A multitude of games were inspired by the original System Shock. For thirty years, we’ve been combing 3D areas for the contrivance required by a gate, whether it’s a key or some other type of tool. Pleasingly, the wider spaces make the station feel more organic.īut here’s the thing: as good as Nightdive Studios’ remake is, there’s a persistent feeling of familiarity. With this remake, the spatial puzzles have evolved, with many areas of the Citadel remodeled. But this was one of the first times where rummaging through an environment was rendered in an intricate three-dimensional space. Like much of System Shock, the mechanic can feel a bit cliched as we’ve probably undergone these kinds of hunts in dozens of games. One of the game’s first gateways is protected by a keycode-locked door, requiring players to reconnoiter the area for the three-digit password.

Like a modern escape room, you’ll often have to scour an area to determine a way to progress. Mister Mutant, Let Me Solve a Puzzle in Peaceīut junction boxes aren’t System Shock’s only headscratcher. Although contemporary games are routinely compassionate, it would be great to see this kind of discrete breakdown of challenge settings make a widespread revival. Like some of System Shock’s other core components, you’ll be able to adjust the difficulty of these brainteasers at the start of the game.

These task players with guiding the flow of electricity across a circuit board or directing enough power to fill a gauge. Throughout the space station are 2D junction box puzzles similar to early 90’s computer games like Pipe Mania and Pipe Dream. Here, you’ll use melee or ranged weapons to eliminate any roving threats, who often telegraph their presence by speaking or emitting guttural sounds.īut for all its neck-snapping and shooting, System Shock is just as much a puzzler. Playing as an unidentified hacker, you’ll skulk through the labyrinthine interior of the Citadel space station, recalling the tense exploration found in a multitude of survival horror games. Revisit LookingGlass Technologies’ sci-fi classic and you’ll witness the formation of several seminal genres. Originally released in 1994, System Shock remained influential for decades.

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