System Shock 2 
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The rights to one of the greatest PC games of all time languished in the vault of a Midwestern insurance firm until a frustrated player bugged them about a re-release, 'But they asked me if I wanted to do System Shock 3'Apr 6, 2025 - PC GamerSpeaking to Nightdive founder Stephen Kick and VP of business development Larry Kuperman at this year's Game Developers Conference, I was curious about how it felt to be returning to System Shock 2 for the studio's upcoming remaster. After all, I had a loose understanding that Shock 2 is the game that kicked off Nightdive in the first place... Read more.Nightdive's remaster of System Shock 2, the peak of immersive sims, finally has a release dateMar 20, 2025 - PC GamerHere's my confession: I think I prefer System Shock 2 to Deus Ex. Not that I don't love JC Denton like a son, mind you, it's just that SS2's creepy hallways and pitch-perfect antagonists have taken root in my heart forever... Read more.System Shock 2 remaster has a new name, and soon it'll have a launch date tooFeb 14, 2025 - PCGamesNWhile Half-Life often steals the show and sits fondly in more players' memories, let's not forget that fellow sci-fi FPS series System Shock was just as brilliant and revolutionary. The original game recently got a full remake decades on from when it first opened the FPS genre up to levels of freedom previously unseen. System Shock 2 was equally excellent, and a remaster (rather than a full remake) has been in the works for a while now. Well, that wait may soon be coming to an end. While I sadly don't have a release date to share with you right now, what I can say is that developer Nightdive will be revealing it next month during GDC. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: One of the greatest FPS games in all of PC history is now just $2 System Shock 2 is getting an Enhanced Edition The most scared we've been while playing a game System Shock 2 remaster has a new name, and soon it'll have a launch date tooFeb 14, 2025 - PCGamesNWhile Half-Life often steals the show and sits fondly in more players' memories, let's not forget that fellow sci-fi FPS series System Shock was just as brilliant and revolutionary. The original game recently got a full remake decades on from when it first opened the FPS genre up to levels of freedom previously unseen. System Shock 2 was equally excellent, and a remaster (rather than a full remake) has been in the works for a while now. Well, that wait may soon be coming to an end. While I sadly don't have a release date to share with you right now, what I can say is that developer Nightdive will be revealing it next month during GDC. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: One of the greatest FPS games in all of PC history is now just $2 System Shock 2 is getting an Enhanced Edition The most scared we've been while playing a game Nightdive's spent 6 years on its update of System Shock 2, so it's now the '25th Anniversary Remaster' and will finally announce its release date on March 20Feb 14, 2025 - PC GamerBeing, as I am, a fashionable man with his finger on the pulse, interested in only the latest and greatest that the videogame world has to offer, the game I'm probably most excited about this year is System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition. That's Nightdive's remaster (not remake, let's be clear) of the original 1999 classic, one of my favourite games of all time. If Nightdive can do for SS2 what it did for System Shock 1 in its enhanced edition of that, I'll be very happy... Read more.One of the greatest FPS games in all of PC history is now just $2Mar 4, 2024 - PCGamesNWhat are the most influential PC games in history? Civilization has to be up there. Doom. Half-Life. I'd definitely throw Baldur's Gate into the hat these days, likewise Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. And you know, it's hard to overstate the significance of The Sims. World of Warcraft definitely deserves a mention, too. But if I'm thinking of a specific type of game - an FPS and immersive sim where you discover the entire story through exploration and interaction, and tweak the way you play based on different stats and abilities - one game stands above all. Inspired by Thief The Dark Project, and launching close to Deus Ex, without this epochal PC shooter, we'd have no BioShock, and maybe no Dishonored. And now it's all yours for $2. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: System Shock 2 is getting an Enhanced Edition The most scared we've been while playing a game System Shock 3 website goes live, sign up for updates from the RPG revival Here's the first trailer for System Shock 2: Enhanced EditionMay 21, 2023 - PC Gamerfter a look at some screenshots earlier this week, Nightdive Studios has dropped a proper trailer for System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition. The upcoming re-release of the classic immersive sim shooter will overhaul it to look a lot better than it currently does—it currently looks bad, for the record—but it's not a full remake like Nightdive's upcoming System Shock. That game was delayed until the end of this month, and will come out on the 30th... Read more.System Shock 2 Redux helps to sharpen-up SHODANApr 8, 2022 - PC GamerIt's regarded as one of the best games ever made, but even its most ardent fan would agree that System Shock 2 was never a looker. Way back on release, its flat textures and lumpen character models lagged behind the Unreals and Quake IIIs, and these days its face