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System Shock 2 is the 1999 sequel to the 1994 Looking Glass Studios computer game System Shock. It was developed by Looking Glass offshoot Irrational Games and Looking Glass and published by Electronic Arts.

Overview

Storyline

The game takes place in 2114, forty-two years after the events in System Shock, with the TriOptimum starship Von Braun serving as its main setting. The Von Braun is on its maiden voyage as the first faster-than-light starship in human history, and is joined by a Unified National Nominate (UNN) military starship, the Rickenbacker, an armed escort for the journey into the unknown.

Five months into the voyage, the player (a unnamed UNN soldier based on the Rickenbacker), wakes up in a cryo-tube on the medical deck of the Von Braun, with a new cybernetic interface system, and no memory of the past few weeks. Despite this amnesia, it immediately becomes apparent that both the Von Braun, and the adjoining Rickenbacker, have been taken over by a mysterious alien force; one that has already killed or absorbed into its ranks the majority of the former crew.

The player is soon contacted by a survivor, Dr.Janice Polito. She explains the situation, and demands that the player make his way up to her through the occupied ship in order that they may take the next course of action against the unknown invaders. With Polito as a guide, the player sets out, all the while piecing together various clues to discover what has really happened. From the audio logs of slaughtered crewmembers, and occasional transmissions from Polito herself, the player gradually comes to find out the true nature of the alien infestation - and of its creator.

Gameplay

The game takes the tenets of its predecessor, namely to combine a sci-fi/horror action game with role-playing/adventure elements, one step further by relying on a version of the Dark engine used in Thief for visuals and atmosphere. The Dark engine was never delivered to the developers as a finished engine in the sense that the Quake and Unreal engines are, but was made available to both projects as it was developed. In the Gamasutra postmortem, project manager and programmer Jonathan Chey states that it should still be possible to create an executable which can run both games, which should serve to describe the close relationship between the two games.

In System Shock 2 the player character has a number of specific skills that can come into play at various points in the game depending on how the player decides to develop the character and play the game. The character can initially be chosen from three different professions: a gun-slinging Marine, a Navy hacker/engineer or an OSA psi-corps psionic with magic-like abilities. Through choosing three different tours of duty, the character can be further customized before the start of the game. Throughout the rest of the game, statistics and skills can be purchased and upgraded using "Cybernetic modules" at upgrade stations.

In these aspects, System Shock 2 has as much in common with computer role-playing games as with first person shooters. The gameplay requires more adaptability and alternative problem solving than most first-person shooters, mainly because combat is very challenging by comparison: many weapons in System Shock 2 require special skills, while both ammunition and skill points are hard to come by. Furthermore, guns degrade through use and can eventually break and must be maintained and/or repaired with the use of certain skills or items reliant on skill values. In a typical game, the player will only be able to use half of the weapons or psionic disciplines depending on one's choice of specialization. This provides a good amount of replayability and forces the player to think about their choices.

Items are picked up in a fashion similar to the first game, by aiming the crosshairs and right-clicking or by using drag-and-drop with the inventory window. However, the cursor is locked to the centre of the screen, as in most modern first person games. The Dark engine allows for very detailed placement of objects compared to most first-person games. Items, weapons and upgrade modules can therefore be found hidden underneath benches, fallen into cracks in the floor or on top of piping in the ceiling. The player must look carefully to find such items, which would not be feasible in a game such as Half-Life, where the only way to collect items is by walking on top of them.

Presentation

The horror element in System Shock 2 is quite pronounced; many players have found the game to be very scary. This effect is achieved by the random, mostly non-scripted movement and appearance of enemies in an environment which is often very dark and fearsome, and the vivid horror material present in many scenes. In its review of System Shock 2 as one of "The Greatest Games of All Time", GameSpot states:

"The game was scary. Damn scary. And this isn't schlocky-horror-movie-style monster-closet scary, where the bogeyman jumps out at you when you least expect it. Shock 2 projected real psychological terror through the tragic grotesquery of the formerly human enemies, the urgency and grim portent of the crew members' audio logs, and the unparalleled sound design that brought the menace and forebodingness of the Von Braun to horrible life." *

Enemies

There are a number of powerful enemies within System Shock 2. This is a short list of the primary leading enemies, with a small description.

