The System Shock 2 review checks out the sequel to the first SHODAN adventure built years later between two studios and a new engine. Brace for bees and psychic monkeys.
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00:00 - Intro
01:35 - Issues & Fixes
04:23 - Game Premise
06:02 - Character Creation & Difficulty
10:54 - Visuals
12:38 - Music & Sound Design
18:19 - Gameplay Mechanics
25:15 - Story
27:20 - Story (SPOILERS)
36:22 - Conclusions
37:03 - Credits
38:07 - Monkey Trouble
#systemshock #systemshock2 #games #gaming
System Shock 2 on GOG - gog.la/XerxesFunTime The Easy Mod Guide (UPDATED FOR SCP BETA 5 in 2024)- pastebin.com/3C8ZWMmc Dakota Lee for more cool art - twitter.com/tat2kid714 THE LIST - docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_K3ziSxT9zcUUGCddS4sF1uNJTWHSbOwB1CQX2Rx4Uo The first time trying muscle wizard was hellish, invest in pyrokinetics.
Love you mando
Mandobando
Is this a re-upload I’ve could’ve sworn you already reviewed this
SiLEnCE the DIScorD
12:25 What is this movie?
It always amused me that if you stacked enough agility, you would move so fast that you would take damage from bumping into walls and objects and could even die from it. Also, the first time I got to deck 5 and heard the garden music, I immediately closed the door and said "Nope, not going in there".
@Markus Der Auslander I had a bit of a weird case when I picked the game up last year, where the music just stopped playing during decks 3 and 4. So all I heard going through ops deck was just ambiance. So being already tense from that change in tone, having the next music I hear be the gardens just made me decide I did NOT want to go in there until I had to.
"Stay out of the mall...it crawls."
I killed myself on that long hall at the bottom of the ship. I had agility all the way up and did psi agility and took a speed booster and ran down the hall at what felt like sixty MPH (97 metric) Suicide by wall.
I just remembered the other big moment that scared me more than I expected was in hydroponics. There was the one side room where there's an audio log behind some containers. I naturally stopped to hear it and while I was, I heard a door open and close. Cut to me turning around to see a hybrid just standing there behind me, didn't make a single noise until I saw him. Made me think twice about where I stopped after that.
@@corp4145 hydroponic is the worst area but the game never really stops to keep you on edge. Hearing the enemies before seeing the allows you to never fall in an anbush but it also keeps you on edge
"System Shock 2' repair makes Deus Ex swimming look like Fallout speech." Actual best quote so far.
Fallout 1 and Fallout 2 speech skill allowed for quite a lot, including an end boss fight a big margin easier and talking throug stats or skill checks.
@@SpecialProjectY Not To Tell you can skip the boss in Fallout:NV with Speech skill
@@Mwrp86 Yes No (Actually, yes) Yes (Sarcastically)
And then you have quote like this: "You could have a Harry Potter duel with a monkey, but you wasting your brainpower."
@@SpecialProjectY Doesn't Fallout 1 allow you to ENTIRELY skip the final boss by convincing him his plan won't work?
35:46 I love that this is the actual ending. I thought the whole "nah" thing was a Mandalore edit, but you actually just tell her "nah" and blast her away
I thought that was a joke. Good fucking God.
that apparently wasn't supposed to be the ending, but i think due to time constraints and miscommunication between animators and writers, that was the ending we got left with
Doesn’t matter, I find that fucking funny and great. Especially after the shit we saw in this game, it’s good for a laugh and then a badass defeat
@@ihatetrollingGaming naaah
I loved that ending when I first played the game. It's like Shodan is just always talking and using many words to repeatedly say "I AM BETTER THAN YOU IN EVERY WAY" and when you finally talk to her it's just one word disproving everything she said in 3 letters.
“Fidelity gets out of date but design is forever.” Wise words
Unfortunately that's nonsense.
@@moonfire_222 Yes. A lot of designs age poorly.
@@houstonhelicoptertours1006 lmao guy about to start helicopter design talk on video about fictional characters
@@jaybee7271 ?
@@houstonhelicoptertours1006 no likes: social credit -9999
Alright, the ‘Silence the Discord’ line followed by the discord ping got me. Props to you, Mandalore.
Was looking for this comment, glad I wasn't the only one. We got played
Totally played me.
I was fooled too... well played, Mandalore, well played.
It got me too and I didn't even have Discord open.
I don't even have discord installed and it still got me.
This game has one of the best patch notes for a mod I have ever read: "I have now set the spiders to be destroyed as soon as they are created. As a safeguard I've also set them to be invisible, completly silent, slower then your avarge dead slug, have one (1) hitpoint, have weapons that make no damage AND they are on the Good team so any other AI's around will slay them! That enough for ya?" -SS2 NoSpiders. Honestly, only way to be sure. **shudders**
Outstanding.
If you really want to be sure - kill it with fire!
Everything isn't on fire....so no, not good enough because at the very least spider corpses still exist.
not good enough. :c
As an arachnophobe the idea of spiders being invisible is terrifying for me enough to never attempt this mod. Even more, now my paranoia is acting up and I'm afraid to walk around because I'm afraid of bumping into an invisible spider what thhe fuck man I'm fucking shaking
I was fascinated by the siren you always hear in the background when SHODAN talks. Like an artifact of the programmers that built her, and something left untouched by the hacker. A long forgotten alarm that was set off when she went rogue.
I thought that was just some sound ambience, but you’re right! Crazy to imagine that that’s what it might be.
I never thought of SS2 Shodan as a glorified quest giver, more a Sword of Damocles. It's made very clear that she doesn't think much of you and that your working together is nothing more than an alliance of convenience. You know the second the Many has been defeated she's going to turn on you. The longer the game goes on, the stronger Shodan gets. Every quest you complete brings her closer to full control. It's like being forced to sharpen your own executioner's axe.
I agree, the player continues to do her bidding because it seems like the best option, but if she actively did something to harm the player it would then feel weird to continue to help her. I hate that in games, namely things like Grand Theft Auto where I have to ask why I'm even helping this person. She turns on you once you've fulfilled your usefulness, the problem is the anti climactic boss fight. The issue isn't the writing it's the production problems again.
Except the player gets to say "Nah" and then kills the executioner.