is one that only a psychotic AI mother could love. Fortunately, rushing into the Von Braun with a syringe full of Botulinum is System Shock 2 Redux, a collection of the best cosmetic mods for Looking Glass' iconic immersive sim... Read more.System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition dev confirms fully fledged VR mode after earlier teaseFeb 16, 2021 - EurogamerNightdive Studios has confirmed its upcoming enhanced edition of seminal sci-fi adventure System Shock 2 will include a fully fledged VR mode, after the developer teased virtual reality support for the game earlier this year. Nightdive initially announced System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition back in 2019, and while the studio is yet to confirm the exact enhancements it'll feature on release, we do know it'll include improvements to co-op play and employ the same engine used to create its enhanced version of System Shock 1 - which added the likes of 4K support, achievements, and improved controls. As for VR support, that was teased back in January, when, after a period of silence regarding System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition's progress, Nightdive finally popped up on Twitter to assure fans of the project's continued existence, and, more surprisingly, to reveal video footage of what appeared to be work-in-progress VR support. Read more System Shock 2 Enhanced Edition dev shows off VR support in new videoJan 11, 2021 - EurogamerNightdive Studios' upcoming enhanced edition of seminal sci-fi adventure System Shock 2 might be a little more ambitious than initially expected, with the developer now teasing VR support for the game in a new tweet. System Shock 2 Enhanced Edition was initially announced back in 2019, and while Nightdive wasn't particularly forthcoming regarding the specific enhancements fans could expect on its release, the developer did confirm the game would include improvements to co-op play and employ the same engine used to create its enhanced version of System Shock 1 - which added the likes of 4K support, achievements, and improved controls. Little has been seen of the project since that initial unveiling, leaving fans to ponder its progress, but now System Shock 2 Enhanced Edition has resurfaced in a new tweet from Nightdive, with the developer revealing a surprise new feature in the form of VR support. Read more A brief history of cyberpunk gamesDec 6, 2020 - EurogamerThe long-awaited release of Cyberpunk 2077 brings to an end years of feverish anticipation for those who have been itching to roam the streets of Night City, but it's only the latest example of gaming's fixation with the trappings of the cyberpunk genre. It's perhaps inevitable that gaming and cyberpunk are so closely entwined, given that both were birthed in the technological boom of the 1950s and gained mainstream pop culture presence around the same time in the late 70s and early 80s. The hard part is working out how to separate the games that cherry-picked aspects of the cyberpunk aesthetic - of which there are literally hundreds - from those that are, or at least attempted to be, genuine examples of cyberpunk fiction. For that, we need to nail down the genre's key tropes; namely a dystopian outlook on the near-future, an interest in alternate digital realities, drug or technology assisted human modification, and a cultural milieu in which corporate interests have long since outranked the quaint notion of elected government. Things got started pretty early, with adaptations of 1980s cyberpunk movies for 8-bit home computers like the ZX Spectrum. The Blade Runner game, rather cunningly, was licensed from the eerie synth score by Vangelis rather than the more costly movie despite asking you to fly your "Spinner" craft over Los Angeles, locating errant replicants then chasing them down in simple foot chases. An amusing distraction, but one that failed to grapple with the themes of cyberpunk in any meaningful way. Read more MacOS update for System Shock 2Jul 7, 2020 - Community AnnouncementsHello Mac Hackers, As you may be aware, Apple dropped support for 32-bit applications in its Catalina operating system. The latest update for System Shock 2 has been updated to run on these platforms using an updated compatibility layer. Many thanks to Gcenx and the Mac Porting Team community for their constant work on Wineskin Winery and their binaries. Enjoy the update, Daniel G, Nightdive Studios.The Joy Of audio logs in System Shock 2Aug 27, 2019 - Rock, Paper, Shotgun“Audio logs”, said a game designer, eliciting a chorus of involuntary groans from absolutely everyone. They’re clumsy, they’re silly, and they’re usually badly done, to the point where it’s tempting to insist that they be consigned to history altogether. That would probably be overkill. (more…) System Shock 2 Enhanced Edition devs are focused on multiplayer and modsAug 16, 2019 - PC GamerNightdive Studios announced last week that it's working on an enhanced version of System Shock 2, which came as a shock to me because I thought it had been announced months ago. Apparently I confused it with one of the other System Shocks currently in the works—either the remake of the original, which Nightdive is also working on, or System Shock 3, being developed by Otherside Entertainment. There's a whole lot of Shocking going on. But System Shock 2 Enhanced Edition is something else entirely, and I'm very excited that it's happening because the original is a spectacularly good game but also very dated: The character models were pretty ugly when it was new