#System shock 2 plot mod#
#System shock 2 plot full#
#System shock 2 plot Pc#

Not that anyone is complaining about that.Since the release of System Shock in 1994, the game had a lot of praise from critics and had sold decently, but a lot has changed from 1994 to 1999 where graphics have entered full 3D, thanks to Quake, and there where no 2D sprites with this 3D technology in games.

#System shock 2 plot mod#

Not only has its hybrid gameplay inspired countless similar games over the last decade, Levine's masterpiece has proven highly influential in the mod community, with bedroom coders distributing level editors and even revamping its graphics.įans have campaigned for a third entry in the System Shock series for some time, but have had to make do with the BioShock franchise as a void-filler.

Despite its positive reception, System Shock 2 was hardly a bestseller, moving less than 60,000 copies by April 2000.īelow-par sales figures aside, the title amassed a cult following and struck a chord with the development community. The game received glowing reviews at launch, with critics lauding its hybrid gameplay, engaging story and chilling sound design. The development team were forced to fix bugs in the technology as they encountered them, but also had the flexibility to create parts of the game from scratch.Ī demo version of the game containing the tutorial mission and one third of the first stage was distributed on Augnine days after the finished product was shipped to retailers. The game itself was built using the engine behind Thief: The Dark Project, which was actually incomplete at the time.Ĭreating the game using the unfinished Dark Engine proved a hindrance in some ways, but created opportunities in others. System Shock 2's role-playing aspects were inspired by the Ultima series, with the character customisation system drawing influence from Games Workshop's age-old Traveller. The game might look rough around the edges compared to the three BioShock titles that have followed it, but the writing and the pacing of the story makes it just as atmospheric and immersive as its spiritual successors.

Resource conservation and the effective management of your skills and upgrades were the key to surviving the horrors of the Von Braun spacecraft. It was the kind of effective survival-horror experience that has you jumping at shadows and treating every bullet as sacred. System Shock 2 took many of its cues from Hollywood movies, but actually managed to do a better job of unsettling the viewer and conjuring up a sense of isolation than many of its cinematic counterparts.

The sci-fi and horror elements were laid on thick. The story was told through the player's acquisition of audio logs and encounters with ghostly apparitions, much like the way BioShock's plot unfolds. Gameplay took place from the first-person perspective and seamlessly combined RPG elements, such as character customisation and a development system. Players took control of a soldier on board a spacecraft that became ravaged by an alien virus, transforming his fellow crew members into nefarious extra-terrestrials known as the Many. The title was a science fiction-themed offering set in a cyberpunk take on 2114. System Shock 2 entered development as a standalone game, rather than a follow-up to the 1994 original, but became a sequel when Electronic Arts boarded the project as publisher. The game, developed by Irrational Games and Looking Glass Studios, blended first-person shooting with role-playing and survival-horror elements to create the kind of experience that could not be found elsewhere.

#System shock 2 plot Pc#

BioShock Infinite's early bid for the game of the year crown has provided us with the perfect excuse to examine the series' roots and take a look back at one of its spiritual predecessors, the classic System Shock 2.ĭreamed up by Ken Levine eight years before the original BioShock introduced gamers to the underwater city of Rapture, System Shock 2 was an action-RPG for PC that was in many ways ahead of its time.