System Shock 2

Moby ID: 590
Windows Specs
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/28 8:28 AM )

Description official descriptions

In the year 2114, forty-two years after the events described in System Shock, a soldier joins the military organization Unified National Nominate (UNN), receiving the number G65434-2, and is shortly thereafter assigned to the military space ship Rickenbacker. This ship's duty is to escort the Von Braun, an experimental faster-than-light starship, on its maiden voyage. However, the next thing the soldier can remember is waking up in a cryo-tube on the Von Braun. It appears that both ships were infected with something so horrifying that nearly the entire crew was either killed or mutated into monsters. The soldier is contacted by a woman who identifies herself as the only human survivor. His first task is a rendezvous with this woman, for which he will have to traverse the monster-infested corridors of the ghost ship.

System Shock 2 is a hybrid of first-person shooter and role-playing game. In the beginning of the game the player chooses a career for the protagonist in the UNN. This choice grants bonuses to the protagonist's initial skills. Marines specialize in combat, navy officers can repair weapons and hack computer terminals, and OSA agents may begin the game with psionic powers. Notwithstanding this initial choice, the player may choose to learn any of these skills as the game progresses, spending acquired cybermodules to develop the main character in a RPG fashion.

As the hero traverses the corridors of Von Braun, he will have to avoid death at the hands of hostile creatures and robots on the way, acquire a variety of items, and complete missions to unlock new areas and advance the story. The game emphasizes survival rather than elimination of enemies; in many situations the protagonist is underpowered, and new enemies may appear in already explored areas.

Combat is done in FPS style, with both ranged and melee weapons. The ranged weapons can accept a few different types of ammo, each of them efficient against different foes, and can shoot in two firing modes. However, ranged weapons deteriorate quickly as the player character uses them, and will eventually break down after prolonged use.

Healing items, such as medical hypos and medikits, will save the hero's life, while other items will shield him from radiation, cure him from poisoning, or temporarily boost his attributes. The soldier can find armor to wear and implants which will amplify his skills, as long as their battery doesn't run out. There are also some alien items that the player has to research (which usually requires finding specific chemicals in the ship's chemical stores); researching weapons and items allows the player to use them, and researching enemies' organs makes it possible to deal more damage to them.

Apart from finding them lying around, items can be bought from "matter replicators" for nanites, the game's currency. Nanites are also used for cybernetic activities (hacking electronic systems), repairing broken weapons and improving them, healing the protagonist on surgery tables, and, after death, resurrecting him in special chambers found on most levels.

Cybermodules are received for successfully completing objectives or found during exploration. They are used to enhance the main character's attributes: the player can improve his strength, agility, endurance, as well as his cybernetics and weapon skills; psionic powers are also acquired in this way. Psi powers allow the protagonist to move objects from a distance, paralyze enemies, become invisible, etc. A special "psi amplifier" must be found in order to use them, and the hero spends "psi points" each time he uses a psi power.

Like in the first System Shock, much of the background story in the game is revealed by finding messages left by crew members before they fell victims to the mysterious infestation.

Spellings

  • 网络奇兵2 - Simplified Chinese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Videos

See any errors or missing info for this game?

You can submit a correction, contribute trivia, add to a game group, add a related site or alternate title.

Credits (Windows version)

146 People (144 developers, 2 thanks) · View all

Project Manager
Lead Programming
AI Programming
Lead Design
Writing / Dialogue / Story
Lead Artist
2D Artist
Level Design
3D Artist
Additional Design
Additional Graphics / Artwork
Lead Engine Programming
Lead Level / Scenario Design
Executive Producer
Producer
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 91% (based on 61 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 282 ratings with 24 reviews)

The scariest game ever made - not for the weak of heart

The Good
Atmosphere: you will fear the lonelyness, you will become paranoid as hell, and get really, really engaged in the game. With letters written in blood on the walls, alarms sounding, things exploding and falling appart without warning, dead bodies piled up everywhere, ghostly aperances forever re-experiencing their last moments of life, and distant screams and zombies mumbling in undead voices for you to come to them; either to kill them, or join them, or both. Even today, this game is has to be the scariest game ever made!

