Retro Review: System Shock 1
Вставка
- Опубліковано 30 лип 2014
- Note: Now in HD!
What do David Letterman, Trent Reznor and Johnny Mnemonic all have in common? Find out in this video.
This video uses music from audiomicro.com
Max Headroom on Letterman can be found here: • Video
The PC Review Magazine review of SS1 can be found here:
www.pixsoriginadventures.co.uk... - Ігри
I'd argue that System Shock 1 absolutely IS an RPG, but not in the typical sense: SHODAN never stopped feeling like a sadistic DM to me.
Ah, looking glass. They came, created history with a handful of games and disappeared.
I know.... So sad
+diegofloor they didnt really disappear, they just spread out to Ion Storm, Irrational Games, Valve and so on
Diamond Games True.
That's what happens when you ask artists and coders to run a business. );
Pretty sure that Origin were the ones running the business, and I doubt they were artists.
Hey George, listened to an interview with Greg LoPiccolo, and he's seen your review. He confirms the similarity between reactor music and NIN wasn't a coincedence.
He didnt have to confirm it, its the most obvious thing ever.
"Until GOG or someone picks this up [...]"; Super Bunnyhop is a confirmed psychic.
it's finally on GoG, and with mouse look by default
Playing System Shock without mouselook made me have to plan out things and take the game much more slowly, because in a bad situation, I would die instantly. So, as a result, if I saw an enemy, I immediately double-backed and reconsidered the situation before continuing. It's a fantastic horror game without mouselook, and a great Metroid Prime-esque game with mouselook. It's pretty much whatever you want it to be.
I played it without mouselook not long after it came out, and it was great. But still. nowadays, I really, really would struggle with not using mouselook.
Fully agreed. I've finally picked up the game after wanting to play for over a decade and decided for the absolute purist approach to get a feel of what they got right and wrong about the design back in the day.
This greater horror POV in the sim-style control scheme is a definite feeling I've had experiencing the game. It absolute would not be the way I would design a game nowadays, but I feel it does fit the fact that you're controlling a average-build hacker instead of a soldier.
It’s like the clunky movement for Silent Hill it keeps combat scary for the duration of the game.
While what you said may be true, consider this: if you cut one of your arms off and play it one-arm only it will make the game even more tense and strategical! But that would be f*ckin stupid
the soundtrack is far too consistently groovin for it to be a horror game most of the time.
PC games back in the day had a tun of personality and creative love put into them, didn't they.
Tun
As they do now yea
@@gallow_ Hardly the case. It's been usually committee-approved by-the-numbers risk-averse copy-and-paste derivative design for many years.
@@cormano64 PC players have a plethora of different games don’t they? Especially with mods.
A note for anyone browsing old SBH vids: the Enhanced Edition of SS1 is now a full source port with mouselook and other fine features built in so if you want to give it a try, now's your chance. Just, uh, feel free to stop playing once you reach the bridge, like all Shock games it falls apart right at the end.
true haha, for some reason all shock games sucks at the end ! and exactly the same way !
the level design of this game is impressive.
Blade Runner has aged in a way totally different than the other clips you selected. Yeah, it didn't accurately predict the future, but it was a compelling vision that is still powerful today.
+monolith94 It really is.
+monolith94 Blade Runner one of the greatest films ever produced.
+John Shepard blade runner is only survived by its visuals and Rutger hauer's performance. It's story is meh and harrison Ford was bland
Gino Diggserino That's your opinion. I enjoyed the story and the weirdness of Ford's acting.
i totally agree !!, and also i dont get this wannabe cynical way of laughing at old scifi, yes it is "the future of the past" but it also want to entertain you first of all, and laughing at it just because it does it in a way that is "illogical" or "stupid" well you better stop consuming any form of fiction then
Gog has picked this game up. NightDive is making a remake.
System Shock 3 is being made by Otherside with Warren Specter consulting.
2016. THE YEAR OF SHODAN'S REBIRTH.
Not absolute without a shadow of a doubt unfortunately.
+Andrew Singleton He went to my school a couple of years ago, it seems he isn't very busy, I'd say it's possible.
