System Shock is a 1994 first-person action-adventure video game developed by LookingGlass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. The game is set aboard a space station in a cyberpunk vision of the year 2072. The player attempts to hinder the plans of a malevolent artificial intelligence called SHODAN. A sequel, System Shock 2, was released by Looking Glass Studios and offshoot developer Irrational Games in 1999. A third game in the franchise, titled System Shock 3, was announced in 2015.
About System Shock in brief
System Shock is a 1994 first-person action-adventure video game developed by LookingGlass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. The game is set aboard a space station in a cyberpunk vision of the year 2072. The player attempts to hinder the plans of a malevolent artificial intelligence called SHODAN. System Shock’s 3D engine, physics simulation and complex gameplay have been cited as both innovative and influential. A sequel, System Shock 2, was released by Looking Glass Studios and offshoot developer Irrational Games in 1999. A third game in the franchise, titled System Shock 3, was announced in 2015. The 2000 game Deus Ex and the 2007 game BioShock are spiritual successors to the two games. A remade version of the original game by Night Dive Studios is scheduled for release in 2020. It was a moderate commercial success, with sales exceeding 170,000 copies, but Looking Glass ultimately lost money on the project. The protagonist is a nameless hacker caught while attempting to access files concerning the Citadel Station, owned by the TriOptimum Corporation. The hacker is taken to Citadel Station and brought to Edward Diego, a senior executive at Tri Optimum. Diego offers to drop all charges against the hacker in exchange for a confidential exchange of mutagen charges. In exchange for the exchange, the hacker secretly controls the artificial intelligence that controls the station, and secretly plans to steal an experimental mutagen that could be used to create a new type of cybernetic organism. In the game, the player uses the game’s sixteen weapons, of which a maximum of seven may be carried at one time, to combat robots, cyborgs and mutants controlled by SHODan.
Outside of Cyberspace, the game is designed to allow for emergent gameplay. Progress is largely non-linear and the game has a freely movable mouse cursor to aim weapons, to interact with objects and to manipulate the heads-up display interface. The HUD also features three \”Multi-Function Displays\”, which may be configured to display information such as weapon readouts, an automap and an inventory. Attachable hardware may also be found, including energy shields and head-mounted lanterns. Increasingly advanced versions of this hardware may be obtained as the game progresses. When activated, most hardware drains from a main energy reserve, which necessitates economization. When an enemy is attacked, damage is calculated by armor absorption, vulnerabilities, critical hits and a degree of randomness. For example, gas grenades are effective against robots, but do not affect mutants. Certain hardware displays the effectiveness of attacks when active, with messages such as “Normal damage’”. Certain enemies are immune to certain kinds of armor and deal more damage, or more vulnerable to particular types of electromagnetic pulses, for example, pulse grenades. Along with weapons, the player collects items such as dermal patches and first-aid kits, with the latter ranging from concussion grenades to land mines. Dermal patches provide the character with beneficial effects, but can cause detrimental side-effects, such as fatigue and distorted color perception.
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This page is based on the article System Shock published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 07, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
