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System Shock 2 Confirmed for GOG Release! Out Now! (Via RPS)
- Thread starter gragy10
- Start date
No way. The game relies too heavily on the mouse for interface navigation. Would be terrible on a pad.
Ah, come on, don't shit on Bioshock. I do prefer SS2 as well, but Bioshock is still an excellent game in its own right. It does some things better than Shock 2 even.
bone_and_sinew
breaking down barriers in gratuitous nudity
RiccochetJ
Gold Member
This is so exciting! I've never played SS2. Seeing as BioShock is one of my favorite games this gen and people around here say that SS2 is multiple times better that it, I think I'm in for one hell of a treat!
No, thankfully. You get XP (nanites) from completing objectives. You also find them lying around in hidden/guarded areas. So the method you use to accomplish an objective doesn't really matter. This is in contrast to Deus Ex Human Revolution which has a clearly superior playthough style to maximize XP.
Enemies do respawn. You are able to edit a file to slow or remove the respawns entirely. I suggest slowing them at most.
It's actually a shame. I know people like consolidated libraries and all, but Valve does shit all when it comes to getting older titles available digitally. GOG is a small European company whose tireless efforts are the only reason that we can easily buy the EA 90s classics, Infinity Engine games, 3DO RPGs, and many more at $10 or less. Without them, I doubt any of these titles would have been re-released. Nobody else seems to find it worth bothering with.
If Valve cared more about getting older titles into the hands of gamers, most of these games would have been back in (digital) print years ago. Steam is easly 100x the size of GOG.com in terms of sales.
BloodMoney
Banned
I had fun with Bioshock, but honestly, i never finished it. I had high hopes considering my love for SS2, and hell, Bioshock was great... it just wasn't SS2. Games were made differently a decade ago. SS2 is hard, tedious, and engrossing. SS2 is horror sci-fi at its best.
Play the game, in the dark, play it alone, turn the sound up and be terrified by dialog like this:
"What is a drop of rain, compared to the storm? What is a thought, compared to the mind? Our unity is full of wonder which your tiny individualism cannot even conceive."
Macmanus
Member
A few years back a girl I had been dating for quite some time decided to learn how to do stop motion animation. She produced a beautiful and creative story that detailed how we fell in love utilizing hilarious characters, wonderful voice over work, and a technical ability I never knew she possessed. It was the most amazing thing another person has done for me and by far the best Valentine's Day gift, really any gift, I've ever received.
Until tomorrow. Welcome to second place, Amanda.
Until tomorrow. Welcome to second place, Amanda.
Of All Trades
Member
I find it amusing to see people who clearly haven't played SS1 accuse Bioshock of streamlining because SS2 is SS1 only heavily streamlined and watered down. If SS1 and SS2 were visuals-only transposed to the PS2 and PS3 eras (meaning the gameplay remains the same, just with less clunky interfaces and visuals) the tantrums on this board would be epic over just the removal of cyberspace from SS1.
Smelly Tramp
Member
system shock 2 is like my favourite game.
always wanted to play ss1 but cba with DOSbox or whatever.
DAT DRUM N BASS!
always wanted to play ss1 but cba with DOSbox or whatever.
DAT DRUM N BASS!
I have to say that I really liked the respawn and weapon breaking. Both add to the tension. Some of the best moments (with an admittedly slight frustration) was when I am shooting the Many and my weapon breaks. The resapwn keeps you on your toes. I actually tried to increase resapwn without any noticeable effect.
I H8 Memes
Member
Weapons that degrade and break at the rate they do in SS2 completely sour the immersion. Why would firearms in the future have the durability of a plastic spork?
BloodMoney
Banned
yea, agreed, no need to make the game easier/more palatable.
Noisepurge
Member
respawning also makes up for the scarce ammo count earlier on, you have to decide if you want to backtrack and possibly deal with enemies again or not
Well it is somewhat explained through logs or Dr Polito (not sure) something to do with entropic stuff or effect caused by The Many if I recall. That being said you are right that they broke too easily but I liked the tension it added when they broke or when they were about to break.
On topic this is great news and though I have my copy working on Win 8 already I will be buying this if only to support the effort.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Last year I went on my first valentine's date period. Fantastic food, a beautiful girl, and we watched star wars snuggling together under the blankets in the cold before she gave me a massage.
These days I'm single and lonely. Tomorrow is extra sucky because I have to wait tables on a dinner shift and it's going to be hell on Earth for a few hours. I have a Mid Term tomorrow as well.
But then I go on gaf today and out of nowhere video games. And everything is ok.
Actually, on that note, I'm reminded of SS1's difficulty sliders (affect four criteria in four levels of challenge). Did anyone here manage the game with 'Story' cranked up to full (which I think gave you a time limit)?
Macmanus
Member
That makes no sense. SS2 wasn't even originally intended to be a sequel to SS1, so the lack of cyberspace wasn't an intentional stream line.
