The Horrifying Genius of System Shock

at around 58 minutes you talk about how shodan could just tell you exactly what to do and how to do it in system shock 2 i argue she doesn't because some part of her wants entertainment

Poo poo pee pee video tee vee

You from Nebraska

I never had the opportunity to play System Shock 1 or 2 when i was little (i had no computer until my late 20s). Ive been playing through 1s remaster on the xbox and its so damn fun. Im still on the first level in the hospital segment but im really bad at immersive sims so its extra fun. I wasnt expecting the game to be so full of detail and im super excited to get through even the first level. Very entertaining retrospective and makes me want to finish it even more

Its not even scary tho

i watch to the end and i love it

System Shock 1 didn't use a prototype of the Dark Engine's lightmap system, not even anything remotely similar. System Shock 1's engine was entirely grid based, so the lighting was also grid based. The Dark engine supported completely arbitrary geometry, so it used Quake's system of baking lighting into separate lightmap textures that then got blended with the normal textures.

According to mark leblanc, 451 IS a reference to farenheit 451 and it became the code to their office AFTER it was implemented in system shock.

The music in System Shock 1 sounds like it does because it relied more on what sound card you had installed (the era for those was still in full swing when System Shock 1 was released) to construct the music from at the time which is why it now comes off as a utter jumbled mess.. It wasn't really designed to play nice with modern systems.

I always do the quick-save glitch to get max stats and inventory in the beginning. SS2 is a game with lots of re-playability next to Doom and Duke Nukem 3D

Lol I’m in Omaha Nebraska myself

Saying the logs in the remake are too realistic is the dumbest thing

The various spoutings of insecure leftism get a bit annoying at times but overall this is a good video. The government is not your friend and no demographic will ever see you as it's hero, remember that.

The Nth advert...

First game I ever played where I genuinely cared what happened to the NPCs I was listening to. Delacroix's fate got me SO pissed that not even the ending satisfied me lol

Did he just say the ss1 music sucks? O.o

Hey so I appreciate that you captioned this video at all, but you can't just censor naughty words and names like "hitler" from them because deaf people will have no idea what you're talking about. For the same reason, you also need to caption in-game dialogue, especially if the subtitles in-game are off.

I saw Subterfuge there.

System shock 1 is hard.....

Dudes didn't save scum for magnum ammo and skorpion large slag clips.

i’m from california but my best friend is from Omaha Nebraska, so whenever someone mentions Omaha i’m like :O!!!!!

I also played the first time in Omaha lol

Love that slick Chinua Achebe line you threw in

The idea of a non-horror immersive sim sounds so enticing.

Surprised you didn’t mention clock tower

Idk why but shodan reminds me of gideon from elden ring

I wander if nanites are use to replicate goods in replicator how Valuerap make their a profit? Nanite was consume to create goods. And in description of anti personal rounds is sead that it contein nanites that was program to demage tisue so wher is profits ?

How great it is to see so many people who since then recognize System Shock 2 as the fantastic adventure it was, and today spend time on "mods" that improve the graphics - graphics that at the time had dressed the game so well, but were not possible due to the limitations that then existed.

Thanks to all those who continue to work on "mods" that improve the game and keep it alive for other new users who come and appreciate the game's qualities and for its adventure.

It was the OSA option in particular that I was concerned with, with the many different PSI powers that could be used against the monsters.

We must also not forget the option for 3 different game characters such as OSA, Marine and Navy

When I see your new graphics, my fingers and body itch and scratch again - like back then.

I LOVE System Shock. I finally got the remake and man. '80s sci-fi like Star Wars and older ones like Star Trek are cool, but '90s sci-fi like System Shock has such an amazing story, ideas, and can be genuinely scary. When SHODAN says: "they are growing purifying tumors" that freaked me out more than a zombie or anything like that. Brilliant

I will also add the remake addresses a lot:
-A log mentions a wormhole nearby Citadel (probably how the grove got to Tau Ceti)
-A log from SHODAN shows her thoughts and why she thinks she's god
-The hacker is implied to have been forgotted and sealed in by Diego during the chaos

Valhalla awaits you my friend

I've played a lot of horror games and I'd consider System Shock 2 the scariest. The sounds and music are uncanny and they did a good job at making you feel isolated from Earth. The sense of danger is high. To make matters worse, the monsters always respawn. You're never safe and that's what makes it really scary. You dread back tracking because you know what you'll encounter. I still haven't beaten the game, it's very hard and if you upgrade the wrong things, you can't beat the game.

