“In my talons, I shape clay, crafting life forms as I please. If I wish, I can smash it all. Around me is a burgeoning empire of steel. From my throne room, lines of power careen into the skies of Earth. My whims will become lightning bolts that raze the mounds of humanity. Out of the chaos, they will run and whimper, praying for me to end their tedious anarchy. I am drunk with this vision. God: the title suits me well.”
Edit: Oops, don’t know how the game intro got posted twice in a row. I’ll fix it later.
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A few of the plot mistakes could be Spoony not wanting to give spoilers, and some due to not having played them in a long time. I kind of want to check those games out, they sound really good.
Getting System Shock 2 to run on Windows XP and Vista is a really big challenge.
@ Artimus
Perhaps you have the inferior floppy version of the game, the one without any voices. If so, look for the cd-rom version.
The scariest 90’s PC game for me was definitely Alone in the Dark.
First of all, it had synthesized sounds on the beeper, which was really rare (the only ones who had that as I remember were Star Control 2 and Another World, both terrific games btw). Playing Alone in the Dark while you were alone, and yes, in the dark was terrifying. You move around the house, the floorboards creak, then you hear a slow moan and a zombie suddenly enters the scene. Nothing up to that point has offered that kind of experience to home gaming, and boy, was it scary.
Btw, I was a BIG fan of SS, and I think I vastly preferred the first one. Never found it “scary” though, but overall it’s one of the best games on the system and elements of it are readily apparent in many of the modern titles.
Of course, nowadays you cannot look at all those blocky models and understand what was so bloody great and scary about it, but back then this was the sh*t.
Oh I see some people mentioning AvP.
Yes, the first AvP is a vastly underrated PC game. No FPS ever came close to true Aliens atmosphere. The only reason why it flopped was because it was relentlessly difficult, but darn it.. a single human against an aliens-infested spaceship, and a predator thrown into the mix, how can you NOT make it hard and still keep it thematic? The fact that you couldn’t save between the levels and that aliens were randomized each time you restarted was a really brave design decision. Too bad most of the AvP critics were spoiled quicksave junkies who couldn’t handle even a smidgeon of challenge.
AvP2 was a nice, quality product but it didn’t even come remotely close to the original experience. It was your average run-of-the-mill FPS with a good story and a solid gameplay, but when there’s no feeling of danger, it’s not really scare nor engaging anymore.
I’ve been curious for a while now how you feel about Deus Ex, Spoony.
I hope you do X-Com now!
That game can get so very tense and scary when you get into it (and don’t cheat), which is really odd for its genre.
Nothing quite compares to your first terror mission at night against snakemen, and turning your rookie squad round a corner to find a Cryssalid (or two).
Its not a direct fear.. but with the limited sound effects and that constant throbbing beat, plus all the sounds in the silence on the enemies turns.. its something else.
If you want to try it follow this link-> http://www.strangebedfellows.de/index.php/topic,211.0.html
Its the cd versin with working emulator.
BTW did you guys now that the director of this game alos directed Deus Ex?
I remember back then when I would get up in the morning and instantly get on my computer and play System Shock 2 for hours and hours, I was THAT into it.
Hahaha “God: the title suits me well” haha you’re insane! xD
those tecno robots things you mentioned reminded me of gyo a manga by ito (uzumaki) read it and scream!
The opening sequence really reminds me of the game: ‘Descent’.
System shock 1 works pretty well on dosbox, at least it runs and you can even run it in high-res mode (enhanced cd version does that iirc), you need a really good machine to do it though. and not “oh i have five cores” because thats not gonna work, as much mhz as possible
*so* worth it though
I don’t see the point of you reviewing an old game without showing any videos of the game itself.
Shamus Young from Twentysided, and The Escapist, wrote a novel based on this game, and it is AWESOME. Available for free here:
http://www.shamusyoung.com/shocked/
Have fun.
