System Shock - Shodan What You Got

[@ManyATrueNerd]

Out of interest, after I finished this video, I looked up the same opening areas of the 1994 original, and it's incredible how much the level design and game flow has been preserved. Even the enemy placement has been mostly kept the same. Rather amusingly, some of the changes include the hacking minigames and the junk/recycling system, which I choose to believe are intentional homages to Bioshock & Prey.

[@redwitch95]

I was wondering about the level design! Visually it looks very 90s, so it's nice to see that came from fidelity to the original game.

[@sandy120]

I've coincidentally been playing the original again recently and yeah, they really nailed it.

[@richardfarrer5616]

It certainly is. I was the person who bought this and played it back in the day (and System Shock 2, Deus Ex and Bioshock). And as soon as you got out of cyberspace, I knew that you had unlocked a door, where that door was, and that you would pick up the Magpulse rifle from the room. The puzzles look more difficult than the originals, but I appreciate that they have kept some of the themes (flicking switches & moving wires).

[@Ancusohm]

That's awesome! Cool. Thanks for checking.

[@sirsmiteful6285]

Jon! Make this a series! We beg of you! Edit:Fuck autocorrect!

[@Oðrun]

Watching the energy level bar directly below the health bar drop with every shot Jon makes while exclaiming about infinite ammo: priceless.

[@hugmonger]

His poor perception level is like half the reason to watch.

[@Kr0noZ]

To be fair, I didn't see the health OR energy meter in the top right corner either for a while and was wondering if there was such a thing as player health in this. I'm used to this kind of information to live on the bottom edge somewhere, like basically all games released after 2000 (before then I only played strategy games because my mum wouldn't allow me to play shooters yet). Who put the vital information in the action part of the screen and why?

[@Syaniiti]

Combined with the fact that the game literally told him the situation when he picked up the gun, guess he's not so good at English.

[@BlackViperMWG]

@@Kr0noZ I dunno, just look at the HUD/GUI first and figure it out..

[@for_the_lore5567]

It's Jon in a nutshell, he tanked his perception to max out charisma.

[@AnonymKamafr]

Fun fact! A few of the assets for this game, including the player character's hands, were modeled by the same guy who made the deathclaws from Fallout 4, and the dragons from Skyrim. His name is Jonah Lobe!

[@BlackHawkExE]

hahha ehrenmann

[@nessesaryschoolthing]

It's nice to be able to put a name to some of these gorgeous designs.

[@alexwatts1064]

I'd be 100% on board for a series of this game

[@Qyngali]

Agreed, a series would be much better than a live stream.

[@Lanka0Kera]

Definitely as a serie rather than life stream.

[@lostsunrise5392]

I second this

[@christopherjoachimwallat1429]

This needs to be a series, I really love seeing Jon play this.

[@NormanConquest66]

Yep, me too

[@PenOverSword]

Only Jon could get this far in a game without noticing the Energy meter, or the fact that it went down when he shot his electro-gun.

[@prinnywizzard9608]

I was honestly impressed with the Perception -1 of not reading the popup (*in the centre of the screen*) that specifically said the Sparqbeam was an energy weapon and consequently used up your energy 😅 Edit - he worked it out at 36:00 - but I rather enjoyed when it ran out with a room full of zombies and he had no clue why 😂

[@benjaminfranklin329]

Even that he thought a game like this would give you a weapon with infinite ammo was amusing.

[@taylorcooper9845]

Also missing the fact that the one other thing all System Shockinspired games have in common is the same door code for the first door. It's always 0451, and is so well known about Deathloop has an achievement about it.

[@ChlorideCull]

@@taylorcooper9845I also assume that's a reference to Fahrenheit 451

[@-TriP-]

@@ChlorideCull that's what everyone thinks but it was actually just the door code to get into the Looking Glass offices in Cambridge lol

[@huttj509]

Not just 451, the ORIGINAL 451!

[@gadgetgirl3327]

As someone who did play the original when it was brand new this is so trippy. There's so much I recognize, but it's not flat anymore. Seeing actuall 3d models of what I assume in the original were animated sprites is just wild. I'm so glad you enjoyed this. Also I'm so glad for the difficulty settings, I finally gave up on the original back in the day because hte combat was just too brutal for me.

[@-TriP-]

The original had the same difficulty settings -- more actually -- there was a "0" setting which for combat would make all the enemies non-hostile and die in one hit

[@richardlawson5929]

I also played the original. (Anyone remember needing to use QEMM to free up enough memory to play this game?) The bit I just couldn't get to work was cyberspace. I had everything at max difficulty except cyberspace, which I set to zero. I don't think the technology was quite up to the dev's ambitions for cyberspace at the time.

