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[Scatty]

Originally Posted by Soulsick

a dirty TRICK: in the game can be found medkits and batteries that restore the stats to maximum level - use the medkit on battery - you will restore energy for free, use the battery on medkit you will be healed for free... Just drop one and use the another on it from inventory. but you dont know it from me

One notice on that one - it only works in the earlier, true floppy version of the game but won't work in this Enhanced CD version, regardless if you play the executable with high resolution or it's floppy executable with low resolution, they both have this earlier bug fixed up.
There was a rumor that if you collect one coke can from each level and take them to to last level where Shodan can be fought in the centre, something interesting happens. Never tried it out, though, as it would be using up too much valuable space in the inventory.

[RRS]

Ahh, I can't count the hours I wasted with this game... it took me few attempts to finally beat it (like savegames lost in HDD crash etc), but I managed to get to the finale. Yes, the respawning enemies meant that you'll be constantly vigiliant and scared... and the fact that Shodan - "she" - looked a bit like my loathed math teacher only strengthened my resolve to defeat her once for all

The review should mention more features: like logs from dead crew members, audio logs, engine capabilities: leaning, crouching - that were rare at this time, and the fact that you fight in a separate world: cyberspace.

I've heard there were also minigames... just like in those cult J-RPGs.

[_r.u.s.s.]

soulsick ni case you were lost, someone moved your posts here
http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=19183

[dosraider]

System shock and System Shock 2, real good games.

IMHO System Shock 2 is slightly the better one.
Personal opinion, of course.

[Blood-Pigggy]

Originally Posted by HailToNietzsche

This fps game requires far more than just eye-hand coordination. In fact it perfectly combines adventure, role-playing and action elements. In my humble opinion it’s a milestone in game history.

It's Ultima Underworld with a horrible interface and insane system requirements for its time (as though UU's weren't high enough already).
The game was overlooked because there was about 5% of the gaming population that could actually run it on their PC, not to mention how difficult it was to actually configure in the first place.

System Shock was just Ultima Underworld with guns and more textures, I never understood the obsession with it, the sequel was far better and actually managed to do something different with the UU formula by fleshing it out far more than the original System Shock did.

Going from UUII to System Shock is a step down.

[red_avatar]

Wow BP, you must love pissing people off.

The reason why System Shock stands out:
- the story and setting was spot on - the atmosphere on-board the ship was very tense and UWII never reached that level
- there was a lot more to the game than UWII. While UWII is a great game as well, System Shock took it a step further.

I won't deny System Shock having its problems and flaws but so did UWII and really, they're two very different games - in setting, story, approach, style, atmosphere, etc. Except for the basic controls they're totally different.

[TheChosen]

I'd say majority likes Scifi rather/more than Fantasy. That is, before Lords of the Rings hit the cinema.

[HailToNietzsche]

"Taste: that is weight at the same time, and scales and weigher; and alas for every living thing that would live without dispute about weight and scales and weigher!"
– Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

[Blood-Pigggy]

Originally Posted by red_avatar

Wow BP, you must love pissing people off.

The reason why System Shock stands out:
- the story and setting was spot on - the atmosphere on-board the ship was very tense and UWII never reached that level
- there was a lot more to the game than UWII. While UWII is a great game as well, System Shock took it a step further.

I won't deny System Shock having its problems and flaws but so did UWII and really, they're two very different games - in setting, story, approach, style, atmosphere, etc. Except for the basic controls they're totally different.

None of that has anything to do with what I said, people could actually play UU and UUII, no one could play System Shock because the system requirements were insane, the level design was tedious and annoying while the interface was absolutely abysmal.
It's an overrated game, ORIGIN made a lot of messy games that critics seemed to like a whole lot but that were absolute travesties when it came to anyone that didn't have a $5000 PC.
And the critics wonder why no one ever bought the damn game.

[totsugeki]

You can coax System Shock into running at 800x600 or 1024x768. See this patch:
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100041

If it's too slow in Dosbox, you can get System Shock running on Windows XP natively with VDMSound (see http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1500200). For those on CRTs, dgVESA (part of dgVoodoo at http://dege.freeweb.hu/) can be used for getting higher refresh rates than 60 or 70 Hz.

When you select the difficulty settings in the beginning, I recommend setting everything to the most difficult except the one setting that adds a time limit (set that one to the second most difficult). It doesn't make the game too difficult (and certainly not frustrating), but makes it a nice challenge (for example the enemies can't be defeated easily with just the lead pipe, the door wiring puzzles aren't cakewalks, and you can't just walk out of the medical suite - you need to figure out / find the code to the door's keypad).

The controls take a while getting used to, but unlike Doom, they're sort of WASD-based. The difficulty is getting used to turning and looking with the keyboard instead of the mouse. The mouse is used for manipulating a cursor. Mouse2 fires the weapon or throws away the currently picked up object (aim with the cursor) and doubleclick mouse1 picks up objects (also from your inventory). R stands up, F crouches and V crawls. Q leans left, W forward and E right. T looks up, G centers, and B looks down. A and D turn. Z and C strafe, and finally, S and X move forward and back.

Leaning is useful for sniping at the tougher enemies around corners to avoid getting shot up (towards the end they can kill you quite quickly).

IIRC caps lock enables autorun, which I recommend, as it also makes you turn faster. One of the buttons on the interface removes all the useless borders for fullscreen mode.

I recommend listening to all the logs and e-mails to really get into the story, which is the best part of the game. Besides, you'll need to if you want to figure out what to do instead of just wandering around the station.

Enjoy one of the best games ever (it's certainly not overrated >:o ).

PS. don't miss the laser rapier on the third level. It's the most useful weapon.