber ammo available is the last thing I am reaching for.
System shock is considered immersive sim because it was the precursor to thief as well system shock 2 both are imsim. It's like Wolfenstine 3D, sure doom was much better but Doom became what it is because of Wolfenstine 3D.
12:33 You really shouldn't use the Med-Sci level as an example of survival horror in System Shock 2... OR did you forget the absolute banger of a track encouraging you to embrace your inner doom-guy that completely ruins whatever horror-tone the game is going for? Not to mention monkeys throwing hadoukens at you. There are better examples, is all I'm saying. That said, these aren't really horror games to begin with, but they have spooky elements.
so when you talked about how much you "love" the exploding rumbas and how they are your fav enemy, i realized that your review probably isnt very useful to me. i played this game and the exploding rumba is the REASON I STOPPED PLAYING.
I only encountered them twice on my run-through. Also just think exploding rumba = Boomba. Also I did say that I hated them but yeah they are still my favourite enemy. :p
@@thefantasticfiend yea its not a knock against you, what i said. i just mean that our opinions on this are so wildly divergent that if i was on the fence about buying it, your vid would have made me think they werent so bad and then id be annoyed after finding out. (also you got LUCKY if you only found a couple of them! it felt like they were around every corner on that one floor for me)
Lol yeah the two times I encountered them I got absolutely destroyed. Also that's completely fair. The enemy that gave me the most trouble was the floating robots with the machine guns, those guys were everywhere on my run.
@@thefantasticfiend ah yea those flying drone types i found to be pretty easy as long as there was some sort of corridor to duck into and i still had some charge for a full power zap which seemed to do'em in after just one good blast.
system shock 2 is child's play compared to one, no idea how you got lost in 2 but not 1, 2 is a much much better game. Do play it. The original release of system shock was harder but it has far far less audio logs so you could figure out what to do with listening to them, i dont like how they doubled the amount of audio logs for no good reason, nothing good comes out of the extra audio logs. Also the audio in the old game was fast paced techno i dont like the ambient music of modern games. The ending song this is what you want this is what you get is essentially telling the backers that you wanted a game that is a 1:1 remake of the old game with no modernizations and this is where most of the complains for the gameplay design decisions come from, initially they were not going to make the level design so maze like and have no waypoints but they did it because the backers wanted it to be exactly like that.
The “pixelized” look of textures when you get up close was an art design decision. They wanted the game to both look modern and sleek while still calling back to the original. I actually quite like it and think it makes the game look far more unique than if they just went with all high-res textures.
Fair enough. I was unaware that it was an art style choice. I still don't like the style choice, but I respect it. Appreciate you letting me know. :)
@@thefantasticfiend No problem! The way you spoke about it in the review made me think you had the impression it was just a technical issue, so I wanted to share that with you. Appreciate the review. Loved this game beginning to end. Can't wait for the remaster of System Shock 2 coming soon!
@@Webhead123 ah the horrors of the body of the many in HD!
I honestly found the elevator music playing during the stations destruction kinda humorous since the up beat/tone of the song is almost in sync with that is going on during the scene. I honestly had fun with it, but I can see how it could be distracting and out of place.
Edit : Fixed a couple grammar errors.
P.s. I am an insane person who likes cyberspace in SS (1994) more than the remakes due to the same reasons. The new one is too much arcade-y and I'm not a fan.
convinced me not to buy this game. Save 34 pounds. brilliant
@@paulwoodford1984 It's your money, you can do whatever you want with it.
Ive only played the enhanced edition. The structure of the original is awesome though. Almost a proto-sandbox type of deal where you can travel too and fro betwern decks. Once Shodan starts really coming after you, it creates such a wonderful excitement
Just got around to playing it, I was hesitant because I didn't know how well it aged and some people said it was hard to know where to go. In all honesty it holds up amazingly well and the games directions are rather easy if you pay attention to the audio logs. It just takes time because it's not a chase the checkpoint kind of game. Therefore it takes patience because when given a task it may take an hour before you actually reach the location by exploring.
Yeah, I was fully prepared to get lost since Citadel station is kind of legendary for being very labyrinthine but I ended up having no issues whatsoever in the remake. All I had to do is be diligent with the audio logs, try to collect them all and pay attention to what they say. Every story important room or corridor has a giant sign above the door that says what it is, all the others have no signs. It's a bit immersion breaking but it makes it very easy to follow the logs. Honestly I can't believe people still get lost.