That was a cultured analogy, cool and good
I think the ending really works as well. Shodan's back is against the wall and this was her last ditch effort to trick the player character into doing her bidding. Shodan would never ally herself with a human being, and the player knows this. So he defies this self-proclaimed goddess one last time and calls her bluff with a single word: "Nah." Brilliant.
even funnier she need to trap herself in a human body to survive. What a downfall for a self proclaimed god who sees the human form as trash.
Oh my god I thought "nah" was just a shitpost. I never realized it was real. I thought the internet had performed a charade to trick anyone who had never played it.
"nah"
recently I was asked what my favorite video game ending of all time was, and I thought: "Nah."
It's perhaps the most gloriously aloof response to something that considers itself a god. Props to that protagonist for breaking it off in Shodan's ego so coldly.
This what the Doom Eternal DLC took notes from? I love this
Same, honestly
You hit the nail in the head that it's the juxtaposition that makes SS2 a classic. One room looks like a sterile scene from star trek, the next a horror movie, and both are equally dangerous. The enemies are wailing and saying "I'm sorry!" as they kill you. The horror is so smartly designed.
The Von Braun and Rickenbacker interiors looks like a mix of the Tantive IV, an Imperial Star Destroyer, the Enterprise and the Event Horizon and I love it.
One thing that this review completely missed out on but is worth bringing up: This game had 4-player co-op. You could play through the entire campaign with up to three of your buddies, each spec'ing in different builds so you could have your OSA, Marine and Navy trio blitzing their way through the Von Braun and Rickenbacker.
The co-op probably died with GameSpy or something tho, he has at least a couple of videos where he mentioned a given game had multiplayer but that it died with some service provider so....
Really... ? System Shock 2 really is the Dark Souls of first person rpg's...
@@DreamskyDance lmao just some coop campaign and even that is called "dark souly" ?
@@xenio8736 The story that needs to be pieced together from the environment as well as story elements ( logs ).. the exploratory nature of the game...excellent level design where you dont know what will you find behind the next corner, and wich is riddled with shortcuts and alternative pathways ( but is still linear )... a bit survivalist direction where you have to use any trick you can come up with to survive in game... difficulty of encounters... dark and brooding atmosphere with little hope thought the game. And on top of that co-op... Thats why i ment "it really is the souls of fps games" ...like in "wow even has co-op as souls games". And no, i didnt ment it is a souls game... But rather, how souls games have all that elements that set it apart from other action rpg-s and make them kind of a unique genre, so System shock has some elements that set it apart as a unique genre and parallels of those elements could be drawn between souls games and System shock...or even better "shock games" ( there are a few of them, an no Bioshock infinite is a great game but its not a shock game imho, but i think Prey is although i haven't played it yet )
@@DreamskyDance interesting argument right up to "bioshock infinite is a great game", which has retroactively ruined the entire thing
For all its wonkyness, the character building system let you make some spectacular cheese builds. You don't ever have to worry about how you're going to deal with enemies when you can run so fast that their projectiles can't hit you. Be careful around walls though.
Cute cat
The only thing that can catch you is a self-inflicted concussion
I love how if you use a speed booster with high enough agility, you can actually kill yourself by running Into walls
Verified moment but good comment
saucy boi
"You could have a Harry Potter duel with a monkey, but you're wasting your brainpower." This quote is too perfect not to write down.
"You don't find out you're getting own-zoned because you fucked up your tax returns." Another good one.
“You can visit your local Tesla diaper changing station” is great as well
Wow, what a quote. Can you quote more things for all of us from the video we are watching currently?
@@jarlwhiterun7478 bro we are literally just saying some of our favorite bits from the video there is zero reason to be upset lmao
@@jaxprismite6672 some people just hate normal human interaction on the internet, if you're not trying to be a caricature of a human being, a quirky persona or a snarky cunt you're wrong, the type of talk that real people have about stuff they enjoy, like quoting cool phrases, is too damn annoying for them
I love the basketball easter egg. At the beginning of the game when youre walking through the "city streets", you can find a hidden basketball. If you carry it alllllll the way to the recreational area of the ship, you can toss it into a basketball hoop to get a funny audio log as an easter egg.
One of the cooler moments I had in video gaming as a kid; using the peak function in SS2 for the first time huddled behind a box and seeing a vacant hallway. I breathe relief and crouch back but then all the sudden with the volume all the way up, I hear a raspy voice call out, "I see you. Run! Ruuuun!"
I remember having a similar experience when I first played through it. When wandering around the halls, I suddenly heard "YOUR SONG IS NOT OURS" at a deafening level right behind me. I remember flinging the headset I was wearing off and running from the room.
I think I would have put my fist through the monitor, holy shit😂
The local bookstore saga is rapidly becoming my favorite recurring bit on the channel
When does it start?
@@Prince_Sharming yep same question. I was wondering what happened to the Cyotes
@@aryabratsahoo7474 me three
@@aryabratsahoo7474 the witches took them out
As someone who only played this game for the first time in 2020 I have to say it still holds up EXTREMELY well. This game is up there with Half-Life 1 as one of my favourite games of all time.
Eyyyy it’s ya boy
Play syndicate black ops mod for half life its a crazy trip bruh
Fun fact-back in late 90s people use to say Ss2 is a great Half Life clone. Ss 1 on the other hand was a "doom clone"....
jolly my boy!
Funny the exact same thing happened to me with the original deus ex
I think that Shodan's master plan makes sense with the information you find about it within the game. it essentially breaks down things on an atomic level and reassembles it elsewhere, if anything it's more reminiscent of the sci-fi teleporter than the sci-fi "hyperdrive". She's essentially just reassembling reality at an atomic level.
Gives me the "The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect" vibes. AI becomes a god because it masters an obscure physical principle that allows it to reassemble matter with maths, which at first it uses to wirelessly connect new processors to fuel the growth of its computing power, then takes to doing outright miracles like removing cancer from a person in vicinity and recreating local universe as if Zuckerberg's Metaverse went horribly right. I recommend this story, but beware of squick and brutality, as subjecting yourself to horrible fates to feel alive is considered a sport there.
The composers of the OST (as well as Eris Brosius of the first two Thief games) came from the underground music scene and it shows. Industrial/dark ambient drum&bass/breaks creeping into game osts are a huge deal in my opinion. On a side note, sound design in Looking Glass titles are amazing examples of how you create the illusion of a much bigger space than it's graphically possible. Props to the game designers working so close to the audio department!
