System Shock: Enhanced Edition PC Game Review 

Can't believe we'll be getting System Shock 3 sooner than Half-Life 3.

Hey GGG, I noticed the advertisement in the intro and I just want to say that was probably the least intrusive ad I've ever seen. The video didn't come to a halt so you could spout marketing spiel, it didn't awkwardly blast the volume up, and it didn't interrupt the run time. So I'm completely fine with it. Honestly not bothered with it at all if you continue to have them in videos.

This is my favorite series of all time, so thanks for putting it in the spotlight. There are several additional details I thought were worth mentioning. * Grenades can be a hassle in the heat of combat, but they're devastating if you string them out to lay traps ahead of time. Drop (don't prime) them across corridors, then lure enemies through and blow them all to paste. * Unlike most FPS games, you have unlimited ammo carrying capacity. I never liked how in other shooters, you can't pick up an ammo type if you're already carrying the limit, but then you run out later on during a firefight and have to backtrack to restock. * Each aspect of the difficulty is customizable at the start, so if you don't like combat grinds, you can set that to low, and set everything else to high. * This game was among the first to offer multiple solutions to a goal. One example is when you have to blow up several radar dishes. When you rig up the last one, SHODAN traps you inside with the explosive. You can either quickly hack the door, let yourself die and be resurrected, or hide on the opposite side of the dish and hit the deck so the explosion doesn't kill you. I did have trouble recommending the original to a friend due to the controls that could not be remapped (unless you used DOSBox and its remapper feature) but maybe I can interest him in the Enhanced Edition.

This review is due to be updated. The Sourceport update really adds a lot. Including the ability to bind a reload key for example. :) Proper mod support was added too... (One that is almost essential fixes the audiolog text)

Man your pumping these out like crazy! Serious respect dude for working so hard.

This is a fair review, but I have just a few friendly objections for the enhanced version: 1.) it has widescreen options and you can customize resolutions in the ini.file. 2.) you can customize the buttons. I for example used r for reload, t for ammo type, f for flashlight and g for throwing grenades. 3.) you do not have to watch the death sequence after you died. 4.) I am dumb (when it comes to games) and I was stuck several times but never did I need a walkthrough. With patience (for reading logs) and pure logic you will always reach your goal. 5.) I would disagree that this is an action oriented game. It is rather an exploration based adventure game with action elements.

I'm really delighted to see GOG pull this off. My hat is off for them. I'm kind of a fan of shodan, as you can tell. =)

I wish more reviews were like this, not just objective but also taking modern audiences into account when deciding whether or not to recommend a game. While there are younger gamers out there that can appreciate older classics, sometimes the game mechanics can be so frustrating that it kills the experience. Hell, sometimes I'll go back and play older games that I used to love and find them completely unplayable (looking at you, Ape Escape). System Shock 2, thankfully, has aged much more gracefully.

A very fair review. I honestly view this game as one of the most influential and forward thinking ever made, and it mostly holds up, but you did a great job touching on the areas where it doesn't. Keep em coming man!

Hands down the best use of marketing I've seen on RU-vid. If only others would follow suit.

3:26 so that's where Nintendo got Bowsers voiceclips.

How you are able to jump from one genre to another without any whiplash never ceases to amaze me, Sonny jim!

I'm in awe at your work. Not sure why I haven't stumbled across your channel before, but I subscribed straight away. I do more technical videos, tweak guides, and that keeps me busy enough. No idea how you find the time to play through all these games :) And thank you for correct 4:3 aspect ratios and 60 fps captures, I do care about these details.

The fact that between this and the release of Soma you managed to produce two separate and excellent reviews in such a short span of time is impressive as all hell. Brilliant stuff.

Man I've been waiting for this to come out for the longest time, loved Bioshock 1 and 2 and always wanted to see where the "shock" series all started. Great video man, you are definitely my favorite RU-vid reviewer, always happy to see your videos in my feed.

