System Shock 2 (PC, 1999)
Graphics-8 Sound-8 Control-7.5 Challenge-7 Story-7.5/5*
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-7 Fun-8 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-8
*Ending
+
Adds 3 character classes (Marine=weapons+stats focused, Navy=tech skill focused, OSA Agent=psi power/magic focused) w/ different stat boosts and number of starting modules/exp points) and manual point distribution when upgrading your char
Tons of character customization (O/S upgrades - mostly stat buffs including movement speed (also: melee overhead charge attack (Smasher), Spatially Aware - auto-fills in the map on the von braun/main ship (except for the Operations deck), Power Psi - Psionic Burnout doesn't damage the player, Pack-Rat - 1 extra column of inventory slots however you could increase your STR instead, Cyber-Assimilation - salvage healing items from destroyed robots), Stats (8 levels w/ implants and psi powers; strength, endurance, psionics/magic, cybernetic affinity (helps w/ hacking/repairing/modifying) and agility))/Technical Skills (5 skills, 6 levels; hack, repair, modify weapon, maintenance - increases effectiveness of maintenance tools and the charge of electric-powered items including weapons and the powered armor, research)/Weapon Skills (4 categories, 6 levels) and additional Psi Powers (35, 5 tiers) are upgraded with cybernetic modules - basically exp point items traded in at upgrade unit terminals to upgrade your char (2-3 per floor/deck), implants give a temporary boost to one stat or skill for as long as you keep them charged, research lets you use new weapons and implants (often requires chemicals so it's a kind of crafting - optional as you can use a lab assistant item though putting points into it makes it take less time) as well as organs which let you do more damage to certain enemies and learn a bit more about them) - can also undo your choices while at an upgrade unit
Vending machines/replicators (can't sell items however you can use a recycler item or the molecular transmutation psi power to turn some of them into money/nanites)
More uses for hacking (besides disabling security (cameras and turrets) and opening some doors you can steal from vending machines/replicators, with lvl 3 hacking you can even hack turrets to make them fight for you though they aren't that helpful against the tougher robot enemies)
Good tutorials (voiced instructions that don't pause gameplay, some in-game tutorial messages are conveyed through text boxes at info terminals though)
Well-realized sci-fi/cyberpunk horror atmosphere (ghost scenes, aesthetics though they're mostly cleaner than in SS1, telepathic communications from one of the antagonists and enemies talking to themselves or to you as they seek you out, good sense of vulnerability and loneliness)
Better controls and interface than in the prequel (especially the non-enhanced ver., can edit map marker text)
Some interesting abilities (Instantaneous Quantum Relocation - teleport to a marked location/teleport beacon placed anywhere you've been to (current sub area only, alt+t deletes the current beacon), Imposed Neural Restructuring - make non-robot enemies (including cyborgs) fight for you; For traversal/exploration: Kinetic Redirection - pull small objects towards you (can also pull and stack destroyed turrets which allows you to reach higher in some spots, explosive barrels can also be moved, projectiles can also be pulled to slow them down or change their direction and hurt other enemies though it's tricky to do, unarmed proximity grenades shot in bounce mode can also be caught to change their behaviour - lets you use them as traps), enemy and item radar (Enhanced Motion Sensitivity/Remote Pattern Detection respectively), Photonic Redirection/Invisibility, Neural Decontamination and Neural Toxin Blocker powers - shields you from 80% radiation damage and 100% toxin absorption respectively (some armors and items also help here as does high endurance, surgical units/med beds help with radiation, armor can be combined with psi for -95% radiation), Psionic Hypnogenesis/Electron Suppression - paralyze organic and semi-organic enemies or robots respectively, Soma Transference - HP steal, the teleport beacon and the Metacreative Barrier (mainly for trapping enemies) can also be used as platforms to reach certain places - the latter is more useful for this as it lets you use the beacon to teleport to a safe spot, Molecular Duplication - use some money to attempt to duplicate ammo/medical kits/hypos besides psi hypos)
Quest/mission log
Good voice acting overall (some cheesy lines)
Coop via LAN (where different characters can complement each other)
Energy-driven stat and skill upgrade items besides the usual upgrades (implants - up to 2 at once if you get the Cybernetically Enhanced O/S upgrade)
Good map system (see SS1) and toggleable mini-map
21 different weapons (22 in SS1)
Difficulty options (4 levels - one main category here unlike in SS1 where you could tweak the levels in 4 different ones however you can also change it during gameplay here, higher levels: upgrades cost more, enemies deal more damage, using regeneration chambers costs more - free on Easy, lower drop rates, higher enemy respawn rates, fewer HP and psi points/MP)
Control config
Hotkeys for loading and changing ammo
Charge attack/overloading mechanic for the psi powers (if you charge for too long you get psi burnout which hurts you if your psi stat is lower than 8)
The three different psi shields can be combined with each other and with powered armor for near invulnerability
Highlights interactive objects when near them (similar to the tooltip in SS1)
Dynamic music transitions (fades in when reaching certain points of the game)
Some breakable obstacles and exploding barrels as well as some breakable doodads
Alternate firing modes for ranged weapons (grenade launcher has a bounce mode for shooting around corners for example)
Some nice effects (lighting, steam, parts of the environment falling apart)
Some funny moments (the basketball court easter egg, some logs)
Some hidden rooms and various hidden paths and items
Some sequence breaking possibilities (can jump down to skip walking around at one point in deck 4 (ops deck) if you do it right, can skip opening a shaft on floor 5 (for some optional goodies) by performing a tricky jump, can skip raising all the rockets for a certain late game puzzle if you have enough agility and use straferunning, speed boosters/high agility let you make some other unintended jumps, can also skip finding door codes if you know them already and this lets you skip ahead quite a bit at times, the teleport beacon and the Metacreative Barrier (mainly for trapping enemies) can be used as platforms to reach certain places as well as to skip triggering a barrier on Deck 6 created by the many that forces you to go back a bit on that floor and fight a mini-boss, oversights: minor skip where you can reach some items through a platform from below in the beginning, can grab a key card through a wall on the top of the von braun bridge, can skip some cutscenes with an exploit; more with out of bounds glitches)
Item placement tends to align with the theming of each deck (makes them feel more distinct and convincing)
Software=permanent tech skill and stat upgrades (can't be used to meet minimum stat requirements for things like research however - only give an existing skill a boost (but for research there is also the lab assistant implant which gives you 1 in research until its charge runs out and you can recharge it at certain points))
Minor stealth aspect to the camera system here (get a short warning period before the alarm goes off, can hear them and can move outside of their sight range which includes directly below them)
Can both climb and hang onto ledges you've grabbed here
Steam showers remove radiation at some points
Basic physics - can knock down items from heights with shots such as cryokinesis or the regular pistol and can push some smaller boxes and other objects as well as exploding barrels (though not all exploding barrels for some reason)
Can crush some enemies with the elevators and can also make them ride them to get them out of your way
Enemies can open unlocked doors (besides the ones triggering a loading screen)
Talking NPCs that don't interrupt gameplay (later used in Half-Life)
Doesn't make you remove tons of cameras on a floor to open a door (though you could get around this via cyberspace or hacking in SS1)
Areas feel more like actual places than the average FPS level from the '90s (and in some ways more so than in SS1 which was overly maze-like at times)
Can jam some doors with for example a wrench to be able to move back through some that you wouldn't otherwise be able to (southeastern part of MedSci for example)
Various scripted events (catastrophe right after beginning forcing a short escape sequence, falling debris and explosions, ghost and NPC encounters, ambushes by turrets and various enemies, increased aggression when triggering certain devices, a couple of temporarily blocked exits by xerxes, cyborg assassins carrying quest items that flee from you on deck 4, shodan warns you not to go into a spot where you find out her plans and steals some modules from you if you do, one short time bomb segment, )
