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System Shock 2

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System Shock 2
The cover art of System Shock 2
Developer(s)Irrational Games, Looking Glass Studios
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Designer(s)Ken Levine
EngineEnhanced Dark Engine
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Sega Dreamcast (cancelled)
Release
Genre(s)First-person shooter, Adventure game, RPG
Mode(s)Single player, Cooperative multiplayer

System Shock 2 is the 1999 sequel to the 1994 Looking Glass Studios computer game System Shock. It was developed by Looking Glass offshoot Irrational Games and Looking Glass and published by Electronic Arts. Although generally classified as a first person shooter, System Shock 2 includes a number of detailed elements in gameplay, a developed backstory, and gameplay that many have described as being truly scary. It appears on a number of "Best Games of All Time" lists and has a strong fan base.

Overview

Template:Spoiler

Storyline

File:Systemshock2 hydroponics.jpg
A corridor on the hydroponics level

System Shock 2 takes place in 2114, forty-two years after the events in System Shock, with the TriOptimum starship Von Braun serving as its main setting. The Von Braun is on its maiden voyage as the first faster-than-light starship in human history, and is joined by a Unified National Nominate (UNN) military starship, the Rickenbacker, an armed escort for the journey into the unknown.

Five months into the voyage, the player (an unnamed UNN soldier stationed on the Rickenbacker), wakes up in a cryo-tube on the medical deck of the Von Braun, with a new cybernetic interface system, and no memory of the past few weeks. Despite this amnesia, it immediately becomes apparent that both the Von Braun and the adjoining Rickenbacker have been taken over by a mysterious alien force, one that has already killed or absorbed into its ranks the majority of the former crew.

The player is soon contacted by a survivor, Dr. Janice Polito. She explains the situation, and demands that the player make his way up to her through the occupied ship in order that they may take the next course of action against the unknown invaders. With Polito as a guide, the player sets out, all the while piecing together various clues to discover what has really happened. From the audio logs of slaughtered crewmembers, and occasional transmissions from Polito herself, the player gradually comes to find out the true nature of the alien infestation - and of its source. Template:Spoilerend

Gameplay

The inventory screen and HUD

The game takes the tenets of its predecessor, namely to combine a sci-fi/horror action game with role-playing/adventure elements, one step further by relying on a version of the Dark engine used in Thief for visuals and atmosphere. The Dark engine was never delivered to the developers as a finished engine in the sense that the Quake and Unreal engines are, but was made available to both projects as it was developed. In the Gamasutra postmortem, project manager and programmer Jonathan Chey states that it should still be possible to create an executable which can run both games, which should serve to describe the close relationship between the two games.

In System Shock 2 the player character has a number of specific skills that can come into play at various points in the game depending on how the player decides to develop the character and play the game. The character can initially be chosen from three different professions: a gun-slinging Marine, a Navy hacker/engineer or an OSA psi-corps psionic with psychic abilities. Through choosing three different tours of duty, the character can be further customized before the start of the game. Throughout the rest of the game, statistics and skills can be purchased and upgraded using "Cybernetic modules" at upgrade stations.

In these aspects, System Shock 2 has as much in common with computer role-playing games as with first person shooters. The gameplay requires more adaptability and alternative problem solving than most first-person shooters, mainly because combat is very challenging by comparison: many weapons in System Shock 2 require special skills, while both ammunition and skill points are hard to come by. Furthermore, guns degrade through use and can eventually break and must be maintained and/or repaired with the use of certain skills or items reliant on skill values. In a typical game, the player will only be able to use half of the weapons or psionic disciplines depending on one's choice of specialization. This provides a good amount of replayability and forces the player to think about their choices.

Items are picked up in a fashion similar to the first game, by aiming the crosshairs and right-clicking or by using drag-and-drop with the inventory window. However, the cursor is locked to the centre of the screen, as in most modern first person games. The Dark engine allows for very detailed placement of objects compared to most first-person games. Items, weapons and upgrade modules can therefore be found hidden underneath benches, fallen into cracks in the floor or on top of piping in the ceiling. The player must look carefully to find such items, which would not be feasible in a game such as Half-Life, where the only way to collect items is by walking on top of them.