The enchance edition of SS1 was really needed. Remember trying to play it years ago on a more modern computer and it was a complete pain in the ass to get running.

I really love the reload system in this game and it adds an extra level of immersion in a very simple way. At the start of the game you're going to fuck it up a lot and end up fumbling with the interfaces while mutants slowly move towards you, but by the end you'll probably be able to switch magazines in milliseconds as the reloading is actually really simple to learn. Also GGGman going by your footage you seem to have missed the lightsab- sorry, laser rapier which really makes the game a lot easier. It lets you take on even the most powerful enemies (seriously you can kill Diego and sec2 bots with this thing if you're good enough) at melee range and has near limitless ammo.

+Gggmanlives I got into all these retro games like doom and system shock 1 because of these videos. I have got to say that these games are amazing. Thanks for reviewing games like these.

I was hoping that my favorite new reviewer would post a System Shock Enhanced review and here it is. Good times.

Everytime I see you upload a video I smile for the fact that your honest

Thanks for the review this was my first pc gmae back in the days :)

For me, LONG LIVE SYSTEM SHOCK 1&2! I think they were better than all the Bioshock games combined!

Great review as usual. Picking this up on GOG.

Not to mention the music is fucking amazing.

Great video. :) Loved the original system shock at the time. Though looking at it now, not so sure. But awesome review.

Good job on the review bulletspongelives, very informative

Thanks for the review! This was one of the first games I played and definitely one of the best. The controls were bad, but I still enjoyed its atmosphere. Now if you would only do a review of Bungies Marathon I would die a happy man :)

Quite curious! All vids I've seen showing a runthrough the game show the screen with that annoying frame that covers the most of it. I've never played the game with that on. There's a way to remove it the same way there's a way to remove cockpits from your HUD when playing some spacial combat game so that you have a wider field of view.

Looking forward to some cool game reviews for the upcoming Halloween season

WOW Gman that was fast... I just saw the game yesterday and I haven't even bought it yet, now thanks to your review I know that I actually have to get this game...

Played this game start to finish this week. Had never played a SS game before. Have to say that this game is pretty amazing. Level design is flat out great and working through each level of the station is really fun. I felt like a cartographer mapping out each level and leaving notes on the very helpful in game map.

5:32 I thought my videocard is starting to have some issues :)

One thing to note about throwing grenades; they are physically simulated. Your camera view and mouse momentum effect the angle and speed at which the grenades are thrown, respectively.

love your review

Can't wait for the remake :), gggmanlives will you do a review on the remake?

I would love to see your thoughts on the new System Shock 3 trailer!

I'm not sure if this was the case during this review, but a config file in the installation folder allows for custom resolutions, even widescreen ones. I played the game at my screens native resolution 1440x900 without any issue. Also pressing the second button down at the top-left hand of the screen disables the massive screen borders and shrinks down the UI. This in conjunction with the higher resolution makes it feel almost like some kind of source port. I have no idea how people played this game originally with how clunky the controls were, and I suppose they didn't given how it wasn't very popular. It's good to see it make a comeback.

Just finished the enhanced version. It was awesome. Level design, variety, story, all top notch, especially considering it was made over 20 years ago. I actually enjoy the point and click controls - it seems to break up the monotony a bit. Highly recommended.

Good review Ggg :)

Apparently nightdive is gong to do a full on proper remake where they've gone on record to state they want to keep the overall everything, but trim out the archaic that keeps people turned off... with the possibility of having hand holdy 'go here, do this, etc etc' markers on lower difficulties, but gradually stripping them away as you ramp the difficulty up. From what I know they're going to use a lot of the same level geometry (make of that as you will) with tweaks here and there, and likely new areas or readjustments here and there when things make sense. I hope it does well because if it does, then we get a proper system shock 3.

Picked this up two days ago during a GoG weekly sale, so glad i did. This is one game where i'm not ashamed to look at the strategy guide for when i got stuck a couple of times. XD

So is the protagonists shirt at 1:29 a shout out to watchmen?

