Without System Shock, we wouldn’t have Prey. We wouldn’t have BioShock. We wouldn’t have Dead Space – and, in reality, it’s Dead Space that’s probably the most notable on this checklist, as a result of Visceral’s body-horror masterpiece was initially conceived as a System Shock sequel. System Shock, and its direct sequel, outlined the horror style and – to a level – how we inform tales in video games.
But it’s probably part of video games historical past that’s misplaced on lots of people. Games that got here alongside later, have been obtainable on extra platforms, and appealed extra to a era of game-players on Twitter and social media platforms, redefined survival horror. Ken Levine and his motion/horror splice of genres in BioShock stole System Shock’s thunder, and morphed the complete style into its personal picture. Visceral and Dead Space shunted the style into the fingers of Call of Duty gamers. Both helped usher the style away from survival horror, and extra in direction of motion horror.
Glen Schofield gleefully watching on as a million Isaac Clarkes shot off numerous alien limbs, Ken Levine purred as a million Booker DeWitts discovered a million lighthouses and predicted a million plot twists. Each of those video games toyed with style conference to ship one thing markedly completely different from System Shock… but neither of them would exist with out Looking Glass Studios’ masterful debut.
As a remake, the 2022 model of the sport fires on all the identical cylinders that made the unique so particular: the sport kicks off with a bang, with you – as an unnamed hacker – immidiately biting off greater than you may chew and being compelled right into a harmful world of rebellious AI, murderous mutants, and science gone mad. Think of the beginning of The Matrix if it was directed by David Cronenberg, or Alice in Wonderland through H.R. Giger, and also you’ll have a style of what to anticipate.
From right here, you’re pushed like a rat in a science experiment into the maze-like, claustrophobic spaceship that was – as soon as upon a time – impressed by iD video games like Doom or Wolfenstein. Unlike these video games, although, Looking Glass pumped all of its analysis and improvement funds into emergent methods; an intricate internet of complementary mechanics that performed into the sport’s open-ended degree design. Player selection, enemy efficacy, powers, weapons, and methods all danced round one another – this ballet of tiny shifting components – to create a chunk of interactive genius that was better than the sum of its components.
The studio behind the remake, Nightdive Studios, can by no means rebottle this lightening: that (area)ship has sailed. But in lieu of redefining the trade as soon as once more, it could possibly do the following neatest thing: code a love-letter this piece of gaming historical past, and make it obtainable to anybody and everybody that wishes to play it, while amplifying what made the unique recreation so particular.
After a hands-on demo with the sport at Gamescom 2022, I used to be shocked with how a lot effort has gone into the remake. This isn’t some cynical cash-in, or some half-hearted asset flip, no: from the opening crawl as your hacker avatar is whisked away into horrible wonderland of SHODAN’s making, you get the texture that you just’re reliving one thing particular. The gaming equal of watching your favorite rock band do their hit 1997 album, cowl to cowl, or one thing. All the perfect bits, all of the stuff that gave you gooseflesh earlier than. Just a bit newer, a bit completely different, a bit uncanny.
The core hook of System Shock continues to be the way it frames you, participant, as a susceptible, atypical character, utterly decreased to nothing however meat – to nothing however a paranoid wreck, urgent your digital ear to a digital door to see if there’s some kind of genetic abomination standing on the opposite aspect with a shotgun aimed degree to your face. But, as is correct on this universe, you’ll quickly change into bloated on powers, weapons, choices. You can decide up something – something! – and use it, in the event you assume it’ll assist. Just strive to not be too indecisive, as a result of even a second of hesitation within the incorrect second will see one of many wandering cybernetic juggernauts smear your brains over the ship partitions like paste. And you don’t need that. You wish to survive, proper?
Lucky for you, Nightdive Studios has altered the opening a contact in comparison with the unique – not like Warren Spector’s unique, there’s something of a tutorial on this recreation, a collection of handholding flash playing cards and interactions that serve to introduce you to the extra ‘immersive sim’ facets of the sci-fi spectacle. It doesn’t detract from the texture of all of it, in any respect. In reality, I’d argue that in 2022, you want this type of orientation, in any other case our TikTok, Uber Eats, and quick fashion-addled brains would tune out and detach. Viva la corporación! It’s all very on-brand, no?
Nightdive has stored the aesthetic, too. The entire recreation is beautiful – awash with neon, sodium orange, terminal monitor-greens – but all filtered with this peculiar pixel impact whenever you look too shut. It appears to be like such as you bear in mind System Shock wanting, in the event you’re coming again many years later. And if not, then it appears to be like such as you imagined 90s video games to look (till you return, boot one up, and go ‘Christ, is this really what they put up with!?’)
Whatever Nightdive has been as much as since System Shock was introduced, the top result’s shaping as much as be value it. This mission has been cursed – it looks like SHODAN itself obtained into the wires and insisted that this recreation be considered one of its good youngsters, the way in which Nightdive has been treating it. System Shock was initially slated for launch on PC and Xbox One on the finish of 2017 and PS4 in early 2018, it was first pegged as a remaster, then a remake, then one thing else fully.
Now, it’s wanting like a remake – however one that’s self-aware, self-critical, and and eager to show itself to anybody that’s been essential of the mission because it was initially conceived, some six years in the past, that it has what it takes to face up there with The Last of Us, Final Fantasy 7, and even Crash Bandicoot, when anybody thinks ‘essential games remake’. I can’t wait to hack into the ultimate factor, as soon as and for all.
The System Shock remake is in improvement for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It’s nonetheless pegged for 2022, however no extra particular a date has been introduced.
