I waited a LONG time for this moment. Back in my high school days, I played the original title and loved every second... enough so that I was biting at the bit for the sequel and was given it as a b-day gift just before my first days of college. Yeah, my time with this franchise has been amazing, but even I had to recognize the original game did not age well. Releasing before we had a standard of how to use a mouse and keyboard together and trying to be as much a simulation as a game, the controls were clunky as hell, even for their day. Today, the original release would be nigh unplayable. So when Nightdive announced a kickstarter to remake the game, I was was excited! Don't get me wrong, Nightdive was as of yet untried and I was already watching people get nothing for their investments on this site, so I stayed on the sidelines, but I wanted to see this make it and bring the classic game to the modern gamers.
That was in 2016... seven years ago. Many years after it was expected, Nightdive delivered on their promise, and let me tell you right now, it was worth waiting for.
Story: It is the year 2072, and mankind has marched stridently into the future, breathing life into untold technological advances as it moved. They've made mistakes on the way, but they are now beginning to make serious efforts to expand, beginning with our own solar system. To this end, one of the most powerful corporations in the world, known as TriOptimum, has made it's bid and recently build Citadel Station: an orbital station floating over Saturn. It's mission to mine the asteroid belt, study the planet, and anything the company wished to study deemed too dangerous to do on Earth. There is a lot more to the story and events around the station, but the game will drip-feed you the details as you play, at least if you pay attention. To this end, if you wish to read the rest, follow the spoiler section below that's indented and italicized. If you just want the gist, you are a a very talented hacker who got caught hacking into TriOptimum, only to find a slimy executive of the company offering you a way out if you put those talents to use for him... which you did before he put you under with the hardware you were looking for as a direct reward. If you want the long version, read on.
It was these experiments too dangerous to be done on Earth which would start the ball rolling, for among them was biological research into viruses. Highly controversial, but one man had planned to profit off of weaponizing that research and selling the results on the black market: Edward Diego. Unfortunately for him, someone caught wind and there was now an active investigation into his corruption with cooperation of Earth's governments. He had to ditch the evidence, and quickly. There's just one problem... SHODAN. The AI running the whole station keeps records of everything, and her ethical restraints would simply not allow for these files to be trashed. He needed a way to fix this, and as if delivered from on high, there you are.
And who are you? Well you are a skilled hacker who was caught on your latest attempt to raid the TriOptimum databases. Your interest was in a high-tech cybernetic implant, but your skills proved quite considerable, and with that information, Edward hatched a plan. Rather then let the governments of Earth have you, he had you shipped to the station where he would give you hope and an ultimatum: work for him and he will not only see to it the company drops all charges against you, he would give you the augmentation you desired in return for your service. Reject the offer and you wouldn't survive to see the government courts charge and sentence you. As for that job, it was very simple: remove the ethical restraints preventing the corporate suit from destroying the evidence that would hang him. Suffice it to say, you took the job.
And for all the faults Edward had, his word was not one of them. He ordered the surgery for you, figuring your healing coma would keep you out of the way while he evaded investigation, deleting all files involving you to cover his tracks and prevent you from being discovered and woken up early. You could be useful again when you wake up after all. But as you would find out when you did wake up... things did not go according to plan.
When you came to, something was just not right... no one was in medical bay. In fact no one was around at all: just robots who seemed to have gone insane and strange mutated beings who might have been humans once. And then you got the radio message from an agent of Earth. They had lost all contact with everyone on the station and stumbled on you by chance. You are here alone, there are biological contaminations and outbreaks throughout Citadel Station, and the station is moving, aiming it's massive mining laser at Earth. You are now the only thing in the way of certain doom for mankind and you don't have much choice about it, for the forces behind your current situation are malevolent and were created by your own hand. Time to move, survive, and maybe save mankind so you have a place to go to when you get out of this cybernetic hellhole.
And this basic setup will be all you get when the game truly begins and lets you free to wander the once burgeoning halls of Citadel Station. Much like the original MS-DOS release this game is a remake of, every detail of the story is shown to you while playing, be it in the condition of the world you find yourself in, the messages left behinds by those who were there before, or even active messages from a few specific characters as you move along. Yes the original had a cutscene explaining this opening section, but technology since the days of DOS have allowed for a convincing interactive experience even here, only moving from your point of view to see the ship delivering you to the station and introduce you to the room Edward Diego talks to you in via a security camera before returning you to your own eyes.
Once in game, even these jumps end until you reach the end of the game with two exceptions: regeneration and death. Each of these will involve some computer-screen data to show what is going on before you either return to your view while in the med-bay of the floor or a cutscene of the grizzly fate that awaits your now lifeless corpse, so they are really not so much story-telling as events you will see repeatedly, but we will get to that in another section.
