How System Shock's Reboot Wrestles With Adapting Its Legacy

How much of a game's identity is tied up in its rough edges? What do you gain by smoothing those edges away? What do you lose? System Shock (1994) and System Shock (2023) serve as a nice case study for this line of thought. While 1994's System Shock is a seminal work whose impact echoes through to today it's also a game a lot of people simply refuse to play given its archaic input systems and low-fi graphics. Meanwhile, 2023's System Shock wants to bring the game to The People - but that means hammering a game that's full of awkward-but-interesting choices into something a bit more conventional. Does that smooth out the game's problems, or erase its identity? Let's take a look!

[@Shenandoahologist]

The "pixelated textures on high-resolution geometry" artstyle is such a great design choice. Throughout the whole video I was in awe of how bloody slick it looks!

[@gotd4m]

Personally i think think the game did exactly what it set out to do. It made the game so faithful that most of the walkthroughs for the OG still apply while not playing like an operating system.

[@dc8836]

Also the source of its tepid reviews. It's not that the remake is bad, it's that the remake is very faithful to the original and only changed things that arguably *needed* changing. Monsters will still respawn when you leave the area, and I swear they'll even respawn behind you. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it, but I can see how folks not in the mood for something old-school might have been frustrated.

[@Eagle0600]

@@dc8836 Having played both EE and the more recent remake, I would argue that it made significant changes to the inventory system it didn't need to, and for the worse.

[@dc8836]

@@Eagle0600 Recycling is unnecessarily cumbersome and is definitely something that needs attention, I'll agree with that. So much needless busywork.

[@banuner_]

@@dc8836they 100% can just spawn behind you. Also in front of you.

[@dragon1130]

​@@dc8836heck, sometimes they'll respawn in front of you. Ibe had many a situation where I enter a hallway and a lift pops up from the floor with a cyborg, mutant or a mobile turret ready to strike me down.

[@TheKarishi]

I really appreciate how on the one end you don't balk at calling out trouble - sometimes making concessions for a problem being intractable or brought on by budget concerns but never acting as if that makes it "fine" for the end user - but also allow the viewer to see how subtle decisions (sometimes even those that caused the problems) make a title a unique, memorable experience. That honesty and nuance is the core of good criticism, and I wish more reviewers exercised it more consistently.

[@Medytacjusz]

with those older games probably more tech concerns than budget concerns :) it's fascinating how much faster the release cycle was back then. That plus smaller teams meant a lot less cost I suspect.

[@groffmarr]

While watching this analysis: “Man, I really need to play Prey” “Chris is the best and I really appreciate his perspective” “OuRoBoRuSsY”

[@TheZetaKai]

I wish that Shamus Young had lived long enough to play this for himself. He was a huge fan of the original, and he was a backer for the Kickstarter, but he sadly died before it would finally bear fruit and be released. I would have loved to have read his reaction to the remake. Gone too soon.

[@EnvyOmicron]

Yeah, thinking about all the games that could come out after I die that I would've loved always gives me a mini-existential crisis (god, I hope Half-Life 3 isn't one of those games), and makes me feel really sad for all the people who never got to experience the great games that came out after their deaths.

[@cinebst]

man, I miss Shamus

[@jonathanwithnall9117]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was thinking this throughout the video. Absolutely great take, Chris, but man, I'd have loved to have read Shamus' thoughts.

[@matteste]

I had to look that name up and boy, so it was him this time? While I didn't follow him all that much, I had watched a few of his videos and really liked them. Just so sad when these people with such a potential future gets their light snuffed out too soon while being so young.

[@CappnRob]

bruh what the fuck, I had no idea he died last year. His essays on Mass Effect are some of my favorite reading around. This sucks :/

[@AstralPhnx]

The System Shock remake is absolutely brilliant. NightDive really managed to nail it with keeping the original feel intact while making it more accessible and that's extremely commendable

[@Jimothy-723]

i disagree

[@TalenLee]

I feel like, in a lot of ways, this is that Borges idea of 'this thing created its own predecessors' in reverse. It's been made into a predecessor because of the lineage it has to relate to.

[@Small_Leviathan]

Wonderful work as always, Chris. I got into immersive sims with Dishonored, and only knew about System Shock in passing, and mostly due to the legacy of SHODAN specifically, so this was a very informative watch. Though I'm not sure how I feel about you unleashing the phrase "ouroborussy" into the world.

[@liamobrien6044]

Just as was fortold, the snake eats his own ass XD

[@gloomy_gus]

Ultimately, I think what most modern players wanted was another immersive sim game like SS2, Deus Ex, etc. And Nightdive probably made the right choice (especially financially) by catering to people's expectations.

