System Shock 2 on a modern PC?

[The Madman]

It's a lot of effort to get running on current systems though, isn't it?

I will probably get round to it eventually but I'm not expecting the fright of my life from it.

Not really, I linked a fan-made compatibility patch which will for most people get the game running no problems. If you want there's also the Rebirth mod which improves the model quality, and the SHTUP mod which vastly increases resolution quality.

Still an old game, but the graphics aren't unbearably bad thankfully. Go in without expectations and you might find yourself pleasantly surprised. I'd say it's still worth playing today! I only played it myself a few years after it came out and when the graphics were already considered outdated, but it's been one of my favorites ever since.

 

[ShiningOmega]

Short version:
If I were to get my hands on a copy of System Shock 2, a game released in 1999, is there any way I could get it to work on a modern PC running Windows 7?

...

Long version:
I like Bioshock. A lot. And I am aware that the game takes more then a little inspiration from its "spiritual prequel" System Shock 2.

This alone would be enough to pique my interest. But I've also noticed more then a few people saying that SS2 not only serves as Bioshock's inspiration, but is in fact significantly better. I strongly suspect that these people are talking out of their fanboy arses, but I'm willing to take them up on it. Mostly because Shodan strikes me as an awesome villain.

Which brings me to my original question. Would I be able to run the thing on a Windows 7 PC? Or should I just save myself the bother and find a play-through on youtube?

Dude, I'm right with you on this one. I loved BioShock (my favorite game in fact), and I wanted to play it's predecessor. I got System Shock 2, I have it running perfectly on a dual-core gaming machine running Windows 7 64-Bit.
You want to have it run on only one processor, so if you wanted to download a patch to make it run on only one of them. You can also do it from your task manager.

Anyway, no, it's not as good as BioShock. The voice acting, writing and story quality, level design, and music are all inferior to BioShock's, but the inventory system and level-up system is leaps and bounds ahead of BioShock's. If you really enjoy BioShock, you'll love SS2. Go for it!

 

[lacktheknack]

Are you sure you realize exactly how terrifying this game is? It's scary enough to make Bioshock crap itself inside out.

I doubt it.

I'm interested in giving it a go to. But don't over egg the pudding. I don't really see how it can be that scary given the time it was made.

Sure it might have been scary at the time. But remember, the first King kong film had people running out of the theatre in terror.

Think that on a smaller scale.

If you say so... also note how the first Silent Hill is the most nightmarish.

All that means is that within the silent hill story the first one was the best.

I'm saying I don't think system shock can really be all that scary given the time it was made... There was only so much they could do with what they had available. I can't see it being scarier than Bioshock. And that's not scary.

I really dislike this point of view, that's all. Even as a graphics whore, I still say that earlier horror games were scarier then current ones, BECAUSE they couldn't rely on graphics.

It has to be said I've never actually been frightened of a game. The most unerving thing I've seen in a game is probably prenumbra. I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but from what I've seen it looks to have some genuine suspence and terror.

From what I've seen of system schock, it just looked like it had the occasional 'SURPRISE I'm Sodan' moments.

Add in the bloody corridors, lack of lights and "BWWWAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRHELPMEAAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHRRRRR" enemies... there's more to it then just SHODAN.

 

[ShiningOmega]

Actually, lemme clarify something. I misrepresented SS2 to be less than it is. System Shock 2 had better overall gameplay than BioShock. Not just the HUD and inventory, etc. Although SS2's is the best HUD/interface I've ever seen in a video game. (Deus Ex is a close second.)

And not that System Shock 2 is lacking in the artistic elements either: it has excellent atmosphere, sound design, music, story, and voice acting. It's just that BioShock does each one of them better, especially story. For example, if you compared some of the SS2 characters to their equivalent in BioShock, I don't think it's a stretch to say that the BioShock character wins each time.
Crazy Doctors: Miller and Steinman
Omnipresent Antagonist who you help dethrone: XERXES and Andrew Ryan
Support Character who turns out to be a Bad Guy: Polito/SHODAN and Atlas/Fontaine

Okay, *MAYBE* SHODAN is as good as Fontaine, but Ryan is the true villain of BioShock, and between him and SHODAN, well, he comes across as a much better character.

Awesomely enough, googling 'System Shock 2 Retrospective' brings up my old topic on the first page. HERE YOU GO! I wont bother repeating how much I love System Shock 2 here when I can just link there and save both time and effort!

Good luck, the game's worth it!

Hats off to you sir. You know your stuff. I read your review, and that is truly awesome. I don't agree with all of it, but you really know that game!

 

[The Madman]

Hats off to you sir. You know your stuff. I read your review, and that is truly awesome. I don't agree with all of it, but you really know that game!

Why thank you! Personally I prefer SHODAN over Fontaine and Ryan, but that's more a matter of personal preference than anything else I expect. However if you've played System Shock 2 I also recommend reading this article as it's a fantastic piece. Might give you some new insight into SS2 you'd missed previously or never picked up on, and even if it doesn't it's a fun read.

Regardless System Shock 2 is a damn good game I figure most people oughta at least try. Not everyone will like it of course, but for the rest it's a solid experience you wont soon forget.

 

[octafish]

Lights off and headphones. There is no other way to play.

... oh if you have any kind of pet, lock them in another room. It... It isn't good when your cat leaps on your lap during a session of SS2.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

*cracks knuckles*

Finally, someone making a topic about a game I specialize in. Yes, it's capable of running on newer computers although it takes a fair bit of fiddling with the game since its engine was never designed to run on such advanced computers. However there's actually a fan made patch for the game which in most cases is all you need though to get the game running on new computers, available here. Install the game, run the SS2Tool, enjoy!