Fantastic breakdown! Well now I've gotta watch all your other videos. 😁
Thanks so much! :)
Congrats on the well crafted video. Another target audience of the game is fans of the original. Having played the original, I was waiting for this a long time. We were extremely happy that NightDive went back to the drawing board after fans complained about the original demos, and did an extremely faithful remake.
Still, I do think including those Objective hints in the game itself as an option would have been great for new players.
Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Also thanks for that new perspective, I never played the original SS1. I'm glad fans like yourself kept NightDive on task.
Imagine if instead of bloated-budget games like asscreeds or gow's we would have more games like this releasing each year. Classic game design should be brought back, games that appeal to 'everyone' are just unsustainable money-sinks.
You say that in the most boomer way possible. What’s wrong with GoW?
@@drstrangelove307 NPC's that don't shut up. 'Open' world design. Quest markers. Repetitive sidequests. Mandatory crafting system. Puzzle spoilers. Subverting expectations. Diversity quotas.
Games like this DO release each year. Those games are sustainable because an obscene amount of people do like those gameplay loops, but their existance shouldn't affect you.
We can't have that, as the only thing major studios care about anymore is either 1. proving how woke they are, or 2. predatory micro transactions. Making old good games even better, updating graphics, controls, UI, but otherwise leaving the premise intact is NOT on their radar.
@@ThatDjinn ah ok, cause Diversity is so *evil* right? Can’t have our games populated by people of color or anything.
We *fiancee and I) just purchased System Shock for both our Xbox Series X and PS5. I missed the first game when it came out, but I was a huge fan of the second. System Shock was always one of my bucket list games that you have to play at least once. I just about fell out of my chair when I saw this was finally a go.
Now, I think what Night Dive Studios has done is nothing short of incredible. The game both looks fantastic and plays super smooth. My one and only complaint (so far) is the way some of the enemies look. They have a rubbery look and feel to them that looks especially strange when you hit them on the ground. It's such a strange look that it immediately pulls me out of the game.
I have no idea, how your channel got recommended to me, but I sure am glad it did. Nice video, mate! Can't wait for another one! Also, nice books collection)
I just got this remake yesterday, and every time I hear one of the security camera noises, I start looking around for a security bots from BioShock, out of pure habit😂
Well done Fiend! I'm glad you survived the long editing process! Also, keep your thumbs off of things 😂
Lol thank you, I'll try my best😆
I've been playing this game and it is SO GOOD.
Deus ex is my favorite game, and although this is quite different, not crazy amounts of choice, but very similar design ideas. Like very similar. I see where DX got many design ideas.
What a great game and to think it games a remake of a 30 year old game to get some great game design.
Bring back not knowing shit and having to figure out like it's a damn calculus test. The amount I get lost and have no clue what to do next is 500x better than a flashing way point that basically says "over here stupid"
I agree. I like the base experience being the no hand holding "good luck, bud" approach. I also think having the option to turn on waypoints lets everyone experience the game and that's always good. The more the merrier. :)
Great breakdown my guy! Adding the Game Complete Thought Dump section was a good idea. Keep up the great work man 🎮
Damn! I'm glad you've appeared in recommended videos!
/Wrighting even more letters to the youtoube algorithm in the comment section/
Lol thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video, thanks for watching!
Have you played the System Shock Remake? What are your thoughts? What other sci-fi action games do you like?
Damn, Ricky from Trailer Park Boys is a gamer?
🤣
Yeah. Spent the entire game looking for his smokes
It's funny, people had the same complaints about the Cyberspace sections of the original (on top of some people actually getting motion sickness).
But I think that they were obligated to keep those portions included as part of their faithful recreation - though I don't think that there was any law against making those sections shorter, which I do believe most people would have appreciated.
I have yet to play this game - once I heard about the remake, I made the decision to wait.
But an Immersive Sim, such as Thief 1 & 2, or the modern Prey, or classic Deus Ex games, is defined by the player's ability to create their own solutions to a problem, particularly by means of the environment, objects within the environment, or tools at your disposal. Or any and all combinations of those elements.