Can split up item stacks to recycle only parts of them (hold Alt and click on a stack)
Some interesting level gimmicks (upwards air streams in the penultimate area), one good boss (heart of The Many)
The final area is a nice reference to the first area of SS1
From SS1: Most storytelling is done without cutscenes (voice logs, radio transmissions (including live ones during events), etc. - previously used in SS1 and later used in Half-Life and Doom 3; more flavor text here), Shodan returns, alternate ammo types for different kinds of enemies, persistent world - items stay where you dropped them (except for the teleport beacon), can lean around corners (can also lean forward here), recharge stations for energy weapons/power cells (special batteries for ship devices)/implants/powered armor and surgical units/med beds for healing, temporary str and speed upgrade items (boosters) - doesn't have the dermal patches from SS1 though, can examine inventory items and GUI icons, can sometimes look into a room through bars/grating/crevices/windows to scout ahead a bit (generally not via a narrow path like a ventilation shaft here though), sometimes new enemies appear when revisiting a place you've been to which makes backtracking more interesting (though there could've been more of this such as when you go back to engineering and then back up to deck 6), radio communications from survivors and later on from (delacroix and diego),
+/-
Save anywhere (multiple nameable slots (the game automatically enters current area+time taken by default), one quick save which happens automatically once per floor/deck and can be overwritten with Alt+S)
Partially non-linear structure (multiple solutions to various situations - a lot of combat is avoidable, optional items can be acquired with certain skills, partially non-linear progression on some floors) however the early progression of quests is linear and has more handholding via voiced instructions from a contact than in the prequel (this carries on until you reach deck 4 so several hours into the game - once you do and meet with Shodan near the beginning of it you can choose to explore deck 4 or deck 5 first, somewhat different routes depending on your char build - mainly affects combat though, a single central elevator connects to 5 out of 6 decks on the von braun/main ship and a second elevator connects decks 5 and 6 (after that there are two other separate areas in the late game (can't return to the main ship at this point but can find new upgrade stations and chemicals as well as some shops) but they are basically linear except for one part of the Rickenbacker and one part of the Body of the Many))
Resource management (alarms set off large amounts of enemies to go to the area that the player was last seen in by a camera - this goes on for 2 mins or until you disable security in the area/use the remote electron tampering psi power, weapon deterioration and maintenance+repairing (repair=fix a broken weapon while maintenance=upgrade the condition of a damaged weapon) for most weapons - if you maintain your weapons then the repair skill isn't required as there are plenty of single use auto-repair items, jack of all trades character builds are discouraged - instead you should specialize in some skills, there's a time limit to disabled security (and to implants though you can generally go back and recharge them pretty easily) and hacking attempts cost a small amount of money - if there are no turrets around then simply shooting the cameras is more efficient, inventory space - have to focus on certain weapons and their ammo)
Inventory space is based on Strength (limited inventory space similar to Diablo with some stackable items)
Somewhat complex interface (re-uses the P&C mode from SS1, mostly works well once learned - only bad thing is you can't turn around while in GUI/MFD mode - can just hit tab to switch though)
No jump jets or flashlights here (also no skates but you can increase speed via abilities and stats)
Some gear has hard stat requirements (str and/or weapon skill in the right category to use (oddly there's no str req for the grenade launcher), maintenance to be able to repair a damaged but not broken weapon - assault rifle for example requires a 4 in maintenance just to maintain, laser rapier has an agility requirement, later exotic weapons have both quite high requirements in that skill and research skill requirements) - would've preferred if you could still do these things without the required stats only less optimally
Fall damage - reduced by increasing Agility
Respawning enemies in previously visited areas (happens more if using the resurrection stations to respawn yourself after dying?) - some enemies can be used for farming though it takes a while
The beginning is harder as an OSA character (partially due to MP restoratives/psi hypos being scarce, easier if you get the Pharmo Friendly and Replicator Expert OS upgrades and Psychogenic Cyber Affinity for hacking, on the other hand psi hypos are very common in the late game)
Modifying/upgrading a weapon is partially based on chance which is increased by modify skill and cybernetic affinity stat (you can critically fail at it and break the weapon) - upgrading is also linear (can't choose between more than one different paths for a weapon)
Can use a french epstein device to upgrade level 1 weapons to level 2 instead of using modify (there are 4 hidden ones in the game)
Semi-randomized loot from enemies and sometimes enemies themselves
No cyberspace besides the tutorial and finale here (and gameplay in cyberspace is like in the main game here)
Can't respec your build
Sometimes what you do in one sub area/floor affects something in another and you'll sometimes have to come back to a point of interest later on (you also find an optional code for a locked room on deck 2 while on a later floor)
Can't lock nor relock opened doors to keep enemies away - can be annoying when trying to reorganize your inventory/decide on what to upgrade/read or listen to a message/check the map
Weapon recoil - also reduced via Agility
Multiplayer turns normal mode into hard mode
Some situational powers (Kinetic Redirection due to there only being 8 places to grab items with it and being able to jump further with boosters/higher agility/straferunning and reach some of those items+you can shoot several of these items to make them fall down, Projected Cryokinesis is good for cameras but too expensive as a main weapon, Recursive Psionic Amplification (PSI stat +2 but Psi Point/MP costs are doubled while active)? - seems using an ability twice is generally better, need a high psi level for Molecular Duplication to be worth it?, Energy Reflection, Neural Toxin-blocker, Enhanced Motion Sensitivity - can hear most enemies, Projected Pyrokinesis - expensive, Remote Pattern Detection - convenience power that shows item locations on a radar, Molecular Transmutation - for a purely psionic char and becomes less useful on the highest difficulties plus there's the recycler item, Remote Circuitry Manipulation - purely psionic char only? might still not be worth it, External Psionic Detonation/mines don't work on robots (which patrol set paths so it would've been quite useful) and can't be charged/overloaded to do more damage - otoh they do 2x damage to Annelids and you won't be harmed if an enemy detonates one while you're near it)
Crouching is toggled instead of active while the button is pressed
Few O/S upgrade stations in the game (4 in total)
The music is more techno/trance/d&b oriented here and there's more of a reliance on ambient sfx instead of music
Moving diagonally/straferunning is a bit faster
Some skippable cutscenes and some unskippable ones
The game doesn't pause while checking the inventory or map or even when using the stat upgrade terminals
Technology vs nature/biology theme
Alcohol drains MP while healing you a bit - no other effects
Can't lie down here
No target identifier here (showed if you were doing optimal damage when upgraded) - instead shows the health bar of an enemy while attacking it by default
Don't really need level 4 hacking? (only gives you access to some extra chests but it does make general hacking easier, seems you can do without level 5+ though since there are a few ICE-picks that can hack up to level 6 locks and not that many locks at that level)
No auto-reload when running out of a weapon mag
Enemies sometimes appear where it doesn't make sense (such as small spaces with no other entrance to them that you've recently cleared) though it does help with making you feel more vulnerable
Some enemy shots hit immediately but most don't
The shotgun is kind of weak unless you use triple shot firing mode (I used the sharpshooter OS upgrade, apparently it tends to do more damage from mid-range than point blank which is unintuitive)
Features NPCs (or rather ghosts of them) killing themselves and some other disturbing scenes
Only one of the rooms in the sensual stim chamber is worth opening - you can find a good clue but it's placed after finding the chamber
Can't buy beakers and worms (used as ammo for one exotic weapon) - can use the duplication psi power to make more of such ammo though
