For one thing, the new System Shock is undeniably modern. Looking Glass’s palette, which starts with turquoise and orange and goes bolder from there, gives it a contemporary beauty. Without Robb Waters’ input, this station would look garish. Instead, it’s less lurid than vivid. Cyberspace sequences set you adrift inside a mercurial motherboard with the anti-grav lifts bursting with a yellow haze. I can’t help but fire the screenshot key more often than my own weapons when visiting. The golden walls move woozily, like waves on the ocean, and primary-coloured masks fire projectiles in abstract, bullet hell waves.
Then there are the elements that have been lifted from the games Looking Glass inspired. The soothing hiss-and-snap of the medipatch was first heard in System Shock 2 and made its way to the BioShock series before coming here, to the homeland it never knew. The Tetris-esque inventory has made a similar journey back from the future in order to force you into difficult choices while managing your gear. This remake uses the recycler, which appeared in System Shock’s sequel, as a resource economy. Any junk item can be broken down and exchanged for credits, which can be pumped into vending machines for desperately needed consumables and upgrades.
As a result, you can quickly become a dedicated litter-picker, like the protagonists of Bethesda’s Fallout games. As someone who enjoys such a role – whose attention is naturally drawn to Citadel’s well-decorated rooms – your mileage may vary. Station appliances are more readily loved. Using an irresistible series of staccato clinks, the mechanical recycler visually devours your carefully arranged garbage, before firing fresh coins into the pile. There are a number of vending machines that can be activated by placing coins in the right slots and pressing the numbers to drop chocolate bars. It’s this complete lack of automation that makes these simple acts so enthralling – the kind of mundanity that grounds you in an outlandish world.
Its tactility extends to the rewiring puzzles in System Shock, too, in which you need to open locked doors in Citadel or restore glowing laser bridges across chasms. They’re not that much different from BioShock’s pipe puzzles – they’re just more complex and varied. It’s funny how a minigame doesn’t feel like one when it’s seamlessly integrated into the world. It’s as if SHODAN refuses to let you escape from her oppression. As you smash up SHODAN’s CCTV and datacores, you gradually reduce her influence as you take back Citadel. You’ll have to backtrack in the mission once you’ve claimed a level and moved on to the next to foil the murderous AI, as well as unlock armouries. Meanwhile, no environment is really safe since mutants and cyborgs keep arriving.
Combat is fought in the mind as much as with the fingers. While you’ll unlock some endearingly daft jet-boots midway through the game, Nightdive wisely rejects the mobility of today’s dominant first-person shooters in order to preserve a steadier pace. There’ll be no sliding or mantling in the corridors. The deadeye accuracy of SHODAN’s cyborgs ensures you won’t be outmanoeuvring your opponents. Leaning around corners and taking aim remain important. You should know your enemy. Match your weapon or ammo type with your target, and waste as few shots as possible. Double taps to the head will kill a mutant, and spare bullets are your future self’s gift. System Shock is a resource game at all times.
Hits don’t always deliver the force you’d expect, whether melee or ballistic. Deus Ex and Dishonored fans may not find everything they’re looking for in the original immersive game. As a result, System Shock has always been harder and more punishing than its children. It cleaves close to that original pitch if you’re into space dungeoning with one of gaming’s most iconic and influential villains. Our creepy, manipulative robot mother knows best. The result has proven them right.
