This immersive sci-fi classic returns to consoles better than ever: System Shock review

Nightdive Studios has updated the mythical Systemic shock (1994) a year ago with a remake for PC. These are those iconic games that laid the foundations of the genre at a time when every release was innovative in some aspect of the gameplay. Against shooter more frantic and direct, Systemic shock It featured puzzle combat, exploration of intricate levels, survival, and an interesting science fiction-themed storyline: immersive simulators were born. Without Systemic shock we probably wouldn’t have God from, DISHONORED, BioShock or Production.

A little over ten years ago, Nightdive acquired the rights first to the sequel and then to the entire saga. But with the version System Shock: Enhanced Edition which improves resolution and other aspects – the next goal of the study was a deeper update of graphics and gameplay. The project was not easy and had to be restarted and even changed the engine from Unity to Unreal Engine 4 until it finally saw the light of day in May 2023. Now released on Xbox and PlayStation. transfer this myth to new systems and along the way add a few small changes that will also appear on PC with update 1.2-.

The rise of SHODAN, now on consoles

We won’t go too deep into System Shock remake because it’s almost completely a great game, modernized by Nightdive, which we reviewed twelve months ago. It has all the strengths of the original, and while there are aspects that may be a bit dated, that’s exactly the point of replaying or opening the game in 2024; At this point, no one will be surprised by the audio clips that provide context to the adventure, but it was one of the many legacies that Doug Church’s Warren Spector-created classic left us with.

Interestingly, the redone graphics are deliberately left in the golden mean between old and new: It’s more than a remaster, but the art direction is kept with great fidelity thanks to the fact that the environments are quite true to the simplicity of a mid-90s 3D game and even its pixelated textures with modern lighting effects and enemies are, yes, modeled in more detail. On consoles it runs great at 60 images per second, and the truth is that after some time in the Citadel this curious aspect becomes convincing. Some might prefer a more radical remake, but that risks becoming unrecognizable and tarnishing the legacy Systemic shock.

Controller control is satisfactory in most cases. In the menu controls, change the order of items in the inventory – What’s most noticeable here is that it’s not designed for controls., but it’s an adventure that can be played at a leisurely pace, so it’s not a major inconvenience. Regarding graphics options, since there are no different display modes or a typical performance or graphics mode – because frame frequency It’s already very robust, it will only allow us to activate or deactivate motion blur and change the field of view.

Systemic shock on consoles and PC, with update – includes changes from the 2023 release. Among the highlights that we have. improved final battle its mechanics were heavily criticized by fans and female hacker selectable from the start screen, this is a first person game so the impact is small but welcome for immersion. There’s plenty more, including different enemy behavior tweaks that sharpen their attacks and AI, waypoints during missions in Easy mode, speed balancing during combat, bug fixes, some tweaked hacking animations, and a few more changes.

It should be noted that Nightdive did not cancel the remake with the PC version and took this time to correct mistakes, listen to criticism and pay tribute to this legend. Not that this patch will completely change our opinion about the remake, but almost all sections gameplay they have improved in more or less degree. If you have waited until now to start playing System Shock Remakeyou will get a better experience.

conclusions

The remake was the best way to play today Systemic shock, and the remastered version for consoles or PC provides several extras that make it even more compelling. Of course, it should be taken into account that this is not a game for all types of players, it requires patience and that many of its rough edges or disappointments stem from the fact that it was one of the games that paved the way. for all the immersive simulations that will come later. Don’t try to compare it directly with Production or BioShockthis is the “grandfather” of them all and that’s all This seems to be essential for any fan of the genre.

We performed this analysis on the PS5 version thanks to code provided by Plaion.