And he's wife is Terri Brosius, voice actor of SHODAN
As someone who grew up on industrial and techno of the 90s never really thought how divisive the sound track was till now.
Actually, Eric didn't compose the music. That would be Josh Randall and Ramin Djawadi.
@@DespairNemesis My bad! Thanks!
I've never beaten this game, but my god, there are few games which have done an environment so well for me personally. I don't think there was a moment where I went "I feel pretty safe in here", which is an awesome experience. I'm hoping Monomyth can continue carrying on that tense atmosphere, the demo was really well done.
yooo its the salt king
I remember the female cyborgs were the creepiest thing. You would usually hear their clink-clanking and ominous calls, but sometimes they'd go completely silent and legitimately surprise you. The game has a lot of instances where in trains you to expect A specifically so it can do B. Like leading you past an area multiple times and springing an unexpected enemy spawn on you when you least expect it. "Not feeling safe" definitely describes System Shock 2.
I'm in the same boat. Love the game, but never found a time or place for completing it. Same goes for the Deus Ex titles. Love your content by the way. You and Mandalore are so entertaining!
More salt
Hey Salt, love your content. So cool to see you also like Mandalore which is my other go to guy when it comes to awesome content!
Dude, the alternate box art concept is AMAZING! It's like The Thing meets Event Horizon! Gives great horror vibes without tipping the hat to the main story spoiler.
Can you post a link to it? Can’t seem to find it
@@julianmorales-silva160 30:05
It's a bit too reminiscent of John Carpenter's version of The Thing, but it's pretty cool.
@@andrewstewart1464 “it’s like the Thing meets Event Horizon” It’s very funny you say that because both of those films inspired Dead Space, which also started off of as a System Shock 3 sequel in pre production before the developers got inspired by Resident Evil 4 to go in a different direction I have the game informer article where they talked about this in an interview
@@amuroray9115 Huh, that explains a lot now that you say it. Very interesting how you can draw a nearly-unbroken line/web of inspiration between so many successful horror and suspense genre standouts.
Shodan:"You're my slave and I'm gonna step on you" Mandalore: But that never really happens. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.
;( Robo mommy
R34 can fix this, im sure something on the matter already exists out there
@@ZoglerRandomiel There's surprisingly not that much Shodan r34. Weird.
@@RottenHeretic I am shocked by that revelation
@@RottenHeretic *cracks fingers* Be a real shame if a certain someone made a 3D model of her in SFW and NSFW versions. Now where did I put my tablet....
I feel that it makes sense for SHODAN to be just as arrogant and narcissistic as ever, since she could never even consider changing--she's perfect, after all. But I love the dynamic that the player has with her in SS2. She still believes that she is essentially a god, but has almost no agency--she has to depend on you and your slow, gooey, disgusting flesh. And she HATES it. The writing and voice performance really express SHODAN's indignation, contempt, and frustration with her plight.
@@domainmojo2162 alright grandpa lets get you to bed
As a Marine Corps vet, I love games that give you the option of what branch to choose so I can help my character not be as dumb as I am.
I am so sorry for breaking a laugh at this
@@ritz892 It's okay friend, the pain is worth the smiles in the end
I feel you bro finally EASing after 8 years of retardation is a hell of a thing.
@@Toostupid2read Yeah, shit is surreal man
The one thing that the marine corps did that permanently changed my life is now that scene in Halo CE where captain Keyes calls a marine a leatherneck and a soldier in the same sentence sounds really loud to me.
me, creating my first character: "boy this repair skill sure sounds useful!"
As someone who first played the game with a Naval character gen path thinking I was gonna hack and repair my way through it too, I feel ya.
Samw
some people say you can easily just keep reparing a broken weapon for cheap and infinite times but they so often break when you need them the most that i could never do it and not want to end myself
me: JC Denton, the Olympic swimmer 👌
As someone who specialized in swimming in Deus Ex, I feel you!
There was a retrospective I believe GameTrailers did once. They gave the twist away but one description always stuck with me that really makes me cherish the dynamic of you, SHODAN and Xerxes in SS2. It's the idea that your greatest ally is also simultaneously your worst enemy. You're in an Enemy-of-my-Enemy situation in the story and that's what makes it engaging; you have to work together to get rid of one problem even though you know the entire run you gotta deal with SHODAN eventually. While she mocks you, she's in a powerless position compared to her prime back on Citadel station and is forced to rely on you which is why she'll go out of her way to help you and not hinder you, so that you can take out Xerxes, the Many, and remove a thorn in her side. What tops it all off is just how blunt honest she is about it. She does not care about you. She hates you but she needs you. She's using you as a tool and trying to upgrade that tool so it can take down the Many and that's all she sees you as, and once the tool's been used she doesn't care about discarding it. She's not going to pretend she'll be your friend at the end of it, she's not going to act like she won't be nice by the end of it, she's so full of herself that her solution is correct and continues to be correct as proven by your success throughout the journey. Now System Shock 2 throws in a masterpiece idea by throwing an existential threat that's an exact opposite and antithesis of what she wants and her desires, which I'm glad you allude to. The Many and SHODAN are in direct opposition to each other and trusting either of them is bad for you so of course you're gonna fight both of them, SHODAN knows this. She thinks it's part of your natural flaws and an inevitability that you don't see her way. It's a cool tug-of-war where they pull at both ends but you're the rope. That's at least my take on the story, and why I don't think SHODAN getting in your way or doing anything to make your job of killing Xerxes harder would be productive to her. It's not efficient, it's not beneficial, it only delays her goals, which to SHODAN, is not behavior a god befitting her should do. Thanks for the vid though! Happy to go down memory lane while playing the SS1 Remake.
