System Shock 2 goes on sale on GOG tomorrow

[ríomhaire]

For those of you who don't know the rights to the game were held by an insurance company for years due to them being a creditor of Looking Glass Studios when they closed down and they've been sitting on it for years, asking for more money than anyone was willing to pay for it. IIRC EA have always owned the rights to the same System Shock though.

In any case negotiations seem to have been worked out and the game goes on sale exclusively at GOG tomorrow. They have a countdown timer on their site till launch.

Interview with Night Dive's Stephen Kick and GOG's Guillaume Rambourg on RPG here. Night Dive appears to be a new studio for refurbishing old games and this is their first project. Looks like I'm finally going to play System Shock 2!

 

[Bad^Hat]

Neat, I should really play this some time. I tried a few times when I was younger but always chickened out like an hour in. I'm a massive lightweight with horror games (or, in this case, games with elements of horror).

 

[Sliver]

Great news. If anyone here hasn't played SS2 now is the time, you have no excuses now.

 

[Barnz]

I hope I can find someone to play the game with me in the coop mode.

 

[morgs]

Guess I might finally see what this game is all about.

 

[Krynn72]

Guess I might finally see what this game is all about.

This. Missed the boat the first time around. And then all the times after that.

I have a hard time going back and playing old games like this though.

 

[ríomhaire]

It's out

 

[Dog--]

Damn.. Shouldn't have bought Bioshock 2 yesterday, instead saved what little money I had left in my paypal for this. Ah well, I can wait until my next deposit into paypal clears.. It's worth it

 

[ríomhaire]

There's a link to "System Shock Portable" floating around. Won't post a link here as there is no concrete answer as to whether or not it's legal. Supposedly Looking Glass put it the first System Shock up on their website just before closing down, releasing it for free but that doesn't necessarily make it legally freeware (especially if EA held the distribution rights at that point).

 

[Sliver]

For anyone playing SS2 for the first time (you lucky bastard!) here are a couple mods that I would recommend for a first time play through:

System Shock 2.4 Patch- Bug fixes and various features. GoG version comes with it.
SS2 SHTUP (Shock Texture Update Project)- Updates a lot of object textures with hi res versions.
SHMUP (Shock Music Update)- Enhances the sound quality of the music.
Four Hundred- Hi res world textures.
Vurt's Hi-res Space- Hi-res space textures.

I really wouldn't recommend most of the model update mods (like Rebirth) as they change the art-syle of the game too much, in my opinion. I haven't played with the 2.4 patch, but I believe that it adds a ton of functionality including adjustable resolutions, so no need for a high res mod!

There's a link to "System Shock Portable" floating around. Won't post a link here as there is no concrete answer as to whether or not it's legal. Supposedly Looking Glass put it the first System Shock up on their website just before closing down, releasing it for free but that doesn't necessarily make it legally freeware (especially if EA held the distribution rights at that point).

I believe it is legal as I've seen sites like PC Gamer and RPS put it in various "Free good games for PC" lists.

 

[ríomhaire]

I believe the game comes with the 2.4 patch. It seems it was secretly released by either GOG or Night Dive. Perhaps in anticipation of this deal falling through?

 

[morgs]

For anyone playing SS2 for the first time (you lucky bastard!) here are a couple mods that I would recommend for a first time play through:

System Shock 2.4 Patch- Bug fixes and various features. GoG version comes with it.
SS2 SHTUP (Shock Texture Update Project)- Updates a lot of object textures with hi res versions.
SHMUP (Shock Music Update)- Enhances the sound quality of the music.
Four Hundred- Hi res world textures.
Vurt's Hi-res Space- Hi-res space textures.

Thanks for the links, bought the game last night.

 

[Adabiviak]

...never played it, mostly because there are more video games out than I have time for already, and didn't want to deal with system hacks to get it to play on a modern computer BUT I've heard very compelling things about it. Questions:

1. Should I play the first one (also available there?) to get the most out of that game?
2. First person shooter?
3. Are system hacks required to get it to go?
4. Sliver's post is the first one I 'liked' (not much into the social networking features of this site). Will I get cooties?

 

[Tagaziel]

1. Should I play the first one (also available there?) to get the most out of that game?

It's a good idea. Not entirely essential, since System Shock 2 is a self-contained story, but you will understand it a lot better.

First person shooter?