+Andrew Singleton Specter is becoming one of Otherside's studio heads.
He's currently working part-time for them, but will be working full time come June.
+Andrew Singleton HAVE YOU SEEN THE ALPHA GAMEPLAY VIDEO YET?!?!?!
Everything in it looks like it got sprayed down with water... and a few other things that annoy me but it's like 'between prototype and actual alpha' level mockup. It can be forgiven its bgs. It is happening.
God, thank you for doing this game justice (and not just stopping at "uh, guys, it has, like, bad controls and stuff"), probably the most underrated video game in video game history.
You're one of my favorite guys and it never fails to put a smile on my face whenever you show up on my subscriptions
I don't know why, but I love looking up reviews of the System Shock games every now and then. I am happy I found this particular review, because I had not heard about Tribe. It seems like they were an awesome band. The songs Joyride and Rescue Me are fantastic!
This was wonderful. Not only is this 10 minutes of fawning praise from one of the toughest reviewers on UA-cam, but you add the insight that this is an FPS Metroidvania. I love this game, it's the gift that keeps on giving.
9:23 - The music (as you mention) was written by Greg LoPiccolo, the bass player of seminal Boston alternative band Tribe. The guy knew what he was doing. The Executive level music is my favourite - the bassline alone is a genuine work of art.
Head like a hole,
Black as your soul,
I'd rather die,
Than give SHODAN control!
Ah yes.. Pretty Hate Machine and System Shock.. Funny how this game was released the same year the masterpiece that is The Downward Spiral was released.
My, how times have changed since this video was released. Thank you, Nightdive Studios!
Great review - so excited about the remake.
The vent transition from System Shock to Half-Life was a nice cinematic touch. Your videos are getting better in general, not just the writing but the production too!
Man, you're commentary is a joy to listen to regardless of what game or genre you talk about. You're one of the best video game reviewers/analysts/whatevers on UA-cam.
Thank you for pointing out the obvious NIN connection with the soundtrack. Yet another great piece of (pseudo) journalistic content from one of my two favorite youtube content creators. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK GEORGE!!!
Another solid review. I really look forward to every new video on this channel. Keep up the great work
If you haven't watched Max Headroom; you should.
It's a surprisingly good series and has aged relatively okay.
I found System Shock 1 when I first discovered abandonware and the plethora of great games that existed on DOS and it blew my mind. It's just so ahead of it's time. I'm glad you made this video because now I don't have to, and you did a great job! Subscribed.
I just wanna say thanks for making this channel. It's what I've been wanting for a while.
I have played and completed this game so many times.... That got me a win the System Shock 2 competition, that's why I'm a dead guy down one of the cargo bays. System Shock 1 was a superior game to System Shock 2 in nearly every way. Better story, better music, better and more grandeur level design - the first time I made it to the security level blew my mind...
One of the best things about it is the way one can travel between the levels using different elevators. With a little imagination, you can do some really sweet things here. In addition, unlike System Shock 2, there are no visible loading screens. These were all hidden behind the lift travel mechanic.
The computer hacking always got flak for it's weirdness, but you can do some really cool things from within the computer, many of which affect the outside world...
In comparison, I always found System Shock 2 to be a disjointed experience thanks to its thousands of loading screens....
For me System Shock was the best game ever made - that is until very recently..... Yes, Horizon Zero Dawn I'm looking at you...
Haven't played system shock 2 yet as I just finished 1 but what do you mean cool things in cyberspace? When you boil it down its a race track with the goal to collect all the software and hit the end, the only one thats really not like that is the final one but that's for obvious reasons.
@@maverick9275 It's the additional information you can gain and how that helps you in the real world. You can even directly affect things in the real world, by unlocking doors in cyberspace or by killing some of the real world Cyborgs in cyber space as they have a presence in both worlds.
I don’t know what you played System Shock 2 on but the loading screens were so fast it almost felt satisfying to watch the bar instantly go up compared to newer games. It usually wasn’t even a second of loading and I could go from my desktop to a save game in under 30 seconds. Besides there aren’t that many loading screens, maybe 3-4 sections per level.