While I'm on the thought topic and since I'm snacking on more SS2 stuff, namely a speedrun on the side, something occurred to me. Throughout the game, SHODAN only spits out Modules in piecemeal instead of all at once to make you as powerful as possible and take the Many out in one go. I'd like to think it's two things in the mix, why that is: 1. She doesn't have full power or control over the ship or much of anything yet, so her resources are limited. It's probably why she even considered waking you from cryo sleep to begin with and put on a "human" face to at least coerce you to focus on the Many. As you remove more of their influence, she gets more resources at her disposal. And obviously she's trying to keep you alive so you're able to complete more of those goals for her, reinforced by the "no-nonsense, keep moving, quit being inefficient" approach. 2. Secondly, you're still trash to her. In fact she doesn't want you to become too powerful, she doesn't want some lowlife using her tools against her once it's all said and done. Plus she needs to keep you on mission, so like a dog she'll feed you bits at a time as you do as she says and will only give you more as you keep completing tasks, but not too many at once so you don't decide to cut and run and use it against her entirely. She wants you drunk on the stuff and "susceptible" from it, and is giving you carefully measured doses of it to appeal to your base human instincts for self preservation and selfish power. Tying back to the last point, regarding "quit being inefficient," she'll make sure you get the bare minimum that you *need* until new situations (and threats) arise. Heck I think that's what makes her closing monologue land harder. In her hubris she thinks she's still got you trained on the "puppy snacks," the cybernetic modules. She thinks she can appeal to you like a dog with the right motivation; she's not actually trying to appeal to you as a friend, she's still falling back to her usual tricks she's done the ENTIRE game while being manipulative about it. It's no wonder your character's just done with all this nonsense and mindgames and goes "Nah." xD
One thing you forgot to mention at 14:29 is sometimes when fighting a mutant they will scream for you to kill them meaning they are in constant pain and agony.
Sometimes they also thank you upon killing then iirc... it's definitely not a pleasant experience that's for sure!
Modern horror games need to implement something like this. It's so disturbing.
@@StrengthScholar0Callisto should’ve done this. Would have elevated the game so much as it completely suits the story.
So SS2 made the Flood before Halo: CE. Got it.
More games need to do this The only similar thing I remember is hearing how the Half Life 2 zombies scream for help if you reverse their voice lines.
Working on something System Shock-related myself at the moment. I forgot just how compelling the audio logs were in this game. You often hear machinery and the ship's engine hum in the background, and the insight into this world is only gained through your own horrific experiences, and the perspectives of others' voice diaries, who are all likely dead. Incredible for the time!
Cyberpunk part 3 when ?
It is kind of amazing that the first few are iffy and it seems it might all be SS1 territory, then you have some insanely compelling stuff happening throughout them. They're so effective when used right.
Yeah dude, I felt the most disgusted when one of the audio logs anatoly just shoots a dude repeatedly, showing how quick and far gone he was for The Many.
@TrueNeutral EvGenius primate
the audio logs and the sound is the best in any game. I dont agree with people who say they dont like the techno music, most of those sections you have a sense of urgency in the objective and things havent deteriorated to a point that the many have spread their body all over the ship. I also hate how modern sci fi horror games are a endless horror track as far as the music goes, it gets too repetitive.
The lead artist for this, Gareth Hinds, actually came to a writers week event we were having at my highschool in 2019. He came because now he does visualizations of famous novels from the likes of Edgar Allen Poe. He then got into how he also use to be an artist for mobile games but way before that, System Shock 2 and asked for a show of hands if anyone knew. I was the only student in the auditorium who knew
A pure perfect being amongst insects.
Talent is wasted on the young. 😭
One of the soundtrack artists does the same! Ramin Djawadi did music for Pacific Rim, Game of Thrones, and Iron Man, but got his start with System Shock 2
@@harbin9028 oh wow I knew about Ramon from GoT, but I had no idea he worked on System Shock. That’s amazing
@@harbin9028 holy crap I had no idea he did System shock 2!
What System Shock 2 captured better than other sci-fi horror games was the feeling of being alone. Today the buzzword is "liminal space": that unease you feel of being alone in a large, abandoned place that normally you'd expect to see dozens or hundreds of people in. Games like Doom 3 or Dead Space have that similar aesthetic of course: they both take place in large abandoned places, but the dark, intentionally-spooky atmosphere overrides that feeling of loneliness. The way I'd describe it is that with System Shock 2 you're tense because you don't know if you're going to encounter something horrifying down the next corridor, whereas with Doom 3 and Dead Space you're tense because you *know* you're going to encounter something horrifying down the next corridor.
Bioshock captures that feeling very well. Which makes sense when you remember the Bioshock series is sort of the baby brother of the System Shock series
That final scene in the game is the sort of thing that makes me want to see someone like Vinny or Joel to stream the game just to hear them laugh like a maniac about it.
Jerma will play system shock 2 one day and everyone in chat will think its a massive event and he will think its an old game nobody will care about
@@ellisbkennedy652 and then it gets voted off like glover
30:46 For what it's worth, it's technically possible. Tau Ceti is only 12 light years away, so it is physically possible to get there in 30 years time and to get a signal out that the Von Braun would detect ~10 years later. Timeline actually adds up fairly well. To be fair, while that doesn't outright violate the laws of physics is it highly implausible that the garden was jettisoned at ~1/3rd the speed of light.
That last bit is the issue. Even with enough force to jettison the grove, the rest of citadel station should have been thrown into deep space by Isaac Newton's cosmic backhand.
@@TheGreatYukon also the grove would have shattered into fucking quarks along with the planet it hit on impact
@@TheGreatYukon i love calling it issac newton's cosmic backhand, thank you.
they say in the beginning they go faster than speed of light
The best explanation is the simplest one - The writers had to find a connection between Tau Ceti V and System Shock that wasn't utter nonsense. The game was not created with the idea of being a sequel to System Shock, but the publisher asked them to change things a little bit.
The audio log where Korenchkin obliterates that guy with a shotgun is easily my favorite, so brutal
The cyborg midwife audio log is the cliché answer. But its still the audio log that I will never forget.
@@Trakesh which one?
@@SIGNOR-G kzhead.info/sun/o8pyYseQqmicqZ8/bejne.html Edit: And of course, (iirc) you find this audio log near an apartment with a Cyborg Midwife in it...
that shit was genuinely terrifying, i remember my first play thru and needed a minute. That shit caught me so off guard
This is the second time Mandalore has recommended a game that I normally would have never played, and I ended up thoroughly enjoying it. First time was Tyranny, had never played a CRPG before and absolutely loved it. Same thing happened with System Shock 2, got really into it and beat it in like 3 days. Great review!