Presentation

The horror element in System Shock 2 is quite pronounced; many players have found the game to be very scary. This effect is achieved by the random, mostly non-scripted movement and appearance of enemies in an environment which is often very dark and fearsome, and the vivid horror material present in many scenes. In its review of System Shock 2 as one of "The Greatest Games of All Time", GameSpot states:

The game was scary. Damn scary. And this isn't schlocky-horror-movie-style monster-closet scary, where the bogeyman jumps out at you when you least expect it. Shock 2 projected real psychological terror through the tragic grotesquery of the formerly human enemies, the urgency and grim portent of the crew members' audio logs, and the unparalleled sound design that brought the menace and forebodingness of the Von Braun to horrible life. [1]

Enemies

Template:Spoiler There are a number of powerful enemies within System Shock 2. This is a short list of the primary leading enemies, with a small description.

SHODAN[2]
SHODAN returns from her apparent defeat in the first game, however this time she seeks to enlist the player as an unlikely partner in eradicating The Many.
XERXES
Named after a Persian king, XERXES is an AI similar in structure to SHODAN, but not quite as intelligent, and with many more safety protocols. XERXES is the primary computer system of the starship Von Braun. He is corrupted by the infestation that takes over the ship and becomes a puppet for the will of The Many.
The Many
A biological collective that has evolved from SHODAN's genetic experimentation on Citadel, The Many have infested the Von Braun in hopes of spreading across the galaxy. Turning against SHODAN (whom they call the "Machine Mother"), they are the primary antagonist in System Shock 2 and the only reason why SHODAN tolerates the player's presence in the second game.
Capt. Anatoly Korenchkin
The Captain of the Von Braun and a true "company man," Korenchkin wants so much for the mission to succeed that he is willing to go to any lengths to make sure that anything bad on the ship is covered up, including negligently ignoring the warnings of the Chief Engineer, Dr. Marie Delacroix. He is also the one responsible for bringing The Many on to the Von Braun in the first place.

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Reception

Much as the original System Shock's commercial defeat was at the hands of the mainstream Doom, System Shock 2, despite critical acclaim [1], was essentially eclipsed by Half-Life [citation needed].

System Shock 2 has won numerous awards, including Game of the Year awards for 1999. It is also included on several Best Games of All Time lists. Some of the awards it has won include:

  • 41st Best Game of All Time - IGN [2] (review)
  • Greatest Games of All Time - GameSpot [3]
  • 5th Best Game of All Time, Best RPG of the Year - PC Gamer
  • PC Game of the Year - USA Today
  • Game of the Year - Computer Games Online
  • Game of the Year, Action Game of the Year - CNET
  • Game of the Year - Evil Avatar
  • Game of the Year - Intelligamer
  • RPG of the Year, Best Genre Bender - GameSpy
  • Game of the Year - Loony
  • RPG of the Year - GamesDomain
  • Adventure Game of the Year - Gone Gold
  • Game of the Year - Game Revolution
  • Game of the Year - Glide Underground
  • Single Player Game of the Year - PC Accelerator
  • 5th Place First Person Shooter Quantum Leap Award [4] - Gamasutra

Criticism

While lauded as one of the best games of its era by both its devoted fans[3] and its many reviewers, gamers of the more casual persuasion have criticised certain aspects of System Shock 2.

One of the most common complaints centers on the weapon "degradation" system, which makes weapons wear out and eventually break through use. Designed to add tension to the game by forcing the user to consider every shot, many feel that the quality of any gun drops far too quickly. For instance, it is not uncommon for a newly acquired weapon, such as the pistol, to break after as little as a dozen rounds. Adding to the annoyance was the fact that the enemy's weapons did not suffer from these problems, and when picked up would often be in an unworking condition or empty of ammunition, which made no sense. Coupled with the relatively low ammunition stores found in the game, it is commonly joked that the number one weapon used by most players is the wrench. Even the developers appear to have misgivings about the system[4]. In response to the criticism of this feature, the developers released a patch which allows players to optionally tone down (or remove) some of these aspects of the game.

Another complaint, although less prevalent, is that the level designs of later stages of the game appear to have been rushed. In the early stages the player interacts with the storyline almost constantly through various crewmembers or their audio logs, adding to the immersion. After the early levels are cleared, however, these story-building events disappear and the development continues as a limited one-sided conversation with the main protagonist. A later scripted event is built up in advance, but by that point it is so isolated it seems out of place. Another sign of this apparent rush to ship the game is that the interior design of the Rickenbacker appears hastily constructed and re-uses a lot of the Von Braun textures (even though the ships are supposed to be different)[5].

Future of the Series

System Shock rights issues

Because of the way the rights to the System Shock series were sold after Looking Glass liquidated, the possibility of a System Shock 3 is unlikely. Many companies purchased small sections of the franchise, and many of these companies do not even know they own them. Some fans hold the view, however, that this also prevents any company from making an "unworthy" sequel. Electronic Arts does appear to own the majority of the rights, though, as they have sent cease and desist letters to groups and individuals making unofficial System Shock-based content for various games.

