(Played on Prime Gaming originally, then bought it on Steam)
There is something utterly special in experiencing a classic, going past the rough first impression and discovering that it's still incredibly impressive. Realizing how mind-blowing it must have been to the select few that "got it" back in the day is another treat, too. After playing the remake, and seeing how faithful it seemed (to a fault really, at least in my opinion), I was finally compelled to check out the Enhanced Edition of System Shock. And yeah, it is rough at the start with its incredibly busy UI and convoluted controls, but after just a bit of learning it's amazing how engaging it is and how much it empowers you.
The player is a hacker, "hired" to mess with the AI overseeing Citadel Station, known as Shodan. Predictably, this leads to a massive catastrophe and the rise of gaming's most iconic AI supervillain. The story of System Shock is really just a premise to get you started ("which was the style at the time"), but it works wonder in that it created an unforgettable, unique opponent that really is the star of the whole game.
System Shock is a dungeon crawler at heart, but it still fully is one of the forefathers of the immersive sim. The honor of being the first is Ultima Underworld's, but System Shock is arguably the second, and it's dumbfounding how sophisticated it still feels, so many years later. The HUD is daunting at first, but really customizable and I saw no reason to even use the fullscreen mode, simply because of how evocative and feature-rich the interface is. Similarly, the control scheme is certainly unhortodox compared to today's standard model, but when these two elements come together they do allow for an impressive flexibility. Controlling the many stances of the character in order to crouch-lean around a corner, just to precisely regulate a grenade's timer and toss it at the perfect angle is just one example of a situation that is not unheard of in these games, but rarely with this granular level of sophistication. In a way, it feels more unique than Remake, which had to compromise on this to streamline the experience a bit.
Also, the convoluted traps, the difficulty, the maze-like levels, they all feel much more natural in the original, obviously, and I feel that's a testament to how sometimes the presentation goes hand in hand with many other elements, and changing it while leaving most of the rest intact is not necessarily the best course of action. As far as I'm concerned anyway. Still, another difference between the two is the amount of stuff the original lets you play with, with less limitations. Inventory management is not nearly as important in the original, and you can take all patches, all explosives and a good number of weapons with you at all times. I liked this a lot, as not rummaging through junk and constantly go back and forth to recycling stations made me want to experiment a lot more naturally. It's more of a "playground" feeling than a "living breathing world" feeling, but that's how the game was designed, and that's also why Remake would have benefitted from really changing things up in more ways. Fun fact: Cyberspace absolutely sucks ass and the fact that Remake improved it so much is a miracle, though in the end it was still bad. That speaks to how much it sucks here. The toxic grove, on the other hand, was way more manageable and fun in the original. How did they made it so abrasive in Remake? We'll never know.
The graphics are quite pleasant for the time, with a good art style and detailed sprites, even though some elements really betray their age. The soundtrack is excellent overall, with some really catchy and atmospheric tunes, but the way it's implemented as a dynamic soundtrack makes it really weird, if not grating, at times. The audio is a mixed bag, with some cacophonic ear rapes from hell, but they kind of make everything more endearing.
All in all, System Shock still shows the youngsters how it's done, and it's still an incredible game that those interested in the history of the medium should check out. Aside from a purely superficial level, it's still very playable and fun and comparatively aged well, once the culture shock (hehe) wears off. I loved it!