Story: At the heart of all the terror lies an engaging and evolving plot; something goes horribly wrong aboard mankinds first FTL inter-stellar starship, and the joruney of your dreams, has become your worst nightmare from hell.

Voice-acting: Will at times send chills down your spine.

Graphics: Similar to that Thief - not good, not bad, just in between; graphics is not really important in a game like this.

Gameplay: With sci-fi RPG-elements, a bit advanced but mostly easy interface, and several ways to complete different tasks: System Shock 2 is one of the better First Person Shooter / adventure games out there.

The Bad
At times TOO scary; but maybe that's a good thing?

The Bottom Line
This game is not for the weak of heart, but if you are looking for a good scare; look no further. This is quite possibly one of the best FPS-games ever made: better then Half-Life, better than doom, and unique even today.

Windows · by Stargazer (99) · 2003

One of the best games ever made

The Good
First of all, I would just like to say that the graphics, especially the ultra-realistic-looking blood splatters (not including the character models) are great and it runs smoothly even on ancient computers. The ambience sounds and the creepy voices from both Xerxes and SHODAN all add so much to the atmosphere. The first time I played it, I entered a room full of dead bodies and such realistic blood and flickering lights. All was silent (except for the humming of the machinery). Suddenly I hear a grunting noise from behind me and I turned around and literally jumped out of my seat as a Hybrid monster began attacking me with his wrench. The game will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end. Excellent story and there are also many plot twists. Also, the many ways that you can play the game (such as hacking the security console so that cameras and turrets won't do anything to you, sneak past them or just blow them apart) gives the game a lot of replayability values. The level design is also really excellent. It looks as if people actually lived on the ship. There are some minute details that is in the game that just makes it seem so much more realistic. There are magazines sitting on people's desks and art panels (electronic pictures hanging on walls) that just adds so much to this awesome game.

The Bad
One really bad thing (for me) about this game is the amount of backtracking that is involved. Often if you wish to do something you have to go somewhere, go back, then go somewhere else, then come back again. This also means you have to be patient when you play the game since there is so much to do and so many places to go. The best thing is to review your PDF when you're stuck. There are serious bugs, like sometimes if you do a certain thing, the game will prevent you from moving further, although it doesn't tell you, no error messages, nothing. So sometimes you could be wondering for hours not knowing that you cannot advance anymore. However, you can get walkthroughs that tell you exactly where these bugs are so you will know what not to do during the game. This only happens once or twice so it's not that bad. Another thing that could be improved is the character models, although it is not that important since you don't see many humans in the game anyway.

The Bottom Line
If you like adventures or RPGs, this is a must get for you, just be sure to get a walkthrough that describes the bugs so you can avoid being stuck in the game. It is such a good game with an excellent story and I highly recommend this game.

Windows · by Black Death (6) · 2003

The most thrilling experience you won't forget for your whole life!

The Good
Very good atmosphere, moody music, decent graphics showing the environments. The gameplay itself has transcended the meaning of a computer game! It's a thrilling experience of horror and it's really scaring! Absolutely marvelous game concept of a perfect mixing of FPS and RPG, with a top-notch plot and great presentation. The three character classes are truly diverse with unique abilities and different arsenals, providing the game with great replay values!!! Overall a perfect game.

The Bad
Character models quite blocky, showing the age of the Thief graphics engine. Too scary, not for the faint of heart :)

The Bottom Line
A game so close to perfection that has already transcended the concept of computer games! A must-buy if you like to be really scared, whether you like computer games or not. Absolutely a piece of digital art! And fans of both RPG and FPS will be especially pleased, while all players will be plasantly thrilled! Perfection...

Windows · by DarkTalon (156) · 2004

[ View all 24 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Which SS2 am I playing? o__O Slug Camargo (583) May 20, 2008
Damn the Many... Unicorn Lynx (181780) Apr 3, 2008
No spawn and no degradation? Unicorn Lynx (181780) Mar 18, 2008
Just Finished, ITS AMAZING!! ricardoe Oct 7, 2007
System Shock 2 Expansion Pack on WinXP dave solin Sep 12, 2007

Trivia

Animations

In addition to using the Dark Engine, the game also uses some animations from Thief, most notably the zombified crewmen with the shotguns and pipes. They use portions of animation from the guardsmen in Thief, specifically when they walk around searching for your character, and when they run over to attack you.

