The original System Shock was supposedly a very good game. I didn't play it at the time, and by the time I tried to do so, it was just too antiquated for me to enjoy. That is, the control scheme was just too bizarre and inflexible, the graphics were just too chunky, and the audio was just too lame for me to enjoy it. I might well have enjoyed its allegedly superior gameplay, but I just couldn't get into it because too many subsequent games had looked, sounded, and "felt" so much nicer. Nevertheless, I didn't let that prevent me from playing System Shock 2 (SS2), which is a wonderful game in its own right, and probably a worthy successor to the original. I came to the game somewhat late, never having heard of it until it got mentioned in a column in PC Gamer magazine, but I'm glad I did.
For its day, SS2 looked good. Like I said, I came upon it a bit late, but it still looks good even today. Incidentally, the game is powered by the same engine that powers Thief: The Dark Project, which is a another good game in its own right. The environments in SS2 are very impressively done. Because of the detail in modeling, as well as the nicely-drawn textures, the various levels of the Von Braun (and elsewhere) are very believable. The engine's ability to support lots of clutter (e.g., papers on the floor, a blood smear across the wall, etc.) makes the areas look genuinely lived in, as well as downright scary in some cases.
My biggest complaint with the game's visuals is the character modeling. The animation is generally very good, which helps a lot, but it just isn't enough to counter the fact that the models look goofy. As I said similarly of Thief, I don't think I've ever seen such a bunch of anorexic and triangular-looking people. A second and less substantive problem is the limited selection of resolution and color depth. The game supports up to 1024 x 768 x 16 bpp, but it would look much nicer with 32-bit textures at a higher resolution. Forcing anti-aliasing makes things look a bit better, but it's a pity it needs such sprucing up in the first place.
Also as with Thief, the various cut-scenes are absolutely wonderful. The pre-rendered cinematics look very convincing, while the in-game elements range from the frightening to the utterly bizarre. I think SS2 is one of the first games to make an alien sort of technology look almost-believably organic. That's a real accomplishment insofar as it lends much to the overall feel of the game. In short, the visuals of SS2 will draw you into the game and creep you out all at once, which is precisely what I suspect the developers wanted to do.
The audio in SS2 is pretty good. The sound effects are good, the overall quality of the audio is pretty good, and there is a lot of it. Better still, the quality of the voice acting is absolutely top-notch. Further, the special effects are very well done. When the ship's computer finally starts talking to you, it's downright disturbing. Perhaps more than the visuals, the audio is directly responsible for bringing you into the situation. My only substantive complaint is with the music. While I like all the music in the game a great deal, and think that it is very nicely themed, it gets old too fast; i.e., there just isn't enough of it. A few more tracks for the oh-crap-you're-in-battle soundtrack would really go a long way toward fixing this problem. Still, the rest of the audio is very good, so this isn't a huge complaint.
The interface of SS2 is also pretty good, though I think it could be a bit better. It is definitely an improvement over its "sister" game, Thief, insofar as I had far fewer problems managing my inventory in SS2. That's doubly good, of course, insofar as one's inventory plays a far larger role in SS2. Where it still could be improved, however, is in dealing with the numerous implants that one might use. Since they run down pretty quickly, I didn't tend to leave implants "plugged in", so to speak, but this virtually guaranteed that I was always fumbling for them in a fight. Oops. It sure would have been nice to have some hotkeys for the implants, as there are for the various hypos and weapons.
This complaint may be levied as well against the use of psi powers. Whereas the psi powers are one of the most interesting and unique elements of the game, they are very hard to use effectively in a pinch. Much of the trouble stems from the fact that you just can't meaningfully bind keys to select which power you want to use. It's hard enough going the psi route simply by its nature; the player really didn't need this kind of impediment built into the interface as well.
The final complaint against the interface is that it's too mode-conscious. It's really nice to be able to pull up the graphical inventory, the multi-function display (MFD), and other such elements with but a single keypress. But it would have been nice if the sharp contrast between modes could have been minimized. It would have made the game easier to play, if nothing else, and it wouldn't be so jarring to the player.