No mines or riot gun (push items without damaging them) here but instead of mines there are piles of worms that deal toxic damage if stepped on
The energy-fueled projectile shield w/ 4 levels of upgrades which can be found and switched between on the fly were replaced by psi shields and the powered armor here
The Many is a pretty memorable secondary villain but also one-dimensional (basically like the overmind in SC1) and its comments as well as its victims' comments on it get a bit samey towards the end as do Shodan's "not bad for a pathetic insect" comments
Shodan doesn't block exits or otherwise toy with you much here (only does it at one point where some modules you just grabbed are stolen by her - the final area could've been a good spot to have her get desperate and make your surroundings really tripped out and dangerous to traverse)
The music is too loud by default but it can be turned down
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Some control/interface issues (no subtitles (voices often overlap or get drowned out by noise and you can't always repeat them, some are kinda low in the sound mix) - added in a mod, early on you can't see where you've been on the map (see SS1) - most of the first couple of areas are pre-mapped and the game just highlights the current room/segment of an area, somewhat slow strafing and backwards movement, no in-game explanation of the three categories of training in the beginning (the game seems geared towards hacking and general tech), can't unload guns without picking them up (limited inventory), the tutorial doesn't explain character building/stat development, default movement speed is a bit slow, would've been good to have been able to use the arrow keys and enter to browse and confirm while in MFD/P&C+GUI mode or the main menu, while you can click on devices on the map screen to highlight them you can't make the game show what it is you've clicked on or use the examine function on them - icons are small and sometimes blend into the rest of the map graphics, if you're pressing against a lower obstacle and jumping then you won't jump and instead need to hold the button down to climb it which is slower - would've been better if you jumped and if it was too high then you climbed it, can only place map markers where your avatar is (not anywhere you click on the map) and can't drag and drop existing ones, can't toggle camera icons on the map screen and it's not zoomable here, bags of chips and some bottles don't stack, can't turn while viewing the full map or make the full map semi-transparent (Diablo; can be a problem since you can't pause while checking the map, can move around at least), game doesn't show which firing mode is currently used in the GUI - only briefly when switching between them, sometimes unforgiving hit detection - shooting at certain exploding barrels or hitting worms with the wrench for example, can't view visited floors and sub areas of floors that you're not currently on on the map - can make navigation harder at times since you might forget where a certain section of a floor is when it's referred to in a message log, the game sometimes makes you manually drag and drop a key-style item onto the object it unlocks/activates, can't examine shop items without buying them, can't click and drag an item not in your inventory into your inventory - when you have no room left it would've been useful to be able to drag and replace something in it (instead of the item you were trying to pick up being thrown forward a bit) or drag recyclable items directly onto the recycler, overly floaty movement at the highest speeds - at max speed it's like you take 2-3 extra steps after letting go, easy to get stuck on a couple of walls and near some doors in the Body of the Many area as well as the first door of the last part of the Rickenbacker)
Weapons break too fast early on (annoying and unrealistic, maintenance kits are fairly hard to come by until post deck 3 and repairing via the skill costs a bit of money plus you need to have sunk a point into it to be able to - while repair tools can be found they are pretty rare) - some weapons like the wrench never break though
Strange and vague character creation sequence (you take on "education missions" that aren't interactive at all (just a short cutscene of a ship heading out followed by a short text about what happened) and the game doesn't stress the importance of hacking or strength, no NPC interaction here, can't check your stats or try out your skills in-between choosing what to train)
Some trial & error (too easy to miss the gravitronic generator switch on the rickenbacker (no proper map here - just a vague one showing which floor you're on) and if you do you have to backtrack quite a bit once reaching the door to pod 2 as Shodan doesn't tell you that you missed it until you reach that door, psi overloading doesn't affect these powers: Psycho-Reflective Screen, Neuro-reflex Dampening, Cerebro-energetic Extension/psi sword; Localized Pyrokinesis doesn't protect against slug turret explosions/your own incendiary grenades/exploding bots/blast turret rockets/shodan head's rocket-like attacks/scripted explosions/non-incendiary grenades, have to use other psi powers *before* activating a psi sword as it won't work while it's active, can't damage the final enemy with a wrench or crystal shard, Soma Transference has a cooldown period of about 2 seconds and works on non-robots only, regeneration powers don't work like regen spells tend to (healing you slowly over a period of time) - they are healing spells, mines don't work on Shodan's shields, Psycho-reflective Aura should be cast before Energy Reflection to combine them, sometimes easy to miss message logs and some other items like french-epstein devices lying around - they could've been more eye-catching since highlighting only happens if you're very close to and looking directly at an item, the kamikaze robots can sometimes appear almost out of nowhere and in cramped spaces, some cheap hits from explosions and ambushes as well as the floor trap on deck 4, some ammo types (shotgun and regular pistol ammo) become quite scarce in the last two areas)
Some tedious aspects (researching takes forever without upgrading the stat (plus you need chemicals which take up needed inv space), the hacking mini-game due to the high rate of failure when activating the nodes and it's pretty shallow as well (later on you basically have enough money to reset the boards until it works though; the SS1 ones were generally more time consuming but you couldn't get critical failures - not really better or worse if you take saving and loading into account but there is less variety here as it's also used for modifying and repairing), piecing together the passcode for the transmitter on deck 5 is kinda tedious - need to search for 4 art terminals placed around the floor, rickenbacker part feels a bit drawn out - have to find and destroy 16 black eggs here)
Some underused mechanics (breakable objects besides the breakable windows and some exploding barrels?, Telekinesis - can't pull larger objects to climb them and reach where you couldn't otherwise or to create temporary blockades against spawning enemies for example and can't reverse it to push objects or enemies away from you, can't repair other leaking pipes than the quest related ones on engineering early on (for example the radiative one on deck 4))
Some safe spots and stupid enemy behavior (generally the AI is pretty good but occasionally behaves in a very random way, midwives are pretty bad at melee combat, sometimes easy to lure a few enemies towards a med bed or recharge station)
Non-interactive objects are sometimes equally eye-catching to interactive ones (the highlighting feature helps but you have to move pretty close for it to trigger)
Cutscenes using in-game graphics are a lower quality recording rather than using the in-game graphics in real-time
Can't manually monitor other parts of a level via certain screens on walls here (SS1) - can only see security camera feeds on some screens and in the intro cutscene
Sometimes directions to important locations are kind of vague ("...monitoring unit in command control"... wait what?)
Can't throw nor shoot placed grenades here (in SS1 you could do this with mines or grenades and also chain link them) - only use them as ammo later on
Collision damage from running or jumping too fast into walls or other obstacles (if you have 5+ agility and use a speed booster you can die from running or jumping into something - wtf), some backtracking (engineering part - there is at least one shortcut here though in the tunnel going from one part of it to the other, for chemicals though it is mostly optional - there could've been a shortcut you could open leading directly to the storeroom and med bed in hydroponics B, to dump inventory items at the elevator at times, a couple more shortcuts to open up later on would've been useful for those who didn't get the teleporter beacon)
Cheesy and unsatisfying ending (-"join me, human!" -"... nah" *shoots her in the face*; after that she manages to somehow still survive by copying herself onto an escape pod that left earlier during the game (how?) and takes on human form for some reason - and what happened to the player character?)
