System Shock 2, System Shock, and the lament of their fate...

[WillowIX]

Originally posted by Ziroc: I talk to a few folks at Irrational Games- really cool guys! They really want to make a sequel to System shock 2--I mean, the way it ENDED! [img]smile.gif[/img]

If you talk to them again Ziroc, keep badgering them about a sequal! SS was a great game and SS2 not far behind. It´s not a good game, it is a VERY good game! The SS series is the only 1st person shooter I´ve ever played (well that resembles a 1st PS anyway). I tried Deus Ex but it couldn´t match SS2.

[Sever]

Wow! What a great post, Oblivion437. I was a HUGE fan of SS when it first came out and was equally disappointed by its demise to the mighty Doom. As a fan of both genres (even though SS was the first in its genre) i can see the merits of both sides of the coin.

On the one hand we have the 1st person shooters whose function is to kill a few hours by killing endless numbers of stupid baddies in an ultra fast paced environment. Shallow, requiring little thought at all (the hardest puzzle is trying to guess whether that blue key will open the blue door). It did, however, present a challenge. Few games before Doom required quick keyboard controls and lightning reflexes in order to survive. Up until then, PC games were mainly slow simulations, turn based strategies or point and click adventures. It appealed to a gaming community that were otherwise fixated on their 16-bit consoles. It seems iD are still emphasising this with q3 (by far the fastest game, in any genre, that i've ever seen).

On the other hand, we have the 1st person/RPG/strategy games (for lack of a better title) of which SS was the first. It combined strategic combat and puzzles with RPG elements in an atmospheric environment reinforced by a plot that you could truly immerse yourself in. It had depth that appealed to [ahem] intelligent gamers as well as superior graphics, sound and interface. This was a game for enthusiasts and was criminally under rated and wrongly categorized as a doom clone. Many succesful games since owe that success to the 'hardcore' community of gamers which SS helped to create. The only reason i can see for its overshadowing by doom is the fact that it was ahead of its time.

SS2, however, i can not comment on and i'm hoping someone may be able to help me with this. Some time ago, i bought SS2 (EA Classics) and was sorely disappointed. Not by the game itself. I've never played it. Apparently it has "known compatability issues with WinXP" (Aah Microsoft - bless their hearts). I've tried looking for patches and consulting with the retailer. I even sent a few emails to EA to find out what was wrong but never got a reply. After two weeks of reinstallation, configuration and stonewalling i gave up and deleted it from my hard-drive. If anybody has experienced this same problem and worked around it, i really would like to know how it was achieved. This thread has rekindled my desire to play a first person game with depth.

[Oblivion437]

If Irrational teamed up with ION Storm, we'd have the entire development crew for both games. The only problem might be conflicting vision, as SS2 was heavy, atmospheric, dark, Warren Spector is more into Grand, Epic, Huge. However, they'd overcome it, I'm sure.

[Sever]

Finaly got SS2 to work! Combination of a software patch (which the website indicated is not required for the version i have) and the WinXP compatability mode for Win2000. That's right, an XP feature that actually works! After being initially disgruntled at having to wait so long due to problems that could have been fixed in a day, i was totally blown away by the atmosphere and level of immersion of SS2. Not to mention the horror. I can't explain the tension you feel when you're standing in a small electrical conduit trying to fix your weapons with only a wrench for self defense when a mutant horror slowly walks past mumbling obscenities to itself. Or when you're hiding behind some broken desk reading your emails when you hear a scream and look up to see a crazed chimpanzee running toward you. Absolutely, spine chillingly AWESOME. My hat goes off to LG. They've done a remarkeable job of converting all the original horror and suspense into a newer engine. I am at a loss to explain how a game as good as this could possibly be a commercial failure. What's wrong with gamers today?

[Angelousss]

I never played ss1 but i picked up ss2 one day(pcgamer had been extolling it for years) and was amazed by it. I remember screaming when i was attacked by the first bad guy. the only game i've played that even comes near the atomsphere in ss2 is AvP2, the human campaign is great, I highly recommend it