REVIEW: The ‘System Shock’ Remake Makes A Good Game Better (PC)

System Shock is a cyberpunk-themed, first-person shooter adventure game that was first released back in 1994 for PC. The game was regarded as a massive critical success, was highly innovative for its genre, and was placed in several Hall of Fame lists. Now, in 2023, developer Nightdive Studios had the massive undertaking of remaking the game for newer platforms for both new and returning fans to experience. While I never played the original, especially since it was released years before I was born, playing through the remake provided an experience unlike any other I’ve had in a game despite some very noticeable flaws.

System Shock follows the Hacker, a capable tech junkie who one day, while trying to hack into the database of the Citadel Space Station, is quickly caught by the shady TriOptimum Corp executive Edward Diego. In exchange for his freedom and some cool military-grade neurotechnology, Diego tasks the Hacker to hack into the Citadel’s new AI SHODAN and disable its ethical constraints. Upon doing so and implanting his new tech, the hacker wakes up six months later in the Citadel Station from a surgery coma but finds that the station’s employees have all been turned into cyborgs and mutants by SHODAN, and the halls filled with murderous droids. Powered by his new tech, it’s up to the Hacker to stop SHODAN’s evil plot to wipe out humanity while trying to survive the station and all of its daunting threats and hurdles.

System Shock‘s story and narrative structure are not unlike what you’ll see in many other sci-fi games. The protagonist is silent, and there aren’t many cutscenes and characters to talk to. Instead, players will need to pick up voice logs, several of which are surprisingly well-voiced, and listen to dialogue from SHODAN and other characters to piece together what is going on. While I prefer a fleshed-out story in games, the game still managed to engage me thanks to the occasional catty and menacing voice lines from SHODAN, who is by far the best aspect of the game.

Upon starting, the first thing I noticed about the game is its incredible visuals that, when compared to the original, are almost night and day. The game sports crisp visuals, detailed models, vibrant lighting, and dynamic reflections on PC. The level design is incredibly intricate — almost too intricate in fact, as I found myself losing track of where I was and where I was going and had to consult the map more times than I would care to admit, which was annoying. It also didn’t help that several levels, while complex, were very similar, and I got bored of navigating them quickly.

System Shock allows players to tailor their experience however they wish. Upon starting the game, players can choose their difficulty options. However, unlike many games that provide standard difficulty modes, System Shock lets players choose how exactly different aspects of the game is played. Players can adjust the combat, mission, puzzles, and cyberspace settings from 1 to 3, with one being the easiest and 3 being the hardest. On easy settings, players can blaze through the game with waypoints, very little opposition, and simple puzzling. But on more challenging modes, the game will ask you to complete it in under five hours with permadeath and merciless enemies.

For the most part, the game’s mechanics are simple and straightforward. To progress in the game, players will traverse confusing halls and fight many enemies, including cyborgs, mutants, and droids. The enemy AI is not that smart but not entirely dumb either, as they’re mostly just slow — at least in medium settings. And while they do seek you out, they don’t react very well to attacks. They’re easy to pick off alone but are pretty tough together.

The enemies were the most inconsistent part of the game. To fight enemies, players have a variety of weapons to use, from melee weapons like wrenches, to guns and grenades. Some weapons, like energy-powered handguns, are more effective than others on most enemies. Still, items like ammo and grenades are quite limited and energy charging stations are sparsely spread around the station. Players will always need to consider what resource is worth using or not.

When not killing mutants and droids, players will also face many puzzles to solve that serve as hurdles in the game. Solving these hacking puzzles was one of my favorite parts of the game, as it was basically the only part that required me to think outside of trying to figure out which generic room was which. On Normal difficulty, the puzzles are pretty balanced, and solving them is always satisfying.

Speaking of hacking, there are also the newly overhauled retro video game-style cyberspace levels players will need to play to unlock several parts of the station. I had mixed feelings towards these missions, as while they are well-designed and provide some spice to the gameplay, they can also be very overwhelming, even on Normal settings. The number of enemies you have to keep track of is high. Traversing through them can also be a pain because everything looks the same in cyberspace, and controlling the aggrivating and incredibly floaty ship that constantly changes direction gave me some major vertigo. As such, having to do them felt more tedious than fun.

Lastly, it’s worth noting that while the game ran well on my PC with high frame rates, I occasionally ran into some irritating glitches where enemies and I would get stuck on objects and walls. Thankfully, they never lasted long or occurred frequently enough to be a significant issue.

Overall, despite having some sparse storytelling and a lot of annoying gameplay elements, the System Shock remake still succeeded in providing an enjoyable experience and proved that even after all these years, the game is still worth the time for new and returning fans, especially those looking for a unique sci-fi experience.

System Shock is available now for PC via Steam and for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One at a later date.