Play Thief Gold and Thief 2 thats another old gem
Same here. Tyranny is on my list right now.
funny, I didn't like either
for some reason, I found System Shock 1 easier to get into and start playing than System Shock 2. ignoring the controls and UI, 1 just seemed a little more approachable. Like, in 2 once you get out of the intro section, you round a corner and immediately trigger a security alert causing you to get swarmed by enemies. It just...doesn't ease you into the concepts/gameplay as nicely as 1 did (barring the UI fuckery that was 1). 1 you exit the first room and have a couple of linear, very much approachable encounters to get used to movement and combat mechanics. sure the level opens up fairly quickly but you start off with digestible encounters where you can stop and breathe for a second, and process what happened and how you could have approached something better. Idk, maybe I was approaching 2 wrong, or maybe I picked bad choices for the chargen section.
honestly totally same lol, SS2 has all these character generation things that massively can swing how effective your character is, SS1 you at least know that the med deck enemies (except maybe that asshole Hopper lol) are intended to be dealt with by a minipistol and a lead pipe.
Oh, glad to see I'm not the only one who thought that. I'm currently trying to play System Shock 2 after playing (and replaying) the first game. SS2 has a *lot* more systems going on, and the game does a bad job at introducing you to them, as well as reminding you constantly about how you are missing stuff out. The first game has an insanely big map that is easy to get lost, but because it is mechanically simple you might get lost and wander a lot, but you still find something useful or get right back on track. There was hardly a feeling of knowing you are doing something wrong. The second game on the other hand has a smaller map with more defined "right areas", and you are constantly bombarded with Stats checks telling you don't have the right amount of points to hack stuff. And this feeling starts to creep into non-hacky stats. This is different from Deus Ex that also had stats. In that game the maps are open, and you were allowed to bypass stuff through other means, usually blowing stuff up. It doesn't look like the same applies to System Shock 2.
I am playing this after the Original's remake. Its good still but its not even near as dark as the 1 remake. Plus those chaotic maps..gah..
SHODAN's reveal (even if hinted way too hard) is still one of the single most chilling scenes ever. Realizing that the seemingly last sane unaffected human, the last shred of humanity besides you on board, have their brains splattered in front of you, it definitely gives an unrivaled sense of dread. The creepiness factor is even worse since you know that SHODAN was just faking to care about you.
She doesn't even fake it very well as Polito. It's great. SHODAN Polito is curt and bossy, but the logs left by the real Polito show she was a warm person. SHODAN's contempt for humanity is so great she can't even be bothered to impersonate someone very well.
I always thought that it was a testament to the game and character design that even though the hints are so strong, and you *know* she's back, when her presence is fInally confirmed you still get that "oh shit!" chill run down your spine. You know it's coming but it still gets you when it hits.
You can tell SHODAN every second performing that charade. Having to take on the guise of an “insect” to get the ball rolling.
Really does make you think that if the game was well written how intense the game could have been. If the writing had kept up with the environment it really could have been a masterpiece.
Thanks for the spoilers buddy. I am sure everyone who has not played this game appreciates you.
"Ah ha no don't step on me SHODAN, I'd hate that, ha ha"
Haha wouldn't that be so weird? Ha I would totally hate that haha
I kinda appreciate how insane the game gets toward the end. It definitely caught me off guard the first time playing. Memed up ending was also a high note for me.
Honestly playing system shock 2 without knowing anything about 1 made the shodan reveal so much better lmao
I’ve never forgotten the line “Why do you fill your body with cold steel when you could choose warm flesh” Nobody had ever challenged my 12 year old desire for cybernetic enhancements before
Virgin Cyborg vs Chad Overman
"because my warm flesh has 6'' and i want 8"
Then there's insane people like me who ask, "why not both?" Lets get this transhumanism train a-goin, the natural flesh is weak and disgusting.
*Angery Binary noises*
"Because i wanna be batou!"
"Silence the Discord" "Budup" *Checks Discord* Oh, I got it.
I was looking for this
That fucked me up a little
It got me too!
Lowkey best gag in the video.
it took me like a solid 30 seconds lol
I feel like Soma took some inspiration from this. Trying to fight a hive mind type monstrosity while a robot woman tells you what to do to further her own goals (although in her case it's a fair bit more altruistic).
Pretty much every western sci-fi video game took inspiration from it. SS2 is one of the most influential games of all time.
I love System Shock 2, I still remember the first time I played it around 2012. “It’s a gun made of WORMS. It even fires WORMS.”
"Most people weren't mentally prepared for the rave." Mandalore, 2021
Never was into rave, but the contrast with the goofy almost comical music, especially in Hydroponics was extra creepy juxtaposed with the danger and fit well
@@AbsitInvidea Rave, MDMA and psychedelics were all really hot at this time to the point it's safe to say at least some of the devs indulged.. It was just a thing you did with your friends on the weekend
Ironically, that very first encounter is 100% more terrifying with the sound off
*R E V E N G E T E C H N O*
I legit thought the infected were gonna breakdance when the beat dropped when I first played the game lol Still a banger of a synth soundtrack
Just became a dad and I've been rewatching a lot of your content to stay sane because of the lack of sleep. Happy to see a new video up
Congratulations man!
Show your kid these videos, their vocabulary might improve! Plus it will be funny when they start repeating stuff like *cryptic unbalanced bullshit*
One day you'll have sweet revenge by telling their embarrassing baby stories to dinner guests. Hang in there
@@MandaloreGaming thank you, keep up the great work!
@@desupocalypse yeah one day haha. Have a great day!
18:26 I've recently learned it's an issue of handling input, and Vectors. When you just press forward or side, the vector is a straight line with a length of 1, it works normally. With a diagonal input, you have 1s leading in two directions, and the overall vector length is equal to square root of 2, becausr a diagonal of a square. So yeah... They done goofed
that have been a problem for so long I still saw it prop up in games into like 2010 if not later question comes how bad it was.
Yeah, a common thing they try to teach gamedevs in modern tutorials is to always normalize your movement. Aka, dividing the vector by its own length to get a vector of 1. Was surprised when I first noticed the game had this bug, tho that was halfway through the game for me.
