Your character-a cyberpunk hacker stranded on a space station after its AI takes control and begins churning out mutant monsters-has a cybernetic interface that rivals most strategy games. In many respects it feels less like an FPS and more like a vehicle sim like M1 Tank Platoon or Tie Fighter, but even less intuitive if you can imagine that. System Shock was way, way ahead of its time in 1994 but the developers at Looking Glass took the long way around to solve nearly every interface and gameplay hurdle.
Unfortunately this means that System Shock is incredibly obtuse and clunky, even by the standards of its day, and judged next to modern shooters it has a steep, obstinate learning curve. It was anyone’s guess where the FPS genre would go and System Shock took a bold, complex, simulation-style approach that flew in the face of Doom’s straight run n’ gun action. This was the shooter landscape pre-Quake, when most first person games were called “doom clones,” and before mouselook had been widely adopted or even pioneered. Unlike its more straightforward competition, however, System Shock has more in common with the previous game developed by Looking Glass, Ultima Underworld. System Shock was released by Looking Glass Studios in 1994, the same era as Doom, Dark Forces and Duke Nukem 3D. Passing up a go at the original System Shock would almost be an insult to its legacy. Deus Ex in particular showed me just how far the artistic medium of video games could go, and at the risk of sounding pretentious, it also taught me a thing or two about philosophy and got me through some confusing times as an early teen. System Shock not only spawned a groundbreaking sequel, but inspired landmark successors including Deus Ex, Bioshock and Dead Space. The arcane geniuses at Night Dive Studios-who previously resurrected System Shock 2-have worked their magic on the seminal game that kicked off a whole family of shooters and RPGs. However, when an old game is updated and given a new lease on life I’m tempted to take a look, especially if it’s a venerable classic like the original System Shock. My two cents aren’t going to help with anyone’s purchasing decision in the here and now. Most of the time I fail to see the point if the game has been out for years or even decades, then thousands if not millions of people have already played it and decided whether they like it or not.
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