Single bro fist bump.
Bioshock is a good game. You can't go around stating all art is shit because it's not as good as Michelangelo's David.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Hey guys is this coming to Mac?
RiccochetJ
Gold Member
Because it is a good game. I guess I have the benefit of never having played SS2 so I don't have some sort of snobbish elitism going.
NeededSleep
Member
Woot, cant wait to play system shock 2. Read on joystiq that its coming to steam at some point. Might just wait for that.
Macmanus
Member
It's visual assets were downright stunning and the game was simply more accessible to a wider audience. On GAF and the PC world that's a cardinal sin - in the real world, the one that consists of global capitalism - its considered a boon.
SS2 is in my top 3 all time, a rotation that consists this, Planescape Torment, and SMB. With that said, Bioshock was a solid title based on its contemporaries.
batteryLeakage
Neo Member
Awesome. Never played the game, no excuse now.
Graphics aside, the plasmids are much more interesting than the psi powers.
Im buying it from gog. I already own almost a 100 games from them, and if they didn't exist, wed be stuck in this ghetto geocities world where we had to look on the internet for patches, and pray the mirrors dont go down. I'm supporting them for this release.
As long as they actually play it, the means justify the end.
This is a great post. Thanks in advance for the help.
Really?
The actual act of engaging enemies in Bioshock is definitely a step up from the very basic gunplay in Shock 2. Even in 99, the core mechanics of System Shock 2 were fairly outdated with poor animation, poor enemy reactions and a general lack of feedback. Bioshock isn't exactly incredible in this area either but it plays better than Shock 2 ever did at a base level.
I also don't think it's fair to ignore the wonderful visual design Bioshock delivered. Shock 2 looks OK and delivers an incredible atmosphere, but it lacks the strong artistic vision delivered in Bioshock.
Also, the first 30 minutes of Bioshock are infinitely superior to the terribly boring introduction to Shock 2, for what it's worth.
MrFortyFive
Member
I believe it has been fixed to run on modern systems without a hitch.
I've heard wonderful things about this game and can't wait to play it. There goes my weekend.
scorpscarx
Member
That count down timer is such a tease, this will be my first time playing it, unless they do something ridiculous and make it cost $20.
I wonder how vanilla it will be, or if they release a tweaked version or something. Otherwise going to have to start hunting down some mods pretty soon.
I wonder how vanilla it will be, or if they release a tweaked version or something. Otherwise going to have to start hunting down some mods pretty soon.
CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
Its a bad FPS. The shooting feels like ass and there is very little enemy variety.
Its a bad RPG. No choices, no consequences, shit character building.
Its just not a very good game. Atmosphere was great for the first hour or so. Then it was just the same old boring enemies and environments over and over again.
MASSIVE STORY SPOILERS FOR BOTH SS2 AND BIOSHOCK BELOW
they used the same rough plot with the exact same plot twist from SS2, only making it worse by making all the characters lame
Fragamemnon
Member
I'm a huge fan of both games and love the way the Big Daddy encounters push you in a way that System Shock 2 doesn't. Combat and effects in Bioshock have a lot more overall punch and feedback than Shock 2 has. Some of the levels-and you know where I'm talking about-in Shock 2 are seriously iffy, whereas Bioshock has not quite as equal high points but no where near as low of low points.
huge chromie fan btw~
Bioshocks guns sound horrible, and has a 30fps cap on physics. You shoot barrels and shit, it's so jarring to watch them fly through the air at slow motion. The only thing I can commend Bioshock on is that they hired water artists. The water in that game, at that time of release was really amazing, and the only thing like it was crysis.
I find Bioshock doesn't get better after that theme park ride sadly =/ I quit after two hours. It's sad that the demo showcased the best part of the game.
It's still much better than System Shock 2 in that regard, let's be clear here.
None of these games feature excellent gun play.
BloodMoney
Banned
Again,
i liked Bioshock, its just the carnival 'pip boy'ish' cute'sie theme in Bioshock didn't quite appeal to me.
Bioshock, its a great game... but SS2 is HARD SCI-FI, and it's just on a whole other level.
i liked Bioshock, its just the carnival 'pip boy'ish' cute'sie theme in Bioshock didn't quite appeal to me.
Bioshock, its a great game... but SS2 is HARD SCI-FI, and it's just on a whole other level.
@__@
Also LOL @ the guy who said the big daddies "pushed' you. The common spiders in SS2 are much more intense then anything Bio1 ever throws at you, lol. Big daddy's are especially easy to fight though about once you hit the 1/4ish point of Bio1 and get the chemical thrower... Equip chemical thrower with elec rounds and you can kill any big daddy in one hit...
For early game stuff shotgun with elec buck and shock plasmid for similar results.
To the guy who wanted pad support: lol good luck. The UI would be pretty much unusable with a pad due to how mouse driven everything is. They'd pretty much have to overhaul the entire UI to get it to work even moderately well.
