Just Beat The Game For The First Time

[665aff5ab4253Rabid621]

I have been on an imsim kick lately and decided that the next game I would play after Deus Ex would be System Shock 2. I was really satisfied with Deus Ex and was worried that System Shock 2 wouldn't be as good. I am sooooo fucking happy that I was wrong. Long story short I got addicted. I was a gun slinging super hacker from the navy and I made the Many and SHODAN my bitches. For my build, I avoided using any psi powers since I want to save those for my next playthrough to keep it fresh.

Sorry if this post is a bit all over the place. I'm very sleep deprived from staying up all fuckin' night.

[665aff5ab448bvoodoo47]

ahh, to be young again.

[665aff5ab46f3JDoran]

System Shock 2 is superb. It's almost a quarter of a century old, and we still play it and discuss it, so it has really stood the test of time. And Deus Ex is also fantastic, my favourite ever PC game.

What other immersive sims have you played? Prey (2017) is really good, being a modern (well, five years old, now) System Shock 2 type game, that is better than SS2 in some ways, but inferior in others.

Dishonored 1 and 2 are very good too.

The original three Thief games are great too, especially the first two. The third Thief game (Thief: Deadly Shadows) is generally considered to be not as good as the first two, but I still really like it. Thief 4 (just called 'Thief', and released in 2014) was considered to be very disappointed by almost every Thief fan, though. It's not terrible, but even if you play and love the first three Thief games, then you aren't missing much if you never play the 2014 game.

[665aff5ab4ba6Jules]

I second the recommendations by JDoran - those are very good games that are all worth playing. They're also the closest you're going to get to an experience that's similar to SS2, even if they're not cyberpunk.

If you really get into these games and don't find the antiquated presentation to be a hindrance, the original System Shock and Ultima Underworld 1 and 2 are also really worth playing. Their influence on immersive sims is absolutely transparent, as you'll get to see if you try them out.

How did you find the horror aspects of the game to be? I remember having been utterly terrified by the game when I had first tried to play it (I was thirteen at the time). I simply didn't have the nerve to go past the first few corridors in Med/Sci for a long time. It actually took me another two or three years to finally be able to finish it!

Playing these games has definitely been a turning point in my taste in gaming. I can safely say I've been looking at games differently ever since going through them. I can only wish they're going to leave a lasting impact on you as well!

ahh, to be young again.

You know...while I agree that it'd be nice to re-experience something as if it were the first time, I also think that's there's something really nice in having had many years to ponder on something and develop it further. To make that experience ever more and more your own, so to speak, to color it with your thoughts. I hope that makes some sense!

[665aff5ab4d7eJDoran]

Yes, one of the things that System Shock 2 does much better than Prey is the atmosphere of danger and dread. Prey does a good job of making you feel like you're in a real space station, but the enemies never felt threatening, even though they are certainly capable of harming all killing you.

With System Shock 2, on the other hand, I felt a constant threat of danger and the feeling that around the next corner (or even right behind me) there might be a serious threat. SS2 is a masterclass in building up suspense.

Can't believe I didn't recommend System Shock 1 in my post! It's another really good game, and if Rabid621 plays it, he might turn out to be the only SS1 player ever who doesn't dislike the game's portrayal of cyberspace. There must be one person who does...

[665aff5ab50edvoodoo47]

is generally considered to be as good

that'd be not as good.

[665aff5ab5516icemann]

he might turn out to be the only SS1 player ever who doesn't dislike the game's portrayal of cyberspace. There must be one person who does...

He'd not be the only one. I don't mind it. If you look at other cyberpunky games around that point in time, the concept of Cyberspace being like stepping into another reality was quite common.

I quite prefer it, over the mini-game style of more modern games. The lack of cyberspace sections in SS2 (beyond the training section) was one of its most major negatives for me.

[665aff5ab59e2JDoran]

that'd be not as good.

Fixed, thanks.

He'd not be the only one. I don't mind it. If you look at other cyberpunky games around that point in time, the concept of Cyberspace being like stepping into another reality was quite common.

I quite prefer it, over the mini-game style of more modern games. The lack of cyberspace sections in SS2 (beyond the training section) was one of its most major negatives for me.

Oh, right. I don't think I've ever seen anyone say anything positive about the cyberspace levels, but it's nice to think that some people might like it.

I don't think I would have minded the cyberspace levels in System Shock if they were done in the same way that the System Shock 2 training section did it. In SS2, it was done in the standard first person walking with real gravity type way, whereas in SS1 it was done in the six degrees of movement method like in the game Descent, which is easy to get disorientated and lost in. I've never liked Descent style games, and SS1's cyberspace's levels were even worse (to me) as their lack of background details (due to them being wire-frame) makes it so easy to get lost.

[665aff5ab5fbcicemann]

Oh, right. I don't think I've ever seen anyone say anything positive about the cyberspace levels, but it's nice to think that some people might like it.

I don't think I would have minded the cyberspace levels in System Shock if they were done in the same way that the System Shock 2 training section did it. In SS2, it was done in the standard first person walking with real gravity type way, whereas in SS1 it was done in the six degrees of movement method like in the game Descent, which is easy to get disorientated and lost in. I've never liked Descent style games, and SS1's cyberspace's levels were even worse (to me) as their lack of background details (due to them being wire-frame) makes it so easy to get lost.

To note that I'm not saying that their perfect levels or anything. Far from it. The constant motion in particular is quite annoying, and the wireframe style leads to a LOT of bumping into walls you can't see, which is really annoying.

I'm more thinking of it, of what "is" cyberspace to me and it's more that than a simple mini-game. If you look to how cyberspace was portrayed and described in the 80s - 90s, it was more this electronic world that you went through.

Examples:

Shadowrun (Genesis/Megadrive)

Tron (the movie)

Disclosure (movie)

Compare that to more recent stuff that involves it, where it's now more of a simple mini-game:

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Cyberpunk 2077

Prey

And yes I know that's more just hacking a device, rather than jacking into a full network, but you get my drift.

[665aff5ab616cZylonBane]

The world of Tron isn't cyberspace as it's typically defined. Tron actually predates Neuromancer by a couple of years.

They do seem to get conflated a lot though, since they share a bit of strictly visual similarity.