The story remains largely unchanged, with the iconic opening cutscene slightly tweaked to become more in line with modern storytelling modalities. I was able to experience 30 minutes of this new System Shock at PAX West 2022, and it’s gearing up to be one of the best remakes ever made.

It’s been nearly 30 years since the original System Shock hit store shelves, and the good people down at Nightdive Studios have been working diligently on a remake. Many consider System Shock and its sequel to be legendary staples of gaming, and for good reason. What follows is a horrific tale of human greed, the consequences of an unshackled and unregulated AI, and a wonderfully dingy view of the future. Brought before the executive of the TriOptimum Corporation (the mega-corporation that owns Citadel Station), the hacker is told that all charges would be dropped if they can get into SHODAN - the Citadel’s AI - and hand control of the station over to the executive.

Set in the year 2072, System Shock follows a nameless hacker after they’re caught illegally attempting to access files to a massive privately owned space station known as the Citadel Station. System Shock introduced several concepts that weren’t exactly novel by 1994 but were yet to be done as well as they were here. Screenshots from System Shock: Enhanced Edition (2015).

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