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Ok, well, that's Ultima II done. I have no desire to ever play that one again. It's a mess of ideas that never reaches cohesion and relies far too much on grinding and luck. I look forward to eventually playing Ultima III, but I'm not sure how soon I will get the taste of this out of my mouth.

As for what I'll play for my final game for this year's Summer Games Challenge...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iZMD_eCpEo

I would say you saved the best for last, but you already played Thief Gold. System Shock is not far behind it though. Super amazing game, and not just for its time. Looking forward to your thoughts on this experience Ack.

I'm being rude and posting before I've read all of you guys's most recent updates, but I simply must put this up immediately because OMG IT'S FINALLY HAPPENINGGGGG


I will double back later, I promise!

System Shock isn't just a great choice. It's the best choice.

The game is brilliant and I know you're going to love it Ack.

I'm looking forward to reading about your experience.

System Shock

I have spent the last six months in a regulated medical coma due to receiving a military-grade implant, and my first real action coming back into the world is to take a metal pipe and beat a service robot upside the head with it. Yeah, I like this game. The next half hour of the level featured me running around like a grinning madman, using the pipe to crush mutant skulls. Then I found my first cyborg, and now I use guns.

The controls are a bit awkward, but they remind me a lot of Realms of the Haunting. I'm not so big on using grenades or the mini-buff items yet(not sure what they're called. The berzerker items and such), but I've managed when I needed to use them. I also accidentally discovered if I was quick enough that I could hurl a grenade and then shoot it in mid air to make it explode. While I don't think I will ever need that particular skill, it's good to know I can do it.

One of the things that has surprised me so far in the game was the size of the first level. I was expecting it to be reasonably sized, but what I found was actually quite massive. Considerably so compared to what I was anticipating at least. Were System Shock 2's this large? Exploring all of the nooks and crannies took some serious time, particularly because I was so focused on examining every little hole and angle to find SHODAN's security cameras. Every destroyed camera is one less eye for her to use, so I would smash each with glee and then move on. Then I discovered I could actually spot security devices on the map. At this point the map became my best friend, and I've been perusing it regularly ever since to plan my routes and decide where to go next.

One thing that I don't care for is the respawn rate. After a while I found hordes of mutants were now roaming the corridors that I had previously cleansed. While I knew no level was ever fully emptied, I was surprised by the sheer amount of them coming back. I was even more surprised when a group spawned in on top of me. Thankfully the regular mutant types aren't too terribly difficult to kill; I can beat them to death with the metal pipe without fail. It's more frustrating than anything else right now, but I am worried about what I'll see respawning later.

Weapon-wise, I've kept the pipe, but I've also discovered a needle gun, a rocket-launcher sort of thing that does great damage, a stun gun, a regular pistol, and a phaser-looking thing. The phaser uses my rechargeable energy to fire, so I've mostly been sticking with that. I discovered while taking on a mobile gun turret that I can amp up the juice in it to slag the things, so that's what I've been doing. I just have to pick my battles ahead of time. The stun gun also has a power slider, but I have no idea if it would actually be useful, especially against killer robots.

In general I have found System Shock to be much freakier than System Shock 2. Perhaps its because the random sound effects and music that will rapidly appear out of nowhere sounds like some of the enemies I face. I'll step into a room, music will suddenly kick in, and I'll "nope" and step out to see if anything follows me. Since I can also hear enemies through closed doors and walls, I will often pause outside of each door to pick the best weapon for the job ahead of me. Encountering new enemies though...that one gets me, since I know I have to face whatever it is, but whatever it is almost always sounds extremely pissed off. There are also hints the game drops. I found the body of a mutant tiger surrounded by corpses. I'm not looking forward to that.

I've cleared out Level 1 and have reduced SHODAN's security level to 0% on that floor. I'm now working my way through Level 2 and have already taken out the Cyborg surgical device to give myself a respawn point. Eventually I figure I may have to backtrack, so removing as much potential threat as possible is my priority. The game has thrown a bunch of nasty monster types against me, including a horde of mutants at the start of the second floor sitting right outside the elevator. Currently I'm faced with a decision to open a door that I know houses cyborgs behind it or take on some kind of armored mobile turret reminiscent of ED-209 that is protecting a corridor. I'm glad to see System Shock pulls no punches. Of the 0-3 difficulty selection, I'm playing on 2 in all categories, which is the default normal setting.

As of now, my only complaints are the previously mentioned respawn rates, the uneven floors that make me feel like I'm bouncing around, and some issues understanding the interface. Trying to figure out how to bring up the gun interface so I can reload or adjust power settings in a pinch has stumped me a couple of times. That said, these are all pretty minimal complaints. The strengths of the game itself far surpass them, and I'm having a wonderful time. I look forward to seeing what each new floor has to offer.

Ack wrote:Were System Shock 2's this large?

SS1's layouts are considerably larger. Just wait till you get to the "groves" area.

Looking forward to your thoughts on the cyberspace dungeons. Those were something I wished SS2 had kept.

Ah yes, cyberspace. I've only encountered one of those sections so far, and it was a pretty short run during which I had no idea what I was doing. I eventually figured out movement, offense, and how to interact with objects, but I feel my experience with it is still limited. I'm curious what later sections are going to be like.

You may be surprised at some of the tricks the AI can do in SS1. I remember reading an interview with Warren Spector about how one of the creatures chased a beta tester down a hallway. The beta test used an elevator to escape. But the AI creature also used the elevator to follow and attack the player. Warren and his programmer were freaked out about it because they had not specifically designed the AI to use elevators and didn't think the AI could utilize them. SHODAN ain't playin'.

I'm counting Wonder Boy in Monster World as one of my summer game challenge games.

I would count Altered Beast, but that just feels like cheating.

Exhuminator wrote:You may be surprised at some of the tricks the AI can do in SS1. I remember reading an interview with Warren Spector about how one of the creatures chased a beta tester down a hallway. The beta test used an elevator to escape. But the AI creature also used the elevator to follow and attack the player. Warren and his programmer were freaked out about it because they had not specifically designed the AI to use elevators and didn't think the AI could utilize them. SHODAN ain't playin'.

Sounds like something a Thief guard would do haha.