System Shock Remake: A Surprise GotY Contender

remakes cant be goty contender imo.

You Dont Say Ed Begley Jr GIF by CBS


does it play well with a controller? might get it then too



that would be incredible, i would also take a deus ex remake in that style

All is well after a bit of control rebinding.
 
They had a PS5 demo playable on the Gamescom showfloor in 2022. I played it and noticed the missing sprint toggle right away.
So I went to the Deep Silver business booth (I have a contact there) and asked If I could talk to someone from Nightdive for feedback.
They pointed me to some older guy and I introduced myself (Note: I´m a designer in the industry for over 22 years) and said the demo was nice but the controls were suboptimal for console with the missing sprint toggle.
The guy was all very dismissive and basically told me he wasnt interested. When I was perplexed and said "I´m just trying to help here", he was all "I hear you, thank you" and that was it.
To give you some perspective, I never ever had seen such a reaction from an industry person before - I was pretty disappointed and not surprised at all when the game released with it still missing.

That reminds me of when I saw John Carmack at an electronics store in Austin, Texas. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn't want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything.
He said, "Oh, like you're doing now?"
I was taken aback, and all I could say was "Huh?" but he kept cutting me off and going "huh? huh? huh?" and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw Carmack trying to walk out the doors with like five keyboards in his hands without paying.
The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like "Sir, you need to pay for those first." At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.

When she took one of the keyboards and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually "to prevent any electrical infetterence," and then turned around and winked at me. I don't even think that's a word. After she scanned each keyboard and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
 
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I loved the original. I did not pick up the remake because my memories of the first two are so great.


How does the remake handle the cyberspace stuff?
 
does it play well with a controller? might get it then too



that would be incredible, i would also take a deus ex remake in that style
Controller on PC or consoles? Can't speak for the PC version but the aim speed feels off and you can only adjust the speed. No deadzones, acceleration etc. (which a lot of Nightdive ports allow). Grenade hotkey is also busted as you throw at a 45° angle and with a force of a malnourished kid.
Generally speaking hotkeys are very helpfull and they are a bit of a pain in the ass on a controller.
 
Controller on PC or consoles? Can't speak for the PC version but the aim speed feels off and you can only adjust the speed. No deadzones, acceleration etc. (which a lot of Nightdive ports allow). Grenade hotkey is also busted as you throw at a 45° angle and with a force of a malnourished kid.
Generally speaking hotkeys are very helpfull and they are a bit of a pain in the ass on a controller.

dualsense on ps5 for me. sounds really bad the way you're describing it.
 
Finished it on xbox. Worked fine for me.

Its old school title so you have to stay back and take pot shots. Works well for that.
I heard that some stuff straight up doesn't work and the rebinding doesn't work, i can't find recent discussions about the game on reddit but like 3-4 months ago the game was still not patched.

It's the only reason why i haven't bought the game yet, online is full of people mad at the controller support, i heard you don't even have a toggle for run so you have to keep pressing the stick? That sound fucking terrible.
 
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That reminds me of when I saw John Carmack at an electronics store in Austin, Texas. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn't want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything.
He said, "Oh, like you're doing now?"
I was taken aback, and all I could say was "Huh?" but he kept cutting me off and going "huh? huh? huh?" and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw Carmack trying to walk out the doors with like five keyboards in his hands without paying.
The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like "Sir, you need to pay for those first." At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.

When she took one of the keyboards and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually "to prevent any electrical infetterence," and then turned around and winked at me. I don't even think that's a word. After she scanned each keyboard and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
I understood that reference.
But I read this meme story the first time with Ryan Gosling and I just can't bring myself to imagine someone else in it, no matter how often I read it with someone else as main character.
 
Immsim design. Even one of the games that were the foundation of that. Just like the old Thief games and Arx Fatalis.

