System Shock Discussion.

Dog--

Dog--

The Freeman
Joined
Apr 16, 2005
Messages
9,741
Reaction score
25
System Shock 1, System Shock 2, and Bioshock.

I feel that these games deserve a discussion thread now that there are 3 titles.

I just got System Shock 2 working, and it is the most awesome-est game ever. EVER. Except HL2.


DISCUSS!
 
I just got System Shock 2 working, and it is the most awesome-est game ever. EVER. Except HL2.
Click to expand...

... and Deus Ex. Still, System Shock 2 was one of the most creepy games I got my hands on for a long time, and may be the creepiest game I've played to date (Silent Hill counts as disturbing, not creepy, in my honest opinion). Xerxes and SHODAN fitted their roles really well, and the audio logs provided a good atmosphere once heard. Hell, I'm still afraid every time I approach the Cargo Bays in Engineering !

The only problem is once you get the Assault Rifle. The atmosphere takes a dive when you realise you can kill and monster in the game in one or two hits ... :rolleyes:
 
System Shock 2 was really creepy near the start, it was scarier than Doom 3, but once you get going, it's not all that scary. Atleast so far, for me.. I just got transported to that creepy place and back (where the thing is talking about ripping you apart, if you don't ditch your machinery, and go to flesh). I think I have to restart... I went Marine, and am playing Tech.. Best weapon = wrench.. Melee first person shooter, it is the most useful item.. It doesn't break, need ammo, and can take out a zombie in 2 hits, versus 3 with pistol.. (Normal mode) I use pistol Armor Piercing Rounds on robots. That's the only gun I use. EVERYTHING else gets my wrench wrath.

Dare I say.. wrench is even better than a crowbar?!

Does Stealth work in SS2 like Deus Ex? I can see some instances where it does, but i'm not so sure..

BTW, Deus Ex is cool and everything, but it gets old, fast.. I beat it 2 times and I doubt I'll ever play it again...
 
Cave Canem, played System Shock 1? It should be playable under a DOS emulator like DosBOX.:) The first game was great too, they're deff. classics.:D
I think the gamebox for SS1 is creepy as hell though :p I just hope Bioshock lives up to the SS legacy.
 
The thing is, by upgrading Standard Weapons to level six you not only get access to the assault rifle (there's an *un-breakable* one in the med armory), but your wrench, pistol and shotgun damage also go up because they are counted as normal weapons. My typical skills by the end are :

Standard : 6 (Assault Rifle, increased damage for pistol, shotgun, wrench)
Energy : 1 (Energy pistol, early on ...)
Heavy : 1 (Grenade Launcher - early minimum, eh ?)
Exotic : 1 (Crystal Shard)

Hack : 6 (One of the most importand skills of the game, IMO)
Maintanence : 6 (For assault rifle)
Modify : Varies between 1-3 (Upgrades for Shotgun, Pistol and 'Nade Launcher)
Repair : 1 (For shotguns off the early hybrids)
Reseach : 1 (Forced to puchase by Polito for Toxin-A)
Cyber : 1-6 (Depends whether I'm going with a hack-heavy build or not)

Psionics : No abilities, because I never felt the need to use them. Though molecular duplication is useful on impossible if you can get it.

Exclusive Upgrades: Sharpshooting, Twin Implants and Increased Melee Damage (Can't remember the exact names)

As for stealth in System Shock 2, it's almost non-existant, though crouching minimises the noise you make moving around and allows you to get nearer to enemies before jumping them. Deus Ex comparetively allowed you to "hide" in shadows, though there was no physical indicator on how much you were you were hidden. The MJ12 commandos had night-vision anyway, so hiding from them in the darkness was practically impossible.
 
I downloaded System Shock 2 like a year ago, but the torrent didn't work :(.
 
I still haven't completed System Shock 2. It was really scary.
 
I haven't played any of them. I've alot of good things about them, I guess I should get them.
 
I personally could never get into SS2, as the game never worked properly... and unfortunately I'm stuck with the one on HotU... the cinematics are all literally upside down... there are -no- sounds whatsoever when ingame... really kills it for me.
 
If Bioshock doesn't meet the standards set by the previous games, there's always EA's System Shock 3...;(
 
Electronic Arts is proud to announce "System Shock(c) 3" for next-generation consoles!

