System Shock 2

K. Fields
2018-07-23T10:30:05-04:00
Video Games

My computer gaming in 2018 has consisted almost exclusively of classic titles. This month, I played another game frequently mentioned as one of the all-time greats—System Shock 2. It easily earns a place on my All-Time Favorites list. Along with Half-Life and Deus Ex, it was one of the first person shooters (FPS) that raised the bar for the genre in the late 1990s. Unlike Half-Life, however, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t experience significant motion sickness with System Shock 2. For whatever reason, it was rarely a problem even though I played it fullscreen at 2560x1440 resolution.

I never played the original System Shock but that wasn’t a problem. Set in 2114, 42 years after the original, the story was easy enough to get into. You play a United Nations Nominate (UNN) soldier assigned to the UNN Rickenbacker. The ship is connected to the Von Braun, an experimental vessel with a faster than light drive. After responding to a distress call on Tau Ceti V, the ships are infested with alien eggs. These eggs infect the crew, joining them into an alien consciousness called The Many. As the game’s protagonist, you awaken from cryo sleep and are one of the only uninfected remaining on either ship. The story primarily unfolds by listening to audio logs recorded by the crew. Along the way, you are frequently contacted by SHODAN, the malevolent artificial intelligence from the original System Shock. Most of the game takes place on the Von Braun. Later, you visit the Rickenbacker and the Body of the Many.

In the beginning, you choose whether to join the Marines, the Navy, or the OSA. The Marines focus on fighting, the Navy on tech, and the OSA specializes in PSI ops. I opted to join the OSA. Although System Shock 2 (SS2) is an FPS, it has RPG game elements as well. Your character has statistics: strength, endurance, psionics, agility, and cyber. You also possess various skills in combat, tech, and PSI. There are five levels of numerous PSI powers, which are somewhat analogous to spells in a fantasy RPG. Training and upgrading your character is available by spending cyber modules you accumulate. There is also currency in the form of nanites, which are used to purchase items from replicators on the ships. SS2 has a decent assortment of weapons and other items, some of which need to be researched. Like other RPGs, there is also inventory management to constrain what is carried.

All in all, this was definitely one of my favorite FPS games I ever played. I preferred exploring the two ships more than the final areas of the game. If I had enjoyed the endgame just a bit more, I might consider it my all-time favorite FPS.