Can you enter an area through a door, though you might be attacked immediately, or go around back and climb through a window?
Maybe you can't reach the window, but there is a dumpster that you could climb on if you can push it into place. But the dumpster is behind a locked gate. If you didn't end up using the grenade you found last mission, you could blow up the gate.
Or maybe, if you explore the basement of a building down the street, you will find a sewer grate, and if you can find a way to open that grate, you can find a secret passage into the building you are trying to infiltrate, and this more obscure solution allows you the most stealthy, and most rewarding entrance out of all possible solutions.
Those are some examples of what defines an Immersive Sim. As close to an approximation of navigating the game world as if it was the real world as the game is able to achieve. So much so, that players will invent solutions that the developers did not even anticipate.
Like, "Here's a world and a bunch of tools - Good luck." That's what made games like Thief and Deus Ex so iconic. I don't know if System Shock has this kind of Immersive Sim interactivity, but judging by what I know about the original, I don't think so. Although you can move about pretty freely within levels, I believe that the solutions to each level are pretty much on rails.
So no, it's an action-horror, but not an Immersive Sim. Someone correct me if I'm wrong...
I'm with you on all of that, my dude.
Nice video! Also, go ahead with Signalis, I'd be happy to watch your review!
Thanks so much! :) I'm very excited to play it
Signalis sucks tho
While I fully support individual freedom of choice, I usually set the "music" slider to zero on any game I play; I don't want to be warned that combat is starting or ending. I prefer to be surprised, besides in any decent game, the environmental audio is sufficiently clueful.
That sounds like an awesome idea!
New to your channel, first video I've found from you, and boy, gotta say, super underrated channel! Your take on System Shock is valid & a very genuine take, and I love how you approached the game and the topics you discussed. It's very well written and thought out and I hope your channel finds more success, you definitely deserve it!
Thank you so much! That means a lot. I appreciate you watching the video. :)
Not going to "extreme heights" really feels like a nuanced, intentional decision. A big theme is that you are an insect to shodan - she isn't a malevolent "out to get you" antagonist. She has her own plans that she is doing, and you are just an annoyance.
The elevator music playing as the station explodes is a juxtaposition. The station explodes, but to shodan it is a minor complication. You have a huge victory destroying the virus, but are now trapped in the seat of shodan power.
The games end similarly emphasizes how your "big victory" is still a relatively small thing. Saved humanity, but everyone on the station still died. Stopped shodan, but were responsible for releasing her, and she is still one removed ethical constraint from going back to her fatal plans.
The hacker sitting down exhausted, rejecting the job offer, and going back to hacking is accepting the "you are a small cog in a big machine" situation. The deed is done, you aren't a hero, and all you want to do is get away from this and go back to living your life. There are no heros, no grand victories, just trying to live another day
I thought the remake was fantastic, it took good things from the first and combined them with some good things from the second (and even Bioshock, its' spiritual successor) to feel like what I would expect the game to be like if it were made today, so I think it was an excellent remake. As for the graphics, I thought everything looked really good and I liked the pixeliness of things when you got close to them, it gave the sense of an old school game with a fresh coat of paint. You could think about it like a restomodded car. It's still a 1977 Firebird, but it has some modern features and creature comforts, with a higher quality paint job than it had in the 70s. Overall, a great game that reminded me of the games I played in the 90s as a kid that didn't hold your hand, and I love that about it. I'd say worth every penny.
Oh, and the cyberspace sections are an improvement in every way save the lack of progression. I agree that finding an upgrade or two for those sections would have been nice, some of em were a slog.
Edit: sorry I typed this while half asleep and i have no idea what I was trying to say after the first sentence
Im glad you mention the CPU number and having it written down. This game can be extremely tough on the player but and this looks like an interesting and terrific graphics
Lol no worries! Thanks for watching the video and commenting :) I had to make the tip list, I had to give the people a chance to not suffer if they wanted.
Great video, can't wait to see more!
Thank you so much!
I see Call of Cthulhu 7th in the background. You're a man of culture.
Oh yeah that game is awesome.