Highly recommend this game if you like to use the (many) tools that are given to you to come up with creative solutions for whatever lies ahead.
You will do yourself short by always picking the obvious choices and will probably have a harder time liking this game.
 
I heard that some stuff straight up doesn't work and the rebinding doesn't work, i can't find recent discussions about the game on reddit but like 3-4 months ago the game was still not patched.

It's the only reason why i haven't bought the game yet, online is full of people mad at the controller support, i heard you don't even have a toggle for run so you have to keep pressing the stick? That sound fucking terrible.
Yeah press the stick to run is one of the worst key bindings, grenades still don't work correctly and aim sensitivity is hard to calibrate.
That said i did enjoy it on my PS4 and finished it. But i'd say PC is the way to go here.
 
Yeah press the stick to run is one of the worst key bindings, grenades still don't work correctly and aim sensitivity is hard to calibrate.
That said i did enjoy it on my PS4 and finished it. But i'd say PC is the way to go here.
I would gladly play on pc but i heard that controller support on pc is even worse and at the end of the day, the game run at 4k60 on ps5 so it is only a 6-7 euros price difference.

I hate playing with m+k.
 
I heard that some stuff straight up doesn't work and the rebinding doesn't work, i can't find recent discussions about the game on reddit but like 3-4 months ago the game was still not patched.

It's the only reason why i haven't bought the game yet, online is full of people mad at the controller support, i heard you don't even have a toggle for run so you have to keep pressing the stick? That sound fucking terrible.
Not sure what stuff doesn't work. Maybe on pc?

I played on xbox, didn't find anything missing. But then, i mostly play with default controls and just change sensitivity, thats it.
 
Yeah press the stick to run is one of the worst key bindings, grenades still don't work correctly and aim sensitivity is hard to calibrate.
That said i did enjoy it on my PS4 and finished it. But i'd say PC is the way to go here.
Yeah, there are 2 ways of throwing grenades. One of them chucks it sideways instead of front.

I thought it was oddity from original so just used other method.
 
That reminds me of when I saw John Carmack at an electronics store in Austin, Texas. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn't want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything.
He said, "Oh, like you're doing now?"
I was taken aback, and all I could say was "Huh?" but he kept cutting me off and going "huh? huh? huh?" and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw Carmack trying to walk out the doors with like five keyboards in his hands without paying.
The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like "Sir, you need to pay for those first." At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.

When she took one of the keyboards and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually "to prevent any electrical infetterence," and then turned around and winked at me. I don't even think that's a word. After she scanned each keyboard and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
Why do I feel like I've read this before lol
 
As someone who really loves System Shock 2 and only started playing and beating within the last decade and consider it one of my favorite horror games of all times. I just couldn't get into System Shock 1 nor it's remake version. Something about the Tetris setting turns me off. The intro for the original SS1 is cool though but that's about it. I really hope they'll remake System Shock 2 or even start working on System Shock 3 again.
 
Frankly, it was because of this thread I was pushed into a purchase of this game when it finally got a decent sale on Steam. Well, the day is here. Unlike you PC veterans, I never got to experience this game back in the day. I hope I feel the same way about this game as the OP when I'm finished with it.
 
Frankly, it was because of this thread I was pushed into a purchase of this game when it finally got a decent sale on Steam. Well, the day is here. Unlike you PC veterans, I never got to experience this game back in the day. I hope I feel the same way about this game as the OP when I'm finished with it.
Have fun insect!
 
Frankly, it was because of this thread I was pushed into a purchase of this game when it finally got a decent sale on Steam. Well, the day is here. Unlike you PC veterans, I never got to experience this game back in the day. I hope I feel the same way about this game as the OP when I'm finished with it.
Damn, double post.

Yeah, still stands. Enjoy the game!
 
Frankly, it was because of this thread I was pushed into a purchase of this game when it finally got a decent sale on Steam. Well, the day is here. Unlike you PC veterans, I never got to experience this game back in the day. I hope I feel the same way about this game as the OP when I'm finished with it.
If you like it get the sequel as well. The current version is still a lot of fun to play but looks pretty bad without mods. An enhanced edition should be coming out though which should improve the graphics as well.
 
