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Scariest game ever? Maybe...best ever...probably

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Half-Life? I played it...I thought it was ok but too easy, I practically never even had to circle strafe to beat the thing. Even on the hardest setting, too easy (except when it became Super Mario in an alternate dimension with the "shudder" jumping puzzles)but scary?? Nope..not once. System Shock 2 though is a totally different beast and beast it is. Extremely difficult and literally the only game that I have ever played that gave me chills (as you might have guessed by now, I am old and somewhat jaded having seen nearly every horror flick in existance). My favorite games ever have been Thief 1-2, Deus Ex, and well, this one. All of these games have been charged with the crime of being too hard by some folks. Strangely enough though, this is exactly what I love about them. Somehow, unlike many other games that I have played (and I play 'em all) when I get killed in SS2 or Thief it makes me all the more determined to get right back in there and do it right this time. Other games I just stop playing...for some reason, I just don't care if I could do better or not. So my advice to you is this...buy this game, download the newest skin meshes that are available on the web (much better graphically making for a far scarier experience) turn out the lights, put on the headphones and be prepared for the ride of your life. Truly the thinking man's horror game.

Scary

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 30, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Let's just say this game is basically Terrifying! The sounds of the hybrids creeping up to you from behind and the 3D sounds are incredible. I actually had to quit playing this game for awhile because it was that scary. The game is a bit choppy at times but other than that, the graphics are fine but gameplay beyond intense. Play this at night and you will make sure the doors are locked. If you've ever seen Event Horizon, think of it as that but only you on the ship, no one else. A word of caution: when playing this game, listen to EVERYTHING and WATCH YOUR BACK. REALLY! And if you cherish a good night's sleep, play it with someone in the room or if you want to bring Halloween a little early in the house, play it alone with headphones on and in the dark and you'll know virtual fear in a whole new light.

Best game i've played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 28, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I can honestly say, that this is THE best game I think i've played. The first was great, innovative and totally consuming. This however, breaks the mold. I can't tell you how many times I've played this game through, 8 or 9 minimum. Just get it, play it and thank me.

# of times foot has been injured from sudden jerk because one of 'The Many' snuck up on me, 3 and counting.

GREAT GAME!

Wonderful gameplay, and will scare you.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is great. The sound is terrific, the graphics are good, and the interface is very easy to use. The best thing about it is the creepy feeling you get when you play it. Try it with the lights out, late at night, when no one is home. One minor problem that novice players should note. This game can be very hard. If you are used to Quake-type games, be prepared to change your style of play. The guns in this game degrade and break VERY quickly, and there isn't that much ammo to go around anyway. You should find other ways to get around this problem. It is more realistic in a sense, because who in the hell is going to want to take on all of these zombies and killer robots anyway? Part of the fun is avoiding and getting away from these nasty monsters. Other than the difficulty factor, this game is near perfect.

Very good but hard, very hard.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Several things make this hybred shooter / RPG hard: First there aren't large piles of ammo available and most monsters only drop one bullet, shell, etc. You'll almost always be short of ammo, needing to resort to the default weapon, a wrench, especially on the early levels. You really will need to make every shot count. Additionally unlike most low ammo shooters, this game, while having some stealth elements is not stealth game. You sneak around some but there is the occasional large firefight you can't avoid. The last hard part is the slow rate that you acquire weapons and even after you find them, you can't carry them all. It'll take a long time to find and gain the skills to use better weapons and the limited inventory space means you'll be making some hard choices.

Not just a shooter, you find 'cybernetic modules' that you use to upgrade your abilities. Upgrades include the usual statistics (strength, agility, endurance, etc), weapon skills, psonic abilities and technical skills. The technical skills are the most important, you have repair and modify your weapons, research unknown items you find and hack into computers, security systems and other items. This hacking skill is most important skill you have. You won't enough modules for all the upgrades so choose wisely.

Aside from difficulty and RPG features the game provides a good story. Your path is fairly linear and there's a bit too much key collecting there are a couple plot twists. And while the space ship interior graphics are mundane, the sound design is excellent. You'll need a good speaker setup to hear things coming up behind you or in the distance ahead.

One disappointment: most monsters re-spawn. My preference has been to clear out an area and have it stay cleared.

I had no problems running this game on Windows 2000 although switching to the desktop caused a nVidia-based blue screen of death.

Biased reviews?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 12, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First off, this *is* a good game, regardless of it's faults. You know the start of the story from the preview above, but it doesn't *begin* to describe it in full. The plot is nearly ingenious. The level design is superb. The sound is awesome and the challenge is there. The graphics leave a lot to be desired as far as character models go and a lot of the textures. I'm not sure if it's purely the engine or the designer.

