I don't know what it is but there's something really special to me about how easily both of the System Shock games get me into 'flow'. Like they're not even near my top games ever but they have this kinda effect on me that I appreciate a lot; for some reason, it's genuinely rare to find it in games for me.
This is a sequel that frankly didn't justify itself much at all, but it was still an enjoyable run nonetheless. The lategame areas were aesthetically cool but not a lot of fun to play. though that didn't stop me from having a good time and keeping in 'flow'.
The 'horror' sides and atmospheres of both SS games (and probably most horror games in general) really don't hit me at all because of the way I play video games, so I'm mostly just judging it based on how competent of a story-driven shooter it is. The RPG elements are fun to mess around with for sure, with the levels seeming to be designed in such a way that different builds can give you different solutions to problems - I'm a fan of that, though it wasn't quite balanced to perfection. It's particularly impressive considering how quickly the devs had to turn this game around from something completely unrelated into a System Shock game, anyway.
Contrary to what I've seen and heard around the web, I found that 2 was not really much of an upgrade from the first game, hence me rating them exactly the same; I think both have pros and cons (although I played the Enhanced Edition of 1 and so I may be a bit more generous with it than I should be). Both are also totally worth playing even if only for historical value.
Now that I think about it, I suppose the games really did immerse me, at least in the sense that I binged the hell out of them and got into 'flow' the whole time in both. For that I applaud both sets of developers. I'm sure not to forget these experiences and I'm definitely looking forward to SS3 (and 1's remake!).
This is a sequel that frankly didn't justify itself much at all, but it was still an enjoyable run nonetheless. The lategame areas were aesthetically cool but not a lot of fun to play. though that didn't stop me from having a good time and keeping in 'flow'.
The 'horror' sides and atmospheres of both SS games (and probably most horror games in general) really don't hit me at all because of the way I play video games, so I'm mostly just judging it based on how competent of a story-driven shooter it is. The RPG elements are fun to mess around with for sure, with the levels seeming to be designed in such a way that different builds can give you different solutions to problems - I'm a fan of that, though it wasn't quite balanced to perfection. It's particularly impressive considering how quickly the devs had to turn this game around from something completely unrelated into a System Shock game, anyway.
Contrary to what I've seen and heard around the web, I found that 2 was not really much of an upgrade from the first game, hence me rating them exactly the same; I think both have pros and cons (although I played the Enhanced Edition of 1 and so I may be a bit more generous with it than I should be). Both are also totally worth playing even if only for historical value.
Now that I think about it, I suppose the games really did immerse me, at least in the sense that I binged the hell out of them and got into 'flow' the whole time in both. For that I applaud both sets of developers. I'm sure not to forget these experiences and I'm definitely looking forward to SS3 (and 1's remake!).
Lynxelot
2 years ago