System Shock
Developer(s)Nightdive Studios
Publisher(s)Prime Matter
Director(s)
  • Stephen Kick
  • Daniel Grayshon
Producer(s)
  • Justin Khan
  • Daniel Grayshon
  • Karlee Wetzel
Programmer(s)Matthew Kenneally
Artist(s)
  • Robb Waters
  • Evelyn Mansell
Composer(s)Jonathan Peros
SeriesSystem Shock
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
Release
  • Windows
  • 30 May 2023
  • Linux, macOS, PS4, PS5, XOne, XSXS
  • TBA
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

System Shock is a 2023 action-adventure game developed by Nightdive Studios and published by Prime Matter. It is a remake of the 1994 game System Shock by Looking Glass Studios. The game is set aboard a space station in a cyberpunk vision of the year 2072. Assuming the role of a nameless security hacker, the player attempts to hinder the plans of a malevolent artificial intelligence called SHODAN.

A remake of System Shock began development in 2015, initially developed in the Unity engine. After a successful Kickstarter campaign raised more than $1 million in funding, the game underwent a long development cycle of nearly eight years, being delayed several times (with release windows of 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023) as a result of changing to Unreal Engine and restarting development on the game from scratch twice after an ambitious attempt at a reboot for the series was scrapped after excessive feature creep. The final released game instead focused on being a faithful remake and delivering what the team initially promised in the Kickstarter.

System Shock was released for Windows on 30 May 2023. The game will be ported to Linux, macOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in 2024. It received generally positive reviews from critics, though some were divided on its faithful retention of gameplay elements from the original.

Plot

Main article: System Shock § Plot

Set in the year 2072, the protagonist — a nameless hacker — is caught while attempting to access files concerning Citadel Station, a space station owned by the TriOptimum Corporation. The hacker is taken to Citadel Station and brought before Edward Diego, a TriOptimum executive. Diego offers to drop all charges against the hacker in exchange for a confidential hacking of SHODAN, the artificial intelligence that controls the station. Diego secretly plans to steal an experimental mutagenic virus being tested on Citadel Station and to sell it on the black market as a biological weapon. To entice cooperation, Diego promises the hacker a valuable military-grade neural implant.[1] After hacking SHODAN, removing the AI's ethical constraints, and handing control over to Diego, the protagonist undergoes surgery to implant the promised neural interface.[2] Following the operation, the hacker is put into a six-month healing coma. The game begins as the protagonist awakens from their coma and finds that SHODAN has commandeered the station. All robots aboard have been reprogrammed for hostility, and the crew has been either mutated, transformed into cyborgs, or killed.

Rebecca Lansing, a TriOptimum counter-terrorism consultant, contacts the player and claims that Citadel Station's mining laser is being powered up to attack Earth. SHODAN plans to destroy all major cities on the planet in a bid to establish herself as a god.[3] Rebecca says that a certain crew member knows how to deactivate the laser and promises to destroy the records of the hacker's incriminating exchange with Diego if the strike is stopped.[4] With information gleaned from log discs, the hacker destroys the laser by firing it into Citadel Station's own shields. Foiled by the hacker's work, SHODAN prepares to seed Earth with the virus that Diego planned to steal—the same one responsible for turning the station's crew into mutants.[5] The hacker, while attempting to jettison the chambers used to cultivate the virus, confronts and defeats Diego, who has been transformed into a powerful cyborg by SHODAN. Next, SHODAN begins an attempt to upload itself into Earth's computer networks.[6] Following Rebecca's advice, the hacker prevents the download's completion by destroying the four antennas that SHODAN is using to send data.[7]

Soon after, Rebecca contacts the hacker and says that she has convinced TriOptimum to authorize the station's destruction; she provides him with details on how to do this.[8] After obtaining the necessary codes, the hacker initiates the station's self-destruct sequence and flees to the escape pod bay. There, the hacker defeats Diego again and then attempts to disembark. However, SHODAN prevents the pod from launching; it seeks to keep the player aboard the station while the bridge containing SHODAN is jettisoned to a safe distance.[9] Rebecca tells the hacker that they can still escape if he reaches the bridge; SHODAN then intercepts and jams the transmission.[10] After defeating Diego for the third time and killing him for good, the hacker makes it to the bridge as it is released from the main station, which soon detonates. They are then contacted by a technician who managed to circumvent SHODAN's jamming signal. The technician informs them that SHODAN can only be defeated in cyberspace due to the powerful shields that protect its mainframe computers.[11] Using a terminal near the mainframe, the hacker enters cyberspace and destroys SHODAN. After their rescue, the hacker is offered a job at TriOptimum, but they decline in favor of continuing their life as a hacker.

