They simply don’t make ‘em like they used to, huh? 30 years since its launch on PC, the holy grail of immersive sims, System Shock, has made its solution to PS4 and PS5 with this slick remake. That is the primary alternative us PlayStation gamers have had to take a look at the sport that impressed the likes of PREY, Deus Ex, and BioShock, and as such, piecing collectively its labyrinthine area station is like an entertaining historical past lesson. However regardless of its new visible glow-up, System Shock is admittedly beginning to present its age.
The unique System Shock launched in 1994 and formed a complete style. Towards the evil A.I. SHODAN, a anonymous hacker should battle their means by the maze-like area station, progressively unlocking extra areas within the course of. Launched in 2023 on PC, this remake from Nightdive Studios provides a lick of modernised paint to this traditional, with a visible and gameplay overhaul that ought to attraction to each new and returning gamers alike.
We wish to begin off by saying that visually, System Shock is an actual deal with on PS5. It sports activities this fascinating blended artstyle of each fashionable and retro aesthetics that completely embodies the unique – as if Nightdive is making an attempt to evoke what you assume the sport appeared like again within the day. Regardless of having this hard-edged metallic design to its many rooms and corridors, there are refreshing pangs of vibrant color that hold every of the sport’s flooring feeling contemporary and distinctive. It’s topped off with a rock-solid efficiency on PS5 which means you’ll be able to slither your means from upkeep to the manager flooring and not using a single stutter.
The very first thing you’ll discover about System Shock is that it’s not there that will help you – in any respect. It is a robust sport, each by its so-so fight, and its gruelling area station puzzles. It’s each the great and dangerous of this remake, as it’s invigorating to play a sport that actually makes you sift by textual content and audio logs. One thing so simple as determining a code could require you to go to a number of areas throughout varied ranges of the station, and also you’ll must bodily word the code down as the sport received’t retailer it for you. Enjoying a sport with a notepad by your facet is a relatively area of interest side of a bygone period of gaming, however you’ll undoubtedly sit up in your seat a little bit as System Shock challenges you this fashion.
Lastly determining an extended wanted code, or turning on the facility that grants you entry to an entire new stage of the station is immensely gratifying. That is additionally a sport that feeds off of your curiosity, the place you’ll be able to observe the storylines of ill-fated characters and slowly piece collectively the puzzle of the station’s A.I. takeover. Very hardly ever will System Shock spell it out for you, so in the event you aren’t eager on sifting by reams of texts, then its setting will doubtless come throughout as very floor stage. Actually you aren’t going to seek out environmental storytelling right here such as you do in Dishonored for instance, and System Shock does little or no to ascertain a historical past previous to SHODAN’s present takeover.
That nevertheless is the seed of our frustrations with System Shock. Since a number of the context of the station lies within the textual content and audio logs, there’s little or no cause to discover its varied hallways and places of work past the necessity to progress to the following stage. Each every now and then you’ll discover a new weapon, or a modkit station to improve your arsenal, however for probably the most half you’ll be wandering in circles questioning what to do and the place to go, and various instances you’ll spend upwards of 20 minutes making an attempt to achieve entry to a room that has little or no reward inside. System Shock is plagued by lifeless ends, which in itself is okay, however with one other audio log usually being the large reward, it’s exhausting to not really feel unenthused at instances.
Exploration may also really feel trite because of its grindy recycling system, the place you hoard plenty of junk, vaporise all of it to negate stock points, after which cart it to a recycling station to earn a number of vitcoins. It’s good to see what’s clearly the inception of the recycling system in PREY, nevertheless it doesn’t fairly have the identical satisfying loop. It’s right here too that it turns into obviously apparent that the sport just isn’t meant to be performed with a controller. Stock administration is extremely tedious and lacks the velocity or ease of use that you just’ll discover with a mouse and keyboard.
Frustrations carry over to the fight too, which if we’re being sincere, simply isn’t nice. To offer credit score the place credit score is due, System Shock tries to maintain issues contemporary with probably the most random assortment of enemies we’ve ever seen. From cyborgs to floating micro organism, there may be at all times a side of shock as you encounter new enemy varieties, and issues definitely enhance as you uncover higher weapons. Nevertheless, the problem is that the fight by no means actually has the load or dynamism that you just’d get in additional fashionable releases. Melee weapons lack impression, weapons lack oomph, and with subsequent to no cowl, you’re primarily buying and selling photographs with an enemy that virtually by no means misses – and this is identical within the our on-line world parts of the sport too.
The respawn system doesn’t assist issues both. Since any harm you’ve performed or enemies you’ve killed carry over while you respawn, there’s very hardly ever any feeling of rigidity within the fight. When you’ve unlocked that flooring’s respawn space, you could be again in motion inside 30 seconds. You then have a selection of both utilizing your therapeutic provides to inch forward, or hoard them for the boss fights which means you are frequently respawning, resulting in some stilted development. There’s an in-depth issue setting to counter this if issues show to be too robust, however there may be oddly no choice to alter this mid-game so that you both should keep it up or restart with a brand new save.
Conclusion
On the finish of the day, System Shock is the devoted remake of a 30-year-old sport, and you’ll really feel that age in each side of its being. In some methods, it is a tantalising look again on the sport that began a complete style, and in the event you’ve obtained the passion or nostalgia for immersive sims prefer it, then it’s price testing for that alone. Nevertheless, in the event you lack that nostalgic connection, then System Shock is extra a showcase of how far the style has come, relatively than a highlight on how properly it’s held up. System Shock could have walked so others within the style might run, however for us, that stroll is just a bit too gradual.
