System Shock 2

roosterMAP

Someone should really bring back the glory that is System Shock 2, or at least attempt a sequel. I would, but Im way to busy these days. However, I may try to get a team together to make a full mod (kinda like the Black Mesa Source).

Too bad EA is hogging the license so that System Shock 3 will never be made.

JacqueChoi

Bioshock is considered to be the spiritual successor.

Same studio. Pretty good game too.

roosterMAP

I know. I've played bioshock, but system shock is way better in my opinion. SHODAN is badass!

swampbug

System Shock.. definitely. Definitely System Sock.

eld

systemshock series was quite more deep in terms of gameplay than bioshock, which only had the atmosphere.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID2BEXJ4IKc[/ame]

pure awesome.

Sandbag

honestly I think Deadspace is more like System Shock 2 in terms of the horror presentation (it even outright took a lot of encounters and cinematic moments right from it). Of course it's no RPG, but really I think the feeling was much more the same there than in Bioshock.

I would LOVE to see just a full on remake of SS2 though...That game was awesome, one of the best co-op experiences I've ever had. If someone could make that happen I'd have money ready in a heartbeat.

Farfarer

I think it's one of those games that would be lessened by a modern day sequel (see: Fallout franchise) and I don't think you could remake it today and have the same atmosphere. The hindered AI and low end graphics work so well because it's an expected part of a game of those times and the mechanics were built around those.

That said, it's one of the best games ever made (#3 in my list). I'd love to see a true spiritual successor. None of this vapid BioShock nonsense.

Ark

Bioshock is really dumbed down when compared to System Shock 2, still a great game though. If they did make a System Shock 3, i believe it would follow the same route and lose all that depth.

blankslatejoe

I'm with sandbag on this. Deadspace felt like it a lot of the same 'intended tone' that SS2 had. Gameplay wasn't the same by any measure, but for some reason it too evoked the same 'tone' to me. It seemed to me that if SS2 were to be remade today it might not end up being too far from Deadspace, in terms of the FPS+liteRPG mix.

Andreas

Tried to get into it, but the early 90's graphics are too prohibitive...

Farfarer

Don't be shallow :P

It's the sound and music that really make SS2 what it is. As for the graphics... just use your imagination

eld

systemshock2 still has one of the best sound designs out there.

Gmanx

There are excellent fan made texture/model updates which make the experience of SS2 a little more appealing for today's audience.

"We are we are one, we are the Many..... Join usssssssss......"

Bioshock was great - but too different for me to see it in the same way as SS1 + SS2.

I was involved with a mod group years ago who were making an SS 2.5 (if you will) using the doom 3 engine - called 'Sapphire Scar'. It kinda fizzled out - as these things do,

I still play System Shock 1 and 2 on a pretty regular basis.. They were about when I started getting in to PC gaming - so they hold a special place for me.

ebagg

Definitely one of my favorite games of all time, kinda made me laugh when they were hyping Bioshock to be this huge revolution of gameplay when really all it did was put a shiny new coat on what SS and SS2 did so many years before, in fact, Bioshock watered down a lot of SS2's gameplay to fit console play! Not to mention SS2's atmosphere is still one of the most well done in all of game history. Yup, I'm a fanboy of SS2, played thru it several times and enjoyed the cooperative mode added in the patch!

To bad the game ended with a horribly cliched and boring bossfight....same as Bioshock!

shotgun

yes check http://www.thief-thecircle.com/ for looking glass retro stuff. that high-res texture pack does exist... i tried the one from the same author for thief 3, i think, it was mostly better than the original.

the mind behind SS2 is ken levine... who also made my favorite thief games. if u liked ss2 + bioshock, don't skip thief! atmosphere and story to the max.

eidos montreal is currently working on thief 4... (also infamously known as thi4f)... we'll see how that goes erk

Ark

+1 for Thief. Eidos best not screw up no. 4 else the pitchforks coming out.

spacemonkey

eld wrote: »

systemshock2 still has one of the best sound designs out there.

yes the psychic monkeys make me crap my pants!

Vrav

SS2 is one of my favourite games ever!~ I have tried playing System Shock but didn't get very far. Maybe another day.

Marine

ea needs to stop sitting on all their classic ip's, they've got dungeon keeper and syndicate too, i want my damn sequels

and someone should have made a dungeon keeper tower defense game by now

Ark

Theres a rumor Starbreeze might be working on a new syndicate.

eld

guys, how about a systemshock 2 coop session?

one psi-ops, one marine, one engineer, and the fourth abundant guy who will be abundant

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9Eb6-_gcoc[/ame]

|Buddy|

I tried setting a SS2 coop game awhile ago but there was no one to play with lol.

Yeah Bioshock is dumbed down System Shock 2 (which is really sad, i blame consoles).

And Audio side of things was way ahead of its time.

achillesian

one of the few games that scared me too much to play, i was like 12 when i tried playing it though

HonkyPunch

Looking Glass studios were gods.
Lets hope the supposedly upcoming Thief game isn't a pile of shit (For the record, I thought Deadly Shadows was good)
But yes yes yes yes, I loved System Shock 2. SO good. I remember being trapped by one of those giant sentry bots, and hiding from it, frantically searching for Armor Piercing rounds, and then realizing the only way out was to run for my fucking life. In Bioshock, I could wrench a big daddy to death no problem. While awesome, this took out a huge portion of the fun that system shock had. Which reminds me of the time I accidentally crippled my legs in Deus Ex and had to crawl around for the rest of the mission, knee capping people. Oh the good old days.

Irreal

System Shock 2 is one of my favourite games of all time. It the first game I bought for a PC just as I was starting Uni with an aim to getting into the games industry. Although Bioshock was obviously the spiritual successor it always felt like a dumbed down version and was considerably less deep.

Still Rapture was an awesome location for a game and hopefully the sequel will go some way to capturing what made System Shock 2 great. I mean, Bioshock 2 is gonna sell regardless so why not make it a deeper game experience?

One more thing, I installed Bioshock again the other week just to check out Rapture and how they'd lit the environments. I found it funny how quickly the graphics have started to age in it. Still, was good for the time and am really looking forward to Bio2.

Oh man, System Shock 3 would be a dream game to work on (although Mass Effect 2 is looking pretty sweet if I do say so myself)

coldkodiak

best game ever.

roosterMAP

same. I think the old graphics give the game a certain charm. Still, unless I get involved in some crazy project within the next 6 months. Ill set up a team to remake system shock 2... only if its legal to release to public. If not, the f it.

eld

remakes are definately quite not legal , spicing up the old game with new graphics cannot be stopped though, and there's quite some room to do so:





a character in the original was mostly optimized down heavily to one single 128x256 texture, the artificial limitation is at 256x256 textures, but you can use as many materials/textures as you want, I put mine at 256 for the body and 128 for the head.

the polycount for originals were also at like 600-800 triangles, I've upped it to slightly 1500 if I remember right.


I would love to see a _consistant_ graphical makeover on this game, since the audio is already topnotch, and the user-interface is still easy to use with the fire and shoot, click and drag inventory, rightclick to use standard, very much like deus ex.

Farfarer

shotgun wrote: »

eidos montreal is currently working on thief 4... (also infamously known as thi4f)... we'll see how that goes erk

And, more importantly (to me at least), Deus Ex 3.

"Pleasedon'tfuckitup, pleasedon'tfuckitup, pleasedon'tfuckitup..." is a near daily chant for me with regards to both those games.

roosterMAP

are they still even workin on deus ex 3? also, i could never get into that game. dunno why.

eld

deus ex?, that game is like the long lost brother of systemshock2

Farfarer

And the best game ever made (imo)