Complaints aside, though, the interface of SS2 is really quite good. It does a good job of making hacking something interesting, it provides sufficient and clear indicators of the various things the player needs to know, it makes it relatively painless to go over old data, and so forth. I particularly like the way the hotkeys may be bound to access various weapons, hypos, and so forth. If I could keep more keys straight, I could probably do an even better job of playing the game than I did.
The game mechanics is one area in which SS2 truly shines. The role-playing game (RPG) elements are so well done that it really makes a big difference how the player chooses his personal stats. It makes a similarly big difference how the player chooses to spend his cyber-modules. Even basic training allows one to develop characters along radically different lines. SS2 is laden with a number of different very successful RPG elements, all of which help engage the player and make his experience unique.
Again like its "sister" game, SS2 also excels at creating open-ended gameplay. A player has lots of different ways to accomplish his objectives. He can go in with his guns blazing. He can hack security systems and make them fight for him. He can use psi powers to avoid a confrontation altogether or try to sneak past his enemies. On this point, it would have been nice if SS2 featured some kind of useful feedback for stealthy gameplay, but the game is already so chock full of stuff that it might well have overwhelmed the player.
What is easily my biggest complaint with the gameplay involves the weapons. And to be more specific, they degrade far too quickly! It really pissed me off that I had to repair my bloody weapons almost constantly. Whereas I should have been focusing on the story and enjoying the elements of the game, it seemed like I was always scrounging desperately for the next repair tool instead. The alternative was to be caught in a tight spot without a gun I can trust.
Overall, the game mechanics are brilliant. The player gets to make a number of interesting choices in terms of how he develops his character, what ends he pursues, and how he gets the job done. Along the way, the basic movement, combat, inventory, research, psi powers, and everything else come together to make it a very special experience.
The story in SS2 is also first rate. I thought the final confrontation was a bit goofy, insofar as it felt more like a "boss battle" than a confrontation with a maniacal computer. But maybe that's just because it's hard to make any such confrontation seem realistic otherwise. I don't know. What I do know is that the plot along the way is guaranteed to disturb you. The creatures that infest things, the constant reminders of all the death and destruction aboard the Von Braun, and the ultimate climax are all very powerful elements. SS2 is definitely a game with a gripping story, and I doubt seriously whether any gamer will find fault with it.
In terms of content, SS2 is a good game. It features a diverse body of levels to explore, all of which are quite well detailed and interesting in their own right. It gives the player access to a plethora of different psi powers to play around with. It has lots of different weapons and gadgets that are useful for various purposes. It features an odd and interesting bestiary of bad guys to tackle. Overall, The amount of content is quite good, I think, and my only complaints are with the particulars of some of that content.
My big gripe is that too many of the weapons just aren't all that useful. The pistol breaks so fast its almost pointless to carry around. The shotgun also breaks so fast that it's not always worth your trouble. Particularly disappointing to me are the energy weapons. The laser pistol is really neat, for example, but it just doesn't pack much of a punch. The fusion cannon, in contrast, packs a big punch, but is so bulky and has such high prerequisites that I'm not sure it's worth it. Finally, one of the most unique and interesting weapons in the game, the worm launcher, isn't available until essentially right at the end. In short, I found myself wishing that the weapons were just a bit different in too many ways.
I could probably list some other, minor complaints, but I don't think it's really worth it. SS2 provides a lot of gaming value for your dollar, and this is certainly the case of all the content that the developers managed to pack onto the CD.
There really isn't much of a multi-player aspect to SS2. A late patch to the game enabled cooperative play, but it works only over a local network; i.e., no Internet-based play. This radically reduces its appeal from the outset. If you can get it working, however, the cooperative mode is actually a lot of fun, though it can be quite difficult to coordinate the efforts of two different players. I tried it with a friend for a while, but I think ultimately the game just didn't lend itself to it that well. It was too easy for a couple of bad guys to wipe both of us out because we kept getting in each other's way.
Overall, I would say that SS2 is a must-buy game. It's one of the most creative and interesting video games ever made, and it's a big value these days because of its reduced price. If you haven't played SS2 yet, and you value gameplay over cutting-edge graphics, then SS2 would be a better buy than anything else in stores these days.
07/25/2001