[@TonkarzOfSolSystem]

I like the way the Resident Evil remake games approached modernizing the "awkward controls" approach of the original games. They made the controls responsive and convenient, but instead your character's movements take time and have momentum. Whether it's reloading, running, turning, switching weapons or whatever, the panic inducing elements of the control scheme are shifted from awkward controls and onto semi-realistic animations.

[@QuintessentialWalrus]

I completely agree. I think Resident Evil has some of the best remakes in gaming history because they're generally good at capturing the same core essence even if the details change. My favorite subtle example is that the remakes of 2, 3, and 4 allow the player to move while shooting, but the player's damage and accuracy gets boosted if they stand still while aiming. Standing still to aim is good for a horror game because it allows enemies to close in on you, but the downside is that it feels unintuitive and unrealistic for the player's legs to stop working sometimes. Encouraging players to stand and aim without explicitly requiring it anymore is such a smart move for a remake, it's the best of both worlds.

[@torb-no]

“I think it serves of a good example of how systemic complexity and jank aren’t always good things” Only a Errant Signal video could have that sentence. ✨

[@GGreenHeart]

I recently bought the remake so I could play a "retold" piece of history- so I loved hearing about all the different concessions and consistencies it has with the original. I feel like this really gave me some cool perspective and context for that. Really enjoyable video, as someone who's yet (but excited) to pick up the series.

[@ZylonBane]

"Retold" is certainly the most tactful way to express that the entire remake feels like an SS1 fanfic. The original System Shock was a game that looked forward. The remake is a game that looks backward.

[@NoNameAtAll2]

your commentary on mechanics being replaced by more modern versions remind me of Guedelon castle (project of building castle "like in middle ages" started in 90s and ending about now) builders there use steel boots they don't use ropes they make themselves all because modern safety level requires modern solutions there's even a catchphrase "we're recreating middle age castle building, not middle age casualties rate" it's quite possible that Guedelon project sacrifices too much somewhere as well, but what part of "losing authentic System Shock experience" is just removing (playerbase) casualties?

[@NoNameAtAll2]

maybe the difference is that Guedelon people do do make own ropes even if after being made, they don't get used in cranes but system shock doesn't provide a _choice_ of old controls

[@jeffhiner]

It's an apt parallel. Without at least some modern safety concessions Guedelon would never be made at all, because building permits and funding wouldn't be possible. Without some minor concessions to modern usability the System Shock remake wouldn't have found a publisher at all, because few would buy and play it. Historians and the few critics complaining can always go back and play the 1994 original in DOSBox. There's nothing preventing it.

[@Waltztacular]

Day always gets better when an Errant Signal vid drops

[@liampoulton-king7479]

I’m surprised this is a seperate video from the Children of Doom coming up that’s about System Shock 2. But it’s a very pleasant surprise.

[@atortarr]

Based on how he talked about the original System Shock (at least, from what I've seen so far, I'm about 60% through), it sounds like he doesn't consider this game a child of DOOM. I think I would agree. There's a whole lot more focus on controlling and contorting your character's body to navigate environments and avoid damage from enemies, for example. DOOM has arcade-style movement mechanics in comparison (not a criticism!).

[@liampoulton-king7479]

@@atortarr right, but the remake is pretty undoubtably one. Originally, there was a “no Im-Sim” rule, but we know the next video is going to be SS2, so it seems like a good opportunity to talk about all three games.

[@mentfib1906]

19:59 no. NO. I refuse. I know that you crossed it out, but it still counts. This is a crime.

[@groffmarr]

This is Art, written in the Language of our time

[@timothymclean]

I feel like Chris feared that "joke" might overrun the comment section if he didn't head it off at the pass.

[@EmeraldWitch]

The first time I played System Shock 2 was with a friend and in the first hallway where some monsters show up my Gun jammed after a couple shots and I had to run down a hallway while trying to re-equip a melee weapon. These interactions will never be seen again as UIs have gotten so much better and it sounds like the game was unfair, which maybe it was, but it really did add to the experience and I will never forget that moment.

[@GmodPlusWoW]

Signal received: welcome back, Cap. Y'know, considering the affinity for remakes in the industry, it probably wouldn't be unfair to say that a lot of us are into that ouroborussy (I REGRET NOTHING). I mean, I was a backer for that Kickstarter all those years ago, and I appreciate the tweaks made to the formula, even if they are technically based on stuff done by the games that the original System Shock inspired. Weirdly enough, I kinda loved recycling all the crap I picked up, turning trash into treasure, deciding which junk-items to lug around and which to leave lying around. While being faithful to the original is important, there comes a point where doing so isn't the wisest thing to do. After all, not only can the "warts" bring things down sometimes, but if you're doing things too close to the original, it starts to raise the question of "why not just play the original?", which is a question that Jay Sherman brought up (and answered) on that one episode of "English for Cab-Drivers" back in the 90's.

