How System Shock's Reboot Wrestles With Adapting Its Legacy
How System Shock's Reboot Wrestles With Adapting Its Legacy
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Someone tell me if this is any good. I'm on the fence.
I loved the original back in the 90s. But hooboy, playing it now feels rough. Mouse look hadn't been invented yet (or at least, not popularized) and UI experimentation was still a thing. Remember, the OG System Shock released only a year after Doom (in which moving the mouse "up" moved your character forward.)
I love this reboot. It keeps so much of what made the original great and sands off a lot of the rough edges. I wish they'd made inventory management a little less clunky (it's a little too true to the original there), but that's really my only complaint.
If you like immersive sim games like Deus Ex or Dishonored, I highly recommend it.
I just finished it, and loved it.
But you need to know what you're getting. The game looks fresh, and has some relatively minor QoL done with interactions and shooting and all (and the replaced Cyberspace), but it is a nearly 30 years old game.
And the remake fundamentally still is. A very good game that in many regards is still unmatched, but also one tremendously outdated in plenty other regards.
I'm going to play it eventually. Already bought it, just waiting to be in the mood to get started. I am curious though... how hard is it just to figure out where you're going? That is often my biggest hurdle in these older games, even though I grew up on this kind of stuff haha.
The visuals are really good but there are times when the game leaves no apparent clues as to where to go next. The path forward may be on a different floor, even if already visited and fully explored.
There's also a point near the end when you see the door, but the interface to open it is hidden on the big location, again with no hints to where it is. In the original, the areas are comparably minimalistic, making it easier to notice.
I never played the original but I really enjoyed the remake. The art style is beautiful and the gameplay holds up well. The only thing I didn't like were the hacking sequences, they look nice but are overall pretty boring.
As a fan of Prey and immersive sims you can really see the inspiration Prey took from System Shock at every corner. I still prefer Prey but System Shock is a lot of fun as well and it's cool to see where many of the ideas came from.
It's more than good, it's awesome!
Also on the fence. Someone tell us!
I love it but never played the original so I’m not sure if that counts. It’s got a cool retro vibe but adds some modern stuff like leaning so you can peak corners. It’s definitely cool.
QE: The hacking and mini games are also fantastic to me.
Interesting that you interpret leaning to peek around corners as a modern convenience when it actually was in the original. The portrait in the top left of the original UI shows the player's current posture.
I didn’t play the original and played mostly consoles until recently so maybe that’s why. I mean you can’t peek in cyberpunk like that so they were definitely ahead of their time I think.
You can lean peek in Cyberpunk, it’s just not a well documented or advertised feature. That said, System Shock was definitely ahead of it’s time in many ways.
There is no key to lean peak in cyberpunk is what I’m saying. The auto lean is in no way as useful as an actual command for it.
I'm not quite old enough to have played it on release, but I think you're right that System Shock was a game with a lot of amazing ideas that was limited by the technology of the day. I was very happy to see such an authentic remake, which was clearly made by people who cared deeply about the source material.