About as much as Deus Ex. Skills determine what gear you can use.

Are system hacks required to get it to go?

Originally, yes. Now, don't think so.

Sliver's post is the first one I 'liked' (not much into the social networking features of this site). Will I get cooties?

The Sphynx will eat you.

 

[morgs]

Got up to engineering and am enjoying it so far. I haven't found it to be particularly scary yet. I get the odd fright when hybrids respawn behind me and sneak up on me, but that's about it.

 

[Krynn72]

Turned a corner, got blasted by a random ass chimpanzee. Did not see that one coming and was so confounded I couldn't react. Thankfully I saved right before it.

Got a bit further (to the shitload of other chimpanzees). Seems good so far, but I'm running out of psi like nobodies business I can't do anything else either, can't use a gun, can't hack shit, etc. Also, is there any other option when you get caught by the cameras other than just hole up somewhere and fend off the hoard? I tried running and hiding, but they know where you are anyways. Destroying the camera after the fact made no difference. I really need to be more careful even just when exploring I guess. In the medical place I got trapped by the two turrets that pop out of nowhere, and use nearly all my items trying to get out of there alive.

 

[morgs]

Turned a corner, got blasted by a random ass chimpanzee. Did not see that one coming and was so confounded I couldn't react. Thankfully I saved right before it.

Got a bit further (to the shitload of other chimpanzees). Seems good so far, but I'm running out of psi like nobodies business I can't do anything else either, can't use a gun, can't hack shit, etc. Also, is there any other option when you get caught by the cameras other than just hole up somewhere and fend off the hoard? I tried running and hiding, but they know where you are anyways. Destroying the camera after the fact made no difference. I really need to be more careful even just when exploring I guess. In the medical place I got trapped by the two turrets that pop out of nowhere, and use nearly all my items trying to get out of there alive.

Without hacking 1/2, nope. Sliver mentioned a mod to me that overhauls the security alert system, although I haven't looked into it yet. I'm really considering it though because security alerts annoy the shit out of me. often i can destroy the cameras before they go off but if they DO go off, there goes all my health and ammo.

 

[Krynn72]

Yeah, definitely seems like you need a backup damage dealer. I've been hitting people with that cryoblast power or whatever, but I finally ran out of psi points completely right when a god damn mech showed up in the hallway. I hit him with my last few blasts and then had to play game a of hit and run with my trusty ol' wrench. Blew him up and was down to 6hp. Got to engineering, and am hoping I will find a stim soon or else I'm ****ed. You can't really sneak around in this game it seems.

 

[morgs]

I'm about done in engineering, and was in the same situation as you, but swap psi for guns. I think I found about 2 health stims, and was on 1-20 health the whole time. Don't forget near the entrance to engineering (after getting through the toxic hallways) there's a store that sells health stims for $30 a pop.

 

[Dog--]

Aww man, I wish I could play it for the first time again.. You guys are liking it I assume?

 

[Shem]

Heard BioShock (love that game) was the spiritual successor to this. Must be nice.

 

[Tagaziel]

Yeah, definitely seems like you need a backup damage dealer. I've been hitting people with that cryoblast power or whatever, but I finally ran out of psi points completely right when a god damn mech showed up in the hallway. I hit him with my last few blasts and then had to play game a of hit and run with my trusty ol' wrench. Blew him up and was down to 6hp. Got to engineering, and am hoping I will find a stim soon or else I'm ****ed. You can't really sneak around in this game it seems.

The quintessential System Shock 2 experience.

 

[Adabiviak]

The quintessential System Shock 2 experience.

Oh dear... I may not finish this game (had the same issue with Deus Ex). The action just isn't satisfying for me, and I'm not really into the RPG elements that much. Still, given all I've heard about it, I may fire up some cheats (are there?) to walk through it just to hear/see the entire story. I'm not saying it's a bad game by any stretch, it's just not my cup of tea so far.

 

[morgs]

I'm feeling the same way a little bit.

 

[Tagaziel]

Oh dear... I may not finish this game (had the same issue with Deus Ex). The action just isn't satisfying for me, and I'm not really into the RPG elements that much. Still, given all I've heard about it, I may fire up some cheats (are there?) to walk through it just to hear/see the entire story. I'm not saying it's a bad game by any stretch, it's just not my cup of tea so far.

Approach it like a Thief game, not Dead Space. It's not a shooter or an action title by any means.