System Shock 2 Retrospect...and Possible Followup?

Starsmore writes: "Gamespot has a retrospective on the 1999 cult classic System Shock 2, which normally isn't that big of a deal on it's own, although it's a nice read for those interested in some of the stories behind the production of System Shock 2. The biggest draw is that tucked at the end of the article (and shown below for those that don't want to RTFA), is this: 'But why even look back at System Shock 2 at this point? Because Irrational has been, and it plans to make a related announcement this Friday (tomorrow). The studio has decided that it wishes to further what it started in System Shock 2--to work on games that promote "emergent" gameplay--open-ended exploration that offers many choices and combinations of options to players. You'll see what we mean tomorrow. Be sure to come back then.' " Could this possibly mean a sequel to the System Shock franchise? Update: 10/09 22:30 EDT by C : As many of you suspected, Irrational is in the process of developing BioShock , a "spiritual successor" to the System Shock games. Here's hoping they can distill much of what made games like System Shock and Thief so successful, yet succeed at their aim of building a game with truly emergent gameplay.

Comments

Re:Does EA own the License to System Shock still?

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem is (or was) that no one person owns the System Shock license. When Looking Glass Studios broke up, each of the creditors got a chunk of the license. From memory one ex LG-er tried to track down who owned what and got nowhere.

While waiting, check out SS2 graphics update

[Zarhan]

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/etienne.aubert/sshock/ssho ck_rebirth.htm is a nice little project that aims to update the aging graphics with better textures.

Unfortunately, it has kind of died (latest update in 2003...), but the downloadable Beta 1 works fine.

Re:I sure hope there's another...

[Indras]

I'm surprised no one has gone back and remade it, or touched it up.

They have. The folks over at http://sshock2.com keep up to date on all the information. One of the upgrades is an increase in detail to the models of the AI figures. It's called Rebirth. I love it, it really gives an upgrade to the "ghosts" you see in the game who have pointy hands (anyone who's played SS2 knows what I'm talking about).

On the heels of Rebirth came the hi-res texture mod called SHTUP (pronounced shtoop).

There was also an upgrade to the cutscenes in the game, by a group called Wuggles Unlimited, but they seem to have disappeared (lack of hosting).

Look around, there are still fans of SS2 doing work with it!