The thing with nostalgia is that it paints an unfair picture of the past, while also imposing unrealistic expectations on the present - quite a few of these revival and retro Kickstarters we’ve seen in the last few years have shown that. 9‘s troubled and disappointing launch, it’d be irresponsible of me not to advise a bit of caution. The tropes of childhood are just so comfy.īut as this project launches just a week after Mighty No. Once the cheesy “computer infection” lights start creeping up the kid’s arms, I felt like I was slipping into a warm bath. It probably doesn’t hurt that the pitch video (below) is chock full of early 90s throwbacks, with the flickering CRT monitors, campy low-fi audio, and mountains of Transformers figures. If you’re a fan of the original System Shock, right now the welcoming embrace of nostalgia may be wrapping itself about your shoulders.

The remake promises “reimagined” enemies, weapons, and environments, as well as a tuned-up interface meant to “reflect modern aesthetics and sensibilities.” Terri Brosius, voice actress behind System Shock‘s antagonistic artificial intelligence SHODAN, will return to reprise her role with newly recorded lines. Many improvements, overhauls and changes are being implemented to capture the spirit of what the original game was trying to convey, and bring it to contemporary gamers.” “ a modern take on System Shock, a faithful reboot it’s not Citadel Station as it was, but as you remember it. “This demo represents the look and feel that we want to achieve with the final version we’ll deliver to you,” says Nightdive Studios, while noting that the demo should be treated as a proof of concept, rather than what the final, deliverable game will play like.

And the team’s hit the ground running, already releasing a demo version of the game so you can take it for a spin yourself. Which is why Nightdive Studios - best known for rescusitating abandoned game licenses for new distribution, including System Shock 2 - has taken to Kickstarter to fund a “complete remake” of the original, with industry talents including original System Shock concept artist Robb Waters and Fallout: New Vegas writer Chris Avellone. For many, System Shock is almost as big an influence on the modern FPS as DOOM. When people praise the games of Ken Levine, a big chunk of it is grandfathered-in admiration for the System Shock games, those atmospheric first-person shooters which are not BioShock with the malevolent AI who is not GLaDOS.

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