The atmosphere is creepy and oddly authentic, too. The occasion pre-recorded message will play over the ship's comm system telling of a poety reading some time later that day, and on. Taunts from your main antagonist(s) (The Many, SHODAN)... it's an experience.

Some have said it isn't good and to go play UT or HL or even Daikatana. Those games don't set out to do what SS2 set out to do, so shouldn't ever be compared. Half-Life is a good game, but SS2 is NOT a quake clone.

Some say it's hard? It's only as hard as you want to make it... It has a great story, so if you're having trouble only your morals (and access to cheat codes) will weigh you down. Don't condemn it before you finish it! If you think you even *sort of* like this kind of game, get it. It *is* awesome, it *is* involving, and it _is_ scary (if you let it be). It's a game for thinkers, go figure. I want to tell you all a few of the most interesting secrets about the game, but that would give too much away.

I'm Ruined!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I had the monumental misfortune of playing SS2 before most of the "Best of the Year" and "Best Game Ever" ... games that are so wildly popular. Sure, it's got flaws. Yeah, I've got my pet peeves. But for the truly all-around immersive horrorific first-person gameplay experience, this is the game you MUST get.

First off, the creep factor is unbeatable, approached only by certain episodes in its cousin games, Thief 1 and 2. I'm a pretty hard-core horror addict, and I had trouble playing this game while alone in the house - no - make that alone in the room. Especially after dark. The designers did a great job with the atmosphere; it's claustrophobic, lonely, startling, and just plain scary. The monsters here don't just jump out of the shadows or take 85 rounds to kill. They mutter, grumble, shamble, and run...and they spawn. Hint: it's much creepier to play with the techno-y soundtrack turned off or way down. The environmental creepiness stands up well enough on its own.

In terms of gameplay, this one's got a fabulous setup. The controls are easy enough to use with practice, and the training levels before the meat and potatoes scenarios will help you get your bearings just fine. Manipulating your environment is as easy as it gets - your interface highlights what you can use and/or pick up, so there's no guesswork involved there. I get really tired of games that make you feel around for usable items instead of letting you use your creative energies on other, more important tasks. Like figuring out what the hell these worms are for...? The only real problem, as in every other game on the market, is getting on and off ladders, and frankly, whatever brilliant software designer conquers that problem deserves a Nobel Prize.

I fear that I am getting long-winded, so allow me to wrap this up. This is an AWESOME game. Get over your polygon hang-ups and stop whining about having to maintain your guns so they don't break. Play a Psy-Ops character, or go back to your boring and totally non-stimulating Half-Life. If you haven't played Half-Life yet, do so before you play SS2, or you will be sorry. I'm playing it right now, and I can't wait for it to be over so I can replay SS2. Yep. I'm ruined.

*shivers*

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I read the reviews on this game here on Amazon and decided to snap up a copy of this game. Oh Lord, what an experience! Others here have said they don't know how to classify this game. A strange amalgamation of First Person Shooter, RPG, and Horror game all rolled into one. And you thought it couldn't be done.

Again as others have said before me, the closest I've seen to this game would have to be Half-Life. But within it are elements of Thief and a lot of the fear factor from AvP. You begin with the choice of one of three jobs: Marine (for weapons junkies), Navy Technician (computer hackers who electronically can finagle thier way through in lieu of fighting sometimes), and Psi soldier (who uses mental powers to eliminate threats, or to get around them).

The atmosphere is incredibly eerie, and this game will induce a serious case of paranoia in you as you play. You'll find yourself jumping out of your chair when a harmless valve hisses next to you. Likewise your skin will crawl and your heart will literally gallop when you hear the sound of shuffling feet just around that corner in front of you...

Graphics weren't really an issue for me. The character models aren't especially attractive but the action really makes it so that you don't mind. The big surprise to me was the quality of the ambient terrain. I wasn't expecting the surfaces of the Von Braun to look so detailed and even in today's graphics-driven gaming community this 6 year old game really holds it's own. The atmospheric sounds, be they dripping water, air vents, or the inane babbling of Xerxes are brilliant. Throw that in with the noises of the Many hunting for you, the sounds of footsteps, etc.....I spent a lot of time cowering behind crates afraid to look around the corner with my 1 remaining pistol round. And yet I couldn't stop playing.