Good review! I agree that the game does feel like a rollercoaster of moments of a good game sparking through, whilst some others stinking more than what the cat left in his litterbox as a gift. I think the main issue of the game stems from a solid base that has all these others systems stacked ontop that aren't as solid. Like the scrap and coin system, It never really goes anywhere besides weapon upgrades, which to me should of been a reward for exploring like the Cyber-upgrades. It feel like they tried to take the cyber-rig upgrade system from SS2 and backport it into the remake whilst keeping it in line. It comes close to being a cool idea, but when your 5 hours in and throwing all your items on the floor, just so you can load up on scrapable items just to get an upgrade, it sort of falls apart.
Cyberspace is also a great example. As you said, it's fun when its easy, and there's not alot of enemies. But later in the game as the maps get bigger and the enemies more verbose and tougher, it ruins it. Though I don't agree that they should of made it this separate "Arcade" game. Cyberspace is a huge part of the original, and whilst not better in it, you could see what they were going for. I think they should of gone back to the drawing board, as someone who doesn't suffer from motion sickness, I needed to take breaks. I do agree though that the Cyberspace upgrades should of been in the real world appose to the cyberspace.
I think the most damming aspect of the Remake is the feeling of rushed development in the later parts of the game. Security feels like a first draft that didn't get revised much, as the layout just confused me, which lead me to spend an hour running around looking for the door button. Not to mention the final boss, which honestly is one of the worst ones I've ever played. What's sad, is that there's unused dialog in the game that hinted at a more intense and better boss fight.
As someone who backed the Kickstarter, and ultimately had to wait years and years for a product that doesn't quiet deliver on everything I hoped for, I just feel defeated. It's a good game, not great. not bad. They plan to release new updates to "Fix" alot of the problems, but I'm afraid that I don't want to really go back and play it again just to see 1 or 2 changes.
How ironic that a program created BY humans should turn AGAINST humans! Wow. Such amazing writing. I'm blown away.
yeah it's very campy. but it embraces the camp. you are hackerman.
Big boy just learn sarcasm in 4th grade English class??
09:00 : Whaaaat 😲?
this is such an excellent ending … full with irony and perhaps mixed with a dose of pessimism I guess ,the “chilling/relaxing” music plays while everything is being demolished ??? such a contradicting scenery/emotions and thus …. what a brilliant idea !!
By the way ,I’m sure you know it although you didn’t say it , this “elevator-theme” was also used in the original SystemShock(Enhanced Edition) ,so it combines a sense of nostalgia(for the older players) as well.
P.S. : I love SHODAN ,an A.I. who perceives herself as a Goddess and with such an excellent voice !! in my opinion she is the most iconic character in video-game history !!
And ,as you said ,the original 1994 SystemShock was a pure masterpiece in everything and *sooooooooooo much ahead from its time* !!
*The graphics , the audio ,the music ,the atmosphere ,the enemies ,the puzzles ,the cyberspace* …. *everything so far ahead* !! so sad that even today few games can match it …
P.S.2: And by the way ,I believe that this remake although a novel attempt ,still it can’t outperform the original System Shock(Enhanced Edition) and neither the 1999 SystemShock 2 .
How could you hate the bit with the elevator music? The juxtaposition was hilarious and absurd
Just wasn't my cup of tea with what I felt the game could've explored. It is funny, I laughed at it too. Thanks for watching the video. :)
I play this game so much that music has creeped into my wife's dreams.
Which would be so sick
@@thefantasticfiend understandable and no worries it was a good video :)
@@wyldeman7 the original or remakes music?
Excellent video! Well put, great humor and very informative for casual player who want to dabble into something more serious :)
I will be waiting for more of your videos!
Ps. I've already played demo a while back and liked it so because of that and Epic sale I bought the game and put it in my backlog which is quite long :p. Your video motivated to put it on top of the list ;)
Ps2. In my opinion pixelation of textures from up close is nice touch and throwback to original, giving the game some retro feel without subtracting from great lightning and high level of details . I am a guy who always go for best graphics and yet i really loved it as it give game so much character.
Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. :) Hop back into System Shock! Also this channel has been a great reason to get through my backlog. :p Also that's fair I never thought about the graphics that way.
This was a quality video. Interesting without being pretentious, not infested with lame jokes every four seconds, the editing didn't make my eyes bleed or give me a migraine, and you talked intelligently about a franchise I love. Liked and subscribed. Make more, because you're better at this than you give yourself credit for, and UA-cam needs all the quality content it can get.
