They only don’t make ‘em like they used to, huh? 30 years since its launch on PC, the holy grail of immersive sims, System Shock, has made its option to PS4 and PS5 with this slick remake. That is the primary alternative us PlayStation gamers have had to take a look at the sport that impressed the likes of PREY, Deus Ex, and BioShock, and as such, piecing collectively its labyrinthine area station is like an entertaining historical past lesson. However regardless of its new visible glow-up, System Shock is actually beginning to present its age.
The unique System Shock launched in 1994 and formed a whole style. Towards the evil A.I. SHODAN, a anonymous hacker should combat their manner by way of the maze-like area station, regularly unlocking extra areas within the course of. Launched in 2023 on PC, this remake from Nightdive Studios provides a lick of modernised paint to this traditional, with a visible and gameplay overhaul that ought to attraction to each new and returning gamers alike.
We need to begin off by saying that visually, System Shock is an actual deal with on PS5. It sports activities this fascinating blended artstyle of each fashionable and retro aesthetics that completely embodies the unique – as if Nightdive is making an attempt to evoke what you suppose the sport seemed like again within the day. Regardless of having this hard-edged metallic design to its many rooms and corridors, there are refreshing pangs of vibrant color that hold every of the sport’s flooring feeling contemporary and distinctive. It’s topped off with a rock-solid efficiency on PS5 which means you possibly can slither your manner from upkeep to the manager flooring with no single stutter.
The very first thing you’ll discover about System Shock is that it’s not there that can assist you – in any respect. It is a robust recreation, each by way of its so-so fight, and its gruelling area station puzzles. It’s each the great and unhealthy of this remake, as it’s invigorating to play a recreation that basically makes you sift by way of textual content and audio logs. One thing so simple as determining a code could require you to go to a number of areas throughout numerous ranges of the station, and also you’ll must bodily observe the code down as the sport gained’t retailer it for you. Taking part in a recreation with a notepad by your aspect is a reasonably area of interest side of a bygone period of gaming, however you’ll undoubtedly sit up in your seat a bit as System Shock challenges you this fashion.
Lastly determining a protracted wanted code, or turning on the facility that grants you entry to an entire new stage of the station is immensely gratifying. That is additionally a recreation that feeds off of your curiosity, the place you possibly can monitor the storylines of ill-fated characters and slowly piece collectively the puzzle of the station’s A.I. takeover. Very not often will System Shock spell it out for you, so in case you aren’t eager on sifting by way of reams of texts, then its setting will possible come throughout as very floor stage. Actually you aren’t going to seek out environmental storytelling right here such as you do in Dishonored for instance, and System Shock does little or no to determine a historical past previous to SHODAN’s present takeover.
That nonetheless is the seed of our frustrations with System Shock. Since a variety of the context of the station lies within the textual content and audio logs, there’s little or no motive to discover its numerous hallways and places of work past the necessity to progress to the subsequent stage. Each every so often you’ll discover a new weapon, or a modkit station to improve your arsenal, however for probably the most half you’ll be wandering in circles questioning what to do and the place to go, and various occasions you’ll spend upwards of 20 minutes making an attempt to realize entry to a room that has little or no reward inside. System Shock is suffering from lifeless ends, which in itself is ok, however with one other audio log usually being the massive reward, it’s exhausting to not really feel unenthused at occasions.
Exploration may also really feel trite because of its grindy recycling system, the place you hoard plenty of junk, vaporise all of it to negate stock points, after which cart it to a recycling station to earn a couple of vitcoins. It’s good to see what’s clearly the inception of the recycling system in PREY, but it surely doesn’t fairly have the identical satisfying loop. It’s right here too that it turns into obviously apparent that the sport shouldn’t be meant to be performed with a controller. Stock administration is extremely tedious and lacks the pace or ease of use that you simply’ll discover with a mouse and keyboard.
Frustrations carry over to the fight too, which if we’re being sincere, simply isn’t nice. To offer credit score the place credit score is due, System Shock tries to maintain issues contemporary with probably the most random assortment of enemies we’ve ever seen. From cyborgs to floating micro organism, there’s at all times a side of shock as you encounter new enemy varieties, and issues actually enhance as you uncover higher weapons. Nonetheless, the difficulty is that the fight by no means actually has the burden or dynamism that you simply’d get in additional fashionable releases. Melee weapons lack impression, weapons lack oomph, and with subsequent to no cowl, you’re basically buying and selling photographs with an enemy that virtually by no means misses – and this is similar within the our on-line world parts of the sport too.
The respawn system doesn’t assist issues both. Since any injury you’ve finished or enemies you’ve killed carry over while you respawn, there’s very not often any feeling of pressure within the fight. When you’ve unlocked that flooring’s respawn space, you might be again in motion inside 30 seconds. You then have a selection of both utilizing your therapeutic provides to inch forward, or hoard them for the boss fights which means you are regularly respawning, resulting in some stilted development. There may be an in-depth issue setting to counter this if issues show to be too robust, however there’s oddly no choice to alter this mid-game so that you both should keep it up or restart with a brand new save.
Conclusion
On the finish of the day, System Shock is the trustworthy remake of a 30-year-old recreation, and you’ll really feel that age in each side of its being. In some methods, this can be a tantalising look again on the recreation that began a whole style, and in case you’ve received the keenness or nostalgia for immersive sims prefer it, then it’s value testing for that alone. Nonetheless, in case you lack that nostalgic connection, then System Shock is extra a showcase of how far the style has come, reasonably than a highlight on how properly it’s held up. System Shock could have walked so others within the style may run, however for us, that stroll is just a bit too sluggish.