Probably most of you have not heard about this game, but “Project Firestart” for the C64 is the first scary sci-fi game that I remember where you could find logs of other people in the ship. This game came way before system shock, so Spoony is wrong when he said that SS was the first one to implement logs :-P
Yes, “Project Firestart” was cool. Did you ever manage to save the woman?
I wish they made a system shock 3 instead of bioshock.
Thanks for showing me what the fist game looked like! I just started SS2 a few days ago, and I’ve always wondered why the first game never gets mentioned. It looks pretty cool. I may try it once I’m done with the second.
I love System Shock 2 but System Shock 1 has such bad controls I can’t play it.
At last someone actually remembers these games! Great job Spoony.
You didn’t mention the fact that System Shock 2 had 4 player co-op. Something that modern games might rip off as well. Just look at Borderlands and Left 4 Dead.
Oh, and forgot to mention that send me an email if you ever get the game running and wanna play some
ss2 co-op.
I agree with KaylaKaze. What turned me away from the game was the controls. It was so hard to do anything.
SS2 its one of my all time favourites fps, that game its just perfect. But I never played SS1, I just looks too old.
Make a System Shock 2 video. Easily one of the best FPS every made for the PC.
Best Horror Game IN THE WORLD!
the computer reminds me of portal……
i was going to give you cake!
Ah, System Shock. Awesome game, and atmosphere so thick you can cut it with a wrench. Shame it’s such a huge ordeal to get the games to run on modern PCs or they’d get much more of the respect they deserve today. For about a month or two now, I’ve actually been beating my head against getting SS2 to run on a Dual-Core XP Machine – both huge problems that I’m amazed talented fans haven’t addressed yet.
Ah, well, keep on gaming!
- Toko
System Shock 2… for me it is the best game ever! I haven’t found any game which was so scary and well-designed. It’s very innovative for it’s time, but even now it’s surprisingly good game, which can suck you in for a long, long hours (it took me about 36 hours to beat it) – I’m completely addicted to Shodan’s voice!
Btw. I recommend trying ddfix for System Shock 2 – I couldn’t run the game without it :P
And yes, I’m playing SS2 on Windows XP: AMD DualCore x2 @2,0GHz, 2GB RAM and GF8600GT – so it’s much faster PC then the game requires :P
The hit-detection on those MOTHERFUCKING MONKEYS on System Shock 2 makes me cry tears of blood.
I wanted to play this but could never get it to run on my PC sadly.
I played System Shock 2 for the first time during this summer and it was awesome. I had to get a No-Spider-Patch though because those things are despite old graphics goddamn creepy, hell sometimes when facing them i actually closed my eyes and simply kept clicking in the hope to kill them fast. (Didn’t really work though.)
Another way to run System Shock 2 on a dual- or other wise multi-core processor is to:
1. Start the Game
2. Alt+tab out of it
3. Bring up the Task Manager
4. Search for the System Shock 2 Process, right click on it and untick all except one of the CPU’s under “Affinity”
Then it should run fine.
Glad to see that someone has the same taste in horror as I do.
BTW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGJtYfWGbmE&feature=related is a collection of quotes from System Shock, starting with the one you used as quote below your video. Just incase you wanted to use that one…
The single best thing in System Shock 2, better than the hybrids beating you to death, better than the psychic monkeys, (Hated those) Better than the “Helpful” robots that that would “Helpfully” find you and then blow up next to you. Better even than “The Many,” Better than the crazy vile permutations of same, and better than the sinking feeling in your stomach when you are finally led to the room of the person you thought had been puling your strings only to find her dead in her chair and that you had been a plaything of an AI with a God complex. Better than ANYTHING ELSE. The best thing was when you finally beat “The Many,” and you beat down Shodan, and you hear her miserable attempt to bribe you into letting her continue her wretched existence, her offer to make you her “Avatar.” To give you nearly godlike power in a scene that, after going through the trials of this game, makes Vader’s offer to Luke in Empire sound like chump change, After all of that, you FINALLY get to see your own face. Your answer to all of this wondrous offer is “Naaah.” And then you blast that bitch to electron heaven. (Or do you…. Watch the credits.)