[@yadhu3166]

Damn, your ability to skillfully weave an argument without falling into game-as-form style criticism or dunking on the efforts of the devs is masterful. Your channel is truly a hidden gem. Great stuff as always.

[@Lastofthemohaggens]

Excellent work, Chris! Really pleased to hear that genuinely does capture the core of the original experience despite being so much more accessible. It it'll make the original more accessible by proxy too, since you can play a smoother version first and then approach the original already knowing the rough beats and where you need to go.

[@tvsonicserbia5140]

Oh this made my day. You introduced me to System Shock all those years ago. I tried it but I was too clumsy for it. I'm dying to play the remake.

[@KroltanMG]

Do it! It is an awesome game.

[@loganq5152]

Reinterpreting System Shock in the style of its descendants reminds me of The Whig Interpretation of History, looking at the past through the lens of the present as if it were inevitably leading here

[@timothymclean]

Deep cut, but yeah, I see what you mean.

[@TheGlooga]

Excited to watch this! System Shock 1 kind of shocked me with how well it holds up and became one of my all-time favorite games, but I haven't had the time to play the remake in spite of the praise it's gotten so I'm interested to see your thoughts. All I really want from it honestly is that its soundtrack is equally insane.

[@timothymclean]

> System Shock 1 kind of shocked me Pun intended?

[@michaelandreipalon359]

*ACTIONABLE PUN DETECTED*

[@Rosencreutzzz]

Legitimately mad that KZbin didn't notify me when this came out, love to see your take on something that I've only, til now, had a limited window into via other creators who don't get into the kinds of details I like to see explored like how gameplay meets theme.

[@ClarkKentai]

The mouse cursor in System Shock always felt like an approximation of the player character's hands to me. Probably helps that I started with System Shock Portable.

[@Crispman_777]

What's System Shock Portable?

[@ClarkKentai]

@@Crispman_777 When the System Shock IP was in rights limbo, some intrepid modders created a source port of the first game that compiled a mouse look hack and control alterations to basically allow for the same controls the Enhanced Edition would later use. When Nightdive got the rights, they asked the modders to take it down.

[@Crispman_777]

@@ClarkKentaiRight. Why was it called portable?

[@ClarkKentai]

@@Crispman_777 Because you only needed to unzip the folder, not install anything. This meant you could put the game on a USB drive or SD card, throw it in any PC, and have a good ol' time.

[@Iobsterpeterson]

@@ClarkKentai That's some scummy-arse behaviour, man. I'm hoping Nightdive at least hired these modders to work on the Enhanced Edition?

[@LadyMapi]

An excellent video! I will definitely add ouroborussy to my everyday vocabulary. Part of me is a little sad about the way that the industry has settled on WASD + mouselook as the default for first-person movement. On the one hand, it's a great way to make your game more accessible to a general audience, since they don't need to learn your weird new control scheme... but on the other hand, it means that every first person game handles more-or-less like an FPS, even if that's not the vibe they're going for.

[@ThatTravGuy]

One of the best analysis videos I've seen for System Shock 1. Great video.

[@Medytacjusz]

It is possible to complete System Shock without a guide. Not begrudging anyone for not being able to ofc. I'm old enough to have got used to getting stuck and treat it as part of the experience which makes the eureka moment of getting unstuck so memorable and satisfying (and it always comes, with patience). And I haven't lost that with all the modernisation that has happened in gaming since. Probably helps that I also played point & click adventures, which are WAAAAY more susceptible to getting hopelessly stuck. also, 30:58 - I'm 90% sure that original System Shock also had every log in text. I suspect it's hidden in some config options, maybe tied to a sound config utility? A lot of PCs at the time would have struggled with playing audio clips so definitely there's a text-only no-sound version, but I think there's a way to have both. I played it first when my English wasn't as good so audio-only would have made everything much much less comprehensible.

