System Shock - first 30 min - before you buy
8System shock (2023) Metacritic 75%
This article is about the 2023 video game remake. For the original video game, see System Shock.
System Shock is an action-adventure game developed by Nightdive Studios and published by Prime Matter. It is a remake of the 1994 video game of the same name, originally developed by Looking Glass Studios. The game was released in May 2023 for Windows, followed by ports for Linux, macOS, the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Development
The original System Shock, released in 1994, was developed by Looking Glass Studios, which closed in 2000. The company assets, including the rights to System Shock, were acquired by Star Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Meadowbrook Insurance Group. In 2012, Nightdive Studios acquired the rights for System Shock 2 and produced a digitally distributable version updated for modern operating systems. Nightdive Studios subsequently went on to acquire the rights for System Shock and the franchise as a whole.
Two months after the release of System Shock: Enhanced Edition in September 2015, Nightdive Studios announced plans to develop a remake of System Shock for Windows and Xbox One using the Unity engine. Originally announced as System Shock Remastered, Nightdive Studios has opted to simply name the new game System Shock, because they consider the level of effort put into the title makes it more of a reboot of the franchise rather than a remastering of the original game. Veteran designer Chris Avellone and members of the Fallout: New Vegas development team have confirmed their involvement.
During the 2017 Game Developers Conference, Nightdive Studios announced they would move development from Unity to Unreal Engine 4, with director Jason Fader saying "Unity is not a great engine to use if you want to make an FPS on console". Fader cited issues related to a combination of fidelity, cross-platform support, content pipelines and performance issues as the reason for the switch. Fader also clarified that they now considered the game a more "faithful reboot" than a remaster; the game's story, character, weapons, levels, and enemies remained as in the original game, but they were applying "modern design principles" to rework some of these and add in others to make the game more playable for current audiences. Fader offered one example in level design, calling the original System Shock's maps a "product of the time" which did not age well; while somewhat fixed to the level's layout, the team was able to open up some areas and remove unnecessary mazes to make the game more interesting for players. Fader offered that while the story remains beat-for-beat, the team had added Chris Avellone to change some of the dialog and to fix some of the plot holes from the original game.
In mid-February 2018, Nightdive announced that development of System Shock was put on hold. CEO Stephen Kick stated "I have put the team on a hiatus while we reassess our path so that we can return to our vision. We are taking a break, but not ending the project. System Shock is going to be completed and all of our promises fulfilled."[14] Kick explained that as the project had shifted from a remake to a reboot, they "strayed" from the core concepts of the original game, and found they needed a larger budget. Nightdive's director of business development Larry Kuperman said they had approached publishing partners to fund the expanded effort, but could not obtain this additional support. Kick opted to put the project on hold, reassigning the team to other projects in the interim.[14] Speaking at the Game Developers Conference in March 2018, Kick and Kuperman explained that because of the feature creep, a newly assembled team had restarted the game's development, staying focused on the promises of what they would deliver during the Kickstarter, and that they were now looking towards a 2020 release. The refocusing of the game also helped them to engage with interested publishing partners who were more amenable to supporting them.
Polygon praised the visuals, claiming "it looks like the way games from 1994 appear in my memory." They also commented on how "playing this game in this form helps me bring it into conversation with the entirety of the immersive sim genre".[31] PC Gamer commented on how faithfully the game adapted the original game, citing it as both a positive and negative element of the game's design. "I did sometimes find myself wishing that in some parts Nightdive had tried to adapt the spirit, rather than the letter, of the original game," but called the game "the definitive way to play System Shock in 2023 and beyond".
System Shock - first 30 min - before you buy