so I gave System Shock 2 another go...
Aug 24, 2017 2:18:35 GMT -5
Post by edmonddantes on Aug 24, 2017 2:18:35 GMT -5
So here's my story, understand this before going much further (mostly because I don't wanna hear B.S. nostalgia bias stuff)
I first played the System Shock games in 2011. Yeah, 2011. What happened was I was boarding with a friend of mine, and one day I had nothing better to do so I looked thru my computer game drawer and found a CD of the original System Shock, which I had owned but never played because if the "found five games at a flea market" syndrome (its easy to lose track when you find games in bulk).
I figured eh, why not.
It wound up becoming my entire week because despite the convoluted controls, the game was just that amazing. Like seriously, the controls are the only thing I would fix (Well that and the constant crashing but that may have been the PC's fault. I have a different old-school PC now). Once I was done I immediately hopped on ebay and ordered System Shock 2 for $30 shipped and eagerly anticipated it.
After all, SS2 was the cult classic, and the first was already so good, the second had to be much better, right? Even to this day you'll see reviewers like Gggmanlives saying that System Shock 2 is the superior game, so it has to be, right?
.... Well, after giving the game ten hours of my time, my only thought was "everyone who says this is the better of the two games is clearly on some sort of drug." Yes, the controls were better, but in every other way.... it had taken away every feature SS1 had that I liked, and replaced it with what seemed like an ill-thought-out and essentially brainless attempt to turn System Shock into something its not.
But that was then and maybe I just had whiplash from how different the two games were. So yesterday, I decided to give SS2 another shot.
After another ten hours.... I'm still not impressed.
My problems come in two parts.
Part 1 - Things I Liked About System Shock 1 That Have Been Removed (or Made Lame) in SS2
1. THE STIMPATCHES and their various effects, in particular the speed stimpatch. This thing was just awesome--it effectively did a sort of bullet time mechanic, except... everyone else entered bullet time, but YOU were still moving regular speed. This really made you feel fast, not to mention had a lot of utility (in particular an area where you have to hack open a door before a bomb explodes--the speed patch actually doubles your time limit!)
SS2 has the Speed Hypo, which... just makes your running speed faster. That's it. The hypo is basically useless for anything other than running away.
2. THE HACKING in System Shock 2 is basically just tic-tac-toe, except the comp has pre-selected its positions.
In the first game hacking was, you know, actual puzzles. That you could solve with your smart-thinky-organs. And were engaging.
Part 2 - Things About SS2 Itself That Just Don't Work
And no, I didn't just forget to salt the fries.
For the most part, my problem with System Shock 2 is that it comes off as an incohesive experience, full of contradictions and seeming to pull in a lot of different directions like the designers really had no idea what they wanted it to be. Just for example...
3. THE CLASS SYSTEM. So effectively you're supposed to be able to build your character however you want. This premise is fine... in games like Elder Scrolls which are set in an open-world environment. System Shock 2 though is set on a space station, and you don't exactly have any choice about where to go on it--you always have to go where the plot tells you to, just like in a JRPG. Just like those, this means the game is fundamentally designed around one set of decisions and if you don't make exactly the character build decisions the game is programmed around, you're gonna have a tough time.
Which wouldn't be so bad, except...
4. THE CYBER MODULES are only handed out at specific moments. To use a metaphor, imagine Zelda 2, except if instead of levelling up upon getting enough EXP, you instead had to find heart containers, so there's only a finite amount in game, and you still have to decide which stat each goes into. Except you kinda sorta eventually NEED to max out all three of your stats, and there aren't enough to do that...
System Shock 2 very quickly falls into the same rut. Unlike most RPGs with similar skill systems, in SS2 pretty much every upgrade is something basically necessary to your success. I've heard of people who play the game as basically just an FPS, but I'm not sure what voodoo they're pulling for that--if you're a basic gun-toting soldier you end up having to repair and maintain your guns every five seconds. Psi guys can get around this with a spell, but the amount of modules it takes to get said spell basically means you're not gonna be putting jack into your weapons. I mean unless its the only spell you get I guess. I'll have to try that.
I wanna mention real quick something I think is just stupid: Weapons have a minimum skill level for use. Okay, games like Fallout have a strength requirement, but that makes sense--some weapons are heavy, I get that. But are you seriously telling me Goggles needs to be "skilled" in gun use to understand "point at thing you want dead, pull trigger?"
For those wondering, SS1 was more like Metroid in this sense--you just found items, armor pieces or upgrades for your cyberdeck that gave you more abilities and once you had them, you had them forever. SS2 is like if Samus needed three ranks in Energy Weapon before she could use the freeze ray and was completely allowed to ignore getting it until getting to Taurian and finding out that the freeze ray is necessary for killing metroids.
5. THIS IS NITPICKING, BUT let's talk about the story and the amazing reveal everyone knows about.
To be honest, SS2's storyline does interest me and its the reason I'm even inclined to give the game a second chance. Everything about it feels like a logical extension of the first game (unlike most sequels that tend to just feel arbitrary) and some of the directions are pretty interesting.
But it sure ain't well-executed, and there's no better example than the famous plot twist everyone knows about (and if you don't know about it... well, it'll probably get spoiled before long so I won't do it, but you'll probably glean it).
So the girl on the radio keeps saying things like "You're no good to me dead!" the Many keep asking you things like "Why do you serve the machine?" and the girl on the radio outright goes into a villain rant an hour before the big reveal takes place. GEE I WONDER WHAT THE TWIST IS GONNA BE!
Now, the reveal scene itself IS one of the best scenes in first-person gaming and it is appropriately chilling, but the ultimate problem is that even without spoilers I knew it was coming and I honestly can't see people being surprised by it.