[@joelcooper6441]

I admit i haven't been watching you for a while, no real reason, but i came back here and i remembered why i am a fan of your work! speaking as one of those modern gamers, if the game comes out on consoles, i definitely give it a look

[@faithcamarena94]

This is an older video, so I don't know if you'll see this comment haha, but I just wanted to say thank you for all the work you do on this channel. You're one of my favorite writers on games and really on art/literature in general. Your perspective on games with which I'm familiar is always fresh and insightful, while your sharing of games I know nothing about is a perfect introduction to them, interesting and entertaining even without further context while giving me a solid impression of the title that makes me want to go check things out that I'd never have heard of before. A lot of your videos have gone on to be foundational to the way I look at games and media in general, and I refer back to them often as aids in my own writing and thinking. This video in particular is another in a long line of incredible work: interesting, fair-minded, comprehensive, and in many ways eye-opening. As a younger viewer who's familiar with System Shock only through second-hand cultural osmosis, I really appreciate getting a fuller impression of what made the title unique, and how it's been adapted and changed in the modern day. I wish I had better words to explain how much I enjoy it, and how much I look forward to more like it in the future.

[@KenTWOu]

8:23 God dammit, man! Don't drag & drop it each time, just double/triple click it right there in the corner. Or better use middle mouse button for quick pickup.

[@Gledster]

Haha. But surely that helps Errant Signals point? He's been playing SS1 for YEARS and didn't know that a double/triple click would make his life easier (and is now possibly kicking himself). :)

[@KenTWOu]

@@Gledster It kinda does and it doesn't. SS1EE uses middle mouse button for quick pickup. so you don't even need to drag and drop objects from the ground like he did at 9:21, you can just click on them using mouse wheel without even toggling freelook mode.

[@tbxvividos]

It warms my heart every time someone talks about Prey. More people should really play that masterpiece.

[@SVNG77]

I just finished this game a couple minutes ago, good timing

[@nielymoon]

great video! you made some really good points about how jank and weird, archaic systems can add to atmosphere and charm, and how you can lose things when a remix "fixes" stuff, but also sometimes that jank is still.... weird jank that makes a game hard to approach

[@Gledster]

Thank you for this. I love your analysis of games, and no-one else covers game mechanics quite like you do. I will add System Shock Reboot to my Christmas list I think.

[@VerityFraser]

One thing that you didn't address was the change to the music. The shift to ambient noise and away from thumping techno. I understand what they were going for, but I miss the unique energy that the original soundtrack provided. You even included a remix of the Reactor theme in the outro, which would have been a great modern update. It's another one of those changes that makes sense and I can definitely see what they were going for, but I still personally would have remixed and gone hard with an updated soundtrack.

[@imperturbableDreamer]

I always love these deep dives on different versions of the same thing and this one was a very comprehensive and intricate overview. You actually make me want to play both of these games now!

[@David-ln8qh]

Deep night dives?

[@1fareast14]

I wish the steam deck's controls were more common. Imagine mouselook on analog stick, cursor on right trackpad, and inventory on left trackpad. I feel like that would keep the multitasking but cut down on the bs.

[@EnvyOmicron]

I'd prefer gyro aim with flick stick over stick aim, but hey, you do you

[@EnvyOmicron]

I agree that the steam deck's trackpads (along with the back paddles and gyroscope) are a godsend for playing PC games on a controller, and it makes me wish that those features (along with the extreme flexibility and customization of Steam Input) would become standard features for all controllers moving forward.

[@lucaballarati9694]

There's no need to imagine that hypothetical King's field remake: Lunacid exists

[@JohnChronakis]

Thank you, this was exactly the video I was looking for! This game fell into my lap after paying for the kickstarter and forgetting about it for almost a decade, and I've been wondering if it'll ruin the memories I have of the original (well, the enhanced edition)

[@philliptinner6576]

Damn they weren't kidding, that ouroborussy can really devour itself

[@Turnoutburndown]

“I know it’s very…on brand…for me to say this, but some of the magic was lost in removing the jank” 🤣🤣

[@poprocket2342]

This was an interesting watch as the original game is older than me so I don't have a lot of connection to it. I'd like so see more games that hold onto those clunky controls to create tension. I love the panicked feeling of fumbling around in a menu when I'm getting shot at.

[@Nors2Ka]

I really dislike how you keep hammering that the old game is inaccessible for *modern* audiences, how The Zoomers expect everything to be streamlined. That shows both lack of understanding of game design and lack of understanding of what UI heavy games people play in modern era. But you do use the word "diagetic", so how seriously can you be taken..? I did somewhat enjoy the part of the game about it being much more hands-off than modern games, but everything else was just so poorly made, it's kind of weird how you didn't point any of that out. Like you point out how the interactable buttons are these obvious green glowing things... except almost every wall in every room has bright glowing panels that you can't interact with... EXCEPT for one place in executive level where an identical looking background panel is actually interactable. Or how the safety interlock code doesn't actually say it's the safety interlock code when it appears, it's just a number, got stuck on that thing myself. Not on anything else cause the game flat out tells you what to do, except you can't make informed decisions on how to do something so you're left with sprinting around the station, exhaustively checking every corner for audio logs or switches or items. And past the mid-point of the game I was just permanently sprinting around the station doing just that. All the while engaging in terrible combat and tedious inventory management. This is just another one of these modern games where near zero actual game design work went into it, as if nobody working on the game had any actual opinion on what it should be. You'd think indies wouldn't be benevolent to the same issues that fall unto design by committee of AAA games.