For now, all I can say is this story is incredibly cohesive, plays out at the perfect pace, and while relatively simple, quickly evolves to explain how the hell things got to be how they are, your roll in it all, and just how desperate your situation really is, and even why you are still here and not just another statistic in the situation. It's not the most complex thing ever, but you will appreciate the details and just how well it all molds into one picture.
8/10
Graphics: This could arguably one of the toughest games to describe the graphics of that I have ever played. Much like the title it's a remake of, you will play from a first person view as you run around the station, but the style selected for this title is a weird cross between modern models and sculpting and a throwback to old school pixelated imagery.
When the game is in full action, it looks every bit the sci-fi horror one would expect with a living space station sprawled around you. Ever foot was designed to use the space available and it shows as you cross tiled walls, open pipework, and even luxury offices on the executive level that would make many managers today jealous for the class on display. And yet, if you played the original MS-DOS version (like I have) you can't help but see the original plastered all over the place. This game is absolutely true to it's roots, choosing to make a version of the station you might have seen if the sensibilities of the 90s were created with modern game engines, and it is glorious.
Even the enemies, hell even the items fit this vibe! It is like Nightdive Studios took the time to play the game as they were making this version to make sure they got every detail just right but with a level of detail that just was not even remotely available in 1994 without running at seconds per frame instead of frames per second. For those coming in for the first time, be ready to enjoy what you see, but for those of us who remember, it's going to be a strong case of memory lane.
And yet to leave it at that simply isn't quite right either. As I said, while in action this is all beautiful and very modern looking, but when you get up close to anything, you will notice that isn't quite right either. True everything is modeled like a current game and all the effects look great and recent, but the paint over it all is not quite the same. Rather, Nightdive chose to go for a bit of a retro effect when bitmapping the game. If you get up close to object, you will see they are made of chunky pixels, despite the hi-end geometry. This is particularly noticeable on your hands and weaponry, making for a rather retro feel when you get into the details. This seems to me like a very divisive design choice, and at first blush you will likely dig the retro feel or hate it. Personally I found it jarring at first, but it soon faded into the background on the more mechanical elements, really only being a thing to notice when you see your arm and the incredibly pixelated TriOptimum tattoo (rare) or on some of the more fleshy enemies that get up close like the humanoid mutants (those faces are already creepy... the pixelization just adds a dissonance that makes them more so).
8/10
Sound: Like the art, all the sound was redone for this game, and THANK GOD! As much as I loved the original game, I will not try to tell you the development team's acting aged well. True, almost all the voice acting in either version comes from message discs left by the crew, but they just hit home much better to help paint the picture of what happened while you were out. They are all VERY well done and I have to give a special shout out to Terri Brosius, who returned to play the mad AI Shodan for this outing. She continues to remind us all why she is so memorable and terrifying every time she speaks. And yet this time it gets even deeper as we don't just get her describing that she "re-examined her priorities and drew new conclusions" but we get a look into that process... a fascinating one at that.
I would also like to give special shout outs to the voice of Edward Diego as probably the other biggest highlight for the ears (Dennis Kleinman). This voice will start off as the sleaze you love to hate but slowly become a personal threat and promise of some exciting gameplay.
Sadly I can't say the same for the music this time around. In the original DOS game, you were treated to (albeit in midi-file form) some very high-energy sci-fi sounding techno music that just held up an energy all it's own. This will start on a strong foot too with a tune to the opening run that remembers those good old days as you watch the city fly by from the camera of a drone seeking out the hacker as they try to break through the corporate security systems. But then it dies off for the ambiance of a quiet apartment with the news playing in the background, and rarely hits that energy again.
Don't get me wrong, when you have gained the attention of the enemy, the music picks up and you know, but for the most part, it's there to let you feel the eerie space around you and doesn't really reach for the same feel, and stands out far less then I would have liked.
7/10
Gameplay: But how does it play, right? I mean System Shock was a landmark title which before any of the controls we take for granted today managed to have you leaning around corners, aiming with your mouse, and navigating a truly 3D world with full interactivity. It was clunky but it's influence can simply not be overestimated even today. Well the good news is this game plays EXCEPTIONALLY well, adapting those ideas to modern control schemes brilliantly. And if that was all it did, I think we could wrap it up right there and say "mission accomplished."
But they did this and more, and your first hint of this will show itself before you even begin. If you played back on MS-DOS based PCs, you will no doubt remember the game asking you what difficulty mode you wanted when you started the game: not because of how uncommon this was (in fact it was a standard feature in FPS style games from just about the word "go"), but how in-depth those settings were: you sat there and looked at 4 different sliders, each for different aspects of the game. I honestly don't remember back in the day if the settings explained much of what they did and only realized how much control they offered over the game when "just to see what happened" I cranked the mission difficulty to max only to be greeted by an onscreen timer before Shodan would fire off the mining laser and vaporize major Earth cities in her bid to take the planet. I actually played on default settings like I did here, but I had to appreciate seeing some of that control remain in this revision. I don't think the sliders themselves allow as much control as the old days, but all 4 aspects are represented so you can remix the game as you see fit.
