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.

Really enjoyed this game. I never played the original, but this one stands on it's own and was a lot of fun. The inventory space is a little frustrating for the number of enemies you have to kill. But it's a minor complaint. Would happily recommend this to anyone that enjoys a thoughtful FPS. It's not on rails, and makes you strategize and plot to a degree. If you play, learn to add map markers early to things. Find a neat gun but not ready to pick it up? Map marker. Find a door that requires lower security? Map marker. Elevator? Mark it with the levels it goes to. Computer Node room? Map Marker. etc. etc. It's a big help. when you have to back track or want to quickly find something.

I recommend this game VERY cautiously. It does NOT hold your hand. I thought I knew what I was getting into and I didn't, not one bit. System Shock shirks modern game design sensibilities even when it would be in its best interest to keep them. It's an extremely faithful remake with only a modern control scheme, UI, and audio/visual. There is a lot of design here that feels like it is only there to pad game length and waste time, such as enemy respawns, the very limited inventory, and the amount of backtracking you have to do to find that one key item you didn't think was a key item and dropped off somewhere, leaving it to be forgotten. Cyberspace has no continues and no saves, so if you die at the end of it, even in a sometimes cheap manner, then tough luck... you'll have to start over. It is ruthless, but it still plays by its own rules and respects your freedom to screw yourself over.

The longer I played, the more frustrated I got, and it felt like the game was dragging on. I was always interested in System Shock but the original was prohibitively obtuse. I was pretty excited for this one because of that, since the modern control scheme alone was going to really help things along. My main interest with System Shock was exploring the space station and experiencing the story with SHODAN and how things went down. The things I didn't like about the game started to stack up, and I went from using mods to just straight up gifting myself god-mode in the last act because I wanted to finish the game already and a lot of what I was doing just felt like tedium. Why save scum around when I could just not worry about health/ammo, you know? Why drop items just to pick up other items to turn into scrap and then pick up the items I dropped... over and over and over again... when I could just lower the sizes of all the items to one square and not have to worry about it? The enemy respawning was getting in the way of exploration and just felt a little cheap, especially with how much ammo I was wasting on them (and if you go for melee, you WILL get hit, so if you don't want to have even MORE tedium of going all the way back to a restore bay you're going to be wasting medpatches as well).

That being said, I still love the atmosphere. The story is awesome. You can tell that the game was very lovingly crafted as a perfect homage to the original, right down to the unique, pixelated textures. The weapons all felt pretty satisfying to use, although enemies didn't react to them very much until their ragdoll upon death. The music is great, although the elevator track does get pretty grating after a while. I'd still recommend this game, but you REALLY have to know what you're getting into. You have to be extremely patient and make sure you note down everything you do. Make sure you have strategies for what you're going to do with your items, even the ones you might think are pointless. I've seen a lot of people now say it's good to drop them next to elevators since they won't disappear. I wish I hadn't gone into the game completely blind because it definitely hampered my experience and I had to use not only a walkthrough, but mods and even cheats to help me finish the game if I didn't want to spend double the time on it. I've got other things to do, other things to play, and I did feel like the game didn't respect my time all that much. Still, it's a well-developed game and it has a lot of good things going. It might just lean on those old design fundamentals a little too hard at times.

Do I like this game? Yes. Did I enjoy this game? For the most part, yes. Do I recommend this game? Yes. However, would I pick it up again and replay it? No. For the simple reason of the Boss fight, which really is one of the two points of criticism. The Boss fight, as it is now, is doable but so so difficult. You cannot skip Shodans monologue and sequence, no healing - feels kind of wonky if you ask me - no checkpoint there. Oh, and you have to "alt + f4" out of the end credits since they are non-skip, which feels like a odd note to end a game on.
Apart from those two points, i had hellofafun playing it. For the most part: Good job, Nightdive! But please add a checkpoint after that mentioned part of the boss fight, it would really add to the game experience.

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.

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!

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