The Making of System Shock 2

The British gaming magazine Edge, which has teamed up with the website Next Generation, offers up a piece looking back at the creation of System Shock 2 . The cult classic storytelling horror-themed FPS has survived as a popular and often-referenced game despite the eight years between now and its release. The piece covers the reasons behind that popularity, as well as the 'horror' of an inexperienced team taking on a dauntingly high-profile task: "The original System Shock was one of the games that made Levine want to move into the videogame industry in the first place. What made it so special? 'The feeling of being in a real place,' he raves. 'The feeling of a mystery, of unraveling it - not in an adventure game way, but in the context of an action game. You arrive and... what happened? That's a really good storytelling mechanism.' Austin Grossman and Doug Church's original idea from Shock was something Irrational expanded in its sequel. 'In Shock 1 you were a specific guy, you had a backstory,' Levine notes. 'With Shock 2, I started you out with the classic 'wake up with amnesia'.'"

Comments

This game looks like a total rip-off of Bioshock

[Anonymous Coward]

How unoriginal. I hope they sue.

I played SS2 once..

[Brian Gordon]

Got to the point where you're avoiding cameras and every time you go around the corner a camera sees you. I tried various things to get past but it was just stupid, there was nothing to do. Tried various game guides, none of them had anything to say about it. So I'm not particularly fond of SS2 and I burn inside every time someone praises it.. I have a special hatred for video games that have a f'(x)=infinity learning curve and stump you after 9 seconds of playing. It's just not fun..

Re:I played SS2 once..

[sammyF70]

if you mean the first one you meet, on the first level you are on : just run to the camera and hit it with the wrench, if you have nothing else you can use against it. works fine ;)

Re:I played SS2 once..

[ConceptJunkie]

Somewhere in the distance, I hear the sound of someone slapping his head and screaming "D'Oh!"

Re:I played SS2 once..

[meringuoid]

Got to the point where you're avoiding cameras and every time you go around the corner a camera sees you.

Back in, oh, 2001, I was playing through Shock 2 for the first time. I was at university at the time, and I got a summer job in a book warehouse, picking out textbooks to ship out to various schools around the place. The job involved trotting around this big building grabbing books out of various aisles and throwing them onto a conveyor.

One day I was heading down an aisle in which the lights had packed in for some reason. It was dark. Not a problem, I have no fear of this. I walk down the aisle looking for the book that's on my order sheet.

At this point I spot a red light on the ceiling.

SHIT! I immediately duck to the floor and take cover behind my cart-o'-books, and reach for my gun to shoot out the camera...

At this point I realise that (a) I don't have a gun, (b) that isn't a camera but an LED indicating that a lamp is live, (c) I'm a bit of a pillock.

But for just a second or two, it was bloody terrifying. Thanks to the game designers for getting me so involved in their world. Salt the fries :-)

Re:System shock 2.... SYSTEM SHOCK 2?!

[Eudial]

system shock 2 is a completely overrated game loved only by fat basement dwellers

Hey! I'm a fat SS2 loving attic dweller, you insensitive clod!

Re:Bioshock and System Shock

[urbanriot]

Get the hi-res textures! http://shtup.home.att.net/ There's other links as well, and many other mods like the Rebirth mod - http://www.strangebedfellows.de/index.php/topic,8.0.html

System Shock was great, and I agree, in my opinion it is better than SS2, but only just. Unfortunately, it is so old now it is painful to look at. I so wish they would remake it, sadly it is not going to happen.

Re:Just finished it...no, really

[Anonymous Coward]

"Is that you SHODAN?"

N-n-n-n-no, h-hacker.