Once in the game however, it will feel a lot more at home to most modern gamers then the original release. You will play from a first person perspective onboard the doomed Citadel Station with the controls being about what you would expect, at least for keyboard and mouse gameplay. (I did not play with a controller so while it IS supported, I can not speak to how well.) With this layout, you will find yourself exploring the halls, fighting off the roaming monstrosities and ultimately dueling for control over the parts Shodan needs to complete her various plans to take the planet and lead humanity in her vision of it's future. And that is the key point of what you are doing. At first, you will be given no real direction on where to go, forcing you to find your own way as you explore the medical floor, only that your goal is to stop that mining laser as soon as you can.
The information you need to do so will be found in notes left behind by those who came before you. Some will in the form of data-tabs with text notes you can read, while others will be audio logs you can listen to and scrape information from. However the game will not force you to pay attention to anything you don't wish to. It does not hold your hand in any way and if you choose to ignore information you do so at your own peril. I do not believe you can soft-lock yourself, but you can screw yourself over enough add HOURS or retracing for information you need to find in some log you collected and don't remember which one it was in. This is an old-school game where a note-book beside your PC (or the newly added note feature of the Steam overlay if you are playing it there) to at least write down codes you find, if not other details from time to time, will come in handy almost to the point of being essential to finish the game. The game will not try to have your character remember any of this for you. It is all up to you.
Thankfully, when it comes to the actual layout, the game is a little more forgiving here. Don't get me wrong, it will reveal nothing to you by default, but key items like recharge stations or regeneration bays will be marked on your map for you when you find them, making the most basic areas you will need to be aware of much easier to keep track of, But in addition, the game will allow you to place markers of your own on the map, keeping places of interest in mind, and I would highly recommend taking advantage of this for anything that stands out, including caches of items you leave around. This last thing in particular I learned the hard way as I had picked up a key set of items I didn't realize I needed and "dropped them" to make room for something I needed right then and there. Thankfully in my case, I had used the natural layout to my advantage and found them again fairly quickly losing only 30 minutes or so seeking them out, but I learned to take advantage and I'm telling you to so you can avoid my mistake.
And let's bring up those key items for a second. While the above situations can hurt your enjoyment, they happen because the game refuses to hold your hand and stop you from ignoring something you shouldn't. If you fall to it, especially after I warned you, it's on you, not the game. Inventory, on the other hand, we actually need to talk about. In essence, get ready to play Tetris with your items, balancing what you need vs what you don't both overall and at any given time. This wouldn't be so bad if it didn't include your weapons which are often large and bulky, taking up huge portions of the grid and leaving it feeling much to small to feel comfortable with. Thankfully, the game does offer you dumbwaiters between floors you can use like a magic inventory box, but these are small, making you consider just what is worth keeping and what is not for most of the game, but it is an advantage I personally used as an ammo reserve more often then not. The REALLY good news however, is how much the game offers you in each location. Having a tight inventory is tense, but it's more because you have so many options of what to carry and only your personal taste to decide what to fill it with... no really great way to show you what is actually best to have. And you will balance that with more then just combat items: from scrap you can recycle into cash to rail guns and laser beams, the tools of this station are vast an immense. It would just be wise to use the map markers to note where everything is (and where you strategically leave things) instead of hoard it and try to carry it around with you.
But I just mentioned cash because yes, this game added that feature as well. You can find and earn cash in this game you will use at a handful of locations. From snack machines for a few points of health to ammo lockers you can by extra if you somehow run low (I did not use these) or even if you can find them, upgrade stations you can spend a little money on to upgrade your favorite way to deal damage! None of these are necessary, but they can be used to enhance a choice weapon or two you like over the other offerings, so I would definitely recommend visiting these once you get the feel for what you have.
Although so far I have talked about fairly standard features every FPS has. There are a few in particular that separate this one from the rest. The most immediate one you will find are augmentations. System Shock is not a traditional RPG in that you have stats of any sort you can upgrade. Rather your equipment, both carried and installed in your body, are those upgrades in the form of new and enhanced abilities you can turn on and off as needed. Anything from shields to hazard detection to faster running and even hovering abilities will all be yours... but you will want to be wise with how you use them, as each will make use of your internal battery. (Now you see why those charge stations are important?) Of course you can also bolster your abilities with stim patches as well, but those each also come with side-effects, requiring you to consider if it's worth it for the momentary gain, giving literally every choice you make a balance of plusses and minuses... from you use to what you bring with you.