Good work mate! I played SS2 back in the day but never finished it. difficult game.

I find your reviews vastly entertaining.

I actually prefer the original System Shock to it's sequel.

Would you recommend this or SS2 to play first?

I actually started playing this game yesterday and final got to the second floor after about a hour or so. You really do have to get used to the controls but once you got them down the game should get a little easier. By the time i got to the second floor I had an abundance of ammo and medi patches thanks to the re-spawning enemies.

3:55 There is a hotkey for reloading though and you can remap it as well

I can't wait for the System Shock remake

I am so getting this game! Always wanted to play this game, and I even got it running on win, but the extremely clunky control scheme put me off. So this release is a godsend for me, because of the improvements in this area. Thank you for reviewing this, otherwise it might have slipped under my radar. I fucking love this channel!

I don't remember SS1 running this well and has mouselook! :D Seriously the controls were SHIT back then. Ultima Underworld level of SHIT. And Doom was around so who cares lol.

I still can't forget atmosphere of the groves.

I'm playing this now and I'm thoroughly enjoying every incredible moment. I think it holds up perfectly fine.

Do I need to have played this one to play system shock 2? I like the look of 2 but graphics on 1 might make me motion sick as I get that off low graphics FPS.

Graphics don't really define games but I have a really hard time going back 20 years to play any games that I didn't play as a kid because they just don't seem to appeal to me when they seem so dated. Thanks for the review, i've never even seen gameplay from the first SS.

This game was so ahead of its time.. this version makes it pretty playable with the modern control scheme. Addicting game play and spooky atmosphere.

I always wondered what all the hype was for this game, and I'm talking about after playing original Bioshock.

I don't know if someone has told you this already, but if you press 2, it takes away the HUD's cybernetic border and makes it easier to see

Great review and finally an old game again (ok its a re-release). Still love this game and bought the gog version instantly. Of course I am familiar with SS, Realms of the Haunting and Underworld so for me this game doesn't feel dated (even the classic version on gog). The mechanics works just fine. I think the problem is that we nowadays just to spoiled for this and wants everything be playable with a single button press.

Just a note: this re-release version has a wide-screen mode. It's a 480p one though, so it's up to the user whether that's a "better" choice than the 1024x768 resolution. What comes to the overall gameplay, overall SS1 was a lot more like 3D dungeon crawler "RPG" than a first-person shooter. There's even some Metroidvania elements in it. The sequel took a lot more shooter-y approach. I still love the sequel, but besides the overall themes and plot, comparing SS1 and 2 is almost apples & oranges. Really recommend giving both a shot though!

Will you have a look at the Unreal Tournament 4 pre-alpha? Quite the treat!

Holy $#/^ that UI takes up half the screen! Good thing that trend didn't last. Nice review btw.

One thing about the difficult controls that bears mentioning: At the time, people hadn't decided on WASD + mouse for control. There really wasn't a standard scheme, and on top of that, this game added so many new things to control - certainly far ahead of it's time, but without a standard base control scheme, it was bound to be archaic at best. Still they went ahead and did it, and thank God for that. Really, once you've gotten the hang of the controls, you don't think about it so much, as the story is THAT good.

Man, should I buy the remaster now that it's on sale or should I wait for the remake to come out?

I felt the overall level design of SS1 is still unmatched. Even superior to 2.

I'm so glad they remastering both of these System Shock 1 is being remastered is well a System Shock 2 I'm really excited to play these in a higher frame rate, and I really hope they come out with a System Shock 3 hopefully they can get people interested in it again a new generation we'll see

It does have widescreen (the 854x480 resolution in the options) but unfortunately it's Vert- instead of Hor+

3:24 Bowser's sound effects from Mario Kart 64?

GGG! What is better? GOG or steam?

