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System Shock 2 Retrospect...and Possible Followup?

Posted by Cliff on from the revel-in-the-speculation dept.

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.

6 of 257 comments (clear)

  1. Agreed, should be more open-ended games by Ghostgate · · Score: 5, Insightful

    to work on games that promote "emergent" gameplay--open-ended exploration that offers many choices and combinations of options to players

    There's a few out there if you look hard enough (Morrowind, for example), but most single player games just aren't very deep these days. Of course, to make a really open-ended game requires a LOT more testing, driving up the budget and especially the time to develop the game - and modern games already take a long time to develop. Most developers feel the extra effort isn't worth it in most cases, unfortunately.

  2. Reading the article for hidden meaning? by Dancin_Santa · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is that like reading Slashdot for the trolls?

  3. Re:Does EA own the License to System Shock still? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

  4. Real announcement... by Mike+Rubits · · Score: 5, Funny

    "We've got nothing. Suckered you along there for a while, didn't we!"

    I'm waiting for a company to try and do something like that.

  5. Re:Best single player game in existence... by Blublu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can't see why people hate Deus Ex 2 so much. Sure, it wasn't an exact copy of Deus Ex 1, but it was still a good game despite the fact that it was suffering from mild console syndrome. Oh well.

    --
    meh
  6. cooperative play by greyhoundpoe · · Score: 5, Funny

    I still remember the cooperative multiplayer, crawling through that damned ship while on a phone line with a friend of mine. That was hands down the best cooperative-horror game experience I've ever had. Both players could specialize--I hacked, he fought--and the entire experience was so *immersive*. We still talk about one moment when, hacking a crate, he had the bright idea to come up behind me, groan "I'm... sorry...." into the mic, and club me from behind. I knocked half the stuff off my desk trying to turn around so quickly. Screw Doom 3. I miss System Shock 2.