This thread planted the seed for me to finally pick this up. It's also on sale on Steam right now for $16, so that helped.

Regarding immersive sims, Bioshock is my favorite game of all time. I've played the Deus Exes, Prey, Dishonoreds, and some of System Shock 2, but never System Shock 1 in any form.

I kind of wish they hadn't gone with the art style they did. It's unique and immediately recognizable, but what draws me into those aforementioned immersive sims in large part is their dedication to making the worlds seem lived-in and believable. With SSR, I never forget that I'm playing a reimagining of an early 90s game because of the art style.

Don't know if I'll stick with it to the end. I'm on level 3, and I'd be good with it ending at level 5, but I get the impression it's going to go on for much longer than that. Glad it got made, and $16 feels about right for what I'm getting out of it.

I loved the original. I did not pick up the remake because my memories of the first two are so great.


How does the remake handle the cyberspace stuff?
The Cyberspace sections are six-degree-of-freedom space shooter-style. Like Descent.
 
Finished this last night after having it on the backburner for oh so long.

What a game

Never played the original but I went to see original footage of a playthrough to see that its pretty fucking authentic in game mechanics. Its mind blowing that Warren Spector pulled these game mechanics in 1994. WAY ahead of its time. I know this is the OG immersive sim but I didn't think it would be that detailed and hardcore. Comparatively, I played the ever living shit out of System shock 2 and I think its a superior game, but the first one is more hardcore imo.
 
This is FINALLY on sale in PSN!!!

$13. Normally $40.
I bought it on sale and played about 2 hours. The map layout is confusing as hell. Somehow every room looks the same to me. I hope it's just the first area. Everything else seems good to me.
 
I bought it on sale and played about 2 hours. The map layout is confusing as hell. Somehow every room looks the same to me. I hope it's just the first area. Everything else seems good to me.
I'm so glad I only paid $13.

The game is not that good IMO. Combat lacks any oomph except the shock blaster. People were saying this is a bit of a horror game and it isn't remotely that. I've seen 3 enemy types total so far? All with terrible AI. Map fortunately is at least on level 1 a clear all before going on an elevator so it's easy to 100% even if you're unsure where to go.

The music is good, setting is cool, voice acting is good on the audio logs, and the hacking stuff is unique.

$13 is the right price for this lol.
 
I'm so glad I only paid $13.

The game is not that good IMO. Combat lacks any oomph except the shock blaster. People were saying this is a bit of a horror game and it isn't remotely that. I've seen 3 enemy types total so far? All with terrible AI. Map fortunately is at least on level 1 a clear all before going on an elevator so it's easy to 100% even if you're unsure where to go.

The music is good, setting is cool, voice acting is good on the audio logs, and the hacking stuff is unique.

$13 is the right price for this lol.
How about you give it a bit more time huh? Pains me reading stuff like this… Zoomer generation.
 
How about you give it a bit more time huh? Pains me reading stuff like this… Zoomer generation.
I'm 37.

I am going to give it more time but it makes a shit impression the first few hours.

Maybe you should get with the program that:
-The game may not be an all time instant classic that withstands the test of time
-Some people have different opinions on what they feel is a good game or not
 
Yeah, the remake is genuinely great.

I very much recommend playing System Shock 2 as well, if you guys haven't. And Prey (2017), which is kinda a spiritual successor in many ways.
Stay away from the BioShock games, even though they share the name "Shock" and are made by Ken Levine, they're mid at best (BioShock 1) and shit at worst (BioShock 2 and Infinite) and play nothing like the System Shock games.
 
I'm 37.

I am going to give it more time but it makes a shit impression the first few hours.