[@ErrantSignal]

"But you do use the word "diagetic", so how seriously can you be taken..?" I am utterly confused by this sentence. Do... do you think diegesis isn't a real concept? Are you one of those people that roll their eyes at the term "ludonarrative?" Do you think people who are pedantic about "plot" and "story" and "lore" are asinine? Your anti-intellectualism doesn't play here, sport. Your comment reads like a series of Cinema Sins dings and not, you know, criticism that engages with the work as a whole. This is exactly the kind of reactionary gamer take I hate: relentlessly negative and not considering anything the game does well, because aggressive negativity is mistaken for intellectualism by irony-poisoned idiots. You say this is 'just another one of these modern games where near zero actual game design work went into it', but a big part of the video is about how the high level game design is rooted in the 1994 title's design. Wandering the station trying to figure out where to go is a fundamental part of the design. This is an assclown opinion. You have shown your ass, and it has shown to be wearing giant shoes and a red nose.

[@Grm0xlr2xD]

13:19 One way I think we could still experience this scenario is on vr, because I have described that same feeling when describing half life alyx to friends that never played a vr game before. Man system shock in vr would be sick

[@stevethepocket]

Came here to say this. Games like _Boneworks_ or _Hot Dogs, Horseshoes, and Hand Grenades_ that lean all the way into the hand tracking and incorporate as many realistic gestures as possible are the true successors to classic immersive-sim controls. And you might think, _Oh, it's actually meant to be a 1:1 analogue of what you would do in real life; how could it possibly be that jank,_ but most of us have never actually used guns in real life, and far fewer have been in an all-out firefight. There's a reason the enemies in VR games couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. ...I wonder if Nightdive did anything to crank up the combat difficulty to compensate for players being able to accomplish basic human tasks without falling on their faces now.

[@origamista1]

I love your analysis of older games, keep up the great work 💕

[@hunn20004]

With what they've learnt when they developed the remake, I hope they'll make an System Shock 3 it something like it. I'd like to see their immersive sim.

[@5Detective]

"Imagine remaking King's Field" God, I wish. I don't care if they speed it up and make it Dark Soul-sy. That series has such cool world building and level design and it's nearly unplayable unless you emulate it on PC. Bring it to modern consoles, pleeeeeease.

[@nanardeurlambda]

About the inclusion of item shop and other borrowings from later games, I have an idea. it's a bit of an oblique tangent, but please hear me out. I saw a few years ago a video (by KyleKallgrenBHH) about an adaptation of Shakespear's "Richard the Third". The movie had modernized the setting to an mid 20th century england about to be taken by a facist Richard. more to the point, another thing it did was alluding to villainous characters of Cinema's past (most notably a scene with a Vador-like breathing sound over everything). The video made the argument that the movie was calling the character Richard the 3rd as a precursor to those later characters. and maybe that's how we could look at those incursions of modern elements in the remake of an older game. the remake would be telling us the legacy of the original directly.

[@wile123456]

I never get motion sick in videogames but cyberspace in the remake is the few times my eyes hurt playing a game. It's just so ugly and repeating the same oveelu complex texture with no colour change PLUS the horribly low FOV gives me a headache Having an FOV that low should be illegal.

[@retropwned]

all devout system shock fans: finally we can play the game the way it was meant to be played! errant signal: bring back the overly complicated and impossible control scheme!

[@FuuPhoenix]

Technically you could access station status at any time in the original, but doing so was FAR from intuitive, to the point that when replaying the enhanced edition I didn’t actually find how you did on the 2nd playthrough

[@dosbilliam]

One thing I thought about while listening to this: Ultima Underworld really did spawn a lot of the industry as we know it. :o

[@JediMB]

See, now I'm not sure if I should start with that unplayed copy of Enhanced Edition in my Steam backlog or guarantee myself a better experience by shoving it aside and getting the remake.

[@EnvyOmicron]

I think the original is at least worth trying, but if you find out you just *cannot* get into it, then sure, play the remake.

[@EnvyOmicron]

It took me three or four attempts at playing the original before I really "got it", but I thought it was worth it in the end, because I *did* end up enjoying it once I got used to the old-school jank.