Multiplayer is a blessed throwback to the Doom era, where players don't compete at all, but rather go through the game cooperatively. I had my brother hooked on SS2 within 5 minutes and after a week we were both tackling the Many together, he as a Psi Trooper and myself as a seasoned Navy Tech. And it really helps alleviate the sometimes overwhelming loneliness of spending so much time in a game where everything not only wants to kill you but is sometimes so darned sneaky about it.

Only AvP ever made me jump higher out of my chair than this game did, and to it's credit SS2 made you think a lot more than the former could. Take the time out of your life to play this classic out, and see what games today should be!

The best game I've ever played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

An eerie atmosphere, coopertive support and challenging but not tedious level design all fit in perfectly with the cinematic quality plot to produce the best video game ever made. It provokes a range of emotions as you go through the game, from fear to pity to elation.

If you only like shooting, stay away from it - but if you're one of those gamers looking for a little bit more, an RPG of true greatness, try System Shock II - you won't regret it.

The Many sings to us...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: September 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

..and the song is to the tune of "Best Game Ever". Really, that term is thrown around a lot. It seems that every other year or so, a new game comes out that is "the best game ever", and with that, the true meaning in the expression is somewhat lost. What do I think is deserving of the "best game" title? Several things: great storyline, compelling characters, interesting and entertaining gameplay, the ability to become truly immersed in the games atmosphere, and (what i believe to be the mark of any truly great game) the ability for it to be just as fresh and exciting as current games long after being initially released. With this criteria in mind, System Shock 2 is easily my favorite game of all time, and I would argue for it to be the best game of all time.

Now, I know that right away I'm biased in stating that, but I can't help it. It's too difficult for me to talk about this game and not pile on the superlatives for it. If one was to run into any of my friends and ask them, they'd all say that I praise System Shock 2 on the edge of lunacy, and I'm not ashamed to say they might be right.

There are just so many things about the game that I love, it seems futile to even try to mention them all and so it makes more sense to simply say "My favorite game ever/best game ever" since basically the same point gets across. However, I'll try my best to describe a couple of the elements which I feel sets System Shock 2 apart from other games...

-The game was the first, and best, merging of action oriented first-person-shooter elements with tactical character based role-playing elements. Think Deus Ex (which is one of my other all-time favorites) only without the focus on open ended environments and ways to accomplish a task, and instead a focus on open-ended ways to become attached to the game world. The character creation and skill system used allows for you to become attached to the character, to really "think" about the game world differently based on what skill sets you wish to adhere to. Hacking so as to avoid security? Maintenance to get more out of your weapons? Research to understand the enemy better? Also the different weapon sets: energy, standard, heavy, etc. Each has strengths and weaknesses based on your approach to the game. All in all, the Role-Playing elements are just as deep if not moreso than a traditional role-playing game, but are combined with the immersiveness and intensity that comes out of a first-person-shooter for a gameplay experience more cerebral and satisfying than any other I've encountered.

-A fantastic linear(but not) storyline. I hate that in the current state of PC gaming, the word linear automatically becomes synonomous with "bad/mindless/etc." The fact is, sometimes a linear environment is the best way for a story to be told, as in Half-Life and Half-Life 2 (which are both pretty good games I've heard). Now, System Shock 2's brilliance is that the game unfolds in a linear fashion in that the player moves from level to level, but the levels themselves are completely open and non-linear, freeing the player to discover things in the order that they actually encounter them, which makes for the most authentic feeling of "being there" that I've experienced in any game. Then for the story to completely unfold, the game utilizes "audio-logs" which are found around the environments and contain different accounts from various other characters concerning whats happening in the game(kind of like doom 3 PDA's, only better, and in system shock 1's case, 10 years earlier). To fully illustrate how well done this is, system shock 2 (and the original for that matter) were the only games where I truly cared and had concern for characters in the game's story that aren't encountered during actual gameplay.

I could go on with other aspects, but really, would it have any more effect other than elongating an already growing review? Skimming through some of the other reviews, one can come away with at least one clear picture: the people that have played and loved system shock 2 don't just view it as a fantastic game, but a fantastic EXPERIENCE. In comment to some of the negative reviews that seem to be discontent with the difficulty and nuances of the game, I understand and advocate myself that not everyone will like everything about the game, I just think its too bad when people don't appreciate games for attempting to be something more than a casual time waster. Sytem Shock 2 belongs in the same league of recognition as the Half-Life series. It tries to be more than just a computer game, it pushes to be everything that immersive entertainment can be, or SHOULD be, and in my opinion it succeeds in every possible way. To the former Looking Glass Studios and to the members currently at Irrational Games, I would like to thank you for providing an incredible gaming experience unlike any other.

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