The trams are a bit slow (not used much though)
Weird faces on human character models (reminiscent of the video for I Don't Like the Drugs by Marilyn Manson) and the organic late game area looks kind of dated (looks better than the final area in the first game though) - can be modded though
No sensor/rearview mirror here
Sometimes uneven difficulty (some of the tougher enemies rarely drop anything - midwives never seem to drop anything but the researchable object to do more damage to them (the rickenbacker turrets also don't drop anything), sometimes you'll get swarmed by multiple tougher enemies out of nowhere later on)
Repeats some enemies quite a bit and there's only one new enemy on deck 6 (rocket turret) besides the mini-boss at the end of it
Easy final boss and it's too easy to accidentally skip the ending cutscene after beating her since she dies so abruptly
Some plot oddities (how is delacroix helping the player two more times after entering Shodan's domain in the finale? - would've been more interesting if she gave hints to how to reach and beat Shodan in the message placed right where you enter the final area and then the final boss was a bit more of a puzzle)
No alternate endings (can't choose to join Shodan or The Many, can't get a bad ending like in SS1, can't save any of the people you encounter or hear from throughout the game)
Missing some other good features seen in SS1 (no placed teleporters here, some of the puzzles (the switch/gravity pad puzzles on lvl 4, bridge switches on lvl 5, could solve puzzles on level 2 to stop hopper robot production on that deck), video email/mms cutscenes)
Unbalanced in some ways (OP: invisibility/photonic redirection+psi sword+psi barrier in the late game for an OSA char?, Standard Weapons is the most effective weapons category, should focus on Hacking to not miss out on some stuff early on, assault rifle is the most useful weapon?, Smasher/wrench overhead swing (+Lethal Weapon for a melee build) OS upgrade, it really helps to make maintenance a focus early on, Psychogenic Agility/agility boost psi power?, Adrenaline Overproduction (multiply melee dmg based on psi level)?, Cerebro-stimulated Regeneration/psi healing, Localized Pyrokinesis for a melee OSA build (also defends against most explosions+can be used while invisible), Electron Cascade for energy gear and power cell recharging, Soma Transference vs the brain; UP: Endurance stat is not that important on Easy-Normal, Psi only important for a Psi heavy character besides healing?, Heavy & Exotic weapons? (only grenade launcher is good for heavy and it already does good damage, exotic weapons appear too late and also require research skill to use), Cyber-Assimilation OS upgrade (salvage healing items from robots) is only good on hard or impossible difficulties and at a certain point you don't face any more robots, Tinker OS upgrade (reduced cost of weapon upgrading via modify skill) kinda sucks because of how many French-Epstein Devices+money (on Normal)+pre-modded weapons there are in the game, Tank os upgrade (5+ hp) is useless below Impossible - improved in SCP mod, Naturally Able os upgrade (gain 8 cyber modules) doesn't give enough of a boost to matter - improved in SCP mod, Pack-Rat os upgrade if playing as a Marine or doing a melee-only challenge, Psychogenic Endurance is too expensive considering it's temporary and tier 4 (more useful on Hard/Impossible?), Neuro-reflex Dampening - can upgrade agility a few times if recoil bothers you, Remote Electron Tampering - alarms can be disabled or avoided, Anti-entropic Field is a worse alternative to maintenance? (duration is pretty short), Neural Decontamination - use hazard suit unless playing on Hard/Impossible, Advanced Cerebro-stimulated Regeneration/upgraded healing becomes less efficient on higher difficulties though it does heal quicker, Strong Metabolism os upgrade since toxin still needs to be removed to not die (can't use a med bed unless applying the SCP mod - apparently an oversight by the devs) and radiation isn't that common+anti-rad hypos are common, Replicator Expert os upgrade unless playing above Normal difficulty?, Spatially Aware? - improved in SCP mod)
Bugs:
-Mines sometimes detonate prematurely and sometimes don't function properly vs fast moving enemies
-Corpses sometimes disappear suddenly
-Spiders can sometimes see an invisible player
-Loading a save where you have an active speed booster on removes the effect of that speed booster (save before using one instead of after)
-Enemies sometimes get stuck on corners or other obstacles
Notes:
-Played as Navy (year 1 - 1 hacking, 1 strength, year 2 - 2 standard weapons, year 3 - 2 endurance)
-Hidden rooms: https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70257
-The one hidden room (YT clip) behind breakable debris on the Rickenbacker is from a mod (secmod)
-SCP mod/fan patch (mostly bug fixes and gfx enhancements - didn't try it yet): https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=7116.0
-Some weapons you find have additional bonuses which aren't mentioned (reduced recoil or being unbreakable): https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70257&p=829407&viewfull=1#post829407
-There's nothing on the platform in the cold storage room on deck 4 where someone is pushing down exploding barrels
-Decent OSA guide: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=174524157
Comment:
Compared to SS1, it's both more linear and has less of a movement ability focus (and no cyberspace segments in the same sense), but also more RPG elements, a bit more involved stealth and hacking, better controls and interface, and better VA. In this one you start off chosing from 3 classes and get a form of skill points from exploring and completing sub goals. These are then used to grow your skills and stats pretty much however you want at certain terminals, though unlike some other games you are encouraged to make a more specialized build and stick with it, picking a few skills and stats that complement each other. There's quite a bit to customize which adds to the replay value and sense of freedom, and you can do some unusual stuff like hack security turrets to have them defend you, make yourself super fast to pull off seemingly impossible jumps, or trap enemies with a certain psi power.
Progression in the early-mid game is actually quite guided by a radio voice telling you what your next goals are. You can however explore most floors in a non-linear fashion, and when you reach floor 4 you can choose to go to floor 5 and complete the objectives there first instead. There are some sequence breaking opportunities (some more with a psi power focused char build, which I didn't go for), plus you backtrack a few times to previous floors to progress and you face some new enemies when you do.
Story-wise it's a lot like the first, except now there's an additional villain heavily reminiscent of the overmind from SC, which is in opposition to Shodan who also returns (no surprise there though the foreshadowing to her entrance is decent). I found this other villain a bit too one note, tough most of the audio logs telling the story of how it lures the crew over to its side and to commit various atrocities is well done. It just got a bit old by the end-game, and same goes for some of Shodan's comments ("good job insect, have some cybermodules" felt like it was repeated about 5-10 times). The ending is kind of hilaribad. Honestly it pissed me off a bit at first because the tone is mostly serious prior to it and it's definitely not satisfying in terms of what you've accomplished with the whole adventure, but watching it again it made me laugh. It might've been interesting to be able to choose sides here, between succumbing to the many (though I can't see that ending in any good way for the player), working for Shodan (also would probably just backstab you based on how she acts) or taking them both out.
While it's missing a few aspects I liked about SS1 and could've included some completely alternate paths to take based on your abilities (or at least had the game open up more a bit sooner), it's a very good game and I felt equal parts dread and excitement when firing it up, similar to when I played Silent Hill 2. It puts you in a hostile environment where you can't really relax anywhere and resources are limited, though with some planning and tactical play (and/or save scumming) you'll be able to get through it and it rarely feels unfair or tedious.
