System Shock remake review: The PC classic comes back to life

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: You wake up in a futuristic medical bay on an orbital space station with some new cyber implants, only to realize that everyone else is dead. This could be about BioShockYou can also find out more about Dead SpaceYou can see it if you try. The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. But in this case, I’m talking about System ShockNightdive Studios remade. The new version shows how video games owe a lot to this 1994 classic.

Even though I am a writer and critic, I already knew how to play video games. System Shock, but it wasn’t possible for me to play it. The game was developed originally by Looking Glass Studios. It wasn’t as popular at that time but it did have a moderate success. Doom. Its legacy has evolved over time, influencing explicitly games such as the one mentioned. BioShockYou can also find out more about the following: Dead SpaceBut not only Dishonored, Prey” Deathloop. The audiologs were also used to tell stories, which is now a tired technique.

It was always my dream to be a musician System ShockI wanted to track the history of video games, but it was a difficult game to find, as this game is older and only available on PC. Too long had passed between the game’s release and the present day for System ShockIt was accessible to me, both in that the game was unavailable to buy anywhere, and also because I had grown up with more recent games that featured a better UI, more intuitive controls, etc. For much of my young adulthood, System ShockFans distributed a game that was so old, it had been released originally on floppy disk, via illegal downloads. The game was the first thing I looked for, after hearing that it had a major influence on almost everything. The game is onIn forums, readers were urged to simply go to System Shock 2,.

Image: Nightdive Studios/Prime Matter

Now you can play original System ShockNightdive was also responsible for the success of this game. In 2012, the studio bought the rights and released the game as The The Enhanced EditionIn 2015. And you could go and play this remastered edition right now and enjoy it for its many pleasures, even if they don’t hit quite the same way 29 years on. Seamus blackley’s revolutionary physics program was originally developed for Flight Unlimited, can’t leave the same impression on players in 2023 as it did in 1994; we have all seen too many physics engines that cribbed Blackley’s work in the meantime. If you don’t think you can play a game from 1994, then the System Shock remake does quite nicely. It can even do something original and remarkable: it makes you understand time.

You can also find out more about the following: System ShockRemake is gorgeous. It’s not a fully reimagined game like the Final Fantasy 7, The remake does not abandon all aesthetics and artistic style like Shadow of the Colossus. It looks exactly like how I remember games from 1994. The smoke erupts from the vents, and then dissipates to pixels. It is usually dramatic lighting, with your screen saturated deep red while bright blue sparkles are emitted from the fixtures. Your lead pipe swings in your hand, sometimes pixelated, in your vision. You walk slowly — oh so slowly — down narrow hallways with flickering lighting, trapped in metal maintenance corridors as you try to make your way through the map. It’s a dungeon-crawler wearing a shooter’s skin.

Famously, System ShockThe story is about the Hacker who was caught hacking the TriOptimum Corporation. You’re whisked away to its orbital space station, called the Citadel, and given a job: join the corporation and get a fancy neural implant in exchange for removing the ethics protocols of their AI, SHODAN. It turns out that SHODAN really needed the ethics protocols. When you awaken after surgery, SHODAN has killed everyone on station, turned them into cyborgs, and created mutants.

Image: Nightdive Studios/Prime Matter

If you are a fan of video games, you’ve met SHODAN before, in some shape or form. If you’ve played Portal, you’ve interacted with a very close relative of hers. The character archetype SHODAN would create, of a female AI that’s lost its morals with an acerbic, glitchy voice, is now a cliche. GLaDOS, on the other hand, is SHODAN but with a sense humor and a personal animosity towards the player. In System Shock, SHODAN’s hate is cold and pure, the way you hate insects when they get inside the house; they’re below you, and not supposed to be here. As you make your way through the levels, she promises that she’ll strap you to a torture chair and that “you’ll learn more about pain than you ever wanted to know.”

SHODAN’s presence still feels new, somehow — or maybe, everything old just becomes new again. The way that the new version highlights the original feels incredible. System Shock’s lineage even more. The electricity that dances in your hands when you plug your electric weapon into the charging station is a memory. BioShockWhen you play this game, it descends from the original. The game is a descendant of this. System Shock leans on its horror elements, thrusting you into a dark room with a groaning monster, I remember why I hadn’t played Dead Space; System ShockThis is my preferred creepy game, though I understand how it evolved. This game’s form puts it in conversation with all the games of the immersive simulation genre. These are loosely-grouped titles that allow players to explore the possibilities of gameplay. From the Citadel, you can see the line all the way down to Dunwall. DishonoredI like the fact that Nightdive (and Looking Glass) offer the Citadel not as just a station, but also as a maze, with no clear instructions. Seeing this done so expertly on a smaller scale makes me think of a kind of open world that hasn’t been technologically possible until quite recently: Skyrim, Breath Of The Wild, Elden Ring.

Image: Nightdive Studios/Prime Matter

When I play, what really gets me excited? System ShockI am surprised at how poorly it supports my hand. You can — and probably will — eat absolute shit the first time you try to make your way through the medical bay. You can get yourself into unsolvable situations — it’s a game that asks you to pay attention, that doesn’t always signpost the next thing to do. This game also rewards curiosity just as much as caution. I often found my way through levels mostly by accident, by deciding to turn down hallways I hadn’t gone down before. There’s always a discovery — a new weapon or a vending machine or a shortcut — or at least a useful lesson lying in wait. It’s easy to understand why people played this game and then became obsessed with it, why you can trace some people’s careers through the game. Ken Levine worked for Looking Glass during its making. System ShockYou’ve never given up trying. System ShockThen, you will give up. BioShock InfiniteThe ending suggests that there could be thousands and thousands of different variations to this theme.

System Shock Release date for Windows PC is May 30. Prime Matter provided a code for a prerelease version of the game to be reviewed. Vox Media is affiliated with other companies. Vox Media earns commissions from affiliate products, although this doesn’t influence the editorial content. Find out more about affiliate links. additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.