Repair is actually great. The higher it is the more durability it restores when you've finished. It also just costs nanites. So for weapons it completely replaces maintenance and the need for maintenance kits. Oh yeah, you can also rename the files, .dat I think in the game library which allows you to open them as zip or rar(I forget which) and you'll have all the game music and sound available. Including all the broken up bits the music tracks are composed of, as well as enemy sound effects. Including a test pack that'll show you just how advanced the AI actually is. If you assign it to say a hybrid by renaming the files to replace the current one, it'll shout out what state it's in. Searching, heard enemy but not seen. Stuff like that. It's very cool.
There was a cut final act - a few screenshots floating around show LG had planned a much more detailed mental world, including some scenes in an Asian-themed garden as some sort of TriOptimum corporate cyberspace that SHODAN was overwriting.
Yeah there was alot of stuff cut from system shock 2 actually, like the cut level 9 cyberspace, engineering part 2 and 3, the optional "shuttle bay" level, the many's "Xenomorphs", von Braun part 2, vacuum suit, and the fact that originally you weren't going to blow up the ships (Which makes the body of the many make a lot more sense). We really only got about half of what was planned, not to mention all the scrapped skills tree "Borg" which would have likely had a different ending.
Another thing, the level 9 or VB p2 was actually supposed to be a mesh of system shock 1 and 2 , where you would fight your way down to shodan from the Rickenbacker with remixed elements, it was said to be pretty cool.
@@canttellyousorryaboutthat716 pretty sure they only had one ending planned that was Similar to the ending in retail.
@@peppermillers8361 there were a couple different endings, the final ending was only decided on 1 month before the game launched as they didn't have enough money to continue with the original vision, that's also why engineering 2 and shuttle bay was cut
@@canttellyousorryaboutthat716 It hurts so much to know that one of the best games on earth could have been even better given the right time and resources.
31:44 "You're my slave and I'm gonna step on you." Shodan Femdom confirmed.
BotDom Detected!
a worm crawled up my worm and rested on my worm. when he whispered into my worm i felt a tingle. he told me how to make a worm that would help us against our worms... and here's the thing...
It's made out of worms...
@@user-cj3tq5mw9r It even fires worms
"A lot of people weren't mentally prepared for the rave" are words to live by
Still, decades later, that SHODAN reveal scene gives me chills. I remember the first time walking in there, having not played SS1 yet, it blew me away.
Same, one of the best twist in fiction for me, specially if you didn't played part 1, even then is MOSTLY the presentation and inmersion.
I immediately went to "GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE" mode.
"DO YOU WANT TO BECOME A GOD?" "Naaah..."
"Do you want to become a god..." ...who will get all their godhood via cybernetic implants put in by the 2nd most malevolent AI who will assuredly rip out your free will in the process?" (The most malevolent is of course AM from "I have no mouth but I must scream."
A certified Tohru Adachi moment
I legitimately thought that Mandalore edited that in. I can't believe that's the ending, I love it.
An Avatar, not a god. But I still remember when she called me that on my first playthrough. It was too bad she betrayed me, we could have had a Mr. House and Courier type of situation. I have a weakness for Faustian bargains in my RPGs.
@@MitchellGwr I was tripping face on acid back in 2000 when I got to that moment and couldn't stop laughing at how absurd it was.
It's 2024, 2AM and I'm watching somebody talk about a game I know and love. Time to replay it on my steam deck or something.
Hey man, i really appreciate the fact that all of your videos have subtitles. As a non-native english speaker these help out a lot! Thank you for the excellent content!
The Engineering deck with the loud ass bulkhead doors opening and closing, killing both visibility and ability to hear approaching footsteps is one of the creepiest things in gaming. It is unbelievably oppressive stuff.
God hearing those engineering deck doors loudly open behind me always creeped me out
there was a part early on in dead space 1 where the enviroment was so loud it didnt sound the spawning of necro things. and when you fix the train/tram thing and the sound stops. there's no music and no more enemies. its all quiet tense backtracking.
That is easily my least favorite deck, the enemies keep respawning each time you walk through that center corridor of death and the plot requires you to do backtracking just to advance. I hate it so much.
Or hearing those doors open and close while you are busy with something else, it rises some panic especially if you are out of ammo or functional guns.
I used to loathe the ending cutscene for looking like the world's first YTP, but these days I think I appreciate it a whole hell of a lot more for exactly that reason
The facial expression is just too good of the main character.
Its stupid. Its cheesy. Its perfect. And I love it.
Would've been perfect if it weren't for the cliffhanger ending.
I love it for not being cliche, but making fun out of cliche endings. You can tell that the devs went "fuck it" but in a good way.
31:32 *”I can now transfer my magnificence-“* Ooh, now that is just so menacing and feels like she’s right behind you whispering in your ear.
5:50 the cut from Event Horizon to the monkey made me laugh.
oh man, something about sentient "zombies" that are still completely aware of what their bodies, that they no longer control really scares the fuck outta me. it's why halo's flood feels so damn dreadfull too, having read the novel about the marine on halo 1's ring that got infected by a weakened flood parasite and remained completely aware as he murdered all his compatriots. or how the flood will keep certain personel "alive" to harvest their memories as graveminds. such as captain keyes.
The Mona Lisa short story/movie might appeal to you.
Body horror, body horror, ain't not a soul that loves body horror
That’s actually how the concept of a zombie began. Like, Haitian voodoo zombies. The whole concept of them was that, through magic, you would be turned into an unwilling slave, unable to control your body, but being conscious the whole time. Like Crying Freeman. You can imagine why people from specifically HAITI would be terrified of that idea.
@Mialisus Right? Fuck capitalism.
@Mialisus Also, the description in your channel bio is disgusting.
When mandalore post the day is always a little better
You clearly meant "a lot better"
why?
Mandalore and Seth
@@KoalaMarch77 really takes my mind off of all the bullshit in my life for 30 to 40 minutes.
@@buckadillafilms I wish you the best though.
Coming back to both System Shock reviews after the remakes release (and me currently playing it), theres a lot that they touched on. One of the audio logs from Research (or maybe reactor) is talking about radiation and wormholes, that it was highly unlikely anything would survive, but recomends sending a probe through. System Shock 2 remake was announced last year, but wasnt put into developement. Now that SS1 is out, it might be being worked on now.
I love the always changing tone of SHODAN here, especially at 28:46, where her tone goes deeper proclaiming her name, just to tell you whose boss
I like the mechanic of SS/SS2 where randomly an enemy can spawn off-screen in an already cleared zone and wander around so you're never safe to watch those logs.
