Review: System Shock (2023)
destructoid.comRemaking System Shock was always a risky proposition. Even as a fan of Nightdive Studio’s work on game preservation, I wasn’t sure they could pull it off. Normally, their approach is to simply port games to modern hardware, sometimes fully transplanting them to their Kex Engine. Fully remaking a game, though? Hm.
It’s not that System Shock isn’t in need of a remake, either. Much like many PC games of its time, it’s extremely unfriendly. It’s not necessarily a difficult game, but the learning curve isn’t just steep; it’s also covered in dish soap and broken glass. Even Nightdive’s previous System Shock: Enhanced Edition doesn’t really manage to soften its disposition.
However, System Shock’s obtuse systems also served a greater purpose. Even today, it’s a much more tactile and effective game than many modern titles. If you soften it too much and sand off all the rough edges, you run the risk of losing that and, as a result, losing what makes it special.
The solution to this problem is both elegant and decidedly Nightdive.
System Shock (PC [Reviewed], PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S)Developer: Nightdive StudiosPublisher: Prime Matter Release: May 30, 2023 (PC), TBA (Console) MSRP: $39.99
System Shock tells the story of a future hacker who finds his balls put in a vice by TriOptimum Corp. He’s given a deal where, if he assists a crooked executive in removing the ethical constraints on the AI of a space station, he’ll be outfitted with some military-grade cyber dealies.
What a quaint notion: AI with ethical constraints. As if.
While the hacker’s cyber-bod is healing, the AI, SHODAN, turns predictably evil and begins turning everyone on the station into cyborgs, mutants, or corpses. When the hacker wakes up, he finds
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