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-7 Fun-8 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-8
*Ending
+
Adds 3 character classes (Marine=weapons+stats focused, Navy=tech skill focused, OSA Agent=psi power/magic focused) w/ different stat boosts and number of starting modules/exp points) and manual point distribution when upgrading your char
Tons of character customization (O/S upgrades - mostly stat buffs including movement speed (also: melee overhead charge attack (Smasher), Spatially Aware - auto-fills in the map on the von braun/main ship (except for the Operations deck), Power Psi - Psionic Burnout doesn't damage the player, Pack-Rat - 1 extra column of inventory slots however you could increase your STR instead, Cyber-Assimilation - salvage healing items from destroyed robots), Stats (8 levels w/ implants and psi powers; strength, endurance, psionics/magic, cybernetic affinity (helps w/ hacking/repairing/modifying) and agility))/Technical Skills (5 skills, 6 levels; hack, repair, modify weapon, maintenance - increases effectiveness of maintenance tools and the charge of electric-powered items including weapons and the powered armor, research)/Weapon Skills (4 categories, 6 levels) and additional Psi Powers (35, 5 tiers) are upgraded with cybernetic modules - basically exp point items traded in at upgrade unit terminals to upgrade your char (2-3 per floor/deck), implants give a temporary boost to one stat or skill for as long as you keep them charged, research lets you use new weapons and implants (often requires chemicals so it's a kind of crafting - optional as you can use a lab assistant item though putting points into it makes it take less time) as well as organs which let you do more damage to certain enemies and learn a bit more about them) - can also undo your choices while at an upgrade unit
Vending machines/replicators (can't sell items however you can use a recycler item or the molecular transmutation psi power to turn some of them into money/nanites)
More uses for hacking (besides disabling security (cameras and turrets) and opening some doors you can steal from vending machines/replicators, with lvl 3 hacking you can even hack turrets to make them fight for you though they aren't that helpful against the tougher robot enemies)
Good tutorials (voiced instructions that don't pause gameplay, some in-game tutorial messages are conveyed through text boxes at info terminals though)
Well-realized sci-fi/cyberpunk horror atmosphere (ghost scenes, aesthetics though they're mostly cleaner than in SS1, telepathic communications from one of the antagonists and enemies talking to themselves or to you as they seek you out, good sense of vulnerability and loneliness)
Better controls and interface than in the prequel (especially the non-enhanced ver., can edit map marker text)
Some interesting abilities (Instantaneous Quantum Relocation - teleport to a marked location/teleport beacon placed anywhere you've been to (current sub area only, alt+t deletes the current beacon), Imposed Neural Restructuring - make non-robot enemies (including cyborgs) fight for you; For traversal/exploration: Kinetic Redirection - pull small objects towards you (can also pull and stack destroyed turrets which allows you to reach higher in some spots, explosive barrels can also be moved, projectiles can also be pulled to slow them down or change their direction and hurt other enemies though it's tricky to do, unarmed proximity grenades shot in bounce mode can also be caught to change their behaviour - lets you use them as traps), enemy and item radar (Enhanced Motion Sensitivity/Remote Pattern Detection respectively), Photonic Redirection/Invisibility, Neural Decontamination and Neural Toxin Blocker powers - shields you from 80% radiation damage and 100% toxin absorption respectively (some armors and items also help here as does high endurance, surgical units/med beds help with radiation, armor can be combined with psi for -95% radiation), Psionic Hypnogenesis/Electron Suppression - paralyze organic and semi-organic enemies or robots respectively, Soma Transference - HP steal, the teleport beacon and the Metacreative Barrier (mainly for trapping enemies) can also be used as platforms to reach certain places - the latter is more useful for this as it lets you use the beacon to teleport to a safe spot, Molecular Duplication - use some money to attempt to duplicate ammo/medical kits/hypos besides psi hypos)
Quest/mission log
Good voice acting overall (some cheesy lines)
Coop via LAN (where different characters can complement each other)
Energy-driven stat and skill upgrade items besides the usual upgrades (implants - up to 2 at once if you get the Cybernetically Enhanced O/S upgrade)
Good map system (see SS1) and toggleable mini-map
21 different weapons (22 in SS1)
Difficulty options (4 levels - one main category here unlike in SS1 where you could tweak the levels in 4 different ones however you can also change it during gameplay here, higher levels: upgrades cost more, enemies deal more damage, using regeneration chambers costs more - free on Easy, lower drop rates, higher enemy respawn rates, fewer HP and psi points/MP)
Control config
Hotkeys for loading and changing ammo
Charge attack/overloading mechanic for the psi powers (if you charge for too long you get psi burnout which hurts you if your psi stat is lower than 8)
The three different psi shields can be combined with each other and with powered armor for near invulnerability
Highlights interactive objects when near them (similar to the tooltip in SS1)
Dynamic music transitions (fades in when reaching certain points of the game)
Some breakable obstacles and exploding barrels as well as some breakable doodads
Alternate firing modes for ranged weapons (grenade launcher has a bounce mode for shooting around corners for example)
Some nice effects (lighting, steam, parts of the environment falling apart)
Some funny moments (the basketball court easter egg, some logs)
Some hidden rooms and various hidden paths and items
Some sequence breaking possibilities (can jump down to skip walking around at one point in deck 4 (ops deck) if you do it right, can skip opening a shaft on floor 5 (for some optional goodies) by performing a tricky jump, can skip raising all the rockets for a certain late game puzzle if you have enough agility and use straferunning, speed boosters/high agility let you make some other unintended jumps, can also skip finding door codes if you know them already and this lets you skip ahead quite a bit at times, the teleport beacon and the Metacreative Barrier (mainly for trapping enemies) can be used as platforms to reach certain places as well as to skip triggering a barrier on Deck 6 created by the many that forces you to go back a bit on that floor and fight a mini-boss, oversights: minor skip where you can reach some items through a platform from below in the beginning, can grab a key card through a wall on the top of the von braun bridge, can skip some cutscenes with an exploit; more with out of bounds glitches)
Item placement tends to align with the theming of each deck (makes them feel more distinct and convincing)
Software=permanent tech skill and stat upgrades (can't be used to meet minimum stat requirements for things like research however - only give an existing skill a boost (but for research there is also the lab assistant implant which gives you 1 in research until its charge runs out and you can recharge it at certain points))
Minor stealth aspect to the camera system here (get a short warning period before the alarm goes off, can hear them and can move outside of their sight range which includes directly below them)
Can both climb and hang onto ledges you've grabbed here
Steam showers remove radiation at some points
Basic physics - can knock down items from heights with shots such as cryokinesis or the regular pistol and can push some smaller boxes and other objects as well as exploding barrels (though not all exploding barrels for some reason)
Can crush some enemies with the elevators and can also make them ride them to get them out of your way
Enemies can open unlocked doors (besides the ones triggering a loading screen)
Talking NPCs that don't interrupt gameplay (later used in Half-Life)
Doesn't make you remove tons of cameras on a floor to open a door (though you could get around this via cyberspace or hacking in SS1)
Areas feel more like actual places than the average FPS level from the '90s (and in some ways more so than in SS1 which was overly maze-like at times)
Can jam some doors with for example a wrench to be able to move back through some that you wouldn't otherwise be able to (southeastern part of MedSci for example)
Various scripted events (catastrophe right after beginning forcing a short escape sequence, falling debris and explosions, ghost and NPC encounters, ambushes by turrets and various enemies, increased aggression when triggering certain devices, a couple of temporarily blocked exits by xerxes, cyborg assassins carrying quest items that flee from you on deck 4, shodan warns you not to go into a spot where you find out her plans and steals some modules from you if you do, one short time bomb segment, )