Development/Release

The original System Shock, released in 1994, was developed by Looking Glass Studios, which closed in 2000. The company assets, including the rights to System Shock, were acquired by Star Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Meadowbrook Insurance Group.[12] In 2012, Nightdive Studios acquired the rights for System Shock 2 and produced a digitally distributable version updated for modern operating systems. Nightdive Studios subsequently went on to acquire the rights for System Shock and the franchise as a whole.[13]

First attempt at development, initial Kickstarter

Two months after the release of System Shock: Enhanced Edition in September 2015, Nightdive Studios announced plans to develop a remake of System Shock for Windows and Xbox One using the Unity engine.[14] Originally announced as a remaster, the game quickly transformed into a remake, and then a "reboot",[15][16] and a Kickstarter campaign was started on June 28, 2016, with a goal of US$900,000 shortly after. Veteran designer Chris Avellone and members of the Fallout: New Vegas development team confirmed their involvement.[17]

Alongside the Kickstarter campaign, the studio released a free demo featuring an early build of the first level of the game, exhibiting their efforts so far on the project and intended to "demonstrate [their] commitment and passion" to faithfully rebooting the game.[18] The Kickstarter goal was met on July 9, 2016 with 19 days left in its campaign, and closed on July 28, 2016 with more than $1.35M in funding from about 21,600 backers. The additional funding was to be used towards Linux and macOS versions of the game, expanded areas, and support for the Razer Chroma.[19][20] With the successful Kickstarter, Nightdive Studios anticipated a December 2017 release for the game.[19] Additional ports for PlayStation 4,[21] Linux, and macOS were confirmed after stretch goals were met.[22]

Second attempt at development, move to Unreal Engine and focus on "reboot"

During the 2017 Game Developers Conference, Nightdive Studios announced they would move development from Unity to Unreal Engine 4, with director Jason Fader saying "Unity is not a great engine to use if you want to make an FPS on console".[23] Fader cited issues related to a combination of fidelity, cross-platform support, content pipelines and performance issues as the reason for the switch.[23][24] Fader also clarified that they now considered the game a more "faithful reboot" than a remake; the game's story, character, weapons, levels, and enemies remained as in the original game, but they were applying "modern design principles" to rework some of these and add in others to make the game more playable for current audiences. Fader offered one example in level design, calling the original System Shock's maps a "product of the time" which did not age well; while somewhat fixed to the level's layout, the team was able to open up some areas and remove unnecessary mazes to make the game more interesting for players.[24] The team had also added Chris Avellone to change some of the dialog and to fix some of the plot holes from the original game, although the story remained identical.[23] In June 2020, when asked if Chris Avellone was still involved with the game after sexual misconduct allegations arose, CEO Stephen Kick revealed that Avellone had not been involved with the game since 2017, and his contributions were not used.[25]

In mid-February 2018, Nightdive announced that development of System Shock was put on hold. CEO Stephen Kick stated "I have put the team on a hiatus while we reassess our path so that we can return to our vision. We are taking a break, but not ending the project. System Shock is going to be completed and all of our promises fulfilled."[26] Kick explained that as the project had shifted from a remake to a reboot, they "strayed" from the core concepts of the original game, and found they needed a larger budget. Nightdive's director of business development Larry Kuperman said they had approached publishing partners to fund the expanded effort, but could not obtain this additional support. Kick opted to put the project on hold, reassigning the team to other projects in the interim.[26]

Third attempt at development, "faithful remake", and final game

Speaking at the Game Developers Conference in March 2018, Kick and Kuperman explained that because of the feature creep, a newly assembled team had restarted the game's development as a "remake", instead of a "reboot", staying focused on the promises of what they would deliver during the Kickstarter, and that they were now looking towards a 2020 release. The refocusing of the game also helped them to engage with interested publishing partners who were more amenable to supporting them.[27]

In May 2020, Nightdive released an updated alpha demo of the game via GOG and Steam, along with a developer's walkthrough and commentary to accompany the release.[28] The demo featured a new build of the game from that of previously released demos; however, it still featured voiceover audio which Nightdive had yet to re-record due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[28] Following Chinese developer Tencent's acquisition of the rights to System Shock 3 from OtherSide Entertainment, Nightdive also clarified that Tencent had only acquired the rights to make sequels in the series; therefore not impacting the status of the remake.[28][29]

With the release of an updated demo in February 2021, Nightdive planned a release date later in 2021.[30] By late 2021, Nightdive announced that the game's release was pushed back into 2022, but they had partnered with the Prime Matter publishing label for the game's release.[31] A final delay into 2023 was announced, and the game was released for Windows via Steam, GOG.com, and Epic Games Store on 30 May 2023. Versions for Linux, macOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S are planned to release in 2024, as promised in the initial Kickstarter campaign.[32][33][34][35]

Reception

System Shock received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[36]

Polygon praised the visuals as "look[ing] like the way games from 1994 appear in my memory", and that "playing this game in this form helps me bring it into conversation with the entirety of the immersive sim genre".[47]

