While Nightdive has imbued ancient weapons with fun feedback, by modern standards it is an unremarkable shooter. System Shock’s age is more evident in its systems. Rather, it’s a place of scientific endeavour where something has gone terribly wrong. Nightdive’s vision of Citadel Station feels more oppressive than Looking Glass’s, but this isn’t a virtual haunted house filled with animatronic scares. The remake also retains much of the original’s unusually colourful aesthetic, with vividly painted walls and brightly lit environments.
Meanwhile, the side-effects of one ability enhancement deploys the original enemy designs to great effect. Look closely at System Shock’s textures, and you’ll see the pixels within them. Within this modern makeover are constant references to the past. There are laser rifles, incendiary shotguns and the mag-pulse, which blasts powerful balls of energy that leave behind glowing indentations on your foes.ĭelightfully menacing … Shodan in System Shock. The laser-rapier, little more than a suggestive blue oblong in the original, is now a whiplike metal blade that glows with deadly potential. Unlocking a door or injecting yourself with medicine are accompanied by characterful first-person animations, while the game’s expansive array of weapons have been redesigned into a weighty, purposeful arsenal. Within this are some lovely embellishments. Nightdive’s remake elegantly modernises all this, paring back the HUD and rebuilding Citadel Station in true 3D. Visually, the original System Shock mixed 3D environments with pixelly 2D characters the screen was mostly taken up by the game’s menu, with only a small viewport in the middle afforded to the player’s perspective. Nightdive has done fine work re-recording (and, in certain areas, rewriting) the original script, and Shodan’s original voice actor, Terri Brosius, makes a delightfully menacing return. You’ll also hear the stuttering, phase-shifting voice of the AI herself, as she taunts and belittles you over the station’s voice-comms. As you explore, audio logs you pluck from the environment construct a grim timeline of events, with the crew variously discussing the mundane operation of the station, breathlessly devising strategies to defeat Shodan in the wake of the disaster and tearfully saying goodbye to loved ones as the cyborgs close in for the kill. It’s a straightforward disaster story, but one rendered chillingly believable through its delivery.
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