[@Sternguard]

Oh the memories i have for this game, so brutal and hard it really enjoyed it. I really hope they kept the mission in the game were you have to go and find a persons head to access an area.

[@reliantncc1864]

I played the original much later (and after I played the second game). Still a fascinating game even in 2018, which was about when I played it.

[@richardfarrer5616]

@@richardlawson5929 I even remember editing autoexec.bat and config.sys by hand to squeeze everything out of the memory I could. QEMM felt luxurious when it arrived.

[@scragar]

Destroying the cameras is a double edged sword in the original. On one hand it prevented Shodan from tracking you when backtracking and opened a few doors. On the other hand it prevents you using the cameras to plan ahead and increases the difficulty of later levels as Shodan focused her resources on the areas she could see. As far as I can tell the difficulty adjustment was removed in the remake but the rest remains true.

[@bubbajoe117]

Maybe maxing out the difficulty sliders returns it to it's original function?

[@justderp5713]

No, that's not true. Very few cameras in the first place could actually be accessed and most of the time they were in areas you couldn't destroy them, and their screens were displayed as hints to solving puzzles, like in the movie theater on Level 6 behind a force wall. And enemies spawned randomly across the level after the total number drops beneath a certain point, regardless of the cameras. The only thing that affected the amount of enemy spawns, besides the 0-1-2-3 Combat difficulty setting, was the massive increase in enemy quantity and types after you trigger the reactor self destruct sequence on your way to the bridge.

[@gretchman]

My dad was one of the three people that played the original, leaving ten-year-old me to try and play it as well and ending up scared witless throughout.

[@redwitch95]

As someone who's only familiar with System Shock through its relationship to Bioshock, definitely looking forward to this!

[@macroglossumstellatarum5932]

System Shock 2 is where the Bioshock parallels get really extreme. Down to one of the big plot twists.

[@OwMyLiver]

I remember the first time I played Bioshock, and a friend (who never played SS2) had already finished. He tried to tease me with "there's a big twist coming up you aren't going to see coming". To which I replied... "well, if it keeps following the exact same plot as System Shock 2 it's going to be..." He was just silent for a bit and said "well, yeah."

[@drtyd00ify]

100% agree, to this day that part in 2 still passes me off!....lol

[@martintaylor1701]

SS2 has 3 player co-op... I wonder what Dan and Matt are up to?

[@-TriP-]

Enemies don't actually respawn, there are just some additional ones that will rise up from the floor after a while. Hope to see you finish this!

[@Ignonym]

If I recall, enemy spawning is tied to the security level; if you manage to take out every camera in a level, they stop spawning altogether.

[@-TriP-]

@@Ignonym That's one way to do it, however the spawns are limited and eventually they'll stop even if you don't reduce the security level to zero. It was like that in the original too, I guess to keep you from farming things too much. If you shut down the bot factory in Robot Maintenance it also cuts down on a lot of reinforcements.

[@Aleblanco1987]

This is good to know, that is the thing I dislike the most about bioshock

[@UncleAnaesthesia]

I'm ecstatic System Shock came out looking great and with relatively perfect performance on PC. I remember playing the original on an elementary school computer... of all places. Who says school doesn't teach you cool stuff?!

[@richardlawson5929]

This remains my favorite game of all time. I am so excited to see Jon doing it. So much looking forward to his reactions as the plot evolves.

[@nhailstone]

The non-shodan voice acting seems slightly better in this. Missing the bleepy 90s music tho.

[@nhailstone]

There do seem to be fewer voice logs from this vid, dunno if Jon missed some, cut for brevity or if they’re just gone. Would be a shame if it’s the latter.

[@tinaherr3856]

I sincerely hope you play the rest this game on this channel! I haven't played the original, but this remake and your commentary makes this look great!

[@marcpatenaude7820]

You're having so much fun with this....I'd love to see this as a livestream or a series

[@lordmissingno]

You said this inspired Prey(2017) and my ears perked up, I'm now beyond pumped for whatever this is

[@theeroyalewhee]

Jon not seeing the energy bar is under his health bar, classic Many a True Nerd.

[@ankhtahr1401]

Jon talking about a game that came out in the year I was born: "For a game that's almost 30 years old…" I felt that, Jon.

[@ParanoidTheMarvin]

I remember backing it few years back, when I heard how much influence this game had on Bioshock. Thank you for reminding me that I have to collect my code. Hope we can see you finish this game.