The thing I absdolutely love about the first System Shock is that you do *everything* from the first person perspective. I don't like the cyberspace environment and the interface certainly had issues, but the overall experience made it feel extremely cyberpunk to me. While it certainly is clumsy at times, it's also seamless - and that, to me, feels like a fusion of human and machine more than any other game I've ever played.
@@VilleHalonen I agree, System Shock is probably the most cyberpunk piece of published media I've ever taken part of. It feels like the last chapters of Neuromancer, except streamlined and presented in the kind of immersive way only a game can do.
System shock is a masterpiece, even with those overcomplicated slow controls. I finished the game when I was 15, running it on Pentium 100 machine, without audio and with limited English vocabulary. Still one of my biggest gaming achievements until today.
After getting this on Steam today as something to do before LoZ Breath of the Wild comes out all I can say is I felt so triumphant when I finally destroyed the mainframe on LV1 only for my fear to come rushing back as a small army of cyborgs attacked me and finally felt realeved to reach the elevator and that calming music made me let my guard down as I was then attacked by a swarm of mutants basically you are never safe in this game I have learned by the time I reached the 2nd floor
Yeah the only moments of safety in System Shock are the brief seconds in the elevator but once those doors open back up you're in danger again.
woah... i was starting to miss your reviews guys thanks for your reviews!
Hey! Just found you channel after watching a Rainbow Six Siege videos and wanted to say your commentary style is one I truly enjoy.
Part of me is still in love with SHODAN. I worry it will never stop this madness... and yet, another part of me hopes it doesn't.
This has to be at least the fifth time I've watched this video, and I definitely think it's one of your best videos. That custom opening with the pounding music, the extensive coverage of pretty much everything about the game- the writing flows very well.
Started playing the enhanced edition... it's so fucking gooood
Yes, I just finished it and I looove it. It is probably one of my favourite games. Once you get used to the (enhanced) controls and the graphics, you can completely immerse yourself. And the music is SO GOOD.
George, please come back and do a video on the remake. I think you would like it and I would love to hear your opinion on it. We miss you man
One of my all-time favorites. Haven't gotten this year's remaster yet, but I hear good things.
I hope the next retro review is System Shock 2!
I'd prefer fallout
@@MrJason005 boy don't you feel stupid now.
@@madscientistshusta To prefer something does not mean you are predicting it will happen. Also, this was 5 years ago. I'm surprised UA-cam was able to notify me with a reply to a comment this old.
I like the transition between the hovercar flying towards the camera in Blade Runner almost syncing with another one flying away in the game intro.
I for one love the original control scheme.
ya it just doesn't feel right without it
There are situations where the "cursor look" works better than mouse look: for example sneaking around corners to shoot enemies from a tight angle. I would say having both options is the best SS1 experience.
Man I remember back when this came out, most people I know didn't even have Windows at the time, including me. We all had DOS based machines back then, and we were pretty used to playing WOLF3D and DOOM just fine with keyboard controls.
Which could possibly explain why the devs chose not to go with mouse controls. I think.
Such a great review.-
Just read that System Shock 3 is announced and i kinda struggled to understand the hype, since it missed me and i never heard of it.
After watching your 14 minutes i feel like i know every detail, the kids back then knew who made the hype real.
Must say thanks for your great and anticipated way to make a video, judging by this one.
I will follow you, lets see what you got there.
Good job!
Hey George, since System Shock 1 is on steam and gog now, it could be a good ideia to put an anotation or a link in the description for someone that may discover these games through this video (since I've already reccomended this channel to a few people it might help)
system shock 2 is free on GOG right now. You have to claim it through the client.
And maybe a follow-up based on the enhanced version.
I agree, I probably would never have gotten around to playing it if it wasn't for the Enhanced Edition, and I'm so glad I did because it might just be the best game ever made in my opinion.
Great video, thanks. Especially appreciate the length - many people try to condense under 10 mins and it leaves less room for content.