- From the people who gave you "The Godfather"!
- Embark on the next-generation of action adventuring in the classic System Shock Universe!
- Choose between 1 class of brave heroes to embark on an epic journey into the abyss of space!
- Forget inventory management, "System Shock (c) 3" allows you to carry up to 40 different weapons at once, and let you wield a massive 3 mindblowing Psi-tech powers.
- Explore the inner reaches of the mind using amazing Psi-tech powers!*
- Upgrade your hero using an incredible single-branch tech tree; evolving you into a warrior of superhuman abilities!
- Amazing High-Definition experience using the latest of graphics technology brining the incredible universe of "System Shock(c)" for the first time ever!
- Unparalelled immersive experience. Movie-quality sequences suck you into the story like never before!**

*4-D experience. Avaliable on the "Playstation 3" only.
**Pre-Rendered movie sequences require the "Deluxe Edition" sold separatly.
Click to expand...

...
 
I tried to play SS2 but I quit after I ran into the first enemy, too damn creepy :(

As for Deus Ex, just borrowed it off a mate and about to run through it again. Hopefully finish it this time >_>
 
SS3 will probably suck balls if EA makes it.. omg..

In that description they say "From the people who gave you "The Godfather"!"

What does that have to do with anything? It has nothing to do with System Shock 3... Godfather had crappy graphics...

THAT GAME SUCKED. If anything that doesn't want to make me buy the game, it makes me want to not buy it..
 
Oh. :|

Even so, Godfather sucked.

:| :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :|
 
Cave Canem said:
SS3 will probably suck balls if EA makes it.. omg..

In that description they say "From the people who gave you "The Godfather"!"

What does that have to do with anything? It has nothing to do with System Shock 3... Godfather had crappy graphics...
Click to expand...


What hell do graphics have to do with anything. :|
 
Cave Canem said:
SS3 will probably suck balls if EA makes it.. omg..

In that description they say "From the people who gave you "The Godfather"!"

What does that have to do with anything? It has nothing to do with System Shock 3... Godfather had crappy graphics...

THAT GAME SUCKED. If anything that doesn't want to make me buy the game, it makes me want to not buy it..
Click to expand...

Godfather was actually pretty good for a movie game...
 
Samon said:
What hell do graphics have to do with anything. :|
Click to expand...

Quite a lot.

While SS2's tech can't compare with today's standards, I still think it looks kinda good. It has rock solid art direction, and everything looks clean and sharp enough to suit the game and enhance the mood and atmosphere of the game.

Good graphics help immersion, but they will not create it alone.
 
I actually kind of miss the cold, clear, sharpness of old games. Half Life 2 has avoided it for the most part, but a lot of games these days look either too dark, overbloomed, or kind of blurry to me. Most irritating, particularly as it's supposed to be more 'realistic'.
 
How the hell did you get SS2 working on XP? I've tried bloody everything but it still won't work ;(
 
Well.. I could never get it working, but fixed it this way:

1) Install to the default directory - The default for me is c:\games\SShock2, but I've always installed it to C:\Program Files\System Shock 2 and it never worked, I tried the C:\Games\SShock2 and I could get it working finally..

2) Use the windows XP Patch, and patch the game to 2.3

3) If you get the game working and it freezes like 2 minutes in game (you can work the menu fine, but when your actually playing it freezes) here is what you do: Stay in the menu, and CTRL+ALT+DELETE and go to "Processes" tab, right click SHOCK2.exe and "Set Affinity" and disable the 2nd CPU, for me there is CPU 0, and CPU 1, I disabled CPU 1. You have to do this in the main menu every time you start up System Shock 2, though.. (PriNcE oF SpAcE told me this one.)

That's all I had to do, and it worked fine..
 
Why do people keep saying that it hasn't aged well, for it's time it was good, and I still think it looks good, the character are a little triagular, but thats it.. the textures aren't that good either, but most games that come out these days are modable, and get get textures redone (Morrowind, Oblivon, GTA: SA, System Shock 2), I think it's aged pretty good, It still looks good. Not that it compares to modern games, but it wasn't made within the last 5 years.
 
I disagree. I think the game looks clean and sharp enough for me not to think of it while playing.
 
I'm still trying to find this game. And if you think the models and textures are crap there is a mod for called Rebirth Mod or something that updates the models. Looking at some pics of SS2 and SS2 with that mod, it looks a helluva lotta nicer.
 
Cerpin said:
I disagree. I think the game looks clean and sharp enough for me not to think of it while playing.
Click to expand...

