As Nightdive Studios System Shock Remake arrives on PC it is receiving overall positive reviews for its faithfulness to the original and fresh coat of paint. It has become so commonplace these days with news of remakes, remasters, reimagined, and “enhanced” editions of older games that many fans are as likely to roll their eyes at an announcement, or worse, watch in sadness a beloved classic is dismantled beyond recognition. However, according to numerous reviews, the System Shock Remake does not fall into one of those former categories, and fans of the classic may want to check it out.
Praise has been given to an updated combat system that has turned tedious battles with bosses and other enemies into fights that must be thought out. Other praise goes toward the updates to the visual stylings of the original game while staying true to its design. One downside note is its inventory system, which can inspire cluttering, but then a recycling system which can allow players to destroy items they may actually need or want. The aged 1994 game, while looking fresh, is somewhat of a niche in the current gaming landscape but its concepts can be found in many that have since followed it.
From IGN:
“Where many modern games invite you to sit back and enjoy the ride, System Shock wants you to sit up and experience the SHODAN. Tweaking the technical workings of Citadel station to come out on top and foil SHODAN’s machinations is just as compelling as it ever was, making the original System Shock one of gaming’s classics for a very good reason. Nightdive’s remake masterfully brings most of the aspects that haven’t aged as well into the present day, with excellent new graphics and nearly all the modern gameplay conveniences you could want. Get out there and give her hell, hacker.”
From Polygon:
“The System Shock remake is beautiful. It’s not a fully reimagined game like the Final Fantasy 7 remake, nor does it wholly abandon the aesthetics and art style of the original like the remake of Shadow of the Colossus. But it looks like the way games from 1994 appear in my memory. Smoke spouts from vents and dissipates into pixels. The lighting is often dramatic, your screen saturated in deep red with bright blue sparks emitting from the light fixtures. In your hands, your lead pipe hangs heavy in front of your face, swinging directly in front of your field of vision, sometimes slightly pixelated in the light. You walk slowly — oh so slowly — down narrow hallways with flickering lighting, trapped in metal maintenance corridors as you try to make your way through the map. It’s a dungeon crawler wearing a shooter’s skin.”
From The Verge:
“Where January’s Dead Space was an elegant update to a relatively recent horror game, the new System Shock feels neither affectedly retro nor entirely modern, neither lo-fi indie nor blockbuster-big. It’s one of the most subtly odd labors of love I’ve seen in the past few years. And like SHODAN, if you embrace its unconventional values, it will amply reward you — on its own somewhat painful terms.”
From PC Gamer:
“This is, I feel confident saying, the definitive way to play System Shock in 2023 and beyond, but I can’t help but wonder what that other world looks like. The one where Nightdive had the budget and the goodwill to take a few more risks, make a few more changes, and dramatically reduce the number of times it asked me to make a U-turn.”
From SteamDB:
The older game has still managed to fare well among Steam users and although its numbers do not remotely compare to that of the recently released Street Fighter 6, which still has over 60K concurrent players, it is currently sitting at just under 2,000 from its debut of slightly more than 7,000 on May 30, and at the number 3 spots on hot/popular releases. Presently it holds a Very Positive review ranking from nearly 2,000 reviews. We have screenshots and a link to a playable demo which can be found here. The System Shock Remake is available for $39.99 on Steam. Nightdive Studios has said it plans to release console versions at a later date.
Discussion (18 replies)
Join Discussion →I truly didn't believe this day would come.
Nice. I may have to put this on my list.
I never played the original. I was very much in the hobby at the time in launched, but somehow it just never popped up on my radar.
By the time I heard of it, it was very dated. I added it to my list of "retro games I might get to some day" but never did.
This will give me an opportunity to play a franchise I originally missed!
I don't usually care for remakes, but this one works out for me!
I'm not sure if I'll wind up liking it (I generally get bored easily with shooters from the early 90's as they just wind up being dumb run and gun gibfests like Quake and Doom, but this one gets enough favorable reviews that I have to check it out.
I like it so far. I wouldn't have minded if they'd retextured the walls - I'm finding it a bit visually monotonous, which doesn't help me navigate Citadel Station. The minimap compensates.
Man having worked in a high security Data Center... that's the most accurate description ever of the start white, blank hallways with tiny signs next to doors or on them to say what that room is. It's like being taken to be interviewed by Mr White.
I bought it the other day, and it's not bad.
It does feel rather dated, but still much better than most titles of that era.
I've enjoyed the couple of hours I've played it thus far.
What other titles do you mean?
I'm still not convinced whether to try it or not. I have very little motivation to play games nowadays.
I just finished the Dead Space remake which shares some similarities to this except that this is so old the developers would have to create new assets. I don't for one moment believe that the DS devs didn't use AI to "enhance" or assist in making new assets but our current tech couldn't really do that for System Shock in proper fashion. I do, however, value, your opinion over those of other reviewers on this game.
So, I am going to have to start System Shock over again after about 5 hours in.
In my first start I selected a difficulty of 2 on everything, and it was way too easy, so I upped it to 3 on everything.
They don't tell you that there is a 10 hour countdown on Mission Difficulty 3.
I only noticed that there was a countdown after about 4 hours on the Medical level, and another hour the next level up.
Keep this in mind when you play it. Unless this is your umpteenth playthrough, you k now every level and are ready for a speed run, don't select Mission Difficulty 3.
Thanks for the heads up. This'll likely be one of my fall/winter games. Finished W3 about a month ago and then Dead Space Remake last week. Now I'm playing Hogwarts which I expect to take most of the summer.
I loved Hogwarts. Would love to know what you think.
So far loving it. I'm taking my time with it (just got back from Hogsmeade, 1st visit). I'll post a little more on it in its thread so I don't derail this one but I am enjoying it.
When I started it over, I noticed that they do indeed notrify you that it is a 10hr countdown for difficulty 3 for mission, but it didn't exactly jump out at me the first time, so I missed it. Whoops.
I can't get that damn elevator music out of my head!
I've tried the demo, but sadly the remake feels as dated and old fashioned now as the original was when I first tried it. This feels like a 2003 game in 2023.
Afaik this was the intention