Bunnyhop, I have to tell you just how great this video is. I've watched it four times now and I'm still not tired about you going on about this old game. I really should give it a shot, but I find these kinds of games really hard to wrap my head around. I've always been more comfortable with visceral styles of gameplay rather than slow and abstract.
Great review, thanks. SS2 was, at the time (probably still) my favorite FPS.
Nice to see what part of it was present in SS1 too. Thanks!
Thank you for this! It made me find a newer greater appreciation for this game. I also need that mod.
Augggh, the video System Shock 1 deserves! Great job ser!
Hm, I would argue that System Shock has at least as much RPG in it as Bioshocks do. Choosing which implants to spend your limited energy on and having actual inventory management allows for roughly the same degree of variation in playstyle as equipping and upgrading superpowers in Bioshocks.
Bioshock shouldn't even count as an RPG
monolyth421 at the time it was definitely an rpg , but in this year's where even doom has those elements then I'd agree, but it was released years ago when it wasn't common
I wouldn't even argue it has, as it's not an argument, it does have more RPG elements than BioShock, it's a fact, it's not our fault people who fan over BioShock are wrong.
I absolutely love your reviews.
I just finished this game for the first time last night, and it's absolutely stellar. I agree with everything in this review, and I feel like the new control scheme in the enhanced edition tremendously help the game. Mouselook and WASD movement is definitely a huge improvement, but I also appreciate that the rest is mostly unchanged. Frantically clicking around in the UI to toggle your shield and tab over to the weapon screen on your MFD to switch your ammo feels really suitable in this type of cyberpunk story, because I can imagine the hacker feeling the same stress trying to interact with his brand new neural interface system while being stalked by murderous cyborgs. It's just one of the many immersive aspects the game gets so right, both in terms of gameplay and how it adds to the story/setting. Another example would be the berserk patch, which is both a great video game power-up (making you pretty much unstoppable when combined with the laser rapier) that fits with the whole "thinking man's shooter" gameplay, and at the same time a great piece of lore+immersion enhancer the way it messes with the viewport of your neural interface. I could go on, but TLDR; I'm really glad this game is now more accessible than ever, because more people need to experience this masterpiece.
Great video. It really has inspired me to pick this one up again now I know it's more approachable.
Beautiful review. Perfect summary.
Dude, I love the format of your reviews. Fucking Subbed!
System Shock is honestly Miles better than 2. While some games age badly, System Shock actually gets BETTER over time. Until I can play another game where I hack together a game of Pong and play it while simultaneously beating robots out of commission with a Lead Pipe, my opinion will not be swayed.
Well you can hack a game of Minesweeper (and other games) in SS2 and beat robots (and mutants) with a wrench so in that regard the two games are pretty equal.
*****
Ditto. I can't even get my head wrapped around SS2's controls as much as I did with the first game, so I'm not even willing to play it at all. It's all too confusing and there's less room for keymapping like Bioshock had.
Seriously? Maybe you guys played the game back when it came out but I found it unplayable without the mouselook mod, and even then it took getting used to manually switching back and forth mouselook and the mouse cursor to select items, etc. System Shock 2 streamlined everything greatly, making it play far more smoothly without dumbing down anything down, like some irritating instances in Bioshock (no inventory screen? Like if I opened a briefcase and there was ammo I wanted on the bottom with a medkit on top, but I had too many medkits, I would not be able to get the ammo because the medkit is in the way and I can't carry any more. Why not let me the option of just dropping one? Oh, right, console port, riiiight). I don't know how someone who's played SS1 would find the sequel's controls less intuitive unless you don't play too many post-DOS FPS games or something. The default keybindings are weird, I'll give you that (but hey, they're but bindings, that's what PC gaming's for (; )
Scratch my last comment, I got used to SS2, it just needed a do-over on its bindings (which conveniently have a "Default FPS" setting). The inventory management and cybermodule upgrades were annoying, though. Worse than plasmid slots.
The remaster looks great, I love that it went more towards the space horror while keeping the small boxy rooms that now provide claustrophobic feeling instead if being just what the technology allows.
Soooo...shouldn't the correct definition be MetroidShockVania?