and 20 years under the bridge hasn't made it any prettier. Hopefully Nightdive will be able to give it an appropriate facelift, but studio CEO Stephen Kick told GamesRadar today that it's actually putting its focus on the game's multiplayer. "Our priority with the Enhanced Edition is to be able to deliver an updated co-op multiplayer component. As of right now starting a co-op campaign is needlessly complicated and we're going to address that by implementing features that will enable a more modern and streamlined experience," Kick said. "Our other priority is to ensure that all existing mods and fan missions are compatible with the Enhanced Edition, but much of that will rely on the cooperation of the mod community. We have some other surprises that we'll be revealing in the future." It's great that mod support is being continued: There aren't a huge number of System Shock 2 mods available but things like community patches and fan-made visual enhancements are just about mandatory for the game as it currently stands. The multiplayer focus is a little more unexpected. System Shock 2 multiplayer is a pain in the ass to set up, but it also just kind of sucks. The game is so effective largely because of the sense of isolation it engenders and the dread that results, and throwing other players into the mix turns it from a near-horror immersive sim to just another shooter—especially when the Marine player is running around turning everything into paste while the Navy and OSA players are still trying to figure out how to hack the GamePig. We spoke with Irrational Games co-founders Ken Levine and Jonathan Chey about how System Shock 2 came to be, and almost didn't come to be, earlier today. It's really good and you can read it all right here. How one phone call saved a tiny new studio and gave the world System Shock 2Aug 16, 2019 - PC Gamer System Shock 2 concept art by Gareth Hinds "I was heartbroken," says Ken Levine. "I went away with my girlfriend and some friends up to Maine for the weekend. They were all having fun, but I remember thinking my life was over." It was 1997, and just a few months after Levine, Jonathan Chey, and Robert Fermier founded Irrational Games, it looked like the company was about to collapse. The trio had left Thief studio Looking Glass after a wasted 18 months working on a Star Trek: Voyager tie-in that was suddenly aborted, leaving Looking Glass in " financial and creative disarray ." We just had to start building the game, because there wasn't any time to prototype. Jonathan Chey The young, hungry group wanted to test their skills and run their own project, and scored a contract to make the singleplayer portion of FireTeam, an online multiplayer strategy game. But shortly after they went independent, the deal fell through. They were out of work, and Levine was sure he'd blown it. "That was really scary. I'd just got into the industry, I'd quit my dream job to start this thing, and then it was already not working out," he says. "I figured it was back to graphic design and computer consulting… I thought I'd missed my shot." Irrational scrambled to create a top-down strategy game to shop to publishers, but most were unwilling to take a risk on it, and those that liked it didn't have enough money to fund the idea. It looked like the dream was over. "And then the phone rang." Ken Levine, who went on to be creative director on BioShock and BioShock Infinite It was Looking Glass co-founder Paul Neurath, who threw Irrational a lifeline. Looking Glass had built an engine for Thief: The Dark Project, and he wanted to spread the cost by making other games with it too. Irrational, who knew the engine, seemed like a natural fit, and so Looking Glass asked them to come up with an idea for a game. After Irrational built a crude prototype of an RPG-shooter hybrid—Levine says the team mastered how to show it off "just exactly the way where it wouldn't explode"—Looking Glass presented it to EA, which was impressed. And EA, it just so happened, owned the rights to System Shock, which Looking Glass developed in 1994. The team smelled an opportunity, says Jonathan Chey. " was just a science-fiction shooter game called Junction Point," he says. "I'm pretty sure it was our idea to bring back the System Shock license… 'hey, you guys already have this world, and it was really cool, why don't we use that instead of trying to invent an entirely new franchise here?'" Just like that System Shock 2 was born and Irrational was pulled back from the abyss. But it was only the start of the hard work. 20 years later, System Shock 2 is one of the most celebrated PC games of all time. The human story behind it...20 years after release, System Shock 2 is finally getting an Enhanced EditionAug 12, 2019 - Rock, Paper, Shotgun Like a toolbar on my dad s PC, System Shock 2 won t die. In fact, it was released 20 years ago this past Sunday and it’s still gaining in power. For most of that time, the game has only been developed in fits and starts, relying on community patches, source code leaks, and the determination of Nightdive Studios to get it back in our hands. We have it now, but that s not enough for the publisher, who thinks the game deserves the sort of attention a lot of classic games receive and has announced work on System Shock 2 Enhanced Edition. (more…) Nightdive Studios announces System Shock 2 Enhanced EditionAug 12, 2019 - EurogamerNightdive Studios, which is currently developing a remake of the original System Shock, has announced it's also working on an enhanced edition of System Shock 2. The studio handled the