System Shock | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Nightdive Studios |
Publisher(s) | Prime Matter |
Director(s) |
|
Producer(s) |
|
Programmer(s) | Matthew Kenneally |
Artist(s) |
|
Composer(s) | Jonathan Peros |
Series | System Shock |
Engine | Unreal Engine 4 |
Platform(s) | |
Release |
|
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 was ported to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 21 May 2024. It is also planned to release for Linux and macOS. It received generally positive reviews from critics, though some were divided on its faithful retention of gameplay elements from the original.
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 his 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 while the stations shields are raised. 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 he 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. He is 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 defeats SHODAN, restoring her to pre-hack state. After his rescue, the hacker receives an email from TriOptimum offering him a job at their company, but he declines by deleting the email in favor of continuing his life as a hacker.
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]
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]
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]
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 PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S are planned to release in 2024, as promised in the initial Kickstarter campaign. It is also planned to release for Linux and macOS. [32] [33] [34] [35] On 12 March 2024, Nightdive and Prime Matter announced that the game would release for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on 21 May 2024. Physical editions will release for PlayStation 5 and Xbox One/Xbox Series X. [36] [37]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | 78/100 [38] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Destructoid | 9/10 [39] |
Eurogamer | [40] |
GamesRadar+ | [41] |
IGN | 9/10 [42] |
PC Gamer (US) | 80/100 [43] |
PCGamesN | 7/10 [44] |
Shacknews | 8/10 [45] |
The Guardian | [46] |
VG247 | [47] |
VideoGamer.com | 7/10 [48] |
System Shock received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. [38]
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". [49]
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". [39] Eurogamer provided similar sentiments, claiming that the remake "faithfully recreates a classic". [40] DualShockers and PCGamesN both gave mixed responses, commenting that "it still clings to some somewhat outdated mechanics", [44] and "by sticking to the original's ancient design it will appeal more to series fans than newcomers". [50] 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". [43]
System Shock is a 1994 first-person action-adventure video game developed by LookingGlass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. It was directed by Doug Church with Warren Spector serving as producer. 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.
SHODAN is a fictional artificial intelligence and the main antagonist of the cyberpunk-horror themed video game series System Shock, which consists of 1994's System Shock, 1999's System Shock 2, and the 2023 remake System Shock.
Looking Glass Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company was founded by Paul Neurath with Ned Lerner as Blue Sky Productions in 1990, and merged with Lerner's Lerner Research in 1992 to become LookingGlass Technologies. Between 1997 and 1999, the company was part of Intermetrics and was renamed Looking Glass Studios. Following financial issues at Looking Glass, the studio shut down in May 2000.
System Shock 2 is a 1999 action role-playing survival horror video game designed by Ken Levine and co-developed by Irrational Games and Looking Glass Studios. Originally intended to be a standalone title, its story was changed during production into a sequel to the 1994 game System Shock. The alterations were made when Electronic Arts—who owned the System Shock franchise rights—signed on as publisher.
BioShock is a 2007 first-person shooter game developed by 2K Boston and 2K Australia, and published by 2K. The first game in the BioShock series, it was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 platforms in August 2007; a PlayStation 3 port by Irrational, 2K Marin, 2K Australia and Digital Extremes was released in October 2008. The game follows player character Jack, who discovers the underwater city of Rapture, built by business magnate Andrew Ryan to be an isolated utopia. The discovery of ADAM, a genetic material which grants superhuman powers, initiated the city's turbulent decline. Jack attempts to escape Rapture, fighting its mutated and mechanical denizens, while engaging with the few sane survivors left and learning of the city's past. The player can defeat foes in several ways by using weapons, utilizing plasmids that give unique powers, and by turning Rapture's defenses against them.
Sonic the Hedgehog is a 2006 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. It was produced in commemoration of the Sonic series' 15th anniversary and intended as a reboot for seventh-generation video game consoles. Players control Sonic, Shadow, and the new character Silver, who battle Solaris, an ancient evil pursued by Doctor Eggman. Each playable character has his own campaign and abilities, and must complete levels, explore hub worlds and fight bosses to advance the story. In multiplayer modes, players can work cooperatively to collect Chaos Emeralds or race to the end of a level.
Turok is a series of first-person shooter video games based on the comic book character of the same name. It is set in a primitive world inhabited by dinosaurs and other creatures. The series was originally developed by Acclaim Studios Austin as Iguana Entertainment and published by Acclaim Entertainment from 1995 until Acclaim's bankruptcy in September 2004. The series was then developed by Propaganda Games and published by Touchstone Games. The series generated more than $250 million in revenue by 2002.
Frostbite is a game engine developed by DICE, designed for cross-platform use on Microsoft Windows, seventh generation game consoles PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, eighth generation game consoles PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch and ninth generation game consoles PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, in addition to usage in the cloud streaming service Google Stadia.
The Pinball Arcade is a pinball video game developed by FarSight Studios. The game is a simulated collection of 100 real pinball tables licensed by Gottlieb, Alvin G. and Company, and Stern Pinball, a company which also owns the rights of machines from Data East and Sega Pinball. Williams and Bally games are no longer available since June 30, 2018, as FarSight had lost the license to WMS properties, which has since passed to Zen Studios.
Black Forest Games GmbH is a German video game developer based in Offenburg. The company was founded in July 2012 by a team of 40 staff members, including chief executive officer Andreas Speer, previously employed by Spellbound Entertainment, which filed for insolvency earlier that year. As of August 2017, it is a subsidiary of THQ Nordic. As of January 2024, the company employs 55 people.
Strider, known in Japan as Strider Hiryū, is a platform-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Double Helix Games and Capcom's Osaka studio. It was released in February 2014 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. It is a reboot of the 1989 video game Strider.
Mighty No. 9 is a 2016 action platform video game developed by Comcept, in conjunction with Inti Creates, and published by Deep Silver. The game was crowdfunded through Kickstarter and incorporated heavy input from the public. Mighty No. 9 closely resembles the early Mega Man series in both gameplay and character design, on which project lead Keiji Inafune worked, and is considered a spiritual successor.
Dex is a side-scrolling action role-playing game developed and published by Dreadlocks Ltd. The game was crowdfunded on Kickstarter, and was released in 2015.
Night Dive Studios, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Vancouver, Washington. The company is known for obtaining rights to abandonware video games, updating them for compatibility with modern platforms, and re-releasing them via digital distribution services, supporting preservation of older games.
P.T. is a 2014 psychological horror game developed by Kojima Productions under the pseudonym "7780s Studio" and published by Konami. It was directed and designed by Hideo Kojima in collaboration with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, and was released for free on the PlayStation 4.
Amplitude is a 2016 music video game developed and published by Harmonix. As the reboot of Amplitude (2003), the game was released in 2016 for PlayStation 4 in January and for PlayStation 3 in April. The game received generally average reviews upon release.
Resident Evil 2 is a 2019 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. A remake of the 1998 game Resident Evil 2, it was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in January 2019 and for Amazon Luna, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in June 2022, and a Nintendo Switch cloud version released in November 2022. Players control the rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy and the college student Claire Redfield as they attempt to escape Raccoon City during a zombie outbreak.
System Shock is a science fiction video game series originally created by Looking Glass Technologies. It consists of System Shock, System Shock 2, and the 2023 System Shock remake. A third main entry, System Shock 3, has been announced.