So I didn't like System Shock Remake. I guess this one is more of the same?
Really different beasts imo
Made by totally different teams.
This was Ken Levine's first directed game, the guy behind Bioshock, and when they started development initially it was not meant to be a sequel at all, but it was intended as a standalone title and then looking glass made them change the story during production to make it a sequel. Reminds me of Arkhane's Prey story in a sense, weird coincidence that Prey was also heavily inspired by System shock 2.
System Shock 1 doesn't have the RPG part to begin with that immersive sims typically have. In SS1, for everyone the items that are either augments or weapons, they're found as items on a map, everyone has roughly the same experience, there's really no sacrifice or choice path, all augments everyone can have and there's no hard decisions that you had to pick an augment over another one, etc. The way it plays is quite the same for everyone. SS1 is more like a
proto immersive sim, it was the first shooter to have lean and looking up and down which by 1994 standard was just "OMG the freedom!" when you think that Doom 1 was not even a year old by the time this released. But its not the "player freedom" that modern immersive sims are known for.
System Shock 2 has RPG mechanic, as in skills you level up, there's classes that make the game vastly play different for users depending on what they pick.
There's a freaking Psionic build in this game that is basically space mage that is divided in 5 tiers and each with 7 powers. Of course, picking one class does not limit the powers or weapons you can use so you are free to combine and hybrid the shit out of it.
System shock 2 is also leaning a lot more into horror game,
much much better storytelling than SS1, a lot less clunky to play too, it is still a >25 years old game mind you but if you're fine playing Deus Ex, you'll be right at home. The map level is S-tier too in SS2, it feels a lot more custom made with attention to detail, again, its really an horror game, and the environment tells a story, unlike system shock 1 where it looks like a randomly generated maze with cluttered textures. SS2's unsettling environment, sound design, audio logs, combine to make a thick atmosphere and amplifies the horror elements.
I went expecting a game like Deus Ex or Prey, basically an immersive sim but I found the experience quite average. Didn't like either the aesthetics with the pixel texture. Gunplay and enemy AI was average too.
I was expecting much more from it basically
SS2 is a lot closer to the late 90's immersive sim explosion along with Deus Ex than SS1.
SS2 & Deus Ex are definitive S-Tier immersive sims to me while System Shock 1 would be C-tier. I enjoyed it personally but its "proto" as in early prototype of what the genre would eventually be.
So there is a possibility that I like this one more then?
They're imo so different that yes, there's a possibility papi. If you don't blink an eye with playing Deus Ex 25 years later, SS2 is an easy recommendation, a must play even since you seem to like the genre.
Prey was basically made on the foundation of System shock 2.
