Digital Foundry Retro EX - System Shock Remake - Digital Foundry Tech Review

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Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
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Nightdive Studios produces some of its most ambitious work yet as it finally delivers its long-awaited remake of the classic immersive sim, System Shock. In this DF Retro EX episode, John goes into depth on what made the original game such a classic, how the remake modernises the game and how well it performs.

00:00 - Introduction
01:40 - A Brief History of Shock
04:54 - The Visuals of System Shock
13:31 - Performance Testing
18:39 - The Audio of System Shock
22:25 - Interface and Gameplay Discussion
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The only game I played from the man was original Bioshock and loved it, should give it a go to this one... Depending on how it runs of course, haven't checked the video
 
I know it's relatively light on system requirements, but I wish it also gets a console release sooner rather than later.
 
I'm surprised.., I didn't expect Linneman to so effectively sell me the game here. I kinda feel excited to play it now.
 
Kinda wish the remake stuck closer to the ending of the original which was a little more upbeat, the new one ends very abruptly with a bizarre music choice and is more nihilistic.
 
I can't justify to buy a new PC just for this game but my current one won't be able to play this.

And the wait for the console release is killing me.

Decisions, decisions...
 
Damn this looks good. Definitely picking it up soon, problem is the only things i really want to play right now are diablo and zelda
 
Con-Z-epT said:
I can't justify to buy a new PC just for this game but my current one won't be able to play this.

And the wait for the console release is killing me.

Decisions, decisions...
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It's on Geforce now, soo you could stream it, also heard it runs well on most hardware.
 
Kataploom said:
The only game I played from the man was original Bioshock and loved it, should give it a go to this one... Depending on how it runs of course, haven't checked the video
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'From the man' meaning Ken Levine?

Levine isn't responsible for SS1. That would be Doug Church (founder of the Immersive Sim design) and Warren Spector (Deus Ex).
 
for anyone playing this on a tv there is a solution to increase the UI size, just find it in the discussions on steam

i can now play the game :)
 
Lumpyoatmeal said:
I concluded I rather reinstall SS. Don't mind old man me, I just think graphically videogames today have a poor set of rendering features when playing them.
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I am kinda bummed out that it has no RT reflections and instead uses SSR, which is one of the modern rendering features I want to be banished to hell 😡
 
I'm running this even on my shitty ryzen 3500u with Vega 8 "work" laptop.

It's really light on the hardware. This can probably run at 120hz on the current gen consoles.
 
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01011001 said:
I am kinda bummed out that it has no RT reflections and instead uses SSR, which is one of the modern rendering features I want to be banished to hell 😡
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Lol I feel that way about 'videogame ambient occlusion', shit is so bad, like literally one of the worst things to happen to videogames, jesus.
 
Man Johns videos are just on another level, expected an Alex one but pleasantly surprised.

This game looks SO damn good and I wish i wasn't so fuckin busy
 
Lumpyoatmeal said:
Lol I feel that way about 'videogame ambient occlusion', shit is so bad, like literally one of the worst things to happen to videogames, jesus.
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another screen space based effect.
screen space [anything] is just cancer.

basically graphics glitches that somehow got promoted to "features".

and why? because they look fancy and realistic in tightly curated still images.
as soon as you see any screen space effect in motion however it's just a glitchfest
 
Was System shock in 1994 the first game that used slopes/elevation? Didn't notice this until John mentioned it. For a game that released ~10 months after Doom, it's way ahead of anything else in that period for basically creating the immersive genre.
 
Senua said:
Man Johns videos are just on another level, expected an Alex one but pleasantly surprised.

This game looks SO damn good and I wish i wasn't so fuckin busy
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So true. Because this is a PC exclusive, I immediately thought it would be Alex covering it. And that would mean the usual whine about stutter and lack of ray-tracing.
Fortunately, it was done by John, a guy that really likes games and tech. It was a really good video that highlighted why the original was good and why this remake does it justice.
 
01011001 said:
and why? because they look fancy and realistic in tightly curated still images.

as soon as you see any screen space effect in motion however it's just a glitchfest
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My man, 01011001! You know what the fuck you're talking about, oh my goodness!

I looked a little at your post history, 01011001 you're the truth bro.
 
HL3.exe said:
'From the man' meaning Ken Levine?

Levine isn't responsible for SS1. That would be Doug Church (founder of the Immersive Sim design) and Warren Spector (Deus Ex).
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I meant Levin but didn't know he wasn't for first one, thanks for clarifying
 
I wonder how Bungie's Marathon reboot will look like. The teaser has a weird art direction.
 
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Buggy Loop said:
Was System shock in 1994 the first game that used slopes/elevation? Didn't notice this until John mentioned it. For a game that released ~10 months after Doom, it's way ahead of anything else in that period for basically creating the immersive genre.
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2.5d games like Doom allowed for slopes and elevation, they just had flat maps 2d with height data where you could not do things like put platforms on top of each other. System Shock built on Ultima Underworld which had true 3d maps and texture mapping. But, at the time, Origin probably cared more about wow factor and screenshots than getting it to run at more than 10fps. I can't remember if earlier block or wireframe game had true 3d maps, but the 2.5 trend to have playable 3d action games at reasonable framerates was a 90s thing and a step up from previous 3d games, not a step back.
 
Lumpyoatmeal said:
My man, 01011001! You know what the fuck you're talking about, oh my goodness!

I looked a little at your post history, 01011001 you're the truth bro.
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Seth Meyers Lol GIF by Late Night with Seth Meyers
 
Bethesda's The Terminator: Future Shock was pretty ahead of it's time as well, when it comes to vertical design.

 
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I really like how this game looks, and my PC is no slouch (5800X3d/3080) but the game runs extremely well. I didn't notice any stutters but maybe it's because my CPU crunched through the compilations.
 
winjer said:
So true. Because this is a PC exclusive, I immediately thought it would be Alex covering it. And that would mean the usual whine about stutter and lack of ray-tracing.
Fortunately, it was done by John, a guy that really likes games and tech. It was a really good video that highlighted why the original was good and why this remake does it justice.
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I mean I feel Alex's pain, but I more just meant John's editing is far superior and his experience clearly comes through on his analysis. I have to honest I barely watch any DF videos that aren't Rich or John, I watch Alex for a new PC release for good settings and just to gain some geeky knowledge.
 
It has such an unique garish and geometric look to it, kinda like a glowing plastic neon look at times, it's hard for me to get used to. I wasnt familiar with the original game but looking at this comparison its clear they did an amazing job modernizing the original game's look while maintaing the original aesthetics.
 
love how this remake looks, the original was just a bit too hardcore for me back in the day but if this ever comes to game pass i would def give it a try, dont think i have enough interest to pay hard dorra for it tho.
 
Buggy Loop said:
Was System shock in 1994 the first game that used slopes/elevation? Didn't notice this until John mentioned it. For a game that released ~10 months after Doom, it's way ahead of anything else in that period for basically creating the immersive genre.
Click to expand...
Check out Ultima Underworld which predates Wolfenstein 3D.

EUMQFQ4.jpg
 
adamsapple said:
I know it's relatively light on system requirements, but I wish it also gets a console release sooner rather than later.
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I've heard about this game for 20 years it feels like and am eagerly awaiting a console release. I only saw 1 trailer and it looked wicked trippy!

Definitely feel the bioshock connection with a cross between the old Disney Black Hole movie and this.
 
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