![]() The guidance software had security platforms so that SHODAN's own programming protected her self-governing capabilities. The head of her programmers was Morris Brocail, who designed SHODAN as a semi-intelligent self-sufficient data network, which could carry out routine duties aboard space stations, guided by an intricate series of logic and moral programs, and a personality that would allow her to challenge station decisions that affected her functions. System Shock is representative of a time when gamers had to think about their next moves and were rewarded for doing so, and that translates fairly well all those years later but many may baulk at the lack of hand-holding.SHODAN was created on Earth to serve as the Artificial Intelligence of the TriOptimum Corporation's research and mining Citadel Station. We now live in a time where games can go on for 3+ hours and it still be a tutorial. ![]() Whilst this can be frustrating at times, it's also refreshing in a way. System Shock does not hold your hand or offer a quest log to track, instead, you must rely on your wits to get you through the game. As such, knowing where you need to go next can be difficult to determine sometimes. Each level is a different floor of the ship, and each floor is large enough to contain many winding corridors and offshoots which can leave you slightly disorientated if, like me, you have a terrible sense of direction.Ĭoupled with this, you'll receive quest goals through transmissions from surviving crew members or through messages left behind from the dead. The level design is complex and at times confusing. Unfortunately, once you complete a Cyberspace sequence once, it can quickly become repetitive. The Cyberspace sequences are compelling at first, with the cuboid visuals and neon lighting feeling like a retro arcade. These puzzles can be challenging at first and are usually either junction box puzzles where you need to connect power sources to a grid or Cyberspace puzzles in which you enter Cyberspace and fight within the machine, combating computer viruses to unlock new areas of the ship. If you're not defending yourself against the traps and enemies set in your path, you'll be working on the various puzzles in System Shock. This mostly involves exploring each floor of the station and shutting down various protocols. Wishing to gain more control, SHODAN inevitably sets its lens on Earth.Īs an unwilling recruit of tech conglomerate, TriOptimum, you must use your hacking prowess to shut the AI down. This mostly involves experimentation, fusing the dead crewmates of the rig with machines and puppeteering them. In an almost inevitable scenario, the AI SHODAN becomes self-aware and hell-bent on their 'perfect' vision of the human race. For returning fans of the franchise, you'll notice that SHODAN is the original voice actor, Terri Brosius.Īs is common with most Sci