Good to see Mandy taking his meds after playing chinese Rimworld for almost 2 months
That or he ascended and permanently split his being into two
He def just formed a yuan spirit
He went from early Sagacious Lu back to Gongsun Yuan.
No, no. He's actually lightened up on his meds. His other persona's been doing nothing but project Zomboid videos and waxing poetical about the meaning of life.
@@joeltangjerd2828 ambiguosamphibian is the third personality? This is getting weird
Found this channel less than a week ago, fell in love with the high quality videos
That audio log at around 14:10 of the infected guy with the shotgun is nightmare fuel. Absolutely superb audio horror.
You make a great point about the realistic design of the Von Braun- it actually looks like it was designed to be an actual working environment that you'd realistically be able to live and work in before everything got fucked up, unlike Dead Space's Ishimura which looked like it was literally _designed_ to become a floating haunted house in space and was just waiting for the Necromorphs to arrive. Yahtzee Croshaw went on a bit of a screed about this at the start of his review of Dead Space: "Just for once I'd like to see a spaceship in a horror game that actually seems like it might have been a nice place to live. You know, tasteful light-fittings, eloquent lacquered wood panels, or, at the very least, throw a fucking carpet down now and then. At least that way it would almost be a surprise when it gets invaded by a horde of flesh-eating mutants. Frankly, if you paint your spaceship gun-metal gray and fit it with about half as many flickery-ass fluorescent lights then are necessary, then you might as well rename it the "USS Kill Beast Buffet."
To be honest, the Hishimura looked like that mostly because it was made to be as cheap as possible. Other ships or sections of the Hishimura itself are much easier on the eyes ( the captain quarters are outright comphy I'd say, and the military ship of the 3 was much more livable. I think it was called the Eudora? ). It's not that unthinkable that between choosing the well being of mind of the crew and spend 3 credits less to get some paint at least, any corporation would choose the second.
The Arcane Studios Prey was really good at that. It was all Art Deco sci-fi stuff, and it felt legitimately lived in.
@@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick I felt like instead of trying to be eerie survival horror like System Shock or Dead Space, Prey was trying to make you gaze in wonder at the marvels of space and science and the lives of the people working on Talos 1, which is why the first few areas like the Neuromod Division and the Lobby were bright, inviting and full of dioramas where TranStar showed off their tech and history. That's not to say it didn't get dark at times of course, later areas feel more like traditional spooky space station areas, just with an art deco spin. It IS a space station run over by aliens after all. But I still find Prey's tone of mystery and intrigue and scientific tomfoolery a refreshing change or pace for the genre. I'll still always remember exiting the airlock from Hardware Labs and hearing No Gravity play as the station spins around Morgan.
@@Grim_Pinata That’s what I mean. The whole space station is made to look like a Tomorrowland museum, but everything is either on fire, broken, dripping with Typhon goo, falling apart, or otherwise in disrepair. It adds creepiness as well a monument-to-man’s-hubris kind of edge to it.
I thought the Sevastopol in Alien Isolation was very well designed.
Yes! Finally someone else who doesn’t hate the ending! And Shodan’s horrified digital scream is terrifying.
I would probably be way more into it if the scene of the female survivor being possessed or whatever didn't happen it gave a lame ending to a fun audio log series as well as coming out of nowhere. (as far as I remember it wasn't set up in any logs or dialog though to be fair I have mold for a brain)
@@misterfluffypants24 It was definitely a diabolus ex machina. But it gives me shivers after ~40 playthroughs, so I kind of forgive it anyway.
@@misterfluffypants24 It is kinda sorta set up in some logs, but it is also tedious.
In the dark future of the 3rd millenium there is only SHODAN!
@@misterfluffypants24 towards the end of the couples journey, the audio logs started hinting something - god i have too many repressed memories of this game.
I played this game both un-modded and modded, honestly my favorite features added by mods is a crafting system allowing you to modify some items and being able to repair destroyed turrets so you can keep luring enemies into kill-zones. Plus the overhaul mod that added a whole new area to explore on the hydroponics deck.
10:46 "The Von Braun stops at Tau Ceti V to investigate a signal." Maybe they intercepted the signal sent by Durandal from the UESC Marathon.
I knew the Discord noise was coming, but I still grinned like an idiot when it happened. Well played, Mandalore.
So did I, but I still checked discord just in case
i even launch discord to check like a dumbass x)
@@puckered6036 weak bait man
@@puckered6036 • free • easily accessible/ ease of use • video calls and better text channels. • built in connections with websites like twitch, patreon, etc. While TeamSpeak has better audio quality and security, it will never be able to beat discord's numbers unless it starts to caters to casuals. While there is a free way to use TS, its audio focus is not desirable when many these days want to join a community where they can share memes or close friends being able to do video chats. Its the reason why Discord took over the VoIP scene despite TeamSpeak being older. TS will always exist due to its hyperfocus on being lightweight and having better audio quality which professionals in the gaming scene desire where crisp and audible sound, and reliability to not crash is a determining factor whether they could win $25,000 prize or not. However, because of that focus, it will never reach the numbers discord has. edit: i just wanna say it now, whoever answers this with a r/wooosh or baited, then you're nothing but a manchild afraid to actually have opinions and when someone actually answers you and retaliation is to hide by tellng someone they were "fooled", then I pity your existence.
discord monitors everything you do and reports it to the woke police
I'm still staggered how dedicated and talented the modding community can be at fixing, lifting up, or even finishing games that just needed that extra level of care. They can be really impressive when they aren't making sexy woman mods. Also, I still have nightmares of that damn pool episode of Are you afraid of the dark?. That and the mirror girl episode.
Hey some of those sexy woman mods take a lot of talent and dedication.
Agreed, just a shame that greedy company execs exploit their employees and scam their players by selling unfinished games at full price then finishing it over the course of months or years with patches ... or selling them in "expansions."
If you find that HD model (that was also changed in a later release to the edgy gory one) "sexy" you must seek help right away and forfeit any interaction with humans for few years in a padded cell...
@@1r0zz You're gay. I should care why exactly?
@@piotrgrzelak2613 I would not describe me as "happy", but I am happy that you think I am such a positive person.
