“Nah..”
One of the benefits of the System Shock Remake was seeing the graphical leap from the original to what Nightdive Studios had done to modernize specific elements of the original game. From completely new character models, rebuilt assets and environments, and a whole new ending, it was a celebration of both old and new. When it came to System Shock 2; however, Nightdive Studios chose to bring the original to modern devices instead of a full blown remake, honoring its legacy as it was, and as the game that made a huge impact on Nightdive Studios’ Founder, Stephen Kick.
I’ll open up this review with something I am likely going to be in the minority here; While I had a great time with the System Shock Remake, exploring its revamped hallways and set pieces, hacking away or gunning down its mutant threats, I simply could not get into System Shock 2, given it hasn’t aged particularly well and its design is extremely formulaic, vague, and rarely engaged me. Despite the game having a huge impact on the path that Irrational Games would end up taking, and its contribution to the industry, I can safely say that System Shock 2 just isn’t for me. While this remaster is easily going to please fans with the addition of crossplay co-op, full mod support on PC, and enhanced visuals and deeper controller support, the game itself is a huge miss for me following the System Shock Remake.
Throughout the corridors of the starship Von Braun, you’ll explore every corpse, loot every container, and deep dive into every note or audio message looking for clues to open doors, find access cards, and discover more about the mutant threat aboard both the Von Braun and the UNN Rickenbacker. While the setup and story are certainly interesting, especially with the discovery of SHODAN rearing their ugly mug once again, the execution of its story’s conclusion is a complete disappointment, as is the excessive backtracking and bland encounters that are so similar that you’ve rarely remember anything unique about them. System Shock Remake had plenty of standout moments, and I cannot recall a single one from this remaster.
I’ll stress that I don’t think System Shock 2 is a bad game. Considering the love and passion many players have for it, I can understand why people love it so much. The deep customization of your character with a wild assortment of stat increases, perks, and abilities can allow you to really craft a protagonist based on your playstyle. The RPG elements are solid, and with three classes to choose from at the start, you’ll have a head start with certain traits that benefit those classes and their impact on gameplay.
System Shock 2 is also the most beloved immersive sim of its time and possibly of all time. There is a haunting atmosphere throughout the ship, with countless dangers that lurk around every corner. The System Shock Remake had that appeal, but with visuals that greatly enhanced that feeling. Sadly, the visuals in System Shock 2 are dated, and disappointing. Part of the appeal of an immersion sim is finding your own way to solve certain conflicts. From hacking, or your choice of weapons, or your psionic abilities, there are numerous ways to solve such conflicts. However, with a very limited range of enemies and set pieces, there isn’t a creative freedom here that benefits those abilities, at least not in any drastic fashion. Nearly every encounter takes place in a hallway, with very little to almost no large areas to really flex your combat skills and to approach the situation in various ways. Given there is a lean feature, oddly performed by pressing in on the Left Stick, you can tell that leaning around a hallway corner is how 90% of this game was likely designed for.
System Shock 2 takes place 42 years after the original, after you defeated SHODAN and re-established her ethical constraints. You play as the laughably titled Soldier G65434-2 and join up with the UNN and have the choice of enlisting with either the Marines, Navy, or the OSA. The Marines are combat-oriented, with weapon proficiency and physical abilities. Many would consider them to be the easiest to grasp among the three. The Navy offers a balance of combat, but favors technical skills above all else. The OSA is built largely for your psionic abilities and is considered the harder class to master. While you are not generally locked into these classes, your choice at the start will dictate many of their beginning stats, giving you a leg up in certain fields.
While the open hour is quite a slog, the story across the game is fairly decent, pulling from various science fiction tropes, and repeating some of the events from the previous game. Set after the events of the first game, you are stationed aboard the UNN Rickenbacker, tasked with escorting the starship Von Braun. Since the Rickenbacker doesn't have the same FTL systems as the Von Braun, the two ships are attached for the trip.
However, several months into the mission, the ships respond to a distress signal from Tau Ceti V. This rescue mission ends with the team being infected by an alien communion called The Many. They return to the Von Braun and this infection tears through both ships, mutating and killing most of the crew. You awaken from cryostasis aboard the Von Braun, and are immediately contacted by another survivor, Dr. Janice Polito. With her on communications, she eventually guides you to where she is stationed, and your meeting is one that sets the stage for your very survival. While I'll end it there on the story, considering the reveal is pretty predictable, it is nonetheless largely satisfying.