And no, it's not just fanboy talk (Although I do suspect most of the 'system shock' was better crowd when the game was released hadn't even played SS!), System Shock 2 really is absolutely incredible and superior in a number of ways over the much-simplified Bioshock.

Awesomely enough, googling 'System Shock 2 Retrospective' brings up my old topic on the first page. HERE YOU GO! I wont bother repeating how much I love System Shock 2 here when I can just link there and save both time and effort!

Good luck, the game's worth it!

ok quick question sir.

I do own the game, and my friend has sent me a patch, which he used and he got it working, but it doesn't work on mine. I have a windows 7, newer laptop and I can get Deus Ex working just perfectly. Everytime I try to play this, it gets me to the title screen,but when I click 'play' i get a black screen and a error message comes up. I realllllly wanna play this game, and was wondering if you could help.

Thank you!

 

[ShiningOmega]

Hats off to you sir. You know your stuff. I read your review, and that is truly awesome. I don't agree with all of it, but you really know that game!

Why thank you! Personally I prefer SHODAN over Fontaine and Ryan, but that's more a matter of personal preference than anything else I expect. However if you've played System Shock 2 I also recommend reading this article as it's a fantastic piece. Might give you some new insight into SS2 you'd missed previously or never picked up on, and even if it doesn't it's a fun read.

Regardless System Shock 2 is a damn good game I figure most people oughta at least try. Not everyone will like it of course, but for the rest it's a solid experience you wont soon forget.

Yes, I have read that article. And yes, it is fantastic and eye-opening. I never got the chance to play the original System Shock, so a lot of it was new to me. Is the original good, in your opinion? How good, compared to SS2?

 

[The Madman]

ok quick question sir.

I do own the game, and my friend has sent me a patch, which he used and he got it working, but it doesn't work on mine. I have a windows 7, newer laptop and I can get Deus Ex working just perfectly. Everytime I try to play this, it gets me to the title screen,but when I click 'play' i get a black screen and a error message comes up. I realllllly wanna play this game, and was wondering if you could help.

Thank you!

You're in luck, I'm pretty sure I know what your problem is: The videos. System Shock 2 uses an extremely outdated codec for its few cinematic which hasn't been used in years. The result is that in most cases they simply refuse to play and in other situation will even crash the game when it tries to load the video and fails.

Did the intro cinematic play? Can you play it? If not, then that's your problem right there. Two ways to solve it: Easiest is just to delete the video from the SS2 directory and watch em on youtube or something. If the game can't find em it'll just move onto the game itself, don't worry, there's only 3 cinematic that count in the game including the intro. The more difficult way to get em running is to download the Indio codec and force it into working through a series of work-arounds. A guide for that can be found HERE.

Good luck, hope that was the problem. If not can you tell me what the error says?

Yes, I have read that article. And yes, it is fantastic and eye-opening. I never got the chance to play the original System Shock, so a lot of it was new to me. Is the original good, in your opinion? How good, compared to SS2?

The original is much more difficult to get into since it was one of the forefathers of mouse-look gameplay in fps, meaning frankly it doesn't play that well compared to modern games. That said if you've got a tolerance for old visuals, perhaps you've played the old Marathon series or original Doom, then it's certainly worth looking into. Make sure you play the CD rom version however as it's the one with voices, the original DOS version was silent but for music and sound effects which kinda kills the ambiance I found.

 

[Tipsy Giant]

I Wish I could get hold of SS or SS2 on Mac which would work with my bookpro cos I loved bioshock and found the atmosphere and story the highlights which seems like a good reason to check out SS & SS2

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

ok quick question sir.

I do own the game, and my friend has sent me a patch, which he used and he got it working, but it doesn't work on mine. I have a windows 7, newer laptop and I can get Deus Ex working just perfectly. Everytime I try to play this, it gets me to the title screen,but when I click 'play' i get a black screen and a error message comes up. I realllllly wanna play this game, and was wondering if you could help.

Thank you!

You're in luck, I'm pretty sure I know what your problem is: The videos. System Shock 2 uses an extremely outdated codec for its few cinematic which hasn't been used in years. The result is that in most cases they simply refuse to play and in other situation will even crash the game when it tries to load the video and fails.

Did the intro cinematic play? Can you play it? If not, then that's your problem right there. Two ways to solve it: Easiest is just to delete the video from the SS2 directory and watch em on youtube or something. If the game can't find em it'll just move onto the game itself, don't worry, there's only 3 cinematic that count in the game including the intro. The more difficult way to get em running is to download the Indio codec and force it into working through a series of work-arounds. A guide for that can be found HERE.

Good luck, hope that was the problem. If not can you tell me what the error says?

Yes, I have read that article. And yes, it is fantastic and eye-opening. I never got the chance to play the original System Shock, so a lot of it was new to me. Is the original good, in your opinion? How good, compared to SS2?

The original is much more difficult to get into since it was one of the forefathers of mouse-look gameplay in fps, meaning frankly it doesn't play that well compared to modern games. That said if you've got a tolerance for old visuals, perhaps you've played the old Marathon series or original Doom, then it's certainly worth looking into. Make sure you play the CD rom version however as it's the one with voices, the original DOS version was silent but for music and sound effects which kinda kills the ambiance I found.

I do believe the error says something about the game has crashed?

And could you tell me why Deus Ex works like a charm but system shock 2 doesn't?

 

[Delusibeta]

I do believe the error says something about the game has crashed?

And could you tell me why Deus Ex works like a charm but system shock 2 doesn't?

As he said, the videos are yer problem. System Shock 2 used an old and abandoned video codec, Deus Ex didn't. That, and the fact that Deus Ex was an Unreal Engine 1 game.