System Shock 2 is a mix of RPG and FPS genres. While you can play it as a FPS, is very hard to do so; weapons break very frequently and ammo is not very abundant. In the game you will do a lot of things: hack security systems to avoid being detected by cameras and turrets, repair Von Braun´s (the ship in which all the game has place) engineering systems, and such. For every completed objective, you are given cybernetic modules to spend improving your skills like strength, agility, weapon skills, hacking, and such. The story and atmosphere are the strongest attributes of SS2. You awake in a cryo tube in Von Braun´s Medsci deck. Everything around seems a chaos and guided by Dr. Janice Polito you must discover what happened and, above all, how can you escape the mess. All this is told through audio logs that are picked up through the whole ship. The enemies you find are very scary and make noises that surely will make you tense and be alert all the time. The audio contributes a lot for the fear factor in SS2; at the minimal strange noise you hear you´ll go paranoid and frantically move the mouse in all diferent positions to see from where it comes. The graphics are the only bad part of the game. Although not horrible, by now (2006) they look very dated. There are mods that make models look better, but in my opinion they take off a lot of the scariness that comes with the old models. Nevertheless, the gameplay and atmosphere more than compensate the visual faults of SS2. If you are thinking of buying or playing this, don´t hesitate to start now and be completely hooked to one of the best games ever. Fear the Many! Fear SHODAN!
If I were to write a one-sentence review of System Shock 2, that sentence would be: "No other game has made my in-game avatar cower in fear of the enemy, or run away shamelessly from threat." It's simply the... Read Full Review
System Shock 2 is one of a select group of games that transcend the traditional "gameplay-graphics-sound" rating system to become a truly unique experience. The gripping storyline, the haunting sound effects, the immers... Read Full Review
