Horror game review: System Shock (1994)

The game which I will be talking about today is considered a cult classic (For good reason), and has inspired some of the best games of the past 15 or 20 years, it's called System Shock (Though the version I'm playing is the enhanced edition). System Shock was released for the PC all the way back in September of 1994, and is a first person shooter/action/role playing game. The game sports a very interesting cyberpunk theme for the setting/backdrop, something that isn't seen too often in video games for some reason. The game was made by Looking Glass Technologies, and then published by a company known as Origin Systems. It was released for Windows, MS-DOS and Mac. The version I'm reviewing is the enhanced version that is on the Steam platform. 

At first, System Shock might seem like a game which is very similar to DOOM in a lot of ways, what with it being a sci-fi themed first person shooter that uses 3D graphics. However, it is much more depthful and interesting than something like DOOM thanks to a far more rich story, interesting RPG elements and some intricate game mechanics thrown in. Though I do have to say, most of the time I only hear people talking about it's sequel System Shock 2 though. I honestly find it a bit strange that everyone overlooks this game and basically just never discusses it, considering that it's pretty good in its own right. Though, this could be blamed on the fact that it was pretty much impossible to play it on modern day systems for quite a few years until the enhanced edition.  

Although it has its issues, mostly with the clunky controls and the difficult user interface, it really set its place in gaming history by focusing so much on developing the story. It basically created a new genre of action games with stories that had substance to them, instead of being fluff. We probably wouldn't even have had games like Resident Evil, The Half Life Series, Silent Hill, Dues Ex, Metal Gear Solid, etc. without this game making the story a key part to the game itself. I probably wouldn't have ever been able to try this game out if it wasn't for Night Dive Studios. Thankfully, Night Dive Studios worked on updating this game to be playable in the modern age, which finally gave me a chance to try this game out for myself. 

The game of System Shock takes place in the not so distant future of 2072, with the future giving us a look into what a cyberpunk future could look like. The player takes on the role of the protagonist, who happens to be a nameless hacker. The hacker is caught while attempting to break his way into the system of Citadel Station, and is promptly taken away by authorities to the station and offered a deal. Hack the artificial intelligence that has master control over the station called SHODAN, and go free. As an extra incentive the hacker is offered a military grade neural interface which requires several months of healing after installation into your body.  

So, after hacking SHODAN and removing the ethical constraints on it you're rewarded for your efforts, and put into a healing coma. After time has passed, the hacker finds himself awakening only to find that the staff of the Citadel has been massacred by SHODAN, who has taken over the station and built itself a mutant cyborg army which it plans to use to invade Earth. The hacker finds himself as the last obstacle that exists between SHODAN and the Earth. He will have to travel through the station witnessing horrors as he shoots and hacks his way through an army of enemies to find a chance at survival. 

Once you actually start playing into the meat and potatoes of the game, you'll get a very quick opening that gives you just a few short text prompts to help you familiarize yourself with the game and your environment. A gaudy interface on the screen will welcome you, with a large amount of buttons available for you to use. The controls are also quite different from what we are really used to these days on PC games. The controls for this game act more like a 90's adventure game, with the keyboard controlling only very basic movements, and the mouse interacting with the environment of the world.  

The weird controls are probably going to be the biggest obstacle for anyone who is new to this game. It's very much at a parallel with DOOM which I mentioned earlier in regards to the controls. With DOOM, everything was very straight forward to control and use. However, with System Shock things become a bit more intricate. The amount of clicking involved to do any kind of task can get to levels of being absolutely absurd at times. You'll find something on the ground for example and have to click once to view it, then double click it to put it into your inventory, and then click it another time if you want to add it to your equipped items. This goes on and on in other ways which can get frustrating or somewhat annoying. However, thankfully some updates have been made to with the release of the enhanced edition. 

Night Dive Studios has added a couple new features which do help somewhat with the clunky controls, at least in my opinion. These new features added to the game are things such as implementing the ability of remappable buttons and a toggle mode with your mouse for looking around so you don't have to click to turn anymore. However, even with these changes the game is probably still going to take some getting used to for anyone who is new to playing it. I know at least for someone in my shoes, it definitely took me a little while. I can only imagine how difficult it was back in 1994 for players to be able to accurately play this game. I would have to guess this was a game which actually required you to read through the user manual before playing, something which we usually just ignore and leave in the case, or throw in the garbage bin. 

