Early Alpha footage of System Shock remake looks amazing

Early Alpha footage of System Shock remake looks amazing
In 1994, the critically-acclaimed and critically overlooked game System Shock shipped from Looking Glass Studio.

In 1994, the critically-acclaimed and critically overlooked game System Shock shipped from Looking Glass Studio. It was based on a refined version of the same engine used for Ultima Underworld and Ultima Underworld II, and it offered a more sophisticated engine than either Doom or Doom II. System Shock cast you as a solitary hacker, tasked with shutting down the insane computer AI Shodan, which had taken control of the Citadel space station.

While the original game didn’t sell well, it spawned a second fan favorite — System Shock II, in 1999, and inspired aspects of both Deus Ex and the BioShock universes. Last fall, Night Dive Studios announced they would be bringing a rebooted System Shock to PC and Xbox One, and this week at GDC they actually demonstrated pre-alpha footage of what they’re working on.

In an extensive interview with Polygon, Night Dive Studios erm, dove, into why it’s lavishing attention on a 22-year-old game, and what the studio hopes to accomplish by updating System Shock for modern audiences. Fans of the original might be a bit on edge on hearing that the genre is shifting from horror adventure to horror experience (whatever that means), but company founder Stephen Kick wants to reassure classic fans that the company is listening to their feedback. The company has engaged fans at still-thriving sites like SystemShock.org and solicited feedback on design elements:

“We’ve received a lot of feedback in terms of what they’re looking for or hoping for with this,” Kick says. “We’ve compiled that data and we’re starting to kind of go through it and apply some of the better ideas and influences that we’ve had from them.”

Image by Polygon

If the System Shock reboot’s authors want their new title to approach the original’s groundbreaking strides, they’ve got their work cut out for them. System Shock was one of the first games to offer players the ability to jump, crawl, climb walls, and lean in various directions. While it wasn’t a true 3D engine, it allowed players far more freedom of movement than other titles of the same period, with a (then) sophisticated physics engine, and detailed logs used to provide back story. There was no hacking mini-game as such, but there were wiring puzzles that served as a forerunner. Dig into System Shock, and you’ll find a number of concepts that were adapted and refined over dozens of games.

Asking the reboot to be quite that iconic may be a stretch, but if Night Dive Studios can deliver a fun and interesting take on the original classic, new fans and first-time players may both be in for a treat.