[@drtyd00ify]

I was one of the few that truly loved this series. The story is dark and twisted. So much time playing both System Shock one and two. The A.I. voice still gives me shivers and an intense feeling of loathing ( if you have ever completed both games you know what I mean) Jon if they remaster System Shock 2 you really need to play it also!! I hope this makes it as a live stream because it just gets ridiculous! And the sequel is even better! Thank you so much Jon for making this video!

[@the_tactician9858]

I've heard and seen some very good things about this game, and it looks like the rework has done it justice! Wouldn't mind seeing more of this!

[@existentialselkath1264]

I know next to nothing about the original, but this remake looks like it'd be incredible if it's a series I knew. I'm really excited to see what it's all about cos the hype from people I know has been awesome.

[@Ancusohm]

This is so cool! Thanks for showing off the remake. I saw that it came out recently. Also, thanks for the history intro at the being.

[@Arvelike]

Prey is probably my favorite game of all time, so it's really interesting to see that seemingly all the great mechanics come straight from here!

[@pisuoxide]

Give System Shock 2 a try, it's awesome

[@UncleAnaesthesia]

In many instances, the game's art and architecture is similar. Only thing separating the two is SS's color palette.

[@Arvelike]

@@pisuoxide I certainly will! Especially if they decide to remake it as well!

[@huttj509]

@@Arvelike I know they're making an Enhanced Edition of system shock 2 (less of a full remake, more of a "work on modern computers" version)

[@Arvelike]

@@huttj509 I see! I honestly don't know if it needed one, I've never seen the original. But if one is coming out I'll probably play that one if it's competent!

[@Carrrnage]

This looks absolutely superb. Never played the original, definitely gonna play this and I'm going to stop watching this video now because it's going to give me horrific body modification nightmares (I'll come back during daytime). Thanks Jon! (Also, this is where 451/0451 comes from? Cool!)

[@Nikelaos_Khristianos]

The door code comes from Deus Ex (it was the door code to get into Ion Storm’s studio IRL.) But considering that Deus Ex was directly inspired by System Shock, it makes sense that a remake would do its own nod to Deus Ex. Hence why it’s quite a prominent moment in Human Revolution.

[@ElizabethRS]

@@Nikelaos_Khristianos Not exactly true. The code appeared in both the original System Shock and System Shock 2. Its use in Deus Ex was a reference to System Shock.

[@Nikelaos_Khristianos]

@@ElizabethRS Ah, never knew, it’s funny Deus Ex makes a big deal of it. 😅

[@SHODAN-ir3ne]

I was playing this back in 1994 and it blew my mind. For me, System Shock was the natural evolution of ZX Spectrum games like Driller and Dark Side, games largely forgotten today. Many, many, many happy hours taking on my favourite villain. System Shock 2 is worth a play as well.

[@Aleblanco1987]

The "ambiance" of system shock 2 is so so so great, never finished back in the day because it was hard for me (didn't know english back then), but it left a long lasting impression on me.

[@denniscain9396]

Played the original game in 1994. I became an FPS player because of it. Greatly loving this remake. Also love the ghosted zombie images from the original game occasionally appearing. Most excellent!

[@gadgetgirl3327]

Also it's worth noting that many games you'll find that the first door code is either 451 or 0451, this game is why. Evidently it was the door code at Looking Glass studios, and also possibly a reference to Farenheit 451. Regardless a lot of games use that door code to basically say, yeah, we owe something to System Shock.

[@hardticket123]

Bioshock was the game that got me into gaming. Seeing System Shock like this is all kinds of awesome.

[@aerostrife334]

I'm really hoping to see more of this! A real classic

[@ThePzwilson]

I would love to see this as a series! It's a truly fresh and engaging experience of a classic.

[@charlesfranks1902]

The programmers and designers did a great job of bringing this to the future.

[@Berssange55]

I'm having a blast. The last immersive sim i've played was Prey (2017), so i was really looking forward to this one.

[@jayr6529]

As an over 50yo gamer who played the original in my mid 20s, this so takes me back, would love to see alive stream. always love how perceptive Jon is .. "infinite ammo Yay! as the energy level bar drops at every shot...

[@heyu4759]

Please, oh please, let this become a series.

[@tealcformerfirstprimeofapo22]

I absolutely loved prey so I am really excited to see a part of its origins.

[@janparkki5704]

I played the original back when I was in high school and liked it quite a bit. Of course it didn't look anything like the new one, but it had really good design ideas. I remember thinking back then that this is something transformative. Of course so were many of the Origin Systems' legendary titles, which were done more or less by the same people. Ultima Underworld II may be my favourite game of all time.

