#SYSTEM SHOCK 2 PLOT SOFTWARE#
#SYSTEM SHOCK 2 PLOT SERIES#

It was a challenging game, it was a journey, a tale of survival against the odds. From the outset, on anything above the easiest difficulty setting, the player was set upon by hostile forces. System Shock was also a game had no intention of being a simple procession, it was not going to hold the player’s hand.

#SYSTEM SHOCK 2 PLOT SERIES#

Indeed these features would appear in many later games, such as Looking Glass’s own Thief series and Ion Storm’s Deus Ex eventually becoming de rigueur in the player-powered games we take for granted today. In an interview creator Ken Levine claimed the spirit of System Shock was this player-powered gameplay: the spirit of letting the player drive the game, not the game designer. The immersive first person simulation concept was relatively new in 1994 and combined elements from first-person shooters, survival horror and role-playing games to give the player a feeling that they very much in control of the story. Looking Glass’s System Shock was never going to win any awards for its graphics but it more than compensated for that with every other aspect of the game. What followed, on its release in 1999, was the game that would find itself appearing in lists of greatness from that moment on.Īt times it feels that those claiming its greatness have willingly overlooked, or have never played its ground breaking predecessor. SHODAN was never planned to return until Electronic Arts, the owners of the System Shock IP at that time (after purchasing publisher Origin) suggested turning it into the second game of the series. What is probably less well known, however, is that originally it was intended to be a standalone game, a Heart of Darkness in space. It was and it holds up well against many other greats even today, which explains why so many gamers still have fond memories of it. While Shodan will give you the cybernetic modules to research it, it is still possible for the game to be unwinnable if you spent too many on a higher difficulty level.That’s not to say System Shock 2 wasn’t a very good game. It needs to be increased to at least level 1. These chemicals are found in storage areas located throughout the ship. From time to time, it may request a certain chemical in order to continue research, as listed in the description of the item.

#SYSTEM SHOCK 2 PLOT SOFTWARE#

To research an item, you can right-click on it in the inventory, and your cybernetic software will attempt to analyse it. Research allows you to identify certain unusual items you may discover. Each point invested in the skill increases the effect by 1 additional level. While you can still maintain weapons without the skill, it will only improve the condition by 1 unit. The maintenance skill (abbreviated to Maint) gives a better result when you use maintenance devices on your wepaons. A critical failure will damage your weapon. The modify skill allows you to improve the performance of your weapons, as described within the description of the weapon.Īs with hacking, you will be presented with a grid of cells. A critical failure causes the item to be permanently destroyed. The repair skill allows you to fix damaged or jammed items.Īs with hacking, you will be presented with a grid of cells.

It needs to be upgraded to at least level 3 in the late game, in order to obtain an item essential to the plot. The results of a critical failure may vary - it may set off an alarm, damage the device you are trying to hack, or cause it to explode. To complete the minigame successfully, get three lit cells in a row.

Before attempting a hack, statistics concerning the chance of successfully activating a given cell are shown - in addition, cells marked red will cause a critical failure if you are not successful.

When hacking a system, you will spend a small amount of nanites, and will be presented with a grid of cells. As the skill level increases, the chances of hacking a system successfuly improve, and the possibilities of a critical failure also decrease. The hack skill allows you to access and interact with computer systems.

System shock 2 plot