While the first game was an evolution of the early 3D technology seen in Ultima Underworld, feeling like a realtime first person dungeon crawler, the sequel looks and plays closer to other first person shooters of the era, like Quake 2 and Half Life. In the five years between the release of System Shock and System Shock 2, there had been huge technological leaps. However, Electronic Arts signed on as the publisher, and they happened to own the System Shock name due to their purchase of Origin Studios, so the storyline was reworked to be an official sequel to System Shock. The original System Shock was not a commercial success, but the developers decided to create a spiritual sequel with updated technology, and gave it the tentative title Junction Point. System Shock 2 was developed by Irrational Games, founded by former members of Looking Glass Studios. Her presence isn’t quite a spoiler, considering she’s lying front and center on the game’s cover. But one of the recordings uncovers something that ties it closely to the first game – a voice that sounds remarkably like SHODAN. The ship seems to have been taken over by another rogue AI, XERXES, who refers to the monsters aboard the ship as “The Many”.Īnyone who’s seen Alien can probably predict that things started to go wrong when the scientists found some kind of strange lifeform on one of the planets in Tau Ceti. Polito as well as the numerous logs found lying throughout. Janice Polito, who guides them through the infested corridors of the Van Braun, in hopes to not only uncover the origins of this disaster, but also escape with their lives.Īs with the original, most of the exposition happens through the transmissions with Dr. The player receives guidance from one of the few survivors, Dr.

(The player is referred to in game as “the soldier”, and nicknamed “Goggles” by the fanbase, due to the appearance of the cybernetic rig.) During his nap, the ship has fallen into utter chaos, with most of the crew either dead or turned into mutants.

The player is a military soldier who, due to a computer error, has slept for an extended period of time and wakes up from hypersleep with amnesia. During its maiden voyage to the Tau Ceti star system, it’s escorted by military vessel, the Rickenbacker, just in case something goes wrong. 40 years later, however, the Trioptimum name is resurrected, and the company develops the first spaceship capable of lightspeed travel, the Von Braun.

After the destruction of Citadel Station at the end of System Shock, Trioptimum was dismantled, and a world order established to prevent a similar crisis.

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