[@gileswhitaker9656]

For me, Ultima Underworld 1. Better maps, and music, overall ambience.

[@emilyk9074]

PLEASE make this a series

[@Classic_Frog]

Shodan's speech kinda reminds me how Master from Fallout 1 used to speak.

[@eloquentlyemma]

Oh wow! So many memories… and I feel so old now. *sigh*

[@chriswood1054]

We REALLY need you to do a series on this !!! Our survival depends on it !

[@nhailstone]

If this is the same as the original, always keep plot at 2. Putting it lower will remove bits of the plot, putting it at 3 will set a time limit that won’t give you time to properly explore.

[@FunkyFyreMunky]

Every time I see a friendly-looking dwarf-sized robot in sci-fi I can't help but think of Huey, Louis and Dewey in Silint Running and start to tear up.

[@thisbymaster]

It seems so much more interesting than many of the AAA releases out today.

[@richknudsen5781]

Jon should have played Deus ex so he would know the first door code would be, as it always is 0451/451, like here. Too funny really.

[@richardfarrer5616]

But this is where it all started, based on a door code at the developers office which, in turn, went back to Fahrenheit 451.

[@richknudsen5781]

@@richardfarrer5616 Sorry, but I forgot that bit of the story, Thanks.

[@TheWretchedOwl]

“This gun has infinite ammo!” Me, seeing the energy meter in the upper right hand corner going down: uh, Jon… you failed another perception check, didn’t you?

[@jazzart223]

This game has exactly the right amount of jank to truly align with Jon's play style and humor. A play through sounds fun.

[@KingRusty67]

I would definately be interested i n seeing a full series being made out of this

[@xJavelin1]

Love to see more of this game. Only ever heard about it, never played it

[@MravacKid]

I missed the original by a few years, but I did play the 2nd one and found it amazing, especially compared to other games "of its genre" (under quotes because seriously there were no others like it) and way, *way* ahead of its time.

[@munromm1984]

I grew up playing the oringial, I'm so happy to see people that have never played it get into it with the remaster

[@pstonge123]

Jon using all his well honed FO skills, mint🤟

[@Edge-wx7hv]

so what I'm hearing is I should absolutely be buying this remaster.

[@Topo842]

Make it a series Jon!!! this is great!

[@ssFaxes]

please do a run, my 1994 self is happy to see this

[@TheVoidWanderer]

This is a extremely good way to do a remaster (if possible) since everything is kept very faithful to the original, just with more comfortable modern upgrades.

[@fluffyunicorn2777]

I played it in maybe 1994, 1995 and i can still remember so many details... Loving it!

[@thebpphantom]

Jon not seeing the electric charge going down directly under his health as he fires... /chef's kiss/ Perfect Jon

[@ithinkihadeight]

Wow, was not at all expecting to see this today.

[@cheese3155]

wow join that game looks so cool how did i not know about this thanks for the point out i will be adding it and yes please jon or a play thou u seemed to have fun and was a great watch thanks man and congrats on 10 years i was link in the 20 subs now ur like 100000s

[@gileswhitaker9656]

OMG. I had no idea there was a graphical remake of this game. Absolute classic. I played the original when it came out. I'd love to see a series of this!! When level design was complex, and not "follow the line around in a circle" (e.g. Skyrim).

[@SChaos69]

The CD Player is such a good touch! Haven't seen CD players used in video games, even forgot they existed.

[@Miedeth1]

Dr. Mobius would approve of the use roboscorpions

[@spoonz202]

I love that the first code in Deus ex is 0451 which was a reference to this code.

[@cleverman383]

Which is also a reference to the actual code to unlocking their office

[@vangoth74]

All the Dishonored titles as well

[@prossnip42]

One of the things that i really love about this game is that how it differs from it's sequel when it comes to upgrading your character. System Shock 2 has your standard RPG immersive sim mechanics with skill points and perks which would kinda set the standard for the genre however the first game takes a metroidvania kinda approach to the whole thing where if you wanna upgrade your character (Get a better flashlight, get better weapons, health kits that heal more etc.) you need to actively search and find them on the station and that is such a cool thing to do to encourage exploration

[@2Cerealbox]

I played System Shock way back in the day. Everyone told me the game sucked and Doom and Quake were so much better. But I do remember that all the mechanics of the game felt like they worked together. It made sense that you would do hacking to progress, because its a big electronic future ship. And of course the enemies were robots, so it made sense they were mindless and stuff. It all felt very integrated. I think that's something that modern games don't have. There was a pipe minigame in bioshock, but it stood out as being a minigame. Maybe I was just too young to see the seams of game design, but System Shock was a singular experience - like if you drink coca cola, you don't go "mmm, cinnamon, vanilla, historic brewing spices..." It just tastes like coke flavor.