Can split up item stacks to recycle only parts of them (hold Alt and click on a stack)
Some interesting level gimmicks (upwards air streams in the penultimate area), one good boss (heart of The Many)
The final area is a nice reference to the first area of SS1
From SS1: Most storytelling is done without cutscenes (voice logs, radio transmissions (including live ones during events), etc. - previously used in SS1 and later used in Half-Life and Doom 3; more flavor text here), Shodan returns, alternate ammo types for different kinds of enemies, persistent world - items stay where you dropped them (except for the teleport beacon), can lean around corners (can also lean forward here), recharge stations for energy weapons/power cells (special batteries for ship devices)/implants/powered armor and surgical units/med beds for healing, temporary str and speed upgrade items (boosters) - doesn't have the dermal patches from SS1 though, can examine inventory items and GUI icons, can sometimes look into a room through bars/grating/crevices/windows to scout ahead a bit (generally not via a narrow path like a ventilation shaft here though), sometimes new enemies appear when revisiting a place you've been to which makes backtracking more interesting (though there could've been more of this such as when you go back to engineering and then back up to deck 6), radio communications from survivors and later on from (delacroix and diego),
+/-
Save anywhere (multiple nameable slots (the game automatically enters current area+time taken by default), one quick save which happens automatically once per floor/deck and can be overwritten with Alt+S)
Partially non-linear structure (multiple solutions to various situations - a lot of combat is avoidable, optional items can be acquired with certain skills, partially non-linear progression on some floors) however the early progression of quests is linear and has more handholding via voiced instructions from a contact than in the prequel (this carries on until you reach deck 4 so several hours into the game - once you do and meet with Shodan near the beginning of it you can choose to explore deck 4 or deck 5 first, somewhat different routes depending on your char build - mainly affects combat though, a single central elevator connects to 5 out of 6 decks on the von braun/main ship and a second elevator connects decks 5 and 6 (after that there are two other separate areas in the late game (can't return to the main ship at this point but can find new upgrade stations and chemicals as well as some shops) but they are basically linear except for one part of the Rickenbacker and one part of the Body of the Many))
Resource management (alarms set off large amounts of enemies to go to the area that the player was last seen in by a camera - this goes on for 2 mins or until you disable security in the area/use the remote electron tampering psi power, weapon deterioration and maintenance+repairing (repair=fix a broken weapon while maintenance=upgrade the condition of a damaged weapon) for most weapons - if you maintain your weapons then the repair skill isn't required as there are plenty of single use auto-repair items, jack of all trades character builds are discouraged - instead you should specialize in some skills, there's a time limit to disabled security (and to implants though you can generally go back and recharge them pretty easily) and hacking attempts cost a small amount of money - if there are no turrets around then simply shooting the cameras is more efficient, inventory space - have to focus on certain weapons and their ammo)
Inventory space is based on Strength (limited inventory space similar to Diablo with some stackable items)
Somewhat complex interface (re-uses the P&C mode from SS1, mostly works well once learned - only bad thing is you can't turn around while in GUI/MFD mode - can just hit tab to switch though)
No jump jets or flashlights here (also no skates but you can increase speed via abilities and stats)
Some gear has hard stat requirements (str and/or weapon skill in the right category to use (oddly there's no str req for the grenade launcher), maintenance to be able to repair a damaged but not broken weapon - assault rifle for example requires a 4 in maintenance just to maintain, laser rapier has an agility requirement, later exotic weapons have both quite high requirements in that skill and research skill requirements) - would've preferred if you could still do these things without the required stats only less optimally
Fall damage - reduced by increasing Agility
Respawning enemies in previously visited areas (happens more if using the resurrection stations to respawn yourself after dying?) - some enemies can be used for farming though it takes a while
The beginning is harder as an OSA character (partially due to MP restoratives/psi hypos being scarce, easier if you get the Pharmo Friendly and Replicator Expert OS upgrades and Psychogenic Cyber Affinity for hacking, on the other hand psi hypos are very common in the late game)
Modifying/upgrading a weapon is partially based on chance which is increased by modify skill and cybernetic affinity stat (you can critically fail at it and break the weapon) - upgrading is also linear (can't choose between more than one different paths for a weapon)
Can use a french epstein device to upgrade level 1 weapons to level 2 instead of using modify (there are 4 hidden ones in the game)
Semi-randomized loot from enemies and sometimes enemies themselves
No cyberspace besides the tutorial and finale here (and gameplay in cyberspace is like in the main game here)
Can't respec your build
Sometimes what you do in one sub area/floor affects something in another and you'll sometimes have to come back to a point of interest later on (you also find an optional code for a locked room on deck 2 while on a later floor)
Can't lock nor relock opened doors to keep enemies away - can be annoying when trying to reorganize your inventory/decide on what to upgrade/read or listen to a message/check the map
Weapon recoil - also reduced via Agility
Multiplayer turns normal mode into hard mode
Some situational powers (Kinetic Redirection due to there only being 8 places to grab items with it and being able to jump further with boosters/higher agility/straferunning and reach some of those items+you can shoot several of these items to make them fall down, Projected Cryokinesis is good for cameras but too expensive as a main weapon, Recursive Psionic Amplification (PSI stat +2 but Psi Point/MP costs are doubled while active)? - seems using an ability twice is generally better, need a high psi level for Molecular Duplication to be worth it?, Energy Reflection, Neural Toxin-blocker, Enhanced Motion Sensitivity - can hear most enemies, Projected Pyrokinesis - expensive, Remote Pattern Detection - convenience power that shows item locations on a radar, Molecular Transmutation - for a purely psionic char and becomes less useful on the highest difficulties plus there's the recycler item, Remote Circuitry Manipulation - purely psionic char only? might still not be worth it, External Psionic Detonation/mines don't work on robots (which patrol set paths so it would've been quite useful) and can't be charged/overloaded to do more damage - otoh they do 2x damage to Annelids and you won't be harmed if an enemy detonates one while you're near it)
Crouching is toggled instead of active while the button is pressed
Few O/S upgrade stations in the game (4 in total)
The music is more techno/trance/d&b oriented here and there's more of a reliance on ambient sfx instead of music
Moving diagonally/straferunning is a bit faster
Some skippable cutscenes and some unskippable ones
The game doesn't pause while checking the inventory or map or even when using the stat upgrade terminals
Technology vs nature/biology theme
Alcohol drains MP while healing you a bit - no other effects
Can't lie down here
No target identifier here (showed if you were doing optimal damage when upgraded) - instead shows the health bar of an enemy while attacking it by default
Don't really need level 4 hacking? (only gives you access to some extra chests but it does make general hacking easier, seems you can do without level 5+ though since there are a few ICE-picks that can hack up to level 6 locks and not that many locks at that level)
No auto-reload when running out of a weapon mag
Enemies sometimes appear where it doesn't make sense (such as small spaces with no other entrance to them that you've recently cleared) though it does help with making you feel more vulnerable
Some enemy shots hit immediately but most don't
The shotgun is kind of weak unless you use triple shot firing mode (I used the sharpshooter OS upgrade, apparently it tends to do more damage from mid-range than point blank which is unintuitive)
Features NPCs (or rather ghosts of them) killing themselves and some other disturbing scenes
Only one of the rooms in the sensual stim chamber is worth opening - you can find a good clue but it's placed after finding the chamber
Can't buy beakers and worms (used as ammo for one exotic weapon) - can use the duplication psi power to make more of such ammo though
