Even if you’ve never played System Shock, you’ve probably played something that was inspired by it. The 1994 classic has been hailed as an influential masterpiece that helped pave the way for emergent shooters like Bioshock. So, how do you go about remaking a game that’s been iterated on to the extent that this game has been? By staying true to the source.
System Shock: From SHODAN With Hate Trailer Shock the system In System Shock, players control a hacker who has to fight their way through a space vessel. It’s a maze-like 3D environment that calls back to level design that was popularized by games like Doom. What made the original game special was its emphasis on emergent gameplay, as players could move through the ship in a non-linear fashion.
What’s most important to an experience like this is to keep players feeling like the action is unfolding naturally, rather than feeling like scripted set pieces. I could see a version of this remake that goes for a more cinematic approach, but the demo slice I played avoids that pitfall. In one scene, I open a locked door with a key code, only to get a quick scare as a mutant immediately appears on the other side.