System Shock (2023) Reviews
The perfect rebirth of a cult classic. System Shock remains one of the greatest exponents of cyberpunk in the world of video
Review in Spanish | Read full review
System Shock is a successful remake of an almost 30-year-old legend that honors the original in every possible aspect, be it story, atmosphere, difficulty, or its core ideas. I enjoyed playing it despite the tension and slight frustration that overcame me every time I missed instructions on continuing the story. The pleasant elevator tune helped ease my inner restlessness.
Review in Czech | Read full review
The System Shock remake is a striking homage to a gaming masterpiece, maintaining its core essence while skilfully modernizing certain aspects. Balancing nostalgia with novelty, it serves as a thrilling ride for both seasoned fans of the original and newcomers to the series. Despite its minor misses, it’s an adventure that every sci-fi horror gaming enthusiast should embark upon.
System Shock is a remake years in the making, and Nightdive Studios masterfully reimagines the critically acclaimed classic. From the challenging puzzles, dangerous combat, cyberpunk aesthetic, and the tragic story that serves as the backbone for it all, there’s a lot to love about this game. System Shock’s legacy will live on in this brilliant modern take.
By paying the 1994 original the utmost respect – retaining core systems, quirks and all, while changing on peripheral aspects entirely for the better – Nightdive Studios has rebuilt a classic game into something significantly better.
System Shock has brought a 30-year-old classic back to life in the most successful way possible. Even though we sometimes encounter problems that show the age of the game, they managed to make a great remake.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Nightdive are synonymous with fantastic remasters but to my knowledge, this is the first from-the-ground-up remake they have produced and Shodan be praised, did they knock it out of the park! System Shock isn’t a game for everyone as previously stated. It doesn’t have the flexible character builds of its sequel nor is it a more linear digestible experience like its spiritual successors. What it does offer is a hardcore, sci-fi horror game with a level of immersion that only comes around every so often. Fans of Prey (2016) will certainly find a lot to love here, along with gamers looking for a challenge. You will get lost, you will die, and you’ll spend more than enough time scratching your head at some of the more obscure objectives and puzzles. But if you stick with it, you’ll come out of the other side fulfilled and with an even greater appreciation of just how much of a landmark title System Shock was and still is.
For fans of the original System Shock, this remake delivers a faithful recreation of that game. But for newcomers, it's arguably a little too faithful to the original and ends up feeling outdated.
In the end, the System Shock remake is exactly what you'd expect from a title of this caliber. The original is a true milestone in the gaming industry, and here it's been recreated just right. This means that the player immediately realizes that they are holding something important and unique, but at the same time they don't feel trapped by a simplistic historical record approach. There's a real freshness that makes this recreation live up to its many contemporary spiritual successors like BioShock or Dead Space.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
System Shock Remake lacks the polish we've come to expect from modern remakes, but it is definitely the best version of a cult classic. It feels a bit old, but the creepy atmosphere and mysterious story make players want to explore it. You'd think a game about AI would have better NPC's, though!
Review in Dutch | Read full review
System Shock is unapologetically old-school, keeping the core of a nearly thirty-year-old game while mainly focusing on visual and presentation upgrades with a few quality-of-life additions around the edges. While combat may not be the most exciting, exploring the maze of Citadel Station is still a fascinating time, and it’s nice to have a game get out of the way and let me put things together for myself. Some modern players may bounce off of System Shock due to its design, but those who stick with it will appreciate why it’s been so influential over the last few decades.
The System Shock remake is a faithful re-imagining of the original 1994 title. The remake offers updated graphics, gameplay, and control. What holds the game back is how committed it is to be a faithful remake, which ultimately makes it alienating for new players and fans of the immersive sim genre. But if you're a fan of the System Shock franchise, then the remake is the definitive way to play System Shock.
The System Shock remake gives a new aesthetic to one of the most influential games ever and proves it remains important with minimal changes.
System Shock is a remake that modernizes one of the most influential games while also preserving its defining aspects.
Despite having some sparse storytelling and a lot of annoying gameplay elements, the System Shock remake still succeeded in providing an enjoyable experience and proved that even after all these years, the game is still worth the time of new and returning fans.
System Shock is a great example of a remake done right. This betters the original release with improved combat, visuals, handling and writing, while maintaining the key source material, making sure SHODAN is as sinister as ever, that you never know what to find around every corner, and every inch of the environment is used to the full. Some performance problems and configurations restrict this a bit, and the difficulty will definitely be off-putting for others, even on the lowest settings, but this is every bit the game we hoped it would be, and a reminder of just how good and ahead of its time the original really was.
All things considered, the System Shock Remake is a bit of a tough sell. Fans of the original will no doubt be curious to see how this version has turned out. Though for the neutral crowd, it may leave them wanting.
If you are interested in where certain games got their inspiration from, then System Shock is a sort of polished re-enactment of the past.
System Shock remake offers a great facelift on almost every front but leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to enemy AI and sound design.
After almost three decades behind it, Nightdive Studio revives System Shock, a much-loved cult game that, this time, is presented to us as a remake (remember that there is also an Enhanced version that is more visually faithful to its original), preserving its game mechanics and adapting them to current ones, all programmed with Unreal Engine 4 with updated graphics in high definition according to current standards. It also has a very interesting interface, which makes all the addons look spectacularly good, updated controls and a soundtrack and voices that make walking the citadel and facing the horrors sent by SHODAN even more immersive than ever. A very entertaining adventure, especially for lovers of shooters and exploration, that although it can be finished in 6 hours on its lowest difficulties and knowing what to do, it can take substantially longer on its highest difficulties.
Review in Spanish | Read full review