[@justanotherpiccplayer3511]

I really enjoyed watching you play prey so this should be good!!

[@juliajs1752]

I always find it fascinating how people remember how games looked like 20, 30 years ago. I can barely remember how a game from 2018 looked like, because the moment I stop playing it, it's filed away and forgotten.

[@gadgetgirl3327]

Honestly, before seeing this video I could not have told you anything about how System Shock looked other than SHODAN, but watching this was really strange deja vu. I had to go look up old screen shots to figure out if I was imagining it or not.

[@farshnuke]

I will echoe the sentiments of others and say this deserves to be a full series. I know the calendar is packed so there's no rush but please, Sir

[@fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

The little scorpion guys need a cheery chiptune mix of the flamethrower song to play while they work.

[@AaronCorr]

Series would be lovely

[@irecordwithaphone1856]

Jon's reaction to cyberspace gave me so much joy I was not expecting

[@Blue_Kraken_Gaming]

Also would love to see this as a series as opposed to a livestream

[@PoeticTwist]

I played the original years ago. Some of the people who worked on the original worked on Bioshock.

[@zidahya]

Hearing Shodan again, still gives me the creeps.

[@Horace-8]

System shock!!! Thank you Jon ❣️

[@Blue_Kraken_Gaming]

Shodan gives real big sister vibes to GlaDos

[@Taolan8472]

I just went through a box of old software on a whim while watching this. And I found my copy of system shock from 1994. I want to get this running. Play it. And then compare.

[@Syaniiti]

Sometimes I think Jon is one the reasons why modern games are so simple.

[@TheCynicalblue]

I would sell the soul of my first born child to watch jon play the original without looking up a guide.

[@librarianseth5572]

Day 1051 of requesting Zoo Tycoon. It sure is nice of Shodan to wait all that time for Jon to figure out the puzzles. You don't see that kind of polite villainy in many modern murder AIs

[@SOTURICAT]

Good presentation of classic old good old game to Remake version👌

[@Lowco5]

This, this is dreamlike.

[@NavidIsANoob]

This game looks ridiculously good.

[@JaceMorley]

*bar in top left goes down with every shot* Jon: I think it's got infinite ammo!

[@growler352]

Wow looks like an amazing game cant wait for this series

[@orangeboi3387]

jon how could you have missed the glorious beggining of the 0451 tutorial code tradition of inmersive sims :c

[@cleverman383]

This is the first game ever to use the 0451 code

[@aaronverran1360]

Definitely do more with this, also had no idea this is the percussor to some modern games

[@archmagus8384]

Hell yeah! Full play through now pleaseeee!

[@dragmire3D]

I remember reading that System Shock had a dynamic music system that changed the music depending on how Shodan felt about the player(or something like that). Was that kept? I'd heard that no one noticed the music changes so that feature was scrapped for the sequel.

[@casanovafunkenstein5090]

I think that it was not really what you'd expect from a dynamic music system as they exist today. OG System Shock had a soundtrack that was built out of layers of midi and had an industrial style (depending on your sound card it could sound pretty rough. You know how the original Doom soundtrack sounds a bit thin and weedy? That's the default soundfont for windows. Imagine that, but trying to sound like 90s industrial music). The game would vary up the loops loaded into the different channels in the sequencer to add variations and a bit of dynamics as you progressed through the level, but it didn't play anything significantly different for combat or moments of quiet. You were listening to the same track until you left the level and moved on to the next one.

[@sidneysun5217]

ok this looks like a really good remake, way better than i expected

[@adamach3776]

Well, I'm shocked

[@nolagale]

An energy weapon that requires energy to fire. If only there was some sort of meter to show you how much energy you had. They could make it blue, and put a little lightning bolt next to it so you'd know it's energy. Maybe they could put it next to another important meter, like a health meter. EDIT: He found it.

[@ssmith3573]

So many fond memories of the monkeys from System Shock 2 in college.

[@hugmonger]

idk if this one would be as good as a live stream as it would be for a series because seeing you work it out on your own feels like it would be so much more fun personally.

[@almightyk11]

System Shock is the most important game that nobody played

[@abshah8514]

Oh my god it's Prisoner 24601

[@TheRealBlackNet]

they made the into clip into a playable moment... love it. ok sold i go and buy it.