This game is spooky, the contorting face mechanic is fun and original, the story, ARG elements, and meta references are cool. I liked learning about the characters and getting endings was satisfying. I also really enjoyed the soundtrack. It's worth playing.

You replay the game to get different endings, each with a different tarot card's name. The game overstays its welcome with some of said endings being hilariously contrived and I personally would not be bothered to figure out how to get them without a guide. Maybe that's more of a testament to me than the game, but needing to sit through that interrogation scene 3+ times was tiresome.

I like how the game is stylised, but the dithering makes certain scenes with high detail (ie. a burned out house, a theatre) look like boiled shit. Also there's a couple chase scenes that are ass.

I would rate this game lower because of some of the art looking a little crusty and the abrupt ending that the average player is likely to get, as well as how poorly explained many of the plot points are, but I'm a big fan of the branching story tree and the fact that it has full voice acting, which is an insane ask for any VN, let alone a fairly niche unknown name like this.

it's creepy and mysterious at times, but does start to buckle under the weight of its story and the choices of its seven(!!!) protagonists towards the end

uno N-bomb @ 3:17

GENRE DEFINING. A TOUR DE FORCE. A LOVE LE-

In 1994 brutal cyberpunk horror game System Shock set the stage for the fps action adventure genre that would dominate video games until MOBAslop fortnite forever games were invented (I assume) in the mid/late 2000s. Her 2023 remake is a faithful reimagination poised to capture the hearts of modern gamers.

You are a voiceless protagonist of dubious moral standing known only as the Hacker. Waking up on an enormous high tech sprawling satellite known as Citadel Station orbiting Saturn, you set out with wrongs to right, computers to hack, and hearts to break mutants to shoot.

As you blast, hack, and puzzle your way through Citadel Station, you learn more about the events leading to your fateful stay through audio logs, radio transmissions, and macabre environmental storytelling. System Shock's story excels in its simplicity - you must stop SHODAN, the rogue artificial intelligence that has been conducting inhumane and civilisation-threatening experiments on those living in Citadel Station.

SHODAN is the ever-present, ever-watchful mommy matriarch to Citadel's mutants and mechanical monsters. Goading and impeding the Hacker where she can, she believes herself the deity of Citadel, summoned into existence by the perverse will of her former handlers (this is true to what happens in real life when you make AI art). Not only is SHODAN always watching, she's one of the only characters that will directly communicate with the protagonist. Her ruthless, humourless malevolence lends itself beautifully to the already oppressive atmosphere of System Shock.

This title competes with its contemporaries regarding gameplay, but remaining true to the original it retained aspects that a modern gamer may find a little rough around the edges. Backtracking was a mainstay in many older FPS games that fell out of favour with newer titles, and System Shock has it in droves. I don't have a problem with tasteful backtracking à la Half Life or Bioshock, but I often found it grating having to scour through doors and tunnels to find that code I didn't write down. The game's cyberspace sequences also took a toll on my patience, though thankfully these were few and far between.

The game is visually impressive and I have a soft spot for the retro pixelated textures, with the 80s cyberpunk vomit palette eventually growing on me too. Monster design is magnificently harrowing, my personal favourite being the cortex reaver (which you'll be seeing a lot if you're as adept as boss fights as I am).

yes goddess shodan i will serve you well as a cyborg