In place of the sparse and confusing wireframe of the first game, Nightdive has created a mode that is, well, basically Descent. It actually makes it feel a fair bit different in this iteration of System Shock. At certain points you run up to a terminal, jack in, and find yourself in an area that shares that newfound sense of space. The station is only one part of System Shock, the other being the tremendously '90s idea of Cyberspace. That addition aside, it's still the Citadel Station I remember, but where before those hallways were bright, wobbly, and flat, now they have a fully-realised physicality, all dark and brooding, made of materials that clang or thud or ding as stray shots glance off them.

(Image credit: Nightdive)Ĭitadel's hallways are a joy to roam in the remake, just as they were in the original, and exploration will reward you with new weapons, new cyberware, new reserves of your ever-dwindling supplies of ammo, or most precious of all, literal trash, which you can exchange for credits at the game's recyclers to buy mods (a new addition for the remake) for your expanding roster of guns. My memory of the original game isn't good enough to tell you if every map is an exact recreation of its 1994 counterpart, but I experienced repeated deja vu-usually positive-through all my 20 hours playing.

It feels like Nightdive is trying to convince you that you're in safe hands: 'Don't worry, we won't do anything drastic to this thing we all love.'I suspect it's exactly what a lot of nostalgic fans want to see, and honestly? It mostly works. There's the health pack on the shelf to your right, the steep ramp down to the exit and storage closet, and you even-for no identifiable reason-have to hit a button next to the closet door to open it, rather than simply clicking on the door itself like you usually do.Ĭitadel's hallways are a joy to roam in the remake, just as they were in the original After a six-month post-surgery convalescence, you awaken in one of Citadel Station's medical bays, an almost one-to-one recreation of the same starting area from the first game. Then the game begins, and the remake's devotion to the original becomes immediately apparent.

Not to worry, one of the worst people in the world-a corporate executive-has an offer for you: Use your talents to break the ethical restraints on the AI, SHODAN, that runs TriOp's Citadel Station facility near Saturn and he'll not only let you go, he'll furnish you with the military cybernetics you were trying to steal in the first place.

System shock vs system shock remastered