[@tonzillaye]

Props for not going full into orobussy

[@Kelis98]

The original had better music and also I think that the original is playable as long as you have mouse look

[@SardonicSays]

Man, seeing the design considerations in this remake makes me wonder about the Riven remake Cyan is working on right now. That too is a game that I feel could benefit from more coherence, though there's definitely going to be a lot of people who fight tooth and nail to keep it as obtuse as possible. Also, Orobussy.

[@EnvyOmicron]

I ADORED the difficulty of Riven's puzzle design, and the only change I think it needs is an optional hint system for people who get stuck and want the extra helping hand. Otherwise, the puzzles should be left exactly as is.

[@fordprefect6151]

I think the thing that might have aged worst about system shock is the audio, good god.

[@petterericson6230]

Lovely video! I'm slightly too young to have played the original System Shock very much, but having played the sequel a bunch, and having the entire first level of Deus Ex fully memorized, I'm very well acquainted with the legacy. I think this video set me up to be very interested in trying out both the Enhanced Edition and the Remake - thank you!

[@thedrellum]

For some reason I was afraid this was going to make me not want to play the remake, but it actually has made me more excited to. (Though it also brought out how little I remember of the original.)

[@wizlockfnordfinder]

Really liking the new look of the opening and ending screens.

[@FromKribToGrave]

I think it's pretty interesting this idea of developing tension through complex or limited interaction. Maybe a more modern approach to achieving this would be to incorporate mechanics similar to Receiver where you have to manually reload your weapon through a series of actions that are very difficult to perform while retreating from enemies. I know it's not something that people are used to, but it could be a difficulty option for more experienced players.

[@sawnders]

It’s always a treat when I see one of your new videos are out

[@Vlaew]

Nightdive really did an amazing job with the remake that every gameplay from the original you showed I knew where it was.

[@foxdancemedia]

babe wake up new errant signal video just dropped

[@aleoli97]

the word ouroborussy will haunt me in my nightmares

[@ikk_pl_5405]

Small correction: long before Nightdive's rerelease, there was a System Shock Portable version that included mouselook via an executable hack. Nightdive took that repack and releases it as their own, then quite a bit later ported the game to their engine.

[@bekkayya]

19:57 thats gonna live rent free in my head forever thanks

[@tiax_m]

From Software did make Armoured Core more souls-like tho

[@DonYagamoth]

The contrast highlighted here between new and old reminds me of how I distinctly remember "getting good at controlling the camera in Super Mario 64". It's not something that most people care about, but there was a certain fun to how learning and mastering the lightly janky camera was to me personally. I enjoy playing old games - sometimes purely for enjoying how janky they are, and getting to know and play around it. But... I'd be surprised if that was more than just a tiny niche of people feeling that way

[@DraggyBDragon]

This channel is the reason I got rid of adblocks for KZbin!

[@nai2857]

The fact that I could accurately tell exactly where you are in the original game’s footage while having only played the 2023 remake, really speaks to the care they put in capturing the original’s design.

[@jess648]

I definitely recommend trying the original out after using a guide and getting a feel for the control scheme. yes it is clunky but it’s brilliance still shines through even coming from someone born a decade after its release

[@Crispman_777]

Ever consider doing a recommended list of the games you cover? As in which games are worth revisiting beyond their historical value?

[@dasaggropop1244]

not everyone in 1994 had a fancy mouse

[@savag3salad813]

Dad finally came back with the milk!!!!

[@EvynTheBooksmith]

I have never had the chance to play System Shock, but this review makes me want to pick it up. I thought I wanted the enhanced version, but knowing that the game doesn't track your progression that well pushed me over to the remake.

[@DarkDao]

Man, make your audio level\pressure more balanced for all channels, you are talking relatively quietly, but game's audio is noticeably louder. Hits the ears quite hard.

[@RannekoPlays]

Really? I'm not getting that. The game is about as loud as Chris when he wants you to listen to it, and otherwise not very loud at all

[@fAcod13]

I love your voice and the tone you speak in

[@ghtddkc]

As always amazing work ! You’re the only video game KZbinr for whom I watch the video instantly as soon as it comes out

[@noriringtail7428]

This was really interesting to watch! I'm not a player or fan of immersive sims, but I love seeing how entire genres came about. Very even-handed and thoughtful as well; good video.

[@jeanfrancozaratemarcial7916]

Hmm, interesting, Imm Sims are all about giving freedom to the player, do you like your gaming experiences to be linear?

[@noriringtail7428]

@@jeanfrancozaratemarcial7916 Yes! Very much so. I want start points and end points, I want well considered routes; I want Level Design! Level Design is something that so many games just either don't or can't have these days and it feels like that particular skill has grown rusty amidst game devs.