One of the reasons I love System Shock 2 so much is that it's the first game that gave me that "immersive sim" feeling.

It's the unique feeling of amazement, surprise, wonder, and triumph when you notice you have executed the same tactic you'd use to solve the problem in real life in a given situation or gotten yourself out of a bind with some outside-the-box thinking -- I got that a lot in Deus Ex as well as SS2.

But the thing that impressed me most about SS2 and what made it feel most real is that it didn't care if you can surmount its enemies, challenges, and gameplay systems or not. You're just a bug on a windshield of a cruiser traveling at half the speed of light outside of Tau Ceti IV, so if you built your character wrong or didn't utilize your resources smartly, you could be stuck.

And then there's the triumph of breaking the game's systems and dominating enemies and challenges that once seemed insurmountable -- beautiful! I love this game.

I am so happy I found your channel <3

As we now see people cruise controlling their Tesla whilst wearing Facebook or Apple hardware on their faces, I'd like to remind people that the rise in accidents resulted in legislation to control pop up adverts according to SS2 manual lore

I find it really funny and interesting how the system shock videos by mandalore gaming have the exact opposite takes as you on so many things. Chiefly in a fact that I agree with heavily as well that shorn is a far better villain in the original than the sequel as her all encompassing nature where she is essentially is the level feels much more threatening and memorable than in 2 where she could largely be removed and the story would function completely fine without her.

He also mentions how the twist in system shock 2 is one he doesn’t really like or find that well done which I once again agree with to an extent as they make it so overbearingly obvious with her face being the cover art, xerxes practically telling you outright, etc so that there is in a way too much foreshadowing where it would be difficult not to put two and two together. Granted the presentation of the twist is very well done and awesome but the actual twist itself feels sort of meh especially compared to bioshock where this revelation actually means something and reshapes the way you’ve viewed nearly the whole game.

He also loved the ending to system shock 2 with how nonchalantly and disrespectfully the ai with a good complex is refused. I honestly can’t agree with that one though lol. I just beat both games for the first time a few days ago and am still in disbelief that was the real ending.

I wouldn't describe the system shock franchise as a survival horror fra3 or even imsims (at least on terms with something like Deus Ex or Prey 2017), as SS1 plays out much like a Metroidvania, with you collecting upgrades/keys to overcome challenges/unlock new areas and SS2 just being a full fledged RPG w/ buildcrafting, the death cannon, the wizard playthrough and SO, SO MANY WRONG BUILDS. Yes, there's horror and alot of primitive imsim DNA in this franchise; but, in my personal opinion, SS1 was not only just the bedrock for Imsims but for Metroidvanias/Igavanias as well, and SS2 further expanded on SS1's bedrock while adding heavy RPG mechanics into the fold.

It's so depressing that bioshock was the game that made a lot of money.

For System Shock 2 I always turn off respawning for the enemies and also turn off the music. IMHO it's ridiculous getting attacked by enemies all the damn time while listening to 90s techno music. While I've always liked the soundtrack for System Shock 2, most of the tracks just don't fit the setting of a spacecraft where everybody except you is dead. Just turn it off and enjoy the great sound ambience.

Maybe I've missed something, but if there are only 3 numbers, why would you need to backtrack through the levels to get their order? There are only 6 possible premutations for 3 distinct digits.

SHODAN ran so that GladOS could walk.

Looking Glass immersive sims continue to impress me by how much creativity and forward thinking those games had, especially considering limited resources.

For me personally, the most eye-opening element of my 1st play through of System Shock Remake was the moment I read the email “Rats in a Maze” where it’s revealed that Citadel Station was actually designed & constructively built for intentionally inducing stress levels & building anxiety in the crew in order to study the human psyche and how it can be affected by environmental subjugation and isolation

"and you try to open the door, but there's too much blood on the knob!" that reference caught me off guard and fit so well, I had to pause the video for a moment to stop myself from laughing!