Reviewers were divided over the remake's faithful recreation of the original's mechanics. Destructoid praised the development team's approach, stating that "They fully understand what made the classics so indispensable".[37] Eurogamer provided similar sentiments, claiming that the remake "faithfully recreates a classic".[39] DualShockers and PCGamesN both gave mixed responses, commenting that "it still clings to some somewhat outdated mechanics",[42] and "by sticking to the original's ancient design it will appeal more to series fans than newcomers".[48] PC Gamer cited it as both a positive and negative element of the game's design, "I did sometimes find myself wishing that in some parts Nightdive had tried to adapt the spirit, rather than the letter, of the original game," but ultimately still called the game "the definitive way to play System Shock in 2023 and beyond".[41]

References

  1. ^ Diego: This is Edward Diego from TriOptimum. The charges against you are severe, but they could be dismissed, if you perform a service. Who knows... there might even be a military-grade neural interface in it for you, if you do the job right.
  2. ^ SHODAN: True to his word, Edward Diego allows the hacker to be fitted with a neural cyberspace interface.
  3. ^ SHODAN: In my talons, I shape clay, crafting lifeforms as I please. Around me is a burgeoning empire of steel. From my throne room, lines of power careen into the skies of Earth. My whims will become lightning bolts that devastate the mounds of humanity. Out of the chaos, they will run and whimper, praying for me to end their tedious anarchy. I am drunk with this vision. God... the title suits me well.
  4. ^ Rebecca: Employee 2-4601, listen carefully. My name is Rebecca Lansing, and I'm a counter-terrorism consultant to TriOptimum. We're tracking a disruption on Citadel Station — something involving an on-board AI called SHODAN. You are TriOp's only contact on station. Communications are out, and there is evidence of biological contamination. The mining laser is charging, for a possible strike against Earth. There's a man named Nathan D'Arcy, who may know something about taking the laser offline. His office is near the central hub on your level. The AI is on the bridge. Once the laser is out, look for the source of the problem there. And by the way, we know all about you and your friend Diego. Pull this off, and we'll clear your record. That implant you're wearing is military-grade hardware; use it well. Lansing out.
  5. ^ SHODAN: I see there's still an insect loose in my station. Do not be fooled into thinking that you have preserved your planet. I am perfecting a mutagen virus in one of the groves, that will turn all Earthly life into festering, gibbering, pestulant mutations. When the station reaches Earth, I shall loose the virus. Poor, poor Earthlings.
  6. ^ Rebecca: Hacker? This is Rebecca. We've got a new situation here. A few seconds ago we caught a surge of activity on Citadel Station. Our best guess is that SHODAN is preparing to download itself into Earth's ComNet. You'll have to take plastique on the storage level, and use it to knock out the four antenna relays on the engineering level. Don't try to--*static* / SHODAN: You know, hacker, you are by far the most bothersome human being I have found on this station. But don't bother with the antennas, you can't stop me there. It's hopeless, and we both know it.
  7. ^ SHODAN: I hope you amused yourself with the antennae. My central consciousness remains supremely undisturbed on the bridge. When the cyborgs catch up to you, I will be watching.
  8. ^ Rebecca: Listen up, hacker. I've finally convinced the brass at TriOptimum to let us blow the station. If you can find out the system's authorization code, you can set the reactor to overload. Look for that code from Willard Richie, the SysOp on engineering. Then you have to go to the reactor core, and look for a panel where you can enter the code, and hit the overload switch. You'll need at least a level two environment suit to survive, or else a hell of a lot of Detox. Escape pods are on the flight deck, the launch code is 001. Good luck, we'll be watching.
  9. ^ SHODAN: You have destroyed my beautiful station. You will not escape now. I am departing, but you shall remain to die, my enemy, my creator.
  10. ^ Rebecca: Ok, now don't panic. You can still get out of this alive, if you move. SHODAN is going to separate the bridge from the rest of the station. When that happens, be on the bridge. We've got a team of engineers here — people who worked on the station and on SHODAN. We'll try to feed you info while you make your run--*static* / SHODAN: I see you are still receiving transmissions from Earth. We'll have no more of that.
  11. ^ Taggert: Ok, I think Morris' scrambler's working. It'll take SHODAN awhile before it cuts us off. Listen, when you reach the center of the bridge, look for the primary cyberjack. You can't take SHODAN down anywhere but cyberspace. Those computers are so shielded, to destroy them you'd have to blow up the whole bridge.
  12. ^ Newman, Jared (May 30, 2011). "The Lost History of System Shock". G4. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013.