While the story leading up to the finale is quite good, as you learn about the origins of The Many, and what has caused this infection to take over the ship, and the soldier’s role in how to take command of the Von Braun and the Rickenbacker, the game's conclusion is a complete miss, with one of the most baffling endings I've seen in quite a while. It's not that I didn't “get it”, it's not one of those types of games, it is the dialogue and the subsequent action that takes place immediately following that had me sitting there in disbelief that that is where the story was leading to.
System Shock 2 is a game built for combat, exploration, and the few random puzzles layered into the various hacking minigames. Various enemies and objects can be hacked, should you invest heavily into those stats, but brute forcing your way through is doable as well given you can save anywhere. Throughout the roughly 8-10 hour length, you'll take on various forces of The Many, but there are so few enemy types that really make an appearance here. You have a few variations of the more humanoid fodder that either swipe at you, shoot their shotgun that will hit regardless of where it is aiming, and those that throw bombs directly at your feet with pinpoint precision. There is also a female creature, the cyborg midwife, that is one of the best-designed enemies in the game.
While you can use laser pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, and various ammo-depleting weapons, melee is where you'll likely lean towards in an effort to conserve said ammo. However, melee is almost useless, given you have to be close enough to practically lick them for your swing to even hit them. There is almost no sign that you are hitting them as your melee strikes have no weight or impact to them. As for shooting, the game is designed to run at very high frame rates, but aiming has that 30fps jank to it, making a lined-up shot to a security camera to be a pain to pull off.
Exploration is similar to the original game and its remake. You have access cards to track down, security panels to hack, to countless desks and containers to search. I will say that I preferred the level design in the System Shock Remake far more, as it had a better flow to how you moved around the station and the locations you would encounter combat. It also helped that the environments looked considerably better, given the game received the remake treatment and not just cleaning up extremely dated textures.
In the System Shock Remake, the hacking and puzzles were far better, even if some of the ways you solved them were layered more with trial and error rather than skill and knowledge. The hacking game here is attempting to construct a line of a few nodes. It's extremely random in its execution and costs currency to retry the hack. Thankfully, you can increase your hacking skills to deal with the obstacle entirely.
Where System Shock 2 does impress is with the creative freedom to how you make your character, even if a few stat and perk increases feel like you are supposed to unlock those first. Still, if you want to focus on strength and health, allowing you to go toe to toe with the more formidable enemies, or keep it stealth and bypass many encounters, you have that option. You can stick with standard weapons like pistols and shotguns, or lean into the rechargeable laser weapons by increasing your energy skill. There is also a ton of psionic powers to invest in that make you really feel like a cyberpunk hacker. For any failings in the gameplay aspect of this game, the skills, perks, and abilities to create a character that is all your own, is extremely well done.
If I had to really fault any particular design with the game, it would be its UI. Everything feels randomly placed in how to negotiate its tabs, and it never feels intuitive. While controller support was certainly a benefit to this whole package, this menu was clearly built for a mouse, despite the work done here to ensure everything is controller-compliant. While you can eventually get to the information and items you need, it just isn’t fun to engage with.
The game also features 4-player co-op throughout the campaign. Unfortunately, I was unable to test this out. However, given the video presentation that Nightdive Studios themselves put out, which you can see here, it certainly looks as if it could remedy many of the issues I have as playing with friends can often take a game that is anywhere from ok to good and make it a vastly better experience when the combat flaws can fade away when you have another player watching your back.
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster will certainly find its audience, but I'm unsure the dated design will cause new players to have the same appreciation for it that its established fan base already has. It's a shame Nightdive Studios didn't offer the same remake treatment of the original, considering how great the previous game’s remake played and the wealth of visual upgrades that greatly helped its trek into modern gaming. That said, this is still a solid attempt with its remaster to present the game in its best form. While System Shock 2 is certainly not for me, I can still respect what it did many years ago, even if it hasn’t aged particularly well.
Developer - Nightdive Studios, Looking Glass Studios, Irrational Games. Publisher - Nightdive Studios. Released - June 25th, 2025. Available On - Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC. Rated - (M) Blood and Gore, Language, Violence. Platform Reviewed - Xbox Series X/S. Review Access - Review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.