SHODAN : SHODAN returns from her apparent defeat in the first game, however this time she seeks to enlist the player as an unlikely partner in eradicating The Many.

XERXES : An AI similar in structure to SHODAN, but not quite as intelligent, and with many more safety protocols, XERXES is the primary computer system of the starship Von Braun. He is corrupted by the infestation that takes over the ship and becomes a puppet for the will of The Many.

The Many : A biological collective that has evolved from SHODAN's genetic experimentation on Citadel, The Many have infested the Von Braun in hopes of spreading across the galaxy. Turning against SHODAN (whom they call the "Machine Mother"), they are the primary antagonist in System Shock 2 and the only reason why SHODAN tolerates the player's presence in the second game.

Capt. Anatoly Korenchkin : The Captain of the Von Braun and a true "company man," Korenchkin wants so much for the mission to succeed that he is willing to go to any lengths to make sure that anything bad on the ship is covered up, up to negligently ignoring the warnings of the Chief Engineer, Dr. Marie Delacroix. He is also the one responsible for bringing The Many on to the Von Braun in the first place.

Reception

Much as the original System Shock's commercial defeat was at the hands of the mainstream Doom, System Shock 2, despite critical acclaim *, was essentially eclipsed by Half-Life.

System Shock 2 has won numerous awards.

  • http://www.irrationalgames.com/shock2/
  • http://top100.ign.com/2005/041-050.html
  • http://www.gamespot.com/features/6130956/index.html

Future of the series

System Shock rights issues

Because of the way the rights to the System Shock series were sold after Looking Glass liquidated, the possibility of a System Shock 3 is unlikely. Many companies purchased small sections of the franchise, and many of these companies do not even know they own them. Some fans hold the view, however, that this also prevents any company from making an "unworthy" sequel. Electronic Arts does appear to own the majority of the rights, though, as they have sent cease and desist letters to groups and individuals making unofficial System Shock-based content for various games.

On January 9, 2006, Electronic Arts renewed their trademark protection on the title "System Shock" in the United States, leading to speculation that they intend to use the title to make a new gameThis information was announced at nearly the same time that Take-Two Interactive announced their acquisition of Irrational Games, with their new title Bioshock slated for release in early 20072006 issue of Game Informer, which mentions the possibility that EA has just put the team behind the recent The Game game in charge of a System Shock 3 project.[http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/irrational/rumor-system-shock-3-in-the-works-181296.php" target="_blank" >*

Bioshock

In 2004, Irrational Games announced a 'spiritual successor' to the System Shock series, entitled Bioshock. The game apparently takes place in an abandoned underwater utopian community that has somehow gone awry through events involving the genetic modification of its populous.

Patches and Fan Modifications

The official patch updates the game from the release version (1.15) to version 2.3. Players must have the release version for the patch to work. It adds multiplayer support, a new difficulty level, the ability to modify the rate of enemy spawning and gun degradation, and several bugfixes. The patch can be applied without breaking savegames.

The "No Spiders" patch removes the spider enemies from the game. Some people with severe arachnophobia were unable to continue after encountering these enemies.

A free fan-made add-on pack, called "Rebirth," is available on the Internet, which increases some of the polygon counts and provides new textures to make the most of the new models. The polygon counts had been kept relatively low in the original release to ensure high performance speed. However, the developers have stated that they underestimated their 'budget' for performance and they could have made the polygon counts higher.

Rebirth, however, has received criticism from some, who believe that it changes the 'feel' of the original enemies. This has led to the creation of a second version, known as the "Complemented version", which makes further alterations to the enemy models in order to give a closer approximation of their original appearance.

The SHock Texture Upgrade Project (SHTUP), is a modification that aims to increase the resolution of the object textures used in the game to a more recent standard, whilst maintaining the same art-style. Most base textures in the game were only of 64x64 or 128x128 pixel resolution, while the SHTUP's are mostly 256x256.

External links

System Shock | 1999 computer and video games | Cancelled Dreamcast games | First-person shooters | Looking Glass Studios games | Computer and video role-playing games | Science fiction computer and video games | Windows games | Computer and video games featuring cooperative gameplay

System Shock 2 | System Shock 2

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "System Shock 2".

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