But yeah, System Shock... loved the originals - I did prefer the sequel, but that's more because it really ramps up the creep-factor (the cyborg midwives still give me the shits), and Shodan is utterly unhinged, but I did enjoy Nightdive's remake too. The art style was great, Terri Brosius' voice work as Shodan remains hugely entertaining, and they're obviously big fans of Looking Glass Studios' work. A fitting tribute.
@@Perfidion Thanks so much, I appreciate the feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed the video and the game. :)
Holy shit! Its Ricky from Trailer Park Boys!
Complete the chess puzzle you will get a storage upgrade in a hidden room
If you like games with these sorts of themes and motifs, then you probably enjoy-joy movies like Leviathan, DeepStar Six, Endless Descent (aka 'The Rift'), and Shadowzone. They call came out in 1989-90, so they all have "that" look and vibe. Oh! Did you ever see 'The Black Hole' from 1979?! How about 'THX-1138'? Pretty sure both of those influenced 'Beyond the Black Rainbow'.
7:08 Totally Die Hard!
7:48 GLaDOS meets Handsome Jack
12:28 That scene, and the face-rot scene from Last Crusade, are fairly accurate depictions of the curse described in Zechariah 14,12.
13:49 S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Anomaly, which is a stand-alone mod, has something like that. You can customize just about every aspect of both gameplay and progression do0mficulty-go-nuts a go go.
15:02 Combining the annoyingness of Half-Life's headcrabs with the unfairness of the Borderlands saga's various kamikaze-type enemies.
16:19 Like the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s inventory system is based entirely on weight.
16:33 / 25:19 Also similar to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-go-nuts.
16:56 Can you stash stuff like you can in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-go-nuts?
19:40 Did you ever play any version of Gyruss, Descent, Sub-Terrania, or Microcosm?
20:14 If you like Columbo, you might also like Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
26:39 Looks like a rave venue or whatnot.
I like your insights a lot but feel like it's more of a warning than a recommendation. (I started at shock 2)
I wanted to insure that people knew what they getting into. The game is very unkind. I can only recommend it to a particular kind of player. I appreciate you watching the video. :) Also nice! Did you manage to beat System Shock 2? That game destroyed me.
Something about your character saying one thing, precisely one thing and its "Nah", is just wonderful.
It's hilarious
You know
when you blow up the station and the elevator song play it feels great for me because it represents the simplicity and minimal feeling that you can get from all parts of game
If we have something different like kujima style it ruines the vibe of the game
And also about the immersive
This game drowns you inside it
Its not about the choice
Its about the experience you get
The experience that you find no help
You are on your own
You have to learn the story and mission progress yourself
There's no cutscene that cut you from experience the game
You are all in the game
But i agree with you about the cyberspace
In one word it sucks
Pretty sure the elavator msuic playing while the station explodes was a bug as it didn't happen to me :S
but yes more horror SS2 style would have been awesome
I enjoyed the remake as a fan of the originals. I would have liked to see some concession to modern games but the gap isn’t huge. It’s still totally playable and enjoyable.
Hey so they changed the ending so it made sense for system shock 2, originally you "kill" shodan instead of factory resetting her, and the elevator music was the point, other wise nothing would play, you're in space
Im obsessed with this game
Good video. I agree, the ending was bs. But overall the atmosphere and gunplay were great.
Edit: also, the textures are meant to look blocky. They are there to give You a throwbsck feeling of playing the Game in the 90s.
31:45 I LOVED IT.
Thank you so much!
this game is a work of love
I didn't expect to hear a mini rant about Thor: Ragnarok in this video but I was pleasantly surprised! A very fun movie but one of Marvel's worst in terms of not being able to let a serious moment breathe.
Just crossing the game I came to Diego. I play everything on 2. The puzzles are not difficult, although the game is a little confusing. A particular problem for me is that English is not my mother tongue, I don't know it perfectly, so it's a little more difficult for me to grasp everything. For example. i managed to catch from multiple audios that the code for one door in the warehouse is "The code is 8%$#...", "the end of the code is probably 8" so you get to the door and go 808 - nothing, 818 - nothing , 828 - nothing... so I wonder if I understood correctly.... 838 - green light :D
The reason why this game is considered an immersive sim, is that it was one of the first games to have a lot of the mechanics and ideas that would get carried over into the more mainstream immersive sims. The original had physics not really seen before as well as all the mechanics and tools that you could micromanage to cater the experience to your liking. It's not a lot by today's standards, but that's why many people (myself included) consider it a proto- immersive sim.