Also LOL @ the guy who said the big daddies "pushed' you. The common spiders in SS2 are much more intense then anything Bio1 ever throws at you, lol. Big daddy's are especially easy to fight though about once you hit the 1/4ish point of Bio1 and get the chemical thrower... Equip chemical thrower with elec rounds and you can kill any big daddy in one hit...
For early game stuff shotgun with elec buck and shock plasmid for similar results.
To the guy who wanted pad support: lol good luck. The UI would be pretty much unusable with a pad due to how mouse driven everything is. They'd pretty much have to overhaul the entire UI to get it to work even moderately well.
Macmanus
Member
I'm with you. I don't understand how people can gripe about the FPS components of Bioshock and simply gloss over SS2's incredibly poor gun play. If you went into SS2 expecting a solid FPS experience - you were disappointed. If you went into Bioshock expecting a solid RPG experience you were disappointed.
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
I played two hours of videogame and it's terrible. I know what I'm talking about!
On the criticism, I will admit that System Shock 2 is indeed a hard-ass game. I barely got through it on normal, several times believing I'd fucked up my character build and inventory management, nearly deciding to restart. I almost never felt "save" and comfortable in that game. I always felt like I was just barely scraping by on ammo and other resources.
...and this was AFTER I'd decided to apply the patch that removed weapon degradation, which I may do again for this version. I'm sorry, but since it was an official patch, it has merit. We don't need weapon degradation on a god damned space ship.
As for the BioShock comparisons, the main reason I think SS2 is better is because it does a better job of selling its world. BioShock too often reminded me I was playing a game (even if its world felt more realized than most console games) with things like quest arrows, flashing mission objectives, and goal posts on the map. It just broke the immersion too much. SS2 on the other hand felt more like a simulated environment than possibly any game I've played.
...and this was AFTER I'd decided to apply the patch that removed weapon degradation, which I may do again for this version. I'm sorry, but since it was an official patch, it has merit. We don't need weapon degradation on a god damned space ship.
As for the BioShock comparisons, the main reason I think SS2 is better is because it does a better job of selling its world. BioShock too often reminded me I was playing a game (even if its world felt more realized than most console games) with things like quest arrows, flashing mission objectives, and goal posts on the map. It just broke the immersion too much. SS2 on the other hand felt more like a simulated environment than possibly any game I've played.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
You can do fine with just Standard Weapons, but on my recent most Hard playthrough I specialized in Energy Weapons as well.
Basically serves as insurance so you can save your Armor Piercing rounds for Birth Mothers. I'd say only 25-30% of the enemies in the game are robotic, but using Energy weapons on them does save you Standard ammo.
Best Standard Weapon is the Assault Rifle. You can fire it Single Shot. When you get it, disregard Pistol. They use the same ammo. Keep Shotgun though.
To melee monkeys effectively, you need to aim your crosshair a little above where you intend to hit. Do not underestimate monkeys.
Basically serves as insurance so you can save your Armor Piercing rounds for Birth Mothers. I'd say only 25-30% of the enemies in the game are robotic, but using Energy weapons on them does save you Standard ammo.
Best Standard Weapon is the Assault Rifle. You can fire it Single Shot. When you get it, disregard Pistol. They use the same ammo. Keep Shotgun though.
To melee monkeys effectively, you need to aim your crosshair a little above where you intend to hit. Do not underestimate monkeys.
BloodMoney
Banned
This, the Assault Rifle with AP ammo & upgrades was my go to weapon on multiple playthroughs.
Especially good for dealing w/ the ninjas
More like if you went into BioShock expecting a spiritual successor to System Shock 2 -- which is how Levine hyped it -- you were incredibly let down by the shallow and derivative experience that took the preexisting formula and walked straight backwards, and then furiously let down once you realized how shameless they were with the plot. Topped off with an ending that might as well be the equivalent of the writer waving the bird to anyone who dared to complete the poorly paced crap and you're left with a game that doesn't even sniff the greatness of System Shock 2...let alone match up to it in any way, shape, or form.
I say without hesitation that BioShock is the single most disappointing game I played this entire generation, bar none. It's Invisible War all over again, except no-one in the press apparently played System Shock 2 so no one gave a fuck that the game was a watered down trash sequel and threw 10s at the game like it was the next coming of christ.
Also I find your point entirety mute considering no-one goes into System Shock 2 wanting DOOM. The game is an RPG, not a shooter. BioShock watered down all the RPG elemets of System Shock 2 into oblivion and barely updated the base shooting mechanics beyond adding regional damage (which I wouldn't even really say was an "update" as the original game's leveling system for guns was much more rewarding) and fluffing up the animations, anyways.
BloodMoney
Banned
EDIT
in hindsight, a link to "the reveal" should not be posted.
in hindsight, a link to "the reveal" should not be posted.
"Remember that it is my will that gave you your cybernetic i'i'i'i'i'i'iiii'implants, the only beauty in that meat you call a body"