Now, considering that it may seem like I've talked about the funky controls being a huge negative, I should mention that the controls while not being the best won't actually stop you from progressing through the game. The game takes its time compared to other FPS games of its time like DOOM or Wolfenstein. The slow pace helps quite a bit, allowing plenty of time for exploring and building the atmosphere up to be more important than the action. The slow pace also allows for strategy to become a part of the action thanks to the encounter rate of enemies being on the lower side. You can expect usually to only encounter one or two enemies at a time, though occasionally you might have a bigger problem on your hand. 

Even when you do end up encountering more enemies, you can use some strategies to keep them off your heels. Whether this is by positioning yourself in a defensive measure to passively fight them off and thin their numbers, or just deciding screw it and chucking a grenade into a group of enemies to take care of them in an active way, you'll never feel too overwhelmed. That isn't to say that there isn't parts of the game where the pace will pick up and you'll have to deal with some fast paced action sequences. But, this game definitely puts its story above being stuffed to the brim with action sequences, which I think works well in its favor. 

That might not sound like it's your thing, but it was something new and very important at the time. System Shock put it's worldbuilding and atmosphere on a high pedestal which was something fairly new and entirely different for a 90's action game. As you explore the Citadel you'll find bits of information strewn about in all kinds of locations. These pieces of information usually come in the form of emails and data logs which come from the now deceased staff. This information really help the player to paint a picture of what exactly has gone on in the 6 months you've been in a coma, and as you progress evidence of what you've been reading will present itself as you explore. You'll actually feel that there was once a semblance of normal people living normal lives in this base. It can be creepy and uneasy at times, but really does help build for a nice world in the game and give you backstory on what happened while you were unconscious. 

While we're talking about things like worldbuilding and backstory, lets talk about the atmosphere of the game. The atmosphere in System Shock might not be as good as its sequel which I consider to be one of the best games made in the 90's, but it still stands out pretty easily from most games. Each location has it's own background music instead of just a single song for the music, or a looped playlist of generic music. When coming into an area with enemies the music will abruptly cut out, building up tension of what you're about to come across. Though at times the music can be a bit inconsistent, since you'll be listening to an upbeat action like soundtrack while exploring and looking for clues. But, hey, it was the 90's, I guess we can't blame them for the wonky music at times. 

While the game does have great worldbuilding, atmosphere and other thing, they're not probably going to be the thing that you take away from the game. I would have to say System Shocks most memorable feature is the gameplay itself. Now, this can be debated whether it's a positive or a negative, but you'll surely never forget it once you try it for awhile. Each and every map on the game is a complex network of corridors and chambers, put together in a way where you actually feel like you're traversing through a spacestation. The combat especially has some complex layers to it with how it works and acts, as you'll have things like a stun gun or dart gun which you can use on mutants and living enemies to knock them out, or EMP weapons for the robotic variety. 

You'll have many types of ammo you can use on your firearms as well, and physical upgrades which you can apply to your character which takes power from your energy bar. There's really a multitude of ways you can customize your character to your liking so you can really play System Shock to a play style that works specifically for you. Of course there are standard pieces of what you would expect out of gameplay, such as a health bar you'll need to monitor as you play to make sure you're not close to dying. You'll also have to monitor the energy bar as you progress along and upgrade yourself. 

There's also a really strange type of mode built into this game called Cyberspace mode which injects the hackers consciousness into the digital world. Within this digital space, your digital representation floats around exploring grids and other items, and boy can it get confusing in this mode. I think it was here where I got more turned around than anywhere else. You'll also be under pressure to complete objectives in a quick, timely manner before SHODAN boots you out back into the real world or sends enemies to fight you while you're still trying to finish your task. I didn't have much fun during these segments of the game, and I'd recommend either lowering the difficulty for these portions or definitely studying the part of the manual involving this feature of the game.  

Overall, I definitely enjoyed playing through System Shock, though it wasn't by any means a perfect game for it's time. It did, however, offer players something which they hadn't really experienced before with an action game, in that it had a rich story which combined many elements such as horror, worldbuilding, atmosphere and exploration of the insane world while battling monsters. It really created a new, entertaining experience for its time. For anyone wanting an entertaining classic to play with an interesting story, this could be a game for you so long as you can withstand the weird controls. I'd definitely recommend it for anyone who prefers games with complex mechanics over just being a straight up run and gun. 

Thanks for stopping by to check out the review. Hopefully it's helped you glimpse into what to expect from this game. Take care!