No mines or riot gun (push items without damaging them) here but instead of mines there are piles of worms that deal toxic damage if stepped on
The energy-fueled projectile shield w/ 4 levels of upgrades which can be found and switched between on the fly were replaced by psi shields and the powered armor here
The Many is a pretty memorable secondary villain but also one-dimensional (basically like the overmind in SC1) and its comments as well as its victims' comments on it get a bit samey towards the end as do Shodan's "not bad for a pathetic insect" comments
Shodan doesn't block exits or otherwise toy with you much here (only does it at one point where some modules you just grabbed are stolen by her - the final area could've been a good spot to have her get desperate and make your surroundings really tripped out and dangerous to traverse)
The music is too loud by default but it can be turned down
-
Some control/interface issues (no subtitles (voices often overlap or get drowned out by noise and you can't always repeat them, some are kinda low in the sound mix) - added in a mod, early on you can't see where you've been on the map (see SS1) - most of the first couple of areas are pre-mapped and the game just highlights the current room/segment of an area, somewhat slow strafing and backwards movement, no in-game explanation of the three categories of training in the beginning (the game seems geared towards hacking and general tech), can't unload guns without picking them up (limited inventory), the tutorial doesn't explain character building/stat development, default movement speed is a bit slow, would've been good to have been able to use the arrow keys and enter to browse and confirm while in MFD/P&C+GUI mode or the main menu, while you can click on devices on the map screen to highlight them you can't make the game show what it is you've clicked on or use the examine function on them - icons are small and sometimes blend into the rest of the map graphics, if you're pressing against a lower obstacle and jumping then you won't jump and instead need to hold the button down to climb it which is slower - would've been better if you jumped and if it was too high then you climbed it, can only place map markers where your avatar is (not anywhere you click on the map) and can't drag and drop existing ones, can't toggle camera icons on the map screen and it's not zoomable here, bags of chips and some bottles don't stack, can't turn while viewing the full map or make the full map semi-transparent (Diablo; can be a problem since you can't pause while checking the map, can move around at least), game doesn't show which firing mode is currently used in the GUI - only briefly when switching between them, sometimes unforgiving hit detection - shooting at certain exploding barrels or hitting worms with the wrench for example, can't view visited floors and sub areas of floors that you're not currently on on the map - can make navigation harder at times since you might forget where a certain section of a floor is when it's referred to in a message log, the game sometimes makes you manually drag and drop a key-style item onto the object it unlocks/activates, can't examine shop items without buying them, can't click and drag an item not in your inventory into your inventory - when you have no room left it would've been useful to be able to drag and replace something in it (instead of the item you were trying to pick up being thrown forward a bit) or drag recyclable items directly onto the recycler, overly floaty movement at the highest speeds - at max speed it's like you take 2-3 extra steps after letting go, easy to get stuck on a couple of walls and near some doors in the Body of the Many area as well as the first door of the last part of the Rickenbacker)
Weapons break too fast early on (annoying and unrealistic, maintenance kits are fairly hard to come by until post deck 3 and repairing via the skill costs a bit of money plus you need to have sunk a point into it to be able to - while repair tools can be found they are pretty rare) - some weapons like the wrench never break though
Strange and vague character creation sequence (you take on "education missions" that aren't interactive at all (just a short cutscene of a ship heading out followed by a short text about what happened) and the game doesn't stress the importance of hacking or strength, no NPC interaction here, can't check your stats or try out your skills in-between choosing what to train)
Some trial & error (too easy to miss the gravitronic generator switch on the rickenbacker (no proper map here - just a vague one showing which floor you're on) and if you do you have to backtrack quite a bit once reaching the door to pod 2 as Shodan doesn't tell you that you missed it until you reach that door, psi overloading doesn't affect these powers: Psycho-Reflective Screen, Neuro-reflex Dampening, Cerebro-energetic Extension/psi sword; Localized Pyrokinesis doesn't protect against slug turret explosions/your own incendiary grenades/exploding bots/blast turret rockets/shodan head's rocket-like attacks/scripted explosions/non-incendiary grenades, have to use other psi powers *before* activating a psi sword as it won't work while it's active, can't damage the final enemy with a wrench or crystal shard, Soma Transference has a cooldown period of about 2 seconds and works on non-robots only, regeneration powers don't work like regen spells tend to (healing you slowly over a period of time) - they are healing spells, mines don't work on Shodan's shields, Psycho-reflective Aura should be cast before Energy Reflection to combine them, sometimes easy to miss message logs and some other items like french-epstein devices lying around - they could've been more eye-catching since highlighting only happens if you're very close to and looking directly at an item, the kamikaze robots can sometimes appear almost out of nowhere and in cramped spaces, some cheap hits from explosions and ambushes as well as the floor trap on deck 4, some ammo types (shotgun and regular pistol ammo) become quite scarce in the last two areas)
Some tedious aspects (researching takes forever without upgrading the stat (plus you need chemicals which take up needed inv space), the hacking mini-game due to the high rate of failure when activating the nodes and it's pretty shallow as well (later on you basically have enough money to reset the boards until it works though; the SS1 ones were generally more time consuming but you couldn't get critical failures - not really better or worse if you take saving and loading into account but there is less variety here as it's also used for modifying and repairing), piecing together the passcode for the transmitter on deck 5 is kinda tedious - need to search for 4 art terminals placed around the floor, rickenbacker part feels a bit drawn out - have to find and destroy 16 black eggs here)
Some underused mechanics (breakable objects besides the breakable windows and some exploding barrels?, Telekinesis - can't pull larger objects to climb them and reach where you couldn't otherwise or to create temporary blockades against spawning enemies for example and can't reverse it to push objects or enemies away from you, can't repair other leaking pipes than the quest related ones on engineering early on (for example the radiative one on deck 4))
Some safe spots and stupid enemy behavior (generally the AI is pretty good but occasionally behaves in a very random way, midwives are pretty bad at melee combat, sometimes easy to lure a few enemies towards a med bed or recharge station)
Non-interactive objects are sometimes equally eye-catching to interactive ones (the highlighting feature helps but you have to move pretty close for it to trigger)
Cutscenes using in-game graphics are a lower quality recording rather than using the in-game graphics in real-time
Can't manually monitor other parts of a level via certain screens on walls here (SS1) - can only see security camera feeds on some screens and in the intro cutscene
Sometimes directions to important locations are kind of vague ("...monitoring unit in command control"... wait what?)
Can't throw nor shoot placed grenades here (in SS1 you could do this with mines or grenades and also chain link them) - only use them as ammo later on
Collision damage from running or jumping too fast into walls or other obstacles (if you have 5+ agility and use a speed booster you can die from running or jumping into something - wtf), some backtracking (engineering part - there is at least one shortcut here though in the tunnel going from one part of it to the other, for chemicals though it is mostly optional - there could've been a shortcut you could open leading directly to the storeroom and med bed in hydroponics B, to dump inventory items at the elevator at times, a couple more shortcuts to open up later on would've been useful for those who didn't get the teleporter beacon)
Cheesy and unsatisfying ending (-"join me, human!" -"... nah" *shoots her in the face*; after that she manages to somehow still survive by copying herself onto an escape pod that left earlier during the game (how?) and takes on human form for some reason - and what happened to the player character?)
