System Shock 2 Remaster was provided by Nightdive Studios for review. Thank you!
Even by today's standards, I would still consider System Shock 2 to be one of the more interesting sci-fi RPGs I have played. The story behind it still intrigues me, and I love the amount of depth and intricacy that went into its gameplay systems. It's pretty amazing to still think of this 25-year-old title as one that could compete with the greats that are being released today, but age has caught up with it, and it isn't the greatest to play. Well, the game is officially getting the Nightdive treatment, and I am so happy to have another reason to play it.
For some background, System Shock 2 was originally released in 1999 and received critical acclaim with very positive reviews. Now, the cult classic action RPG has been given the Nightdive treatment, giving a reason to dive back into it after 25 years. This new remaster includes cross-play co-op multiplayer, additional mod support, better performance with higher framerate support, achievements, optimized controller support, enhanced visuals, and many quality-of-life improvements.
Nightdive Studios is quite dedicated to making sure the game looks and feels like the original, while updating it, and they did a great job here. As I was playing, I was in awe of how gorgeous and detailed everything looked without it feeling like a different game. The updates they added don't take away from the soul of the experience, and that's something I am always worried about with remasters. It is System Shock 2, just with better support and visuals, and a bunch of fixes.
It was a joy to run around the Von Braun starship again, trying to figure out exactly what happened. It turns out that the rogue artificial intelligence SHODAN has taken over the spaceship, and you have to figure out how to stop her. It's an intricate story that I still find endearing and fascinating to play through, even after all of this time.
But the real joy of System Shock 2 comes from its depth and complexity. The game starts out giving you three different career paths, which give bonuses to different stats, helping build out the way you want to play. Whether you want to focus on hacking and repairing, strength and melee/gun damage, or psionic abilities, you can. Each one feels very different from each other, which offers a nice reason to go back and replay the game and see how each approach changes. You are also able to boost your base stats with Cyber Modules to increase your abilities further, as well as gain new Psi powers.
While the game is a FPS-RPG hybrid, it definitely feels closer to an RPG. The detail in how you approach each encounter and situation varies wildly depending on the decisions you make, and how you build out your character and what core attributes you want to focus on. Someone who wants to use psionic abilities, like teleportation and freezing, will tackle enemies coming at you differently than someone who wants to focus on using a gun or melee weapon.
After trying all the options, I felt the Psi (OSA path) was the most enjoyable to use. I like the variety of the powers I could wield and the care I had to take when using them. Powers that cause direct damage could be overcharged, which damages myself, so it was fun to balance attacking and sneaking by enemies to complete the objectives I needed to. I appreciate that I could also change things up with OS upgrades and Cyber Modules upgrades, so I was able to give myself some strength to increase inventory capacity.
With this being an RPG focus, I wasn't as much of a fan of melee/gun combat. Using weapons directly just felt sluggish, and shooting guns felt rudimentary. I disliked having to use them, and it made me miss the more modern enhancements of this type of combat. Still, I would say this somewhat adds to the charm of this timeless classic, but I wouldn't choose to go this route.
There's also something to be said about the level design for System Shock 2. It definitely feels dated, but it is still engaging and rewarding to explore. Finding hidden items or a recharge station around the corners is exciting, and it makes me want to explore the creepy corridors of the spaceship. I enjoyed taking my time and scoping out the hallways and rooms, seeing who is where and planning on how best to effectively take them down.
I also enjoy the co-op multiplayer as an option, and having mod support out of the box is going to be essential for longevity. I can't wait to see the mods that people will create and the new missions to experience. It should be significantly better than playing the original, so I am excited. It may also be a little bit jarring for newcomers, especially those who were introduced to the series from the System Shock 1 remake. However, the longer you play, the more it will make sense and stick with you.
For the most part, I am happy with the controller support. Everything is accessible with the controller, and I never felt like I couldn't access what I needed to, but it is still a bit obnoxious to utilize. Nightdive's dedication to retaining the quality and feeling of the original works against it here. Accessing my inventory and using items in it felt cumbersome and confusing, and a lot of times it took me twice as long to do what I needed to do. I appreciate a screen with the controls staying up when I am in the inventory, but it just takes too long, and there are too many steps to just equip a gun or use different items.
Having to open the inventory with Select, move over to the item, pressing Y to bring up additional actions, and hit equip just feels like too many steps, and I found myself hitting A instead, which picks up the item to move around in your inventory. I did end up getting more used to it, but it definitely took me a minute.
Still, as I said before, it adds to the charm, and I am very happy this is all very playable on the Steam Deck.
As with almost all of Nightdive Studios games, System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster's performance on the Steam Deck is near flawless. The team has shown time and time again how talented they are when it comes to optimization and how malleable the KEX Engine can be. The game doesn't struggle at all to hit 90 FPS, and can stick to it with around 13W - 14W battery drain at the maximum. For those with a Steam Deck OLED, it's great, but bringing it down to 60 FPS can keep it around a 10W drain.
This held strong throughout the game without needing to change a thing, so I would say this is a Best on Deck game! I would still recommend going to a 60 FPS cap for the increased battery life without getting rid of the smoothness, but it's the dealer's choice. Regardless of how you choose to play, it's still going to be great.
We can change the view and weapon bobbing, difficulty, keybindings, language, camera speed and inversion, sensitivity, the aim scale, and volume bars.
ゲームは16:10の解像度をサポートし、クラウドセーブとコントローラーもサポートしている。HDR設定はない。
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster is the definitive way to experience this timeless classic. It was an amazing feeling getting back into the world of System Shock without feeling like it lost any of the charm I had fallen for from the original. The depth of the gameplay systems is wonderful, and although some of the original's faults do peek through, it doesn't change just how great it is to play with all of the improvements Nightdive has added.
On top of that, it's a joy to play on the Steam Deck. It's definitely a Best on Deck game, and I can't help but enjoy playing it on the go. This is a great portable experience, and I can't wait for mods to come out!
このレビューはPC版に基づいています。
このレビューをお楽しみいただけたなら、SteamDeckHQ の他のコンテンツもぜひご覧ください！あなたのゲーム体験に役立つゲームレビューやニュースを幅広く取り揃えています。ニュース、ヒントやチュートリアル、ゲーム設定やレビューをお探しの方も、最新のトレンドを知りたい方も、ぜひご利用ください。
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster is the definitive way to experience this timeless classic, and it's a joy to play on the Steam Deck.