***** Yes! It's brilliant!
+Girolamo Esposito "Vania" should be eliminated from the term. It didn't pioneer anything: it aped and popularized the formula.
DrearierSpider1 Yup, but that's how it works, there' a reason early first person shooters are called Doom-like and not Wolfenstein-like or Catacombs-like or something along the lines.
Girolamo Esposito At least Doom made significant improvements over FPS that came before it. SotN didn't exactly improve on SS1 and Super Metroid, it just had a different take on the genre. Oh well, too late to change things now.
DrearierSpider1 Never thought about it that way, I guess the key word here is "popular", not necessarily "better".
I've had to like this video three times... I have no complaints about that fact!
Bloody brilliant review
One of your best videos. :salute:
Another review so soon? Excellent. :D
I really want to pick this game up now. Thank you for the enlightening review.
Night Dive Studios released the enhanced version in 2015. Now , they are making another enhanced version in 2020.
The 2015 release;
System Shock: Enhanced Edition features:
Higher resolution support up to 4K widescreen mode
Mouselook support
Rebindable keyboard/mouse/joystick commands
Adapted to Nightdive's KEX engine
Support for both Direct3D and OpenGL
Option to switch between hi-resolution Mac assets and the original DOS assets
Official support for fan missions and fan mods
New unified options menu that allows changing preferences before gameplay
Adjustable FOV (Field of View)
Smoother camera rotation and translation
Improved control scheme which allows faster and streamlined experience
Brand new achievements
Remappable keys with three profiles to choose from: original controls, custom controls, and lefthanded controls.
Many original game bugs fixed.
I've been doing two things this week - listening to a bunch of Nine Inch Nails, and binging your channel. Then this episode started playing Head Like A Hole. Life is strange sometimes man.
Hope that third EP drops soon...
Bunnyhop, do you have any plans to do another critical close-up in the future? I love your large-format videos where you really flesh out all of your points. I think this video was great and enjoyed watching it but it would have been a great introduction to a critical close-up of all the shock titles.
Or the 0451 games in general.
Damn you, George! Damn you to hell... You just made me want to revisit S.Shock1 again. Maybe I'll even finish it this time (I always get lost at some point and I'm too proud to look at walkthroughs)
Thanks for the heads up! Didn't know about the mouselook mod!
OH MY GOD SYSTEM SHOCK REVIEW!
IS MY BODY READY FOR THIS!?!?!
DAMN STRAIGHT!
Damn straight
Great video, I was going to play System Shock 2 as soon as I can, but I'll play the prequel first, that graphics made me fall in love
This is one of the happy rare occasions where I can say a video aged like fine wine, specially that last part bout GOG and whatnot :-)
Still consider this the first rainbow six game... even if the book hadn't been written yet.
I'm playing it as an homage to all the games that it inspired, the roots are clear and the space station is intriguing to navigate if you can see past the old school graphics and complicated UI
Bought System Shock: EE off of GOG because of this review. Am not disappointed. Thanks for the pointing me towards a classic. :)
i never got to play this because of the bad reputation of the control system but now I will defiently go for it. So nice you are doing reto reviews George, and hopefully you can get around doing Divinity OS or some more retro gems
You really should do one of these for STALKER.
Now that is a fanbase... :D
To update the control debacle for 2018:
That "mouse mod" is entirely part of the "Enhanced Edition" on Steam. Also, the version with the original convoluted controls, it's no longer on Steam. So yeah, the Enhanced Edition (and a Kickstarted remake) is all there is now.
I'd tried to play Shock1 many a time, but could never get my mind around the control scheme, as you mentioned..
I'm gonna go hunt for this mouselook mod and give it another shot.
What was the soundtrack in the beginning?
I DO remember the floppy version of System Shock (I didn't play the CD version till years later). I did get frustrated with it and put it down for a few weeks. Fortunately I gave it another try and slowly mastered the cumbersome controls. There have only been 1 or 2 other games in my life that left such an impression on me. Exploring Citadel Station, finding out everything that happened, completing the various goals, being hunted by SHODAN and eventually beating it, was almost like a real life experience. The emotions this game was able to evoke back then with the story, the music, the level design, an actual rudimentary physics engine and the other groundbreaking features in this game (some of which were not seen together in other games until 10 years later) were without equal.
