As a newbie to System Shock, I’d like to take a moment to declare my undying love for SHODAN, aka the Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network, aka the murderous AI villain who engulfed the entire remake. literally. As a captured hacker aboard the Citadel space station, you are asked to remove the “moral constraints” of the station’s artificial intelligence, known as SHODAN, in an apparently shady exchange. You’re free, and with a cool cybernetic implant, the executives in charge of running a mega-corporate can use this new site to do bad things without moral restraint.
Things are not working out for you both. Months pass, you wake up, still in the castle, but this time the humans turn into bloodthirsty mutants, killer robots and cyborgs strike with a vengeance, and my beloved SHODAN hosts the whole bleak party.
The System Shock remake begins much like the original 1994 game. The exact same events took place, but they’ve been retuned. The original System Shock’s opening cutscene had this loud, dizzying beat playing in the background. Retro animation is a bit surreal, almost like it came out of a fever dream. The remake shaves off some of the energy in exchange for something more palatable.
I’m focusing on the intro because I think it’s emblematic of the whole remake. Developer Nightdive’s updated System Shock is a remarkably faithful – at times shocking – re-creation of the Citadel’s zig-zag layout from 30 years ago, but some of the original’s intimidating quirks have been removed, replaced, or Delete directly. This fidelity means that System Shock (2023) doesn’t quite stand up against the many great games that System Shock (1994) inspired. While it does mean that classic fun is now easier than ever to enjoy, it’s more approachable for modern audiences.
The overall structure here is the same, though. After tweaking a few difficulty sliders for combat, puzzles, cyberspace, and more — just like you did in the original — you start trudging through the castle’s steely levels in an attempt to thwart SHODAN’s plans for a human purge. Emphasis on the plural, SHODAN is a trickster. Sneaking through tight spaces and mazes of corridors, you’ll destroy SHODAN’s cameras, find access cards, flip switches to unlock new areas, and eventually make your way up and down the various floors of the station. As you progress, you’ll slowly untangle and learn about these knotted environments.
The first noticeable change is, of course, the appearance of the Citadel this time around. Or rather, what it feels like. The environments of System Shock Remastered are decidedly darker and scarier than the original. Some of the walls still have some blocky, pixelated texture, recreating that retro charm. So even if the remake doesn’t go for realism, it still looks pretty cool. Regardless, the heavy shadows, silver piping, and abrupt corners are ubiquitous in the System Shock remake, and work very effectively into that eerie vibe.
The sound effects also contribute to this to a large extent. Flip through the bloody tome of Dead Space, and you’ll never be sure if the distant groans come from the creaking parts of a space station, the grunting of nearby enemies, or your computer slowly overheating. The sometimes deafening soundtrack is also gone, replaced by quieter ambient beats with lots of clicks, clicks, and thumping synths—because it wouldn’t be cyberpunk without thumping synths. The final effect makes you stop, turn around, and look out of corners before wondering if you’re really alone in the room.
Even running afoul of the tutorial foes—the hollow mutants—can be frightening because of their inhuman gaze. With resources stretched and inventories even tighter, most combat encounters actually feel scary–which does double duty with Tetris management. The shooting and bashing of System Shock remake is dated and feels more like a modern shooter, but your general lack of supplies adds to the survival-horror overtones. Careful matching of the right bullets to the right enemies can make all the difference, and your future self will thank you for saving ammo.
My inventory is usually short on ammo, health-regenerating items, or grenades, but never all three. So, being an immersive sim, there’s usually a good way to get out of trouble. Running out of ammo? Just throw an EMP grenade at your enemies to disable them, then run up with your wrench until they fall apart. Combat almost always puts you at a disadvantage, but that desperation can spark smart thinking (or smart sneering) and let you breathe a sigh of relief. How I love my horror.
Final Struggle is in keeping with the tone of the game, but combat can sometimes feel stilted compared to other modern immersive sims. You don’t get a plethora of options from an Arkane game, for example, so many encounters turn into long-distance shootouts once you fill up on supplies. That’s all well and good, though it doesn’t inspire the consistent creative problem-solving that really makes the im-sim sing.
Those im-sim-isms really come into play in the way you discover and map the labyrinthine world, joy. Most levels are a series of intertwining corridors that you’re free to tackle from almost any direction. Naturally, many doors are locked, either because of SHODAN, wrong wiring, or no access card, and the remake trusts you to fix it all. Seriously, a full map at any level is similar to what I imagine the floor plan of Area 51 would look like.
This freedom leads to many satisfying moments of surprise. While you can’t combo stealth kills or throw plasmids, you can find a way to disable respawn drones. Or maybe you want to prioritize unlocking the level’s spawn point for yourself. Or maybe you want to find a crawl space to avoid precise enemies entirely. The game gives you plenty of freedom in the order in which you complete your objectives, opening up opportunities for decisions and discoveries big and small.
The structure of the System Shock remake is largely unchanged from the original, and (again) this could be released, but some of its vague goals are annoying. You see, progress is often tied to access cards, levers for specific rooms, and other items of interest, but games rarely focus on these in particular. So I enjoyed both the process of deciphering targets through environmental cues and emails, and the frustration of running laps through indistinguishable hallways only to find my key on a long-dead foe.
Oh, and cyberspace is back. These are abstract areas in the original where you float in a bewildering space and shoot colorful shapes. Now, they’re neon-colored abstract areas where you can photograph colorful angry faces. They’re a fun and unexpected diversion, and while those shootouts aren’t the highlight, I’m glad they’re still around. Cyberspace is weird, helping the remake retain some of the original’s quirkiness. Actually, come to think of it, there’s a lot of weird stuff here — from mutants moaning “I’m hungry” to sad recordings dedicated to the crew’s cats.
Overall, there’s some new and old annoyances and some new and old fun in this remake. And the key to that fun comes from SHODAN, a villain so vicious and inventive it pretty much makes the entire game. Literally, the AI is the entire game. Citadel and SHODAN are now the same thing – think of Citadel as the body and SHODAN as the brain. This means that as you walk through the station, you’re also walking through the interior of SHODAN, which eerily recreates all the visible pipes and creaking noises of the entire place.
System Shock is deeply involved in this horror. Audiologs are a constant reminder of this relationship between technology and our environment, from enemy robots repeating “nothing” in a monotonous voice to SHODAN itself. Crazy AI is always there. It is the ship, and it will celebrate your small victories with deadly traps, cunning remarks, and hidden alternative plans. I’ve always been amazed by the way SHODAN manipulated the world, either by destroying a bridge beneath my feet, or by opening doors for more bad guys.
And, oh my god, the sound. It cracks and twists in truly disturbing ways. Weird static effects sometimes make it sound like it’s crying, or someone else is screaming. The tone of voice simulates curiosity, a moment of joy, and some vague humanity. This was followed by casual threats of extreme violence. Every ugly part of this station is a reminder of the greed it takes to create something so evil. What a miracle.
SHODAN is what makes some parts of this game truly special, even with some flaws. Thankfully, the original incomprehensible Excel sheet menu is gone. But Nightdive didn’t take the Capcom or Square Enix approach with this remake; in fact, they were uncompromising in their mission to update the original. As such, there isn’t any crazy dynamic ability or fun way to move around the space station (a la Prey) that some newbies might expect. But in the end, System Shock Remastered faithfully recreates the classic, retains much of its appeal, rebuilds everything with a horror slant, and therefore makes it more playable for everyone.
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