On January 9, 2006, Electronic Arts renewed their trademark protection on the title "System Shock" in the United States, leading to speculation that they intend to use the title to make a new game[5]. This information was announced at nearly the same time that Take-Two Interactive announced their acquisition of Irrational Games, with their new title Bioshock slated for release in early 2007[6]. Such rumors have been further enhanced since then by the July 2006 issue of Game Informer, which mentions the possibility that EA has just put the team behind the recent Godfather game in charge of a System Shock 3 project.[7]

Bioshock

Main article: Bioshock

In 2004, Irrational Games announced a 'spiritual successor' to the System Shock series, entitled Bioshock. The game apparently takes place in an abandoned underwater utopian community that has somehow gone awry through events involving the genetic modification of its populace.

Patches and Fan Modifications

The official patch updates the game from the release version (1.15) to version 2.3. Players must have the release version for the patch to work. It adds multiplayer support, a new difficulty level, the ability to modify the rate of enemy spawning and gun degradation, and several bugfixes. The patch can be applied without breaking savegames.

The "No Spiders" patch removes the spider enemies from the game. Some people with severe arachnophobia were unable to continue after encountering these enemies.

A free fan-made add-on pack, called "Rebirth,"[8] is available on the Internet, which increases some of the polygon counts and provides new textures to make the most of the new models. The polygon counts had been kept relatively low in the original release to ensure high performance speed. However, the developers have stated that they underestimated their 'budget' for performance and they could have made the polygon counts higher.

Rebirth, however, has received criticism from some, who believe that it changes the 'feel' of the original enemies. A second version of Rebirth, known as the "Complemented version"[9], makes further alterations to the enemy models in order to give a closer approximation of their original appearance. It also adds several models by the original Rebirth author that were unavailable in the first release.

The SHock Texture Upgrade Project (SHTUP)[10], is a modification that aims to increase the resolution of the object textures used in the game to a more recent standard, whilst maintaining the same graphic-style. Most base textures in the game were only of 64x64 or 128x128 pixel resolution, while the SHTUP's are mostly 256x256.

Trivia

  • A planned and partly finished endlevel taking place in a Japanese dojo [11] as well as SHODAN wearing a kimono in the final version of the game [12] suggest that the developers of the game were aware of SHODAN's name matching the 1st Dan in Japanese martial arts.
  • There is a basketball hidden in the first level of the game. If it is dropped through a basketball hoop later in the game, a message will be received.[13]
  • The character Erin Bloome was visually based on silent film star Louise Brooks.[14] [15]
  • The character Brian Norris takes his name and appearance from a real-life Brian Norris, who was the winner of a contest entitled "Get Killed By SHODAN".[16][17][18]
  • An audio log by Norris found on the Command deck mentions the names Vogel, Boynton and Swiderek. These are the last names of three members of the development team of System Shock 2 — Ian Vogel: Level designer (Looking Glass), Matt Boynton: Level designer (Irrational Games) and Michael Swiderek: 2D artist (Irrational Games).
  • As no person named "von Braun" appears within the game universe it's highly probable that the starship Von Braun was named after pioneering German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun.
  • For similar reasons, it appears that the starship Rickenbacker was named for World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker.
  • The code to the first locked door in the game is "45100" - "451" was also used as the code to the first locked door in the original System Shock and again in Deus Ex. This was also the door code to Looking Glass' offices.[19]
  • On the Von Braun's Hydroponics deck, the number "1138" appears. This number appears very often in science fiction and is a reference to the film THX 1138.
  • The cigarette cartons in the game are labeled "Laramie". This is a fictional cigarette brand on The Simpsons.
  • A poster for the feature film The Brain Eaters [20] (1958) appears in several locations on the Von Braun.
  • One of the playable games of the portable videogame is homage to the first ULTIMA games, and does have the same speech "Name? Job? End." and similar graphics.
  1. ^ Brad Shoemaker. "The Greatest Games of All Time: System Shock 2". GameSpot. Retrieved 2006-08-22.
  2. ^ 'Sentient Hyper-Optimised Data Access Network'.
  3. ^ Amazon Reviews
  4. ^ Rob "Xemu" Fermier. "SS2: When Not Enough is Too Much". Retrieved 2006-08-23.
  5. ^ Jonathan Chey. "Postmortem: Irrational Games' System Shock 2". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2006-08-23.
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