Exactly! You don't even notice anything when your trying to just stay alive!



Also, Tollbooth Willie, This mod is waaaay better than Rebirth, it's bigger, it looks better, and has more textures replaces (look at the screenshots). So SHTUP and download it! (I know, I know, that sucked...)

http://shtup.home.att.net/
 
SHODAN NEEDS SOME LOVE

Moving swiftly on, this is the best review I feel I can offer for System Shock 1: It was the first game I both played and completed after buying a Radeon 9800 Pro. My excitement for the games I'd purchased a 3D card for was inferior to what I was getting out of a 9year old game which only needed a 486. I couldn't even get the SVGA resolutions to work with my mouse, so 320x200 it was. That's how totally engrossed I became in the game. It truely was ahead of its time, i'm actually pretty proud that I'm among the few who have played it.

There are some things in that game that so few games in the 12 years since have picked up on. Like System Shock 2, the levels are persistant and you travel back to certain ones to explore new areas for new objectives. The game is pretty damned big, but the levels don't get repeatative depsite the fact that we're talking about a game built for 1994 PCs. Some of the levels are insanely scary, more-so than in System Shock 2 i'd even say (surely a tough feat). A lot of it is due to Shodan's more hands-on approach (the Many weren't quite as scary) and the sheer primativeness of the graphics and sound help as well. Rather than feeling you're actually there, you feel like you're having some horrid low-resolution nightmare which is actually considerably scarier!

The jerky enemy movements are sharp and violent, the cyborg's beeps around the corner are terrifying because you know that you're in for a tough fight and they just simply sound so unnatural. That's a marked difference between it and the sequel I think: 1 is more cyber-punk than 2 which is actually a rather low-tech body horror in places. Whilst 2 is interesting because of that, i'd say that the fear of technology theme is more prominent in the former and very much scarier. I do prefer System Shock 2, mainly because it's the one I played first and I enjoy the RPG elements over Shock 1's more action/adventure style, but still, System Shock 1 is one hell of a game. I would rate Shock 2 as second only to the mighty Half-Life 2, in so far as the two games are actually comparable.

I'm very excited about Bioshock. I'm very scared that EA are going to do System Shock 3. I greatly enjoyed Half-Life 2 mod Dystopia's cyberspace environments, which remind me so well of System Shock 1 that I would load up the mod with System Shock 1 mp3s playing in the background.
 
Could someone upload it to yousendit? I'm apparently banned from the Underdogs site. :hmph:
 
I thought abandonware was alright?

The link will be a PM anyway, requests aren't illegal either?
 
Abandonware has no legal meaning or relevance, and is just a word made up so people have an excuse to distribute really old games that publishers don't sell anymore. There's a difference between abandonware and public domain. Now whether you think that copyright laws are bogus or EA's enforcement of coypright is somewhat lacking doesn't matter, since we don't allow links to unlawful material on these forums.

So yea, don't post links or tell others where to find it around here thanks. :)

(I have to post this every time an SS2 topic pops up :x )
 
KagePrototype said:
(I have to post this every time an SS2 topic pops up :x )
Click to expand...
Heh. But rightly so. System Shock 2 recieved pissy commercial availability in the UK especially. EA deserves to have such a gem stolen from under their noses, they seem to think that it's just a polished turd after all.
 
Alright, I didn't know that the term abandonware had no legal connections. Thanks for the heads-up though!
 
One of these days (and I stole the idea from a friend), I'll walk into EA central and present them with a £1 cheque for the rights.
 
I bought it and played it recentley because I heard good things about it, but I absolutley hated it. I guess it gets more in-depth and scary later, but in the beginning its really unfun to play for me.

I guess I should have played more than the first few minutes of the game before giving up on it.

(this is SS2 btw)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Krynn72
You guys, what the **** is up.
Replies
11
Views
2K
Tollbooth Willie
Tollbooth Willie
Hectic Glenn
Kerbal Developers Depart Valve
Replies
4
Views
27K
Tollbooth Willie
Tollbooth Willie
bbson john
Hi everyone. I am new to this forum!
Replies
11
Views
6K
Tollbooth Willie
Tollbooth Willie
B
Valve offers more core virtual reality technologies to device manufacturers
Replies
0
Views
23K
Barnz
B
MFL
Fascinating look at the ongoing psychological evolution of flat hieirarchies.
Replies
2
Views
2K
Tollbooth Willie
Tollbooth Willie
Back
Top