[@DarkestMirrored]

451 likes at time of commenting...

[@Fjonan]

Unfortunately I missed the original System Shock back in the day (started with Thief) so I jumped at the opportunity of a faithful remake and really enjoyed it. Guess we are lucky since not all great games of that era will get this chance.

[@IcarusTyler]

Love this detailed breakdown! I remember too when the first development-updates were made a few months, and the confusion. „Ok we threw out all we had, started from scratch, in an engine we have no experience in, and spent time on things that are very much out of scope. Also we hired concept artist to produce expensive concept art, which was never really needed. Yeah we can‘t make it in 6 months, what do you expect, most people have quit“

[@alexholguin2227]

one of my favorite elements of games like this is the sort of implied mission that you talked about. metroid prime is one of my favorite games of all time and one of the biggest pains, but also one of the most interesting parts is gathering all of the artifacts in the end - but the only way you know how is scanning the chozo lore to tell you where to go. I love that mechanic and wish games, especially the kind of stranger in a strange land type games would use it more often

[@n00dles4]

Your videos are always so good, thanks for your effort man!

[@simonemancuso3576]

Great video as always! I personally wouldn't call Bioshock an Immersive Sim, but it definitely has elements of the genre. Another game that is wrongly referred to as an Im Sim is Dark Messiah.

[@Kinglink]

Thanks for make me happy to kind of skip the Remake. It sounds like they rewrote the history, and that's ok to do. But I personally love the Dos/CD-Rom version. If I want to play Prey I can play prey, But there's a reason I don't really love that game even if it's called "System shock 3" by idiots.

[@connorgormley8086]

I haven’t watched the video yet, but Chris I want you to know I look forward to everything you put out and make a point of watching as soon as I can. Keep doing your thing, man.

[@dr_cheez811]

Awesome stuff. Always look forward to watching these. Thank you for making them.

[@ArchonZach]

I've had similar feelings about remakes of other games, but I've never been able to really put it into words, so thanks for the video helped me sort out some thoughts.

[@bruno-brant]

"It was SHOCKLING easy to miss"..."make it less ARKANE"... you're doing these things on purpose, aren't ya?

[@SimplexPL]

You can autosort inventory by pressing T, vaporize everything by long-pressing V, move items between inventory and storage instantly by shift-clicking instead of clicking and dragging. The best part - the game never tells you about those shortcuts.

[@zacdemarest5493]

we do not need to blend up old games for "modern audiences". the so-called rough edges are part of the experience. if you dont like it, you dont like the game. emphatically, get filtered. if you cant understand the big words in Shakespeare, dont ask for Mercutio to say "On God, fuck all y'all."

[@michaelandreipalon359]

Either way things go, I sure hope it becomes the immersive sim equivalent of Resident Evil 1 Remake. Now *THAT* was one true and deservedly successful remake of a now flawed retro game, and it's a shame the remakes for RE2, RE4, and especially RE3 didn't follow its formula whilst making sure the still good originals haven't gotten rereleases yet.

[@spiritusnox405]

I've never played either version of System Shock but literally every control change Campster describes sounds like the remake's version is miles better lol. Like I appreciate that the clumsiness of the controls added tension and a more deliberate pace to the original game, but....bluntly, if a game wants to control your pace and power curve, it can do so much more effectively and in a way that is much easier for players to acclimate to by directly controlling what your character is actually capable of, not by just making a character who's theoretically extremely powerful except for the fact that the controls are just bad lol Like, look at how RE2 Remake and look how it disempowers the player by simply giving RE2make Leon and Claire far fewer movement and damage options than RE5 or 6 characters, but in a way that players still felt extremely naturally controlling - and then watch how RE3- and 4-makes dial that power curve back up.

[@randomdaveguy]

