If there was any further doubt about the genius of the designers at
the now-defunct and much-lamented Looking Glass Studios after the two Thief
games, I offer as further evidence System Shock 2.

SS2
is Looking Glass and Irrational Games’ follow-up to the brilliant 1994 original
genre-bender. That game was a furious blend of action, adventure, and mild role-playing
elements. It was also extremely difficult, and one of the few complaints I had
about it was the fact that I frequently wasn’t confident about what my next goals
and objectives were.

Right off the bat, SS2 surpasses the original
in two important areas. First of all, the RPG elements are much deeper. Second,
because of the handy built-in log system, you always know what you’re supposed
to be doing (even if you’re not sure where or how!).

In the original game,
you played a hacker who woke up on a space station called Citadel where things
had gone mad. Your main opponent was a rogue computer intelligence named Shodan,
and the game consisted mainly of foiling her attempts to take over the station
and the world.

SS2 takes place 40 years in the future, and the multinational
company responsible for the Shodan disaster is back in business after being shut
down by the government for decades following the events in System Shock. Their
new venture is the first faster-than-light ship, the Von Braun. You play a soldier
that’s assigned to the Von Braun’s maiden voyage.

The first part of the
game is all about creating your character, and it’s a fascinating sequence. You
show up at the military recruitment center, go through training (the tutorials
are thorough and fun), and then it’s time to develop your character. You do this
by a series of missions that you choose for the first three years of your military
career. You can go the Navy route and develop hotshot technical skills such as
repair and hack; you can develop your strength and weapons skills as a Marine;
or you can focus on the more exotic skill set of psi ops and develop tricky psionic
abilities such as telekenesis.

After you’re through with this sequence,
the game actually begins. You are assigned to the military escort for the Von
Braun on its maiden voyage. Your character goes into a long cryosleep and wakes
up, just as in the original game, with all hell breaking loose.

You have
no idea what’s going on at first, but luckily you get an email from a helpful
science officer right away. She gives you preliminary instructions on how to get
out of immediate danger.

From this moment on, you’re on a roller coaster
ride with no way off. You have to negotiate the labyrinthine decks of the space
ship, figure out how to carry out the instructions you’re being given through
audio email from the doctor, and all the while having to avoid being made very
dead by a host of mutants, cyborgs, gun turrets, giant spiders, and many more
inhospitable creatures.

The game does a beautiful job of letting you slowly
discover the disturbing backstory, as you come across discarded audio logs throughout
the ship. Gradually you begin to piece together the awful events while at the
same time gathering clues to aid your own survival. You also sometimes see ghostly
remnants of the ship’s dead inhabitants, enacting out their final moments of life.
Some of these are heartbreaking.

This mix of high-tech science fiction and
horror creates a tension level that’s almost unbearable. I loved playing this
game, but it was extremely intense, too much so for some gamers, I would imagine.

Part of what makes the mutants so scary is that they still have a bit of
human left in them. They are the remains of the ship’s crew, after all, and some
of them have just enough humanity left to mutter things like, “Run.”
Or, even creepier, “I’m … s-s-s-sorry …” Something about having
a creature apologize while he’s trying to shoot your head off is profoundly disturbing.
So is listening to a cyborg/human “midwife” mutter to herself about
the horrifying infants in her tender care: “Little ones need lots of care
… they grow up so fast …”

SS2 is not just a spaceship
dungeon crawl, however. The RPG elements are quite strong and allow you to approach
problem-solving in different ways. A good example of this is the problem of the
security cameras. All over the ship there are cameras ready to spot you and send
in legions of baddies to ruin your day. If you’re a big bad marine, you might
shoot out the camera. However, this noise might attract other bad guys. If you’re
Navy, you might hack into the computer system and temporarily disarm the cameras.
If you have high psi skills, you might stop the alarm with the power of your mind
or even render yourself invisible and stroll right past the camera.

As you
accomplish interim goals, you’re rewarded by “cyber modules” that allow
you to upgrade your skills. These modules are the key to developing your character
into a tougher marine, a more crafty Navy hacker, or a more powerful mind-bender.

In
addition to character building, other RPG skills come fiercely into play. Special
skills give you the ability to maintain, repair, and even modify weapons. Higher
hacking skill means a better chance to open a locked door or disarm a gun turret.
Research skill allows you to study unknown objects and develop new knowledge,
weapons, or abilities.

Resource management is key to success in SS2.
“Nanites” are the basic currency of the game, and you find them
scattered all over in your explorations. Spending these wisely on matter replicators
to create more ammo, health hypos, or other survival necessities is vital to making
it through the game alive.

This dynamic of fluid choices is present throughout
the game, and it truly allows the player to develop his/her own game style.

And
speaking of fluid–the game has a beautiful, sleek look that’s always eye-pleasing.
The reality of the 3D world makes you really feel you’re skulking around a giant
spaceship.

As with Thief, SS2 is a game you play as much with your
ears as with your eyes and fingers. The sound design of the game is incredible.
From the hair-raising voices of the creatures to the whirring of the security
cameras, the sound design of the game does an amazing job of creating the environment.
The things you hear are as important to your success in this game as the things
you see.

I’m scratching my head to think of something to criticize
about this brilliant game. Wait, I’ve got it. The final showdown is not very imaginative,
and is too similar to the ending of the first game. Plus, there was an element
of the first game–the forays into cyberspace–which I was very sorry not
to see in the sequel.

That’s all I can think of. Back to the good stuff.

The plot of SS2 is strong, well-developed and includes one incredible
shock. I don’t want to do anything to give the surprise away, but when it
happened, I literally pushed my chair away from my computer and sat staring at
my monitor, stunned.

SS2 has many more virtues–a vast selection
of fascinating of gadgets and weapons, a huge array of environments to explore
and survive, a beautifully produced tutorial, a smooth and effective interface,
a versatile and helpful automap, among others.

Irrational Games and Looking
Glass have produced one of the best games I’ve ever played. System Shock 2
is truly scary, smart, challenging, fascinating, and disturbing. I recommend
it to any adventurous adventure player.

Final Grade: A+

If
you liked System Shock 2:
Watch: Aliens
Read: Jurassic
Park by Michael Crichton
Play: Thief

System
Requirements: Pentium-200 or equivalent
32
MB RAM
4X CD-ROM
SVGA
4 MB VRAM
200 MB disk space
Mouse

Sound card
DirectX v6.1