I bought this on steam like 3 years ago because I love Bioshock and I heard this was its predecessor...still in the medbay but damn that tune is catchy!

The mutants faces just make me smile, they look like little gingerbread men or something

ow well i'll ask it XD can you maybe review overlord and overlord II?

0:31 space ship. The Von Braun is a ship.

+Gggmanlives Im sure if you heard the news but Nightdive Studios is rebuilding the first System Shock in a full 3D remake. I recommend you check out the kickstarter and Steam page.

Just make sure you enable V-sync if you want to beat the whole game, just a way to cap your fps as a certain section of the game is unbeatable if you have a good rig. Funny how an enemy's "attack" speed was based off fps. The control scheme of System Shock: Enhanced Edition at first is a clusterfuck, however once you look at what the controls actually are and play through the game they actually feel natural or at least they did for me. Also that strategy guide is a godsend without it I would never have figured out where to go during certain sequences.

When I saw that this review got uploaded, Billy Idol was singing these lyrics in my head: "Like a shock to the system / I feel good, well alright/ Like a shock to the system/ I say yeah, ain't it irie."

This is a fantastic re-release. Despite getting lost frequently, I have to say that im starting to prefer this to the sequel.

The final level has no conversion chamber.

Great review. Hope the GOG version gets patched soon, or I can work out some wizardry of my own, as after I picked it up the game just crashes about 5-7 seconds after launch. Then again, maybe I should just replay the sequel.

Did you happen to play System Shock Portable before this official release?

5:40 - lol, these are hallucinations?! I thought the game was just malfunctioning, so I've deleted it... O.o

This looks amazing

Having never played any of these games, is it better to start with part 1 or part 2?

Do you intend to ever review Ultima Underworld? I know it's not a shooter, but it is a first person game ;) Anyways, great review as always.

Thanks to you, I am a proud owner of System Shock 2. Now, thanks to you agian, I will pick this up next paycheck :) thanks Bruv, you brought me the joy of classic games

you should review metroid prime

Will you do a review on The Elder Scrolls games ?

I'll wait for the full remake.

I love the enemy sprites, U finfd them much scarier than the polygon counterparts.

Great that you reviewed a game which in my opinion is underrated compare to its sequel.

Fullscreen MODE is also a feature nobody seems to figure it out its not disimaler for system shock 2 ya know ? you can use your inventory too maybe its a little better than 2's (not being snarky please dont take it that way)

Review the rainbow six series or just the Vegas plz.

im looking forward to their Turok 1/2 remastered edition

I absolutely love this game. Never played it until Enhanced Edition, although I did get the original working on Dosbox ages ago. The control scheme put me off though. The only thing I don't like is the Cyberspace sections. They're kinda gimmicky to me, and the store page and manual and boxart all hype it up to be this amazing thing, but it really is just Descent but bland and way more simple. That and having the final boss take place in Cyberspace was disappointing, considering the actual game itself can be quite challenging. The lead up to SHODAN was actually a lot harder than fighting her. That being said, this game is an absolute must. I would say it's just as influential and ahead of its time as Half-Life 2. It just didn't get the credit it truly deserved.

Can't wait for the System Shock remake that comes out next year.

Does anyone ever actually use that riot gun? So little ammo, and rubber rounds never seemed so handy.

This game man .. in my top 5 of all time games. Right up there with star control 2. Just better than system shock 2 and i think most who argue otherwise have not even played this.

This review came out on the day I brought System Shock 2 on Steam. Is there any difference between the GOG and Steam version? Before I start cracking this game's matrix.

Where the fuck did this come from!?!? did not expect this. Amazing, maybe now i can finally get to play this. could not handle the keyboard controls only. I wonder if there is also a System Shock 2 enhanced version on the way ?.

So GGGman, I've played this game before and didn't really like it for a number of reasons, but I really wanted to like it because I love System Shock 2 and Bioshock so much. Is it worth going back and giving it a second try or should I just pass?