I was never into games like Deus Ex or Bioshock but I finally decided to play System Shock just to see what it plays like. I started with the Enhanced edition and to my sursprise I was so enamored with it that within few days I got all the way through. And the reason why I loved it so much was probably because it played nothing like Bioshock or Deus Ex. It was at it's core a Dungeon Crawler, which is also interesting because I also played some dungeon crawlers but this is the first one that I played and enjoyed to the end. I think it's about this unique combination of dungeon crawling scifi shooting and adventure style pen and paper problem solving that created a one of a kind experience. I was absolutely hooked on writing down notes and figuring out the sequence of steps to take, backtracking to look for things I might have missed then seing all the pieces fall into place - If all of this stuff was just handed to me via log and a checklist then it probably would not be as engaging and immersive. And I guess it's true, because right after SS1 I installed the sequel and after playing for a few hours I could not get invested in it - And it did have everything displayed for me in a form of a checklist of things to do. So compared to the original I felt like the game was holding my hand all the time. Sure, SS1 also had everything spelled out for you but the player was responsible for processing the info and writing down all the important parts to make a plan. And this made all the difference. It also was not a dungeon crawling shooter anymore. Even worse - it was made on an engine that was famous for having deliberately terrible combat... It felt so removed from original I was wondering if it really was supposed to be a sequel. It's like coming from Doom 2 to Doom 3... Not a bad game on it's own but if you really wanted something similar just improved and refined... well that was definitely not it. SS1 was one of the biggest surprises in gaming for me - I thought I would hate it and just play a bit before giving up. And I would absolutely do this if I tried playing the classic version with original controls. Enhanced edition is a big deal - even bigger than the remake. It proves the game is absolutely playable and accessible and all it needed was just mouselook and fully rebindable keys. This way you can create really comfortable hotkeys for most important actions and if you have mouse with side buttons then it plays almost as seamless as any modern shooter. By the way - there is a hotkey in the Enhanced version to pickup items and put them straight into inventory with one click - very handy long term. I tried the Remake demo and I wasn't really that impressed - movement felt slow, combat weightless, visually cluttered and they went way overboard with trying to reinvent the minigames and the cyberspace - which feels even more like a waste of time. What this game needed was actually a modest low budget lowpoly retro style remake that would send a proper message that this is still game for oldschool players. Making it look like a bioshock in space just makes an impression that it will play like one and will probably confuse a lot of newcomers. I will probably still get the full version eventually but honestly, when I went back to Enhanced edition it felt so fresh, fast and responsive in comparison: you can skip the entire introduction, get straight to the game and you never lose control to any loading screens. And there are no annoying animations interrupting your game all the time and even loading the game takes a split second. Even inventory management is more simple - pickups are big and in most cases very distinguishable from the environment and you don't have to deal with all the junk items or the tacked on scrapping mechanic. Man, maybe I'm just too old for modern gaming. Anyway, just wanted to share my thoughts and my experience as someone who does not play imsims and was playing all the System Shock games for the first time.

[@KroltanMG]

Great video! Thank you for your perspective. You said the game is made to not "as it actually was", but "as you remember it being", and I agree that is true, but I think a more accurate way of putting it would be "as a player would have played it". The game's modern concessions work in a modern context just like the original reflected the uncertainty of the medium at that time. System Shock a gem among its peers back then, and the remake is a gem among _its_ peers, not the original's. It was "clunkier", for the lack of a better word, but every game was clunkier, so players were used to it too. As someone whose first Shock game was Bioshock Infinity (partly because System predates _me_ by 3 years, partly because I was a RTS kid), I got all those same "fumbling your inventory for ammo and forgetting about reloading" feelings you feel were sanded down for the remake. I think Nightdive did a great job in presenting this game's feeling for a modern audience, and while it might be watered down slightly, I can say the spice still has a lot of kick for those who never tasted the original.

[@odell191]

OMG I have been stuck and given up on that part of the remake in your first example for months because I am too stubborn too look it up. This is an acceptable loophole in my conviction, thank you. Also, take your "synesthesia" and go back to Know-it-all-ville, college boy..

[@underdog353777]

For some context, never played the original System Shock - and I don't think I ever will. The remake was still obtuse, often confusing, and navigating those winding hallways could be legitimately hellish and feels like you're a rat trapped in a maze (for better and worse). That said, the game was engrossing and interesting. I did almost everything without consulting a walkthrough (I could not find that one dude's head) and it was a legitimately interesting experience that gave me some idea of why these older titles are so fondly remembered. However, I do think that memory is more fond in retrospect. Going back to all the prior levels to find the security codes sounds kinda neat - in reality it's just experiencing the maze all over again except this time you've got a grocery list you need to fill up. Also there's no damn central elevator - so even figuring out the entrances to each level can be somewhat tedious. I am not kidding when I say I thought the entrance to medical was blocked off from me after I left it, and I only realized I had simply missed it after searching for those codes towards the end of the game. Anyway, I'm glad the remake exists. Gave me a chance to enjoy what it was, highs and lows included. I would not have had the patience to deal with pixel hunting in the original, that sounds legitimately awful.

[@alunarwaffle9495]

My main takeaway from this video is that the System Shock remake would work amazingly well in VR, where so many of those clunky limitations and required physicalities are present somewhat by necessity. The lockpicking might make people hurl if it was in VR though lol.