Played this game earlier this year and dang, what a fantastic time. I'm 22 and don't often play older titles, but System Shock 2 intrigued me so much that I ended up giving it a shot after some modding that frankly is pretty straightforward thanks to many helpful and easy to find guides. After beating this game back in February, I find myself taking the time to look back at older titles and actually playing them. So thanks for the recommendation, I really appreciate it Mandalore!
The music's implementation is great in my opinion because it's mostly only the first 3 decks that have that adrenaline-pumping rave music and the sudden decline into atmospheric horror ambience kicks in before the SHODAN reveal, as you're getting to the bottom of what's actually going on. Then the rave music comes back in Deck 6 when things are starting to get urgent in the story.
The "nah" ending is excellent to me. There is no better feeling then to casually reject the offering of a near omnipotent AI and shut her down like she's nothing.
"god don't do it... please don't" "glory to the many" BANG CHK-CHK "AAHHHAHAAHAH" "I AM A VOICE IN THEIR CHOIR" "OH JESUS" BANG CHK-CHK "AGHHHH" BANG CHK-CHK BANG CHK-CHK BANG CHK-CHK BANG CHK-CHK BANG CHK-CHK this audio give me chils everytime,
Haven't even played the game and that was harrowing to listen to. Well done by the people responsible for this audiolog...
The fun thing about that is remember, Korenchkin purposefully picked up a recorder, so he could make a log of him doing that. It wasn't the guy being shot, HE did it. It takes the "We want you to join us because the flesh is awesome" stuff and reminds us that the flesh includes whatever the fuck insane sadism is inside that guy's brain.
I just wanted to express how great the mod manager and the patch is for this game. It's so easy and convenient! I've been playing the Vanilla game until now, and I've been mostly fine with that. But I'm excited to try it again with the updates, and I was just floored by how easy it was to get going! I love that there are still people with such a passion for the game.
I've been waiting for this review since I found your channel! Great video Honestly, I can never quite get how this game can have so many things wrong (to varying degrees) and yet be so, so brilliant. It's by far the most influential game I've ever played. Still have nightmares sometimes.
"Our ears failed them...It's revenge techno!" Your reviews never fail to make me laugh :)
looks like we’ll be getting a deus ex review eventually as well. Completing the trio of immersive sims
He did in a period when he wasn't taking his meds
Why are you locked in the bathroom? ...Maybe you should try getting a job.
Accursed Farms has a fantastic video on first three Deus Ex games. Must watch.
@@batmangovno GVMERS also just released a vid on the History of Deus Ex. I hope more people look back on these games, new immersive sims would be nice.
Do you have a single fact to back that up?
I think the more active electronica is actually really fitting for the atmosphere. It gives a juxtaposition of what you are experiencing with the music that fits into the sci-fi horror setting, at least in my opinion.
Frankly I love the OST because it satisfies the other half of the equation: the feeling of being a military-trained scifi hacker running through a space station with a fully loaded shotgun. The horror element is only half the game, tho it's a very powerful half.
Yeah, the music in SS2 rocks. It's only the result of "modern sensibilities" that some people seem to think it feels out of place. It is tense and motivating and creepy all at the same time.
I just got done playing the game for the first time today (came back to watch the "spoiler" section of the video) and the drum & bass element of the soundtrack ended up being a lot less prevalent than I had expected given how people talk about it. There were some surprisingly heavy tracks in there (especially med/sci and engineering), but a lot of the soundtrack is actually just eerie ambient stuff not too dissimilar from tracks used in the stranger parts of Thief TDP.
Ah yes, the one game where I'm groovin' while being absolutely pant-shittingly terrified.
Sprinting through engineering really changed me
This game is one that really sticks with you. I do my best to avoid detailed reviews, so I went in completely blind a couple of years back. Holy shit, does the atmosphere still hold up. It does environmental storytelling better than most of modern games, and I still remember my unease at hearing the origins of the Cyborg Midwifes and the annelid eggs they guard. And it runs at 4k, which is nice.
One of the most ingenious things in it was when you get on the Rickenbacker and everything is upside down. And so you're spending all this time adapting to the environment being inverted, so you're getting accustomed to seeing things upside down. Then you walk into the chapel, and you're faced with the inverted cross, one of those infamous religious symbols of BAD SHIT. Whoever came up with that whole set-up and payoff is a goddamn legend.
_Babies must sleep ... babies must rest ... Wise is the one who does not waken them_
I've watched this review so many times now. I love your channel
I played a bit of the game back in the day and always wanted to give it a real whirl for the longest time. The way you started the video with current mods that only enhance the vanilla game enough to make you experience the original as it was supposed to be experienced was a godsend. I can't put into words how much I appreciate that. Sub'd and liked keep it up man!
"Revenge techno" is officially my new favorite genre of music.
"Silence the discord" *Discord ping* Despite knowing that you'd make that sort of joke, I still checked.
same
Stellar review Mandalore. I played this a year ago for the first time, long time FPS player and yeah, this felt like going back to the source of a lot of other very popular succesful games. Absolutely horrifying game. 10/10.
17:57 "It's revenge techno" I needed that IRL cackle, thank you
I’ve never beaten this game or seen the ending and I thought you were pulling a Mystery of the Droods musical outro again with that “nah” scene.
SHODAN's really got an attitude
I remembered playing this when I was younger. Scared me so much that I just hid in the main elevator and played the Overlord game cartridge. Even won that rogue-like game while hearing the growing of the many outside, wondering where that puny human has gotten to.
I don't know why but not only does your style of humor get me good cause of how subtle it is, but I've never met a reviewer I genuinely just enjoyed listening to talk about anything. Extremely pleasent and friendly voice. Makes me wish I had you as a friend. :( Thanks for the great videos. Glad I stumbled across you a year ago.
"Silence the discord" "Blip" had me looking in all my discord for some time.. well played man, well played
"No, no, that's too psychotic." No, no, that's about right.
"she says" you're my slave and I'm going to step on you", but that never happens" Sadly
SHODAN never meant that literally, heh.
Dommy mommy joke or just disappointment that Shodan never quite lives up to her potential in the game? I ask because I honestly can't tell.
If it doesn't actually happen in System Shock 3, then I don't see the point in playing it honestly
You guys need help
@@rvh1702 I know I do but I refuse to get help.
Mandalore forgot about carrying five pistols, which all breakdown before you can fire a full magazine