A game long forgotten

Where i come from: in 2000s, when multiplayer was the synonim of FPS - I didn't believe that FPS'es can have a good story. At that time I tried a few of the most popular FPS games like Quake, Doom, Wofenstein and was dissapointed with the lack of the story. Back then - I wasn't as open minded as now and Internet wasn't as easy to access. I decided to play FPS'es only for their multiplayer and look for storytelling in other genres. I have to say that this continued for 7 years until I have tried Bioshock. From that day on - I started experimenting with different FPS'es.

Although it took 14 years for me to actually try SS2 - I don't regret it.

The game starts an unintrusive tutorial level where you select one of the 3 disciplines: Tech, Marine, Psi. Each of the disciplines has it's own advantages. Tech is good in guns and hacking/repairing/and maintaining them. Marine is good mainly in all types of weapons and armor. And the Psi user is good in using the psionic powers like energy blasts, defense matrix etc. From that point on the actual game begins where you wake up from cryogenic sleep on the space ship Von Braun with a women voice guiding you over the radio.

The game is an RPG/FPS hybrid, in which your skills actually matter. Want to walk unseen - choose Psi abilities, want to destroy enemies - put some skills in your weapon skills and endurance and so on.

Every discipline is viable. I have personally finished it with a fully upgraded PSI user, also putting some points in other disciplines.

I wouldn't enjoy the game so much if it weren't for it's haunting atmosphere and exploration aspect. The ship is full of locked doors, and secret passages to explore - when you have the right skills upgraded. In a way it's a metroidvania style game. You return to previously inaccessible areas when you have the right skills.

It's also very strong in it's survival aspect - ammo must be conserved, the wrench is your best friend. Sometimes you should just run and hide and return to the area with an upgraded character or more ammo. The gameplay is very diverse - you can tackle a situation in a lot of different ways, no wonder Deus Ex was heavily inspired by this aspect.

The environment is not very diverse - you are on an actual spaceship, but this doesn't matter since it's full of explorable areas. You can find usefull items in unexpected places - so explore. Ship is comprised of many decks, each with their own thematics - like Engineering, Medical etc.

The monsters are diverse and have their own weaknesses. Every monster can receive even more damage after you research it. Yes you are able to research different monster organs - like in x-com, the research is time based, so you choose the research and continue with the exploration, it will notify you when it's done. Some researches require additional chemical to finish them. So you should look for chemical rooms. There are such rooms on every deck.

The storyline is also awesome, with plot twists and backstory. So look for the audio logs.

The game took me around 19h to finish and was never boring, even in the last parts of the game - which is described by a lot of forums as worse that the rest of the game - is good. And the ending was super satisfying.

So if you are not afraid of the old graphics (although after an hour or so you won't notice the graphics any more), are into exploration and survival games, like a little horror aspect - get this game. You will be amazed by how well it fares against FPS'es nowadays. I don't regret giving this game a chance one bit.

Long story short: System Shock 2 is awesome!