re-release of System Shock 2 back in 2013, and the new announcement came during the studio's stream celebrating the game's 20th anniversary. The System Shock series has a lot in store for fans, with a teaser for the third instalment coming out earlier this year, and a teaser for Nightdive's System Shock reboot 'Adventure Alpha' dropping late last year. Read more An enhanced edition of System Shock 2 is in developmentAug 11, 2019 - PC GamerNightdive Studios, who are currently working on a remake of the original System Shock and oversaw the re-release of System Shock 2 in 2013, have just announced they're also working on an enhanced edition of System Shock 2. As they said on Twitter, "You asked for it and we are working on it". While the currently available version of System Shock 2 remains one of the classic immersive sims, an influence without which BioShock would not exist and still one of the creepiest games around—that sound design though—there are plenty of players who've found it hard to get to grips with. And the ending's always been horrible. I'm sure Nightdive will have plenty to say in the weeks ahead about how they're handling System Shock 2 and exactly which parts they're enhancing, but right now it's just nice to know Shodan continues living on—both through remakes and the forthcoming System Shock 3 being made by OtherSide Entertainment. v2.48 is available now for Windows and MacOSJul 4, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsHello Soldiers, A new update for System Shock 2 is available now for Windows and MacOS that brings the game up to version 2.48. The update fixes a few in-game issues as well as restoring a previously unheard e-mail from SHODAN. It's in Ops. Can you find it? Steam configs have been updated on Windows so now that when verifying the Steam Cache, files essential to mod configuration should no longer be downloaded again if changes are found. They will be redownloaded if they are missing. The MacOS version of the game has been completely redone. Gone is WineSkin 2.8.2 and Wine 2.12, and in its place is WineSkin 2.9.0.2 and Wine 4.11. This should allow the game to run much better on more modern Mac computers. I've tested this extensively on my MacBook 15-inch, 2018 model with Mojave 10.14.5 installed as found no issues. Because of this MacOS update, the base system requirements for this game have to be changed as I can no longer support the old MacOS operating systems reliably. Mojave 10.14 is now the base OS requirement for this game. Enjoy the update, Daniel G, Nightdive Studios.A series of ambitious mods continued System Shock 2's story years after its releaseJan 28, 2019 - PC GamerFans of Looking Glass Studios' classic stealth game Thief are still making new missions for it (I'm playing one called The Sound of a Burrick in a Room from 2018, and it's pretty good!) as well as missions for Thief 2 and the free standalone Dark Mod . But the other classic 1990s immersive sim Looking Glass worked on, System Shock 2, has received less love from modders, despite being one of the most beloved PC games of all time. Only a handful of fan missions exist for System Shock 2, but a few in particular made by modder Christine Schneider are worth playing. Schneider's four-part series makes the bold choice to continue the story of System Shock 2 beyond its ending. A direct continuation of the story is an interesting decision because the ending of System Shock 2 is legendary: Legendarily bad. After the villainous AI Shodan delivers her "join me and together we can rule" speech, our silent protagonist in goggle-eye sunglasses dramatically pauses and utters the only word he says in the entire game: "Nah." Then he slow-mo shoots Shodan, who wigs out like she's going through a bunch of YouTube reaction faces before exploding. For a game this clever, twisty, and atmospheric it's weirdly 'extreme' in the most '90s sense of the word. Then there's the post-credits stinger. Tommy and Rebecca, two characters only glimpsed through glass or heard via audiologs until this point, have escaped on a lifepod. In this final scene it's revealed that Rebecca has somehow been possessed by Shodan, which is demonstrated by her hair turning into wild electrical cables. It's a real THE END… OR IS IT? kind of finale. Christine Schneider's mods take this ending and run with it. The first of them, Ponterbee Station , opens with a cutscene that repeats the stinger (one of the things that marks her work out is the cutscenes, sometimes incorporating FMV). The reborn Shodan is then picked up by a research station called the Ponterbee, because the universe of System Shock is full of well-meaning scientists just waiting for a chance to accidentally let loose a variety of menaces. Which is, of course, what happens. As in System Shock 2 you play a cybernetically enhanced soldier in sunglasses with the misfortune of being assigned to this doomed station. But as Soldier XT269T2 you don't begin the mission on Ponterbee Station. You're on Earth, hanging out in a high-rise apartment with a guitar on display in the corner that lets everyone know you're cool. The tutorial of System Shock 2 also let you walk around a street-level slice of Earth to contrast with the tight confines of the rest of the game, but Schneider's living city block full of traffic and high-rises is an early sign of the ambition her mods would display. While most of Ponterbee is corridors and backtracking for keycards, this early section shows she knows how to do more with the ShockEd mod tools than ...
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