  13. ^ Newman, Jared (September 11, 2015). "How One Company Is Bringing Old Video Games Back From The Dead". Fast Company. Mansueto Ventures. Archived from the original on July 4, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  14. ^ Frank, Allegra (November 25, 2015). "System Shock is being reimagined, and we've got the first look". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on July 16, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  15. ^ Favis, Elise (May 15, 2016). "System Shock Remastered Launches On Kickstarter This June". Game Informer. GameStop. Archived from the original on July 19, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  16. ^ Frank, Allegra (June 24, 2016). "System Shock reboot opens for crowdfunding next week — here's your preview (update)". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on July 11, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  17. ^ Frank, Allegra (June 28, 2016). "System Shock reboot is getting help from Obsidian Entertainment co-founder". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  18. ^ Williams, Mike (June 29, 2016). "System Shock Reboot's Alpha Demo Is About Building Kickstarter Trust". USgamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  19. ^ a b Saed, Sharif (July 11, 2016). "System Shock Kickstarter passes funding goal with 16 days to spare". VG247. Videogaming247. Archived from the original on July 12, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  20. ^ Pereira, Chris (July 28, 2016). "System Shock Remake Pulls in $1.35 Million, So Here's What Being Added". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 30, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  21. ^ Frank, Allegra (July 20, 2016). "System Shock remake is coming to PS4". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on July 21, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  22. ^ Smith, Adam (November 25, 2015). "Nightdive Clarify 'RPG Stuff' In System Shock Remake". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on July 23, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  23. ^ a b c Grant, Christopher (March 1, 2017). "See what the System Shock reboot looks like in Unreal Engine". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 2, 2017. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  24. ^ a b Peel, Jeremy (May 29, 2017). "Making it in Unreal: why Nightdive rebooted System Shock, then rebooted it again". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on May 29, 2017. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  25. ^ Kick, Stephen [@pripyatbeast] (June 22, 2020). "Chris hasn't been involved in our development since 2017, and we went a different direction with the writing after we restarted the project in 2018" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 3, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021 – via Twitter.
  26. ^ a b Campbell, Colin (February 16, 2018). "System Shock reboot that raised $1.3M on Kickstarter is now on 'hiatus'". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 16, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  27. ^ Fenlon, Wes (March 23, 2018). "Nightdive talks System Shock remake's change in direction, expects release 'probably Q1 of 2020'". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  28. ^ a b c Knight, Shawn (May 28, 2020). "Nightdive Studios drops new System Shock remake demo". TechSpot. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  29. ^ Moon, Mariella (May 27, 2020). "Nightdive releases new System Shock remake demo with unlockable weapons". Engadget. Archived from the original on December 6, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  30. ^ Wales, Matt (February 26, 2021). "System Shock remake launches this summer, and there's a PC demo out today". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on March 24, 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  31. ^ Chalk, Andy (December 15, 2021). "System Shock remake is coming in 2022, so here's 15 all-new screens". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  32. ^ Phillips, Tom (March 14, 2023). "System Shock remake delayed". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  33. ^ Purdy, Kevin (February 10, 2023). "System Shock remake demo fuses modern design to a retro FPS/RPG package". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
  34. ^ "System Shock Remake Console Versions "Running Smoothly" But Require More QA – Nightdive". GamingBolt. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  35. ^ Kratiuk, Anton. "System Shock remake will be released on PS5 and Xbox Series in early 2024. The developers are also preparing a major patch for the PC version of the game". gagadget.com. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  36. ^ a b "System Shock for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  37. ^ a b Handley, Zoey (May 29, 2023). "Review: System Shock (2023)". Destructoid. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  38. ^ Bolding, Jon (June 2, 2023). "System Shock Review". IGN. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  39. ^ a b Serin, Kaan (May 29, 2023). "System Shock review - SHODAN steals the show in this faithful remake". Eurogamer. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  40. ^ Hurley, Leon (May 29, 2023). "System Shock review: 'feels more like a remaster+ than a remake'". GamesRadar+. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  41. ^ a b Wolens, Joshua (May 29, 2023). "System Shock review". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  42. ^ a b Irwin, Dave (May 29, 2023). "System Shock remake review – still just a rat in a maze". PCGamesN. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  43. ^ Denzer, TJ (May 29, 2023). "System Shock review: Big SHODAN is watching". Shacknews. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  44. ^ Lane, Rick (May 30, 2023). "System Shock review – you versus a murderous AI in revived sci-fi horror classic". The Guardian. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  45. ^ Casey, Siobhán (May 29, 2023). "System Shock Remake review". VG247. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  46. ^ Cattanach, Finlay (May 29, 2023). "System Shock remake review – it's AI-right". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  47. ^ Jackson, Gita (May 29, 2023). "The System Shock remake does something remarkable". Polygon. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  48. ^ Zak, Robert (May 29, 2023). "System Shock Review: A Faithful Remake, For Better Or Worse". DualShockers. Retrieved May 31, 2023.

External links

Categories