System Shock Remake

Honestly, it's a miracle what they have done. And obviously very rarely seen.

A remaster that was needed for a legendary game that is otherwise nigh impossible to enjoy nowadays.
And they did it masterfuly. They managed the perfect balance between modernizing and keeping it as it was.

Its an easy recommend, there aren't really any flaws in this game besides the backtracking (which is to be expected).

However be warned, this is NOT a 2024 game. Your won't be guided. Your hand won't be held. There won't be any waypoints, quests and whatnot. You actually have to pay attention, read and listen to w/e scrap of information you can scavenge and then maybe, maybe you may beat Shodan.

As a die-hard fan of the original System Shock (with the OG controls), I’m extremely pleased! This is exactly what I’ve been wishing for all these years, and Nightdive Studios has finally delivered. I can’t thank them enough. The game is a 1:1 recreation of the original, I completed it purely from memory, doing everything exactly the same way I had back in the day. That’s how faithful it is.
The game doesn’t hold your hand, there are no arrows, no quest markers, no checklist of tasks like in modern games. You actually have to explore, figure things out yourself, listen to recordings, read logs, and pay attention. True ’90s OG style! It genuinely feels like the devs poured their souls into it: the attention to detail, the authenticity, it’s all there.
If you’re new to System Shock and asked me, “Which one should I play first: the original or the remake?” I’d say: “The remake, for sure.” That’s how good and true to the source it is. From the lighting and the creepy, hopeless atmosphere, to wandering through dimly lit corridors crawling with mutants and cyborgs who were once human, everything is spot on. From the opening cutscene to the final moment.
In short: this is a faithful copy of the OG game, with an untouched plot and with smart improvements that breathe new life into it. They’ve added new mechanics that make gameplay more engaging, modern, and polished.
Sure, there are a few flaws (the cyberspace enemies, for example), but nothing in our world is perfect (except Shodan, hehe), so to me, those flaws are negligible.
I genuinely enjoyed every second of it, just like I did when I played the original back then. My rating: 10/10.
If you’re even remotely interested in the original System Shock, you should absolutely try this remake.

This game can be kind of unbearable sometimes, but that’s alright.
It’s a lovingly faithful remake, for better or for worse. Hardcore fans of the original must be so happy for it to be this way; legends say you can almost complete it using ancient 1994 walkthroughs - that’s how faithful it is.
Unfortunately, that means the rest of us have to navigate through a painful level of obtuseness, with Pipe Dream puzzles that were already tired beyond reason back in 2007 when we were playing the first BioShock, and boring white noise that is cyberspace hacking minigames. This game demands a lot of patience, let me tell you. If you don’t want to deal with constant tedious "where-the-hell-do-I-go" moments, you better play it on easy, and I tend to recommend that. There is a fine line between challenge and wasting the player’s time for no reason, and System Shock has crossed it - an unfortunate side effect of the game's age.
I swear, I still overall liked it, but mostly due to historical interest and SHODAN. I don’t regret playing it, but I will probably never touch it again.
Can’t wait for the remaster of the sequel, though!

After playing it for around 35 hours, I can definitely say that it's a damn good game. Would I call it fun? Not exactly, because sometimes I would get lost after performing a task as I don't have a clue of what I'm supposed to do next. However, I must say that this game gives you hell lotta satisfaction each time you use your peanut brain to solve a puzzle or a task, as this game has no quest log like most games. You have to do a lot of reading, listening and need to be attentive to the surroundings in order to progress through the game because your tasks and security codes are written in emails and audio logs.
The things that I loved about this game are it's guns, sound design and the art direction that developers went to give it the original look. The look, feel and sound of the guns are soo fantastic that each time I fire my magnum, it's activates my neurons.
The only critique that I'm gonna make is about the glitches that you witness in character models after you kill them. It looks like the models are either having a stroke or a drug overdose when I backtrack to previous floors.
Overall, a pretty fun immersive sim game that we got in recent times as Prey from Arkane Studios was the last such game that released 7-8 years ago. If you're a first timer in this genre of games, I think this would be a great start for you.
Edit: The final boss fight was turbo ass.

Other games: Thank you for playing!
System Shock: Remove yourself insect, you're the most annoying creature on this station.
Things to know before you play it:
The game doesn’t tell you exactly what to do, but if you're attentive enough you'll figure it out.
If an item isn’t marked as junk, don’t throw it away! It’s a key item and you won’t progress without it.
You actually have to listen to audio logs that you find; they may contain important hints.
The game is not for rushers. You need to enjoy exploring and coming back to the same locations over and over.
If you see a number somewhere, mark it down. Trust me, you will need it later (no, you can't just google it).
The Laser Rapier weapon and a Berserk booster will make you an unstoppable beast.
Save often! Especially if you're like me and think that buying a grenade from a vending machine is a good idea.
Even if you like puzzles, make sure to carry one Logic Probe with you. Something tells me you might need it.
The mix of retro and modern graphics is absolutely amazing, even if they seem unusual at first.
You probably shouldn't select the higher difficulties on your 1st run.
Welcome to the Citadel Station, Hacker!

The elevator pitch here is:
Take System Shock, one of the first games ever made in the FPS genre and originator of an entire subgenre, and repackage it in modern graphics, changing only the extremely outdated control scheme out with a modern FPS scheme and leaving most everything else regarding gameplay and art style intact.
The result is something that succeeds in the elevator pitch and so is worth your money.
It is not, however, a substantial gaming experience and is suspended purely in the realms of nostalgia and content tourism - sightseeing the past of video gaming in a modern package.
The game design is all very loose, with a lot of things present that do not serve to add any function to the gameplay loop. One of the first things you'll likely learn is that there is really no good reason to hoard a lot of junk to later turn into scrap metal, for example - then, as an extention to such a design, you'll also learn that there is really no need to be hauling a diverse array of weaponry either, as everything will kill the game's enemies all the same.
On that note, the enemies themselves don't ever offer very much excitement. Their biggest feature of note is that the space station's rogue AI, Shodan, can repopulate the level's enemies with some frequency. Respawning enemies are usually unwelcome for my tastes but I find that it doesn't break any fun factor in System Shock. It is lamentable that the sentient and rogue Artificial Intelligence themeing is paired with a very rudimentary enemy AI.
The game's biggest positive is the level design, as it is a sprawling semi-maze, with multiple rooms connecting to multiple other rooms on every floor. Therein lie multiple pockets of Resident Evil "take x item to y location" micro designs worked into the greater macro spread of interconnected rooms. Positional awareness, along with a set of pretty good power puzzles serve as the game's only ability to engage the player's senses, as the combat and gunplay are of a very stock affair.
Lastly, on the visuals. They are too faithful to the original for my liking. The space station is full of goofy neon lights and blocky metal panels. Most areas to be explored simply do not give off any kind of "lived in" sensation, which is - I think - one of the best qualities of the Shock genre. On a related note, the story serves a means to an end but is merely a prologue to the iconic plot of System Shock 2.
Overall, it's a fair purchase and far from the waste of time that millions of other games would be, but it only barely registers as a classic on the technicality of originating something substantial.

Phenomenal remake to a legendary game.
Updating System Shock to a modern immersive sim executed extremely well.
Absolutely worth the wait.
A must play.