Not really a horror shocker with extreme climaxes but the more you play it like a first-person shooter the more problems you'll get with the enemies. They will follow you relentlessly for a certain time (the timer in the corner of the screen adds to the tension) and, yes, the first few enemies are only cannon fodder to make you get acquainted with the play mechanics.
Apropos play mechanics: It's very close to it's predecessor - sometimes perhaps too close. Players of System Shock 1 will feel right at home and sometimes think that they play only a graphical update. Granted, they could've done many things wrong with this sequel but it really feels like they wanted to change as few things as possible.
Yes, the game now allows for three different character styles similar to RPGs to make different playthroughs a bit diversified but the game itself remains the same on all three. I doubt that this feature really adds much replay value.
While the game certainly is very atmospheric and dark, it sometimes feels too "clean" for the lack of a better word. The textures are sometimes too smooth for my liking and the monsters are fully 3D this time (in SS1 they were two-dimensional shapes like in Duke Nukem 3D) - especially so with modern fast graphics hardware. I didn't try the texture mods back then as they weren't available but I saw some promising pictures recently - perhaps this will bring some roughness back again.
This game uses the Dark Engine and it shows: While not exactly a polygon monster control of the player character feels very smooth and many things simply work (ladders, elevators) where other games stumble. This very versatile engine is also the basis for the first two Thief games and it's flexibility is surely one of the reasons there are still fan missions getting published for those two titles. Ah and yes - there are also a handful of fan missions for SS2...
The star of the whole show is once more the audio part, though. The whole array of sound effects and the bits and pieces "spoken" by the inhabitants of the two ships. What still puzzles me, though, is that the enemy A.I. still has it's problems to formulate a single, clean sentence in colloquial English - which pretty much any 8-bit computer of the eighties could with the help of a cheap speech synthesizer... ;-)
One reason the game supposedly didn't sell too well - according to critics and other experts - was the allegedly complicated game interface with it's many icons and controls. I vehemently disagree as it's very logical and easy to learn - provided you want more than a simple first-person shooter with WASD, fire and reload button.
The icons graphics are also very attractive and it's very consistent the whole game through - up to the screens & panels on board the space ships.
Altogether it's a very well made game that anybody with the slightest interest in playing a "thinking man's action game" should try.
Not really a horror shocker with extreme climaxes but the more you play it like a first-person shooter the more problems you'll get with the enemies. They will follow you relentlessly for a certain time (the timer in the corner of the screen adds to the tension) and, yes, the first few enemies are only cannon fodder to make you get acquainted with the play mechanics.
Apropos play mechanics: It's very close to it's predecessor - sometimes perhaps too close. Players of System Shock 1 will feel right at home and sometimes think that they play only a graphical update. Granted, they could've done many things wrong with this sequel but it really feels like they wanted to change as few things as possible.
Yes, the game now allows for three different character styles similar to RPGs to make different playthroughs a bit diversified but the game itself remains the same on all three. I doubt that this feature really adds much replay value.
While the game certainly is very atmospheric and dark, it sometimes feels too "clean" for the lack of a better word. The textures are sometimes too smooth for my liking and the monsters are fully 3D this time (in SS1 they were two-dimensional shapes like in Duke Nukem 3D) - especially so with modern fast graphics hardware. I didn't try the texture mods back then as they weren't available but I saw some promising pictures recently - perhaps this will bring some roughness back again.
This game uses the Dark Engine and it shows: While not exactly a polygon monster control of the player character feels very smooth and many things simply work (ladders, elevators) where other games stumble. This very versatile engine is also the basis for the first two Thief games and it's flexibility is surely one of the reasons there are still fan missions getting published for those two titles. Ah and yes - there are also a handful of fan missions for SS2...
The star of the whole show is once more the audio part, though. The whole array of sound effects and the bits and pieces "spoken" by the inhabitants of the two ships. What still puzzles me, though, is that the enemy A.I. still has it's problems to formulate a single, clean sentence in colloquial English - which pretty much any 8-bit computer of the eighties could with the help of a cheap speech synthesizer... ;-)
One reason the game supposedly didn't sell too well - according to critics and other experts - was the allegedly complicated game interface with it's many icons and controls. I vehemently disagree as it's very logical and easy to learn - provided you want more than a simple first-person shooter with WASD, fire and reload button.
The icons graphics are also very attractive and it's very consistent the whole game through - up to the screens & panels on board the space ships.
Altogether it's a very well made game that anybody with the slightest interest in playing a "thinking man's action game" should try.
take care,
Calibrator
take care,
Calibrator