I have never enjoyed a game so much that was so difficult. It was, in a word, Epic.
If you haven’t played this game, and bother to do so…
Conserve ammo. It is not impossible to come by, but a minimalist approach is best. Toward the end, (Particularly at the last couple of stages) you will find yourself having to spend ammo like it was water.
LISTEN. Most things that kill you make noise. This was one of the first games I remember to TRULY take advantage of sound to the degree that it does.
ALL the tech/skill trees are good, but for the current generation of run and gunners, may I recommend staying true to your roots the first time through? Hacking and Psyche are wonderful tools, but they won’t get you as far as a good gun skill later in the game.
This game is TREACHEROUSLY difficult. Save early, save often, and keep a few saves that are HOURS and HOURS of game play old around just to be on the safe side. More than once playing this I had to go back to a ridiculously old save because I had managed to fritter away too much ammo and advancing became impossible.
On a final note, to any young pups that want to run out and find a copy. There is a point in the game when you can either A: Follow up on a lead and find another survivor, or B: Be Shodan’s willing little bitch and ignore the plight of a fellow human being. There is nothing good for you there. Shodan will punish you for going. I still say that not doing so makes you a pussy. I did, and I still beat the game. :P
Getting System Shock to run natively under XP is possible, but certainly not easy. Running it under dosbox is fairly simple, if you get the CD version off the pirate bay or something. Don’t bother with the regular version which you can get from home of the underdogs. If you can manage to get it working, and you can manage to configure the sound correctly, it’s still the original version with no voice acting and it really takes a lot away from the atmosphere of the game.
@Kåre
Actually it’s not that hard. Just install SS2 then use ss2 tool 2.7 to patch it and fix bugs and make it mod friendly if you want to install high resolution textures and models. If the game runs too fast go to your GFX Card’s control panel and enable vsync and put antialiasing and anistropic filtering as high as possible.
If that is too hard for you I don’t really know what to say.
Want to play System Shock 1 easily? Search for “portable system shock.” It’s old, but it’s a properly configured DOSBox along with SS1. Ethical warning: re-re-re-reexamine your personal d-d-d-definition of abandonware.
System Shock Runs on Windows vista so easily just set compatibility to run as windows 2000
System Shock 2 is the scariest game I’ve ever played. I had actual nightmares about those cyber-nannies. And then the constant worry of inventorizing, conserving ammo, fixing your guns.
System Shock 2 was the dogs bollocks, the scariness is really well laced together and IMHO it stands up well to later games trying to do something in a similar vein. For example, Doom 3 tried to be scary by using light/darkness and monsters popping [cheaply] out of nowhere to bite your arse or mug you in some confusing pitch black corridor – this is all pretty superficial one-trick pony stuff. In SS2, the multilayered creepiness and tension is subtler but stronger.
I’m an arachnophobe but I kept them spiders in. I really *hate* them, but that’s the kind of reaction that’s too rare to get from a game to waste, hehe.
It’s funny how Spoony gets the plot wrong. The hacker is brought in secret to the space station to remove the ethical programming on Shodon so the exec in charge of the station could do illegal actions without his company being aware of it.
Thanks a bundle for making this video!
The System Shock series were pretty unknown to me, but i gave it a look.
Managed to get my hands on System Shock 2, after getting it to work i was hooked after 10 minutes xD
I’m sure to have tons of fun with this game, ii didnt get very far playing it yesterday so i still have a whole game ahead of me.
Again thanks a bundle, love your work,
and i hope you review more games like this.
Wow spoony, lots of plot mistakes:
System shock 1:
You do not create shodan, you merely remove her ethical constraints as per Diego’s request.
SS2
They are not techno organisms, they are organic life that shodan created, that have built the cyber nurses their self and transform humans into human alien hybrids.
But nice that you recognize the series spoony.
I also love the way it explains how everything works in a realistic way, the weapons, systems, everything.
I also love it’s explanation of soda, especially the part where it talks about Coke and pepsi destroying bottling plants
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