Basketball

In Thief, part of the training mission included a little basketball court at the beginning of the game. In SS2, this basketball is carried over and is found up on a ledge on the 'street' level of the very first training mission. Go around the 'pillar' to the right of where you arrive on the street. You can mantle up to a sloped surface, and on the flat part of the ledge will be the basketball. Bounces very appropriately, too!

On the Recreation deck will be a basketball court, towards the last part to explore in the level. You have to be on the upper running deck to shoot, but if you make a basket with the basketball or even just clip the rim, you'll get a very funny email. Be sure to bring it up in your PDA, as it reads differently than it sounds.

Bugs (Spoiler!)

In a cutscene on Deck 4, the walls will drop away and a cut-scene will begin. However, you can still move around and if you fall off the platform that the room has become, you CANNOT get back up, short of killing yourself or loading your game! A neat little bug.

Cancelled Dreamcast version

There was going to be a Dreamcast version of System Shock 2, but it was cancelled

German version

The localized German version of the game was slightly modified for fear of banning. Some corpses were removed (e.g. a hanged man), and all blood was colored green.

Mods

The graphics for character models in the game was considered by many to be the low-point in the 3D Design. So some fans took it upon themselves to create unofficial high-res models which are known as System Shock: Rebirth and can be found at http://perso.wanadoo.fr/etienne.aubert/sshock/sshock_rebirth.htm

Multiplayer

There is a patch available for System Shock 2 which does not only allow adjustments of the respawning and weapon wear and tear, but adds a cooperative multiplayer mode.

Release

System Shock 2 was published by Electronic Arts instead of Eidos, which was Looking Glass‘ world-wide publisher at the time. This is due to the simple fact that EA held the copyright for the System Shock franchise -- the firm had acquired it with the purchase of Origin Systems.

Sales

Although System Shock 2 was rated a masterpiece by all major magazines, sales were only mediocre. Ironically, the game shared the same fate as its predecessor: Both games never reached a mass audience, partly because of bad marketing efforts.

Shodan

The voice of Shodan was done, as in System Shock, by Terri Brosius. She is the wife of Looking Glass Audio Director Eric Brosius.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • March 2000 (Issue #188) – Best Sound Design of the Year
    • November 2003 (Issue #232) – Introduced into the Hall of Fame
  • GameSpy
    • 1999 – Role-Playing Game of the Year
    • 1999 - Best Genre-Bender (together with Drakan: Order of the Flame)
    • 2001 – #12 Top Game of All Time
  • PC Gamer
    • April 2000 - #22 in the "Readers All-Time Top 50 Games Poll"
    • April 2005 - #39 in the "50 Best Games of All Time" list
  • PC Player (Germany)
    • Issue 01/2000 - Best Game in 1999
    • Issue 01/2000 - Best Action-Adventure in 1999
  • Power Play
    • Issue 02/2000 – Best Game in 1999
    • Issue 02/2000 – Best Atmosphere in 1999

Information contributed by -Chris, CaptainCanuck, George Shannon, Great Hierophant, M4R14N0, PCGamer77 and WildKard

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

System Shock
Released 2023 on Windows
System Shock
Released 1994 on DOS, 1995 on Macintosh, 1996 on PC-98
Cyber Complex
Released 2017 on Xbox One, Linux, Windows
Ultima Online: Renaissance
Released 2000 on Windows
Ultima Online
Released 1997 on Windows
System Shock: Enhanced Edition
Released 2015 on Windows
Mega Man Battle Network 4: Blue Moon
Released 2003 on Game Boy Advance, 2015 on Wii U
Pinball FX: System Shock Pinball
Released 2024 on Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4...
Pinball M: System Shock Pinball
Released 2024 on Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4...

Related Sites +

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 590
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by robotriot.

Macintosh, Linux added by Kabushi.

Additional contributors: xroox, JubalHarshaw, George Shannon, Unicorn Lynx, chirinea, Sciere, jlebel, dorlthed, DarkDante, Patrick Bregger.

Game added December 17, 1999. Last modified March 14, 2024.