Fair enough! Thanks for letting me know. :)
I played (and failed at) the original SS1 and it's so fucking hilarious to see "you only need 4 plastique" and "keep Abe Ghiran's head" 30 years later.
It was a great remake though, couldn't have hoped for more!
(The effort showed btw, great work!)
Scanning.. Nothing.. Time to Patrol
SS remake is the best representation of cyberpunk in games.
This game hates us less then the original IMO. The Shotgun in this game is actually useful from what I understand (I'm picking my copy up later today) Seriously who on the original thought including a Shotgun but only including Rubber Slugs as ammo made sense? Call me crazy but if I'm under attack by killer cyborgs or mutants a gun with only Rubber ammo available is the last thing I am reaching for.
Good video man 👍
Thanks so much!
I like this video (I will get this game on sale someday)
I really wanted to play this for the story, but it hurts my eyes and the flickering makes me ill.
System shock is considered immersive sim because it was the precursor to thief as well system shock 2 both are imsim.
It's like Wolfenstine 3D, sure doom was much better but Doom became what it is because of Wolfenstine 3D.
Didn't really like the cyberspace in this one in the original cyberspace was over very quickly while this one takes forever to get through.
The OG's OST is a bop. Sounds like the remake is more of the same ❤
The remake's OST is definitely a bop. :)
THX
12:33
You really shouldn't use the Med-Sci level as an example of survival horror in System Shock 2... OR did you forget the absolute banger of a track encouraging you to embrace your inner doom-guy that completely ruins whatever horror-tone the game is going for? Not to mention monkeys throwing hadoukens at you.
There are better examples, is all I'm saying. That said, these aren't really horror games to begin with, but they have spooky elements.
Audio levels!
so when you talked about how much you "love" the exploding rumbas and how they are your fav enemy, i realized that your review probably isnt very useful to me. i played this game and the exploding rumba is the REASON I STOPPED PLAYING.
I only encountered them twice on my run-through. Also just think exploding rumba = Boomba. Also I did say that I hated them but yeah they are still my favourite enemy. :p
The game is truly unkind so I completely understand not finishing it.
@@thefantasticfiend yea its not a knock against you, what i said. i just mean that our opinions on this are so wildly divergent that if i was on the fence about buying it, your vid would have made me think they werent so bad and then id be annoyed after finding out. (also you got LUCKY if you only found a couple of them! it felt like they were around every corner on that one floor for me)
Lol yeah the two times I encountered them I got absolutely destroyed. Also that's completely fair. The enemy that gave me the most trouble was the floating robots with the machine guns, those guys were everywhere on my run.
@@thefantasticfiend ah yea those flying drone types i found to be pretty easy as long as there was some sort of corridor to duck into and i still had some charge for a full power zap which seemed to do'em in after just one good blast.
system shock 2 is not a horror game.
it is an action adventure with horror elements
want proof? listen to the music, play with the music on.
system shock 2 is child's play compared to one, no idea how you got lost in 2 but not 1, 2 is a much much better game. Do play it.
The original release of system shock was harder but it has far far less audio logs so you could figure out what to do with listening to them, i dont like how they doubled the amount of audio logs for no good reason, nothing good comes out of the extra audio logs. Also the audio in the old game was fast paced techno i dont like the ambient music of modern games. The ending song this is what you want this is what you get is essentially telling the backers that you wanted a game that is a 1:1 remake of the old game with no modernizations and this is where most of the complains for the gameplay design decisions come from, initially they were not going to make the level design so maze like and have no waypoints but they did it because the backers wanted it to be exactly like that.
need 0451 likes
Wow, that ending just convinced me to not waste 34 pounds on this. cheers. lol.
The ending has been changed via the 1.2 update, game plays alot better now too
Wa da fook!
I said it before and i say it again: I hate this game more than i love it.
Git gud
This is one if my favorite games of all time
29:44 And 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 why this game is called an Immersive Sim.