Much less immediately this game will separate itself with your ability to respawn. If you remember Bioshock with the vita-chambers, that idea started here in the days of DOS in the form of regeneration chambers. While you were out, Shodan reprogrammed these to turn anyone inserted into one of her cyborg children who will serve her and you can expect to watch this fate (kinda) happen to you when you die... unless you find one of these chambers and flip the switch. Once you do that, the cyborgs will still put you in one, only for it to heal you instead and bring you back into the game with about half of your health in check. And this is one of the few places where, compared to the DOS games, this one gives you a break. Unless you increase the Mission difficulty (I believe, but it's in the description when you start), the cyborgs will for reasons unexplained, put you into the station on the last floor you switched over rather then the one you are on like the DOS days went. So in most cases, death in battle is not as lethal as you would expect, or even as it was for those of use who remember the old days.
Still that is not to say it's all gone. This time around boss encounters have been added and these do not allow for this forgiveness... even if you fixed the regeneration for the floor. If a boss kills you, you are done and have to either quit or reload the game, bringing up both a minor and my other major gripe with this game... perhaps my biggest one of all.
To get the minor one out of the way, I get a strong inconsistency with the plot vibe of when regeneration works or doesn't. It would just make more sense if the game behaved like the original and the floor you were on having this turned on or off would be the biggest factor since it just doesn't make any sense for a robot to take the time to lug your corpse to an elevator and down to another floor to convert your parts into a servant for Shodan when there is a perfectly good one they can get to without waiting through that elevator music (you will know what I mean). It just doesn't make sense and most of the time, it gets rid of one of the best sources of tension of the original since you really had to watch yourself till you found the station and could sigh in relief as you hit save.
Even a few of the bosses I have a hard time believing would know if it was working or not, so I would expect them to pull you to the one on their floor, working right or Shodan's way. The exception is a type of cyborg called a Cortex Reaver, which in essence can make you part of itself so, yeah, that thing should just outright kill you (as it does).
But with that minor gripe out of the way lets get to how death is handled. Since bosses will dish this fate out the most, it will make them exceptionally frustrating when every failure is met with the unskippable death scene. If you do not catch your menu before you finish flopping over, to reload, the screen will go black and play what is one of the coolest checkout scenes in gaming history updated for modern hardware. The problem is once you've seen it, you've seen it. It doesn't vary and it just makes you wait till it offers you a menu to continue on your last save, pick a new one, or go back to the main menu. If you could skip to that menu, that alone would improve the game dramatically as it would let you get back in there to try again that much faster rather then have to sit there and wait for something you've already seen for the umpteenth time.
And finally we have the big feature of the original game: cyberspace. At times you will be required to hack systems to open doors and unlock other things via a full immersion cyberjack, turning the game temporarily into a 6 Degrees of Freedom title. In essence if you loved Descent back in the day, you are in for an absolute treat. You will fly around completely at your own will, floating through neon hallways of waving data populated by ICE programs, viruses, and other security measures trying to destroy your connection and force you out, leaving you to fight for your mind while trying to find and open whatever data or lock you can find in this small pocket of digital bliss. Dying here will NOT kill you (unless you set that in the difficulty for yourself), but it will spit you back out with a lot less health then you went in, leaving you vulnerable back in meat space. These sections were an absolute joy to play, and something I looked forward to every time I opened this game up.
8/10
Bugs: While a very stable game, it wasn't perfect, as throughout my play this game crashed on me exactly twice. However, it did receive a patched update along the way so it may well be even more stable for you then it was for me.
Score: In the end, I have a feeling this remake will be fairly divisive to those who like it and those who don't. It's very old school and things we take for granted like a quest list to keep track of our goals or auto-notes for important details being kept by the game simply do not exist. The game will not stop you from doing things that will screw you over and get you stuck for hours (like toss key items into dark corners and forget about them without knowing they are key items yet). It will demand your attention like few games made today will. And yet these are traits I can see some gamers who are tired of modern games holding their hand every step of the way seeing as a breath of fresh air and drinking in that freedom.
But the moment to moment gameplay is absolutely fantastic with snappy controls, enemies to learn and gunplay that just makes sense and is a lot of fun. Add to that some logic puzzles and some dips into cyberspace for floating combat like we haven't seen in ages and this is the real deal. If only the game gave you more inventory space it would have been even better. If it had not made you watch the same 15-20 second death sequence every time you died to a boss (which are rather challenging) before you loaded up to figure out what you did wrong and try again, I would have rated it even higher. This is simply put so close to a masterpiece it's painful.
8/10
System Requirements:
- Intel Core i5-2400/AMD FX-8320
- 4 GB RAM
- Nvidia Geforce GTX 670/Radeon HD 7870 (2GB VRAM required)
- 10 GB hard drive space
- Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit)
System Specs:
- Ryzen 7 (5700X) 3.4 Ghz
- 32 GB RAM
- AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT (8 GB VRAM)
- Windows 11 (64 Bit)
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