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 answers the question of what if they remade the game but stuck to the original approach so you can see what worked and what didn’t. This is largely what Nightdive remasters do and I love (for better and worse) that they mirrored it in adjusting System Shock for a modern release. If you have any love for Thief or the old days of PC gaming, pick this up.

TLDR: Glowing recommendation if you are looking for a survival shooter with a heavy focus on exploration. If you are unsure, the demo is free to try out. Set Hacking to Easy.
As someone who never played the original this was my first introduction to the franchise. So this review will mostly be for people who are new as well.
This game is about being a rat in a maze. You are a hacker, trapped on a deathtrap of a space station built by a dystopian company and now run by a rogue AI named SHODAN who absolutely hates humanity. She is currently powering up a laser to destroy Earth and you have to stop her. The story has some developments, but overall it serves mostly to reinforce the feeling of hopelessness. SHODAN controls nearly everything on the station and she wants you dead. She holds almost all the cards and will spend the next dozen or so hours mocking you for your insignificance. Simple premise. Great execution, especially thanks to the actress who voices her.
The gameplay focusses around scrounging for supplies and finding a way to stop SHODANs plans. Exploration and resource management are the name of the game. The station is a gigantic labyrinth and you have to learn how to navigate it while spending as few bullets and health items as possible. You also have no quest log. While it is usually pretty clear what your current main goal at hand is, you will have to pay close attention to logs and calls to figure out what to do, where to go and what passwords to use. The game mercifully archives all audiologs, text messages and even NPC interactions, but some codes might be only appearing in the level, so have something to write at hand. If everything else fails there is no shame in looking up a guide online, and funnily enough a lot of the guides of the original game also apply here, which shows how close to the source material this remake is.
The game also has multiple difficulty settings, and for the first time I would recommend setting story not to hard, as that adds an instant death timer which can add a welcome challenge, but it also means that you have less time to explore. As a big focus of the game lies on finding clues and the dopamine rush of discovering a new weapon or a large cache of supplies, having to cut that short and ignore some corners because you run out of time might suck on the first playthrough. I also recommend setting Hacking difficulty to Easy no matter what you are doing, for a simple reason:
The game has some shortcomings. The final boss could have been an email, the shotgun is underwhelming, but the single biggest flaw of the game is the hacking minigame. All the intrinsic gameplay loop about exploration, choosing weaponry and upgrades and learning the layout of your prison means nothing for the hacking minigame. You fly a little drone through a colourful mini dungeon, shoot up enemies with annoying movement patterns and unlock some doors. There is little challenge, mostly tedium. The less you have to deal with it, the better, so set it to Easy and just rush through the nonsense.
But apart from that the game offers an amazing survival experience without ever becoming bogged down in tedium (outside of hacking) that I have not seen in many other games of the genre. The demo containing the first floor can be downloaded for free and I recommend giving it a try if any of the above felt even vaguely appealing.
Also **** beta grove.

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!