System Shock Review (Lemand)
Good game overall but has some minor annoyances 9/10. Hopefully they work on a System Shock 2 remake
Pros:
- A game that is actually finished and doesn't cost 70 dollars
- No micro-transactions (so far)
- Good story. Side stories are told through audio logs but are interesting and voice acting is good
- In addition, none of the voice acting was cringe or seemed bad
- Puzzles are fun and some are actually challenging to figure out
- Variety of enemies with good difficulty scaling on when new enemies are introduced
- The levels are well designed and each level has their own atmosphere to them
- Guns feel good to use. Only gripe is that most upgrades seem to only upgrade damage or mag capacity
- Cyberware/ability/implant pickups are useful and their upgrades are actual enhancements you would want added
- Persistent items. Items dropped seem to stay there until picked up again
- Well optimized with no frame drops or stuttering. Only crashed once after coming out of a Cyberspace level (other user mileage may vary)
Mixed:
- Stylized Graphics. Some may not like it, but I think it adds to the atmosphere and feel of the game. Regardless, I think they were good for what they are and was not distracted by it.
- Doesn't hold your hand. This means it is good for a challenge, but I am admittedly dumb and had to consult a guide with what to do next at times. Most of these times it was due to me just missing a button or switch I was supposed to press
- Gameplay is good but there were times when I would click to shoot and nothing would happen even after clicking three or four times. I play in Windowed Fullscreen and I would notice when I move my mouse to the left that I would see a mouse icon at the edge of the screen. This may be related but not sure. Had to put it in this category because of that singular issue
Cons:
- Some back tracking towards the end of the game due to how they do elevators. Most elevators are linked to only 2 floors with 2 or 3 linked to 3 floors. These elevators are often spread to opposite sides of the map. I get it's a game/level design thing but still annoying
- Storage sucks. You get a cargo lift to transfer items between different floors but you can only put 2 weapons or a handful of items/grenades/medpacks in there before it's full. Once again, I understand it's probably a game design thing for challenge but it's hard to have a central "base" to drop weapons or items off to come back to because of the above elevator issue above
- Enemies sometimes forget they're dead. Upon entering a room, enemies will flop and spasm on the floor
- Inventory size is good, but not much chance to increase it. One of the inventory upgrades is locked behind a chess game where it is in the middle of the game and you are drastically losing. Challenging puzzle, but really annoying