Even though this is a Cyberpunk Sci-Fi game (unlike SS2 which had more horror elements), there were times when I could only play this game 30 minutes a time, before I had to walk away and be among people because I felt so tense.
Eventually you become stronger, more capable, better informed, more experienced. You become a force to be reckoned with. You make parts of Citadel Station your own and find certain areas are actually nice to relax in or to stage raids from. Your character grows and you feel like you're growing with it.
Btw, the Intro music on the Floppy version was actually better than on the CD Version. For some reason the CD Intro Music was a lot softer.
George's recent reveal that TOTAL RECALL is his favourite movie makes that opening statement ring all the more true.
Now available on Steam as well, with an Enhanced version that brings the graphics a few years forward.
You made me interested. Good job
It hit me last month that that shirt was relevant around the time of the game's release. I never really thought about when Watchmen was first published.
YES! I get to watch it again!
"In my talons, I shape clay, crafting life forms as I please. If I wish, I can smash it all." - Shodan
Still got the original cd that i bought when it came out. What i liked about this game was the settings the mood and the atmosphere and most of all those audiologs were really interesting and fun to listen and i could listen them while playing and not be locked to some cutscene like every single game forces itself today.
Looking Glass Studios may not last long as developers but left us some pc gems such as SShocks, Ultima Underworlds & Thieves.
Hey George, I know it's not an RPG-esque game like both System Shocks, but I would advise trying Marathon (if you haven't already). Marathon 2 is a lot better than the original, but both stack up sort-of well. It also follows in the tradition of rogue ai's, it's a Bungie game what do you expect, but with a different twist. Instead of being your antagonists, the AI's in Marathon pretty much become gods, but benevolent gods. The story itself is well written, especially for its time. The lighting for the time period is also pretty impressive.
Just look up "Aleph One", which is a free release of all the Marathon games by Bungie, and have fun!
hearing this shodan reminded me of how much i enjoyed system shock 2... i guess i'll have to play the first one now!
These tricks with the voice of the main villain also worked very well in Fallout. The master is still one of my favourite characters.
So I tried the music you put in the credits, but I still can't find the track you used in the intro. I've spent one year trying to find the song. Please, Super Bunnyhop, what is the song from the intro called?
+Minnan1 I'm pretty sure the track in the intro is gonetomorow by his friend Tyler Theus. You can see tyler in the LTTP super mario bros x video. I don't think it's available on the internet. I guess you would have to get it directly from him if you really want it.
Cyborg Elite Guard background is the best profile background on steam. Its fun how its price changes from 40$ to 2$ (ofc because of steam sales)
I first played this game in 2013 and I made the Metroidvania comparison very quickly just like you. It instantly became one of my favorite games. 2013 was a great year of gaming for me. Also fell in love with Morrowind and DotA.
I watched this when it released and im so grateful i did. Bought system shock right after watching.
The dynamic soundtrack rrally astounds me.
What a great review! I just beat SS2 and this review is making me think about playing SS1 since back in the day I never finished it...
System shock remake is out, try it
I'm still in love with SHODANs voice. And the soundtrack. ^^
Once I learned the keyboard control system I was really good at this game... crouching around corners & taking out my enemies... the control system I learned to go with it...
Holy shit, I used to play this game retroactively after dad bought 2, and just now realised the hacker ia wearing a watchman T-shirt... That's an AWESOME small detail
NIN was the first thing that came to mind when I heard the music!
"Until GOG or someone picks this game up, it's probably safe to assume it's abandonware right now"
Funnily enough, in the intervening time, GOG released a digital download System Shock: Enhanced Edition with mouse look natively included.
you madman made me listen to head like a hole for 4 hours on loop
the gone home warning screen made me lol
System Shock Remake is now completely funded on Kickstarter!!!!
Great review. Next maybe Jagged Alliance 1? Everybody drool over the sequel but very few have ever tried the original one - it deserves more recognition! :)