The trams are a bit slow (not used much though)
Weird faces on human character models (reminiscent of the video for I Don't Like the Drugs by Marilyn Manson) and the organic late game area looks kind of dated (looks better than the final area in the first game though) - can be modded though
No sensor/rearview mirror here
Sometimes uneven difficulty (some of the tougher enemies rarely drop anything - midwives never seem to drop anything but the researchable object to do more damage to them (the rickenbacker turrets also don't drop anything), sometimes you'll get swarmed by multiple tougher enemies out of nowhere later on)
Repeats some enemies quite a bit and there's only one new enemy on deck 6 (rocket turret) besides the mini-boss at the end of it
Easy final boss and it's too easy to accidentally skip the ending cutscene after beating her since she dies so abruptly
Some plot oddities (how is delacroix helping the player two more times after entering Shodan's domain in the finale? - would've been more interesting if she gave hints to how to reach and beat Shodan in the message placed right where you enter the final area and then the final boss was a bit more of a puzzle)
No alternate endings (can't choose to join Shodan or The Many, can't get a bad ending like in SS1, can't save any of the people you encounter or hear from throughout the game)
Missing some other good features seen in SS1 (no placed teleporters here, some of the puzzles (the switch/gravity pad puzzles on lvl 4, bridge switches on lvl 5, could solve puzzles on level 2 to stop hopper robot production on that deck), video email/mms cutscenes)
Unbalanced in some ways (OP: invisibility/photonic redirection+psi sword+psi barrier in the late game for an OSA char?, Standard Weapons is the most effective weapons category, should focus on Hacking to not miss out on some stuff early on, assault rifle is the most useful weapon?, Smasher/wrench overhead swing (+Lethal Weapon for a melee build) OS upgrade, it really helps to make maintenance a focus early on, Psychogenic Agility/agility boost psi power?, Adrenaline Overproduction (multiply melee dmg based on psi level)?, Cerebro-stimulated Regeneration/psi healing, Localized Pyrokinesis for a melee OSA build (also defends against most explosions+can be used while invisible), Electron Cascade for energy gear and power cell recharging, Soma Transference vs the brain; UP: Endurance stat is not that important on Easy-Normal, Psi only important for a Psi heavy character besides healing?, Heavy & Exotic weapons? (only grenade launcher is good for heavy and it already does good damage, exotic weapons appear too late and also require research skill to use), Cyber-Assimilation OS upgrade (salvage healing items from robots) is only good on hard or impossible difficulties and at a certain point you don't face any more robots, Tinker OS upgrade (reduced cost of weapon upgrading via modify skill) kinda sucks because of how many French-Epstein Devices+money (on Normal)+pre-modded weapons there are in the game, Tank os upgrade (5+ hp) is useless below Impossible - improved in SCP mod, Naturally Able os upgrade (gain 8 cyber modules) doesn't give enough of a boost to matter - improved in SCP mod, Pack-Rat os upgrade if playing as a Marine or doing a melee-only challenge, Psychogenic Endurance is too expensive considering it's temporary and tier 4 (more useful on Hard/Impossible?), Neuro-reflex Dampening - can upgrade agility a few times if recoil bothers you, Remote Electron Tampering - alarms can be disabled or avoided, Anti-entropic Field is a worse alternative to maintenance? (duration is pretty short), Neural Decontamination - use hazard suit unless playing on Hard/Impossible, Advanced Cerebro-stimulated Regeneration/upgraded healing becomes less efficient on higher difficulties though it does heal quicker, Strong Metabolism os upgrade since toxin still needs to be removed to not die (can't use a med bed unless applying the SCP mod - apparently an oversight by the devs) and radiation isn't that common+anti-rad hypos are common, Replicator Expert os upgrade unless playing above Normal difficulty?, Spatially Aware? - improved in SCP mod)
Bugs:
-Mines sometimes detonate prematurely and sometimes don't function properly vs fast moving enemies
-Corpses sometimes disappear suddenly
-Spiders can sometimes see an invisible player
-Loading a save where you have an active speed booster on removes the effect of that speed booster (save before using one instead of after)
-Enemies sometimes get stuck on corners or other obstacles
Notes:
-Played as Navy (year 1 - 1 hacking, 1 strength, year 2 - 2 standard weapons, year 3 - 2 endurance)
-Hidden rooms: https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70257
-The one hidden room (YT clip) behind breakable debris on the Rickenbacker is from a mod (secmod)
-SCP mod/fan patch (mostly bug fixes and gfx enhancements - didn't try it yet): https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=7116.0
-Some weapons you find have additional bonuses which aren't mentioned (reduced recoil or being unbreakable): https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70257&p=829407&viewfull=1#post829407
-There's nothing on the platform in the cold storage room on deck 4 where someone is pushing down exploding barrels
-Decent OSA guide: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=174524157
Comment:
Compared to SS1, it's both more linear and has less of a movement ability focus (and no cyberspace segments in the same sense), but also more RPG elements, a bit more involved stealth and hacking, better controls and interface, and better VA. In this one you start off chosing from 3 classes and get a form of skill points from exploring and completing sub goals. These are then used to grow your skills and stats pretty much however you want at certain terminals, though unlike some other games you are encouraged to make a more specialized build and stick with it, picking a few skills and stats that complement each other. There's quite a bit to customize which adds to the replay value and sense of freedom, and you can do some unusual stuff like hack security turrets to have them defend you, make yourself super fast to pull off seemingly impossible jumps, or trap enemies with a certain psi power.
Progression in the early-mid game is actually quite guided by a radio voice telling you what your next goals are. You can however explore most floors in a non-linear fashion, and when you reach floor 4 you can choose to go to floor 5 and complete the objectives there first instead. There are some sequence breaking opportunities (some more with a psi power focused char build, which I didn't go for), plus you backtrack a few times to previous floors to progress and you face some new enemies when you do.
Story-wise it's a lot like the first, except now there's an additional villain heavily reminiscent of the overmind from SC, which is in opposition to Shodan who also returns (no surprise there though the foreshadowing to her entrance is decent). I found this other villain a bit too one note, tough most of the audio logs telling the story of how it lures the crew over to its side and to commit various atrocities is well done. It just got a bit old by the end-game, and same goes for some of Shodan's comments ("good job insect, have some cybermodules" felt like it was repeated about 5-10 times). The ending is kind of hilaribad. Honestly it pissed me off a bit at first because the tone is mostly serious prior to it and it's definitely not satisfying in terms of what you've accomplished with the whole adventure, but watching it again it made me laugh. It might've been interesting to be able to choose sides here, between succumbing to the many (though I can't see that ending in any good way for the player), working for Shodan (also would probably just backstab you based on how she acts) or taking them both out.
While it's missing a few aspects I liked about SS1 and could've included some completely alternate paths to take based on your abilities (or at least had the game open up more a bit sooner), it's a very good game and I felt equal parts dread and excitement when firing it up, similar to when I played Silent Hill 2. It puts you in a hostile environment where you can't really relax anywhere and resources are limited, though with some planning and tactical play (and/or save scumming) you'll be able to get through it and it rarely feels unfair or tedious.