But like I said, this is a minor nitpick--most of my flaws are gameplay related, the story is mostly the high-point, and I almost feel like I would be better off watching a Lets Play.
I first played the System Shock games in 2011. Yeah, 2011. What happened was I was boarding with a friend of mine, and one day I had nothing better to do so I looked thru my computer game drawer and found a CD of the original System Shock, which I had owned but never played because if the "found five games at a flea market" syndrome (its easy to lose track when you find games in bulk).
I figured eh, why not.
It wound up becoming my entire week because despite the convoluted controls, the game was just that amazing. Like seriously, the controls are the only thing I would fix (Well that and the constant crashing but that may have been the PC's fault. I have a different old-school PC now). Once I was done I immediately hopped on ebay and ordered System Shock 2 for $30 shipped and eagerly anticipated it.
After all, SS2 was the cult classic, and the first was already so good, the second had to be much better, right? Even to this day you'll see reviewers like Gggmanlives saying that System Shock 2 is the superior game, so it has to be, right?
.... Well, after giving the game ten hours of my time, my only thought was "everyone who says this is the better of the two games is clearly on some sort of drug." Yes, the controls were better, but in every other way.... it had taken away every feature SS1 had that I liked, and replaced it with what seemed like an ill-thought-out and essentially brainless attempt to turn System Shock into something its not.
But that was then and maybe I just had whiplash from how different the two games were. So yesterday, I decided to give SS2 another shot.
After another ten hours.... I'm still not impressed.
My problems come in two parts.
Part 1 - Things I Liked About System Shock 1 That Have Been Removed (or Made Lame) in SS2
1. THE STIMPATCHES and their various effects, in particular the speed stimpatch. This thing was just awesome--it effectively did a sort of bullet time mechanic, except... everyone else entered bullet time, but YOU were still moving regular speed. This really made you feel fast, not to mention had a lot of utility (in particular an area where you have to hack open a door before a bomb explodes--the speed patch actually doubles your time limit!)
SS2 has the Speed Hypo, which... just makes your running speed faster. That's it. The hypo is basically useless for anything other than running away.
2. THE HACKING in System Shock 2 is basically just tic-tac-toe, except the comp has pre-selected its positions.
In the first game hacking was, you know, actual puzzles. That you could solve with your smart-thinky-organs. And were engaging.
Part 2 - Things About SS2 Itself That Just Don't Work
And no, I didn't just forget to salt the fries.
For the most part, my problem with System Shock 2 is that it comes off as an incohesive experience, full of contradictions and seeming to pull in a lot of different directions like the designers really had no idea what they wanted it to be. Just for example...
3. THE CLASS SYSTEM. So effectively you're supposed to be able to build your character however you want. This premise is fine... in games like Elder Scrolls which are set in an open-world environment. System Shock 2 though is set on a space station, and you don't exactly have any choice about where to go on it--you always have to go where the plot tells you to, just like in a JRPG. Just like those, this means the game is fundamentally designed around one set of decisions and if you don't make exactly the character build decisions the game is programmed around, you're gonna have a tough time.
Which wouldn't be so bad, except...
4. THE CYBER MODULES are only handed out at specific moments. To use a metaphor, imagine Zelda 2, except if instead of levelling up upon getting enough EXP, you instead had to find heart containers, so there's only a finite amount in game, and you still have to decide which stat each goes into. Except you kinda sorta eventually NEED to max out all three of your stats, and there aren't enough to do that...
System Shock 2 very quickly falls into the same rut. Unlike most RPGs with similar skill systems, in SS2 pretty much every upgrade is something basically necessary to your success. I've heard of people who play the game as basically just an FPS, but I'm not sure what voodoo they're pulling for that--if you're a basic gun-toting soldier you end up having to repair and maintain your guns every five seconds. Psi guys can get around this with a spell, but the amount of modules it takes to get said spell basically means you're not gonna be putting jack into your weapons. I mean unless its the only spell you get I guess. I'll have to try that.
I wanna mention real quick something I think is just stupid: Weapons have a minimum skill level for use. Okay, games like Fallout have a strength requirement, but that makes sense--some weapons are heavy, I get that. But are you seriously telling me Goggles needs to be "skilled" in gun use to understand "point at thing you want dead, pull trigger?"
For those wondering, SS1 was more like Metroid in this sense--you just found items, armor pieces or upgrades for your cyberdeck that gave you more abilities and once you had them, you had them forever. SS2 is like if Samus needed three ranks in Energy Weapon before she could use the freeze ray and was completely allowed to ignore getting it until getting to Taurian and finding out that the freeze ray is necessary for killing metroids.
5. THIS IS NITPICKING, BUT let's talk about the story and the amazing reveal everyone knows about.
To be honest, SS2's storyline does interest me and its the reason I'm even inclined to give the game a second chance. Everything about it feels like a logical extension of the first game (unlike most sequels that tend to just feel arbitrary) and some of the directions are pretty interesting.
But it sure ain't well-executed, and there's no better example than the famous plot twist everyone knows about (and if you don't know about it... well, it'll probably get spoiled before long so I won't do it, but you'll probably glean it).
So the girl on the radio keeps saying things like "You're no good to me dead!" the Many keep asking you things like "Why do you serve the machine?" and the girl on the radio outright goes into a villain rant an hour before the big reveal takes place. GEE I WONDER WHAT THE TWIST IS GONNA BE!
Now, the reveal scene itself IS one of the best scenes in first-person gaming and it is appropriately chilling, but the ultimate problem is that even without spoilers I knew it was coming and I honestly can't see people being surprised by it.
But like I said, this is a minor nitpick--most of my flaws are gameplay related, the story is mostly the high-point, and I almost feel like I would be better off watching a Lets Play.