Maybe you should get with the program that:
-The game may not be an all time instant classic that withstands the test of time
-Some people have different opinions on what they feel is a good game or not
The Zoomer virus spreads…

There are different opinions and then there are wrong ones. You can say it's not for you but to say it doesn't stand the test of time or that it's not worth the full price is outrageous.
 
I'm 37.

I am going to give it more time but it makes a shit impression the first few hours.

Maybe you should get with the program that:
-The game may not be an all time instant classic that withstands the test of time
-Some people have different opinions on what they feel is a good game or not

By 37, you should've figured out that nobody cares about your contrarian hot takes, especially when they're just for the sake of being contrary.

It's the same tired routine in every thread.
 
The Zoomer virus spreads…

There are different opinions and then there are wrong ones. You can say it's not for you but to say it doesn't stand the test of time or that it's not worth the full price is outrageous.
Opinions how do they work?

Fuck out of here. Rose tinted glasses are a hell of a drug.

Game is whack AF so far. Sorry not sorry. At level 2 and it's just not engaging.
 
By 37, you should've figured out that nobody cares about your contrarian hot takes, especially when they're just for the sake of being contrary.

It's the same tired routine in every thread.
Every fucking thread? First off you can get off my dick if you're jerking off to my posts so much you've formed some delusional opinion of me. I call it like it is.

Of this year alone I've gassed up and praised:
Clair 33
KCD2
DK Bananza
Dead Rising Remake
Titan Quest 2
Death Stranding 2
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black

The list goes on and on for games I've praised and enjoyed. Sorry if recently I found Mafia shit, rage bound "ok", and this game meh.

Or do you have some different reality you somehow want to propose to the internet council of GAF?
 
Every fucking thread? First off you can get off my dick if you're jerking off to my posts so much you've formed some delusional opinion of me. I call it like it is.

Of this year alone I've gassed up and praised:
Clair 33
KCD2
DK Bananza
Dead Rising Remake
Titan Quest 2
Death Stranding 2
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black

The list goes on and on for games I've praised and enjoyed. Sorry if recently I found Mafia shit, rage bound "ok", and this game meh.

Or do you have some different reality you somehow want to propose to the internet council of GAF?
story of our times not reading that GIF by Trevor Moore
 
Opinions how do they work?

Fuck out of here. Rose tinted glasses are a hell of a drug.

Game is whack AF so far. Sorry not sorry. At level 2 and it's just not engaging.
What rose tinted glasses? Mate, I first plated SS2 back in the early 00s and part 1 for the first time with the Remake. Has it a rough start? Yes, because they remained true to the original. Did I get lost multiple times because I had no idea what to do? Yes, again, because they stayed true to the original.

But that is what's so good about it. This game does exploration like no other. By the end of it you won't even need the map because of how the game made you explore the station. But it takes time and you have to be willing to put it in.

This game is a true Remake to the bone. A game from a different time. It looks and plays like a modern game but it's still a game from 1994. You have to play it with this perspective in mind. It's so awesome. We probably won't ever get anything like it again. Don't dismiss, enjoy. 🤝
 
What rose tinted glasses? Mate, I first plated SS2 back in the early 00s and part 1 for the first time with the Remake. Has it a rough start? Yes, because they remained true to the original. Did I get lost multiple times because I had no idea what to do? Yes, again, because they stayed true to the original.

But that is what's so good about it. This game does exploration like no other. By the end of it you won't even need the map because of how the game made you explore the station. But it takes time and you have to be willing to put it in.

This game is a true Remake to the bone. A game from a different time. It looks and plays like a modern game but it's still a game from 1994. You have to play it with this perspective in mind. It's so awesome. We probably won't ever get anything like it again. Don't dismiss, enjoy. 🤝
This is the kind of post you like to see.

I'll keep on trucking along. Even though I wasn't a fan of say, Mafia, recently I still completed it to form an opinion.

Plus not all games make a good first impression. Hoping that's the case here and I end up enjoying it overall.
 
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