After a nearly seven-year wait, System Shock is almost upon us. Originally announced back in 2015 as just System Shock Remastered — Nightdive Studios said in 2018 that development had to be restarted from scratch. Then, after a lengthy Kickstarter campaign, the System Shock was expected to be completed sometime in 2020. After failing to meet this target, a tentative release window of late 2021 was revealed before the game was pushed back to 2022 and then again in 2023. But it’s finally coming out, and we’re here to tell you the differences between the remake and the original.
The first thing you will notice about System Shock is its massively overhauled visuals courtesy of the new engine. So while the art direction adheres to the original’s spirit, there is a wider colour palette, realistic lighting, massively improved character models, detailed textures and effects, and so on. It’s a huge leap over the first title — but it still feels like an early 90s interpretation of a cyberpunk future.
While the story has been largely untouched due to this new interpretation’s desire to follow the original plot almost to a tee, there are still some significant differences this time around, especially with the gameplay. Apart from the obvious graphical upgrades, the reboot will also add features and mechanics that are now much more commonplace in immersive sim videogames, like improved stealth mechanics and melee and ranged combat, among other things. The game will also have more RPG elements, along with conversation responses that affect the experience in some way. Bells and whistles like better UI, weapon-switching, and item consumption shortcuts have been added to the game as well. Plus, there are brand-new enemy types, a new hacking system, upgraded high-definition graphics, and a new dismemberment mechanic, which will undoubtedly come in handy when defeating enemies.
Most of the music has been changed, but a few songs return and most of the tracks have more of an atmospheric ambience when compared to the original. There is also a remix album and an alternative soundtrack that features the original’s music. Some aspects of the original themes are featured in the new tracks — but they are mainly new songs, and the remnants of the first title’s music are minor and unnoticeable.
The levels are darker in an attempt to give more of a horror feel to the experience, with some being redesigned completely, such as the cyberspace stage. Various enemies, items and weapons have been remodelled as well, with some closely resembling the originals while others look completely different. Another difference is the intro which is now fully playable, and the ending has been changed. The existing characters have new dialogue and a redesign, and some even have new voice actors, with the option to choose the hacker’s gender also being added to this remake. This version utilises Unreal Engine 4, which is an obvious change from the Ultima Underworld engine because that was over 30 years ago.
Other than that, System Shock seems to be a fairly faithful reimagining by the developers at Nightdive Studios. And you can finally play it when it releases on the 30th of May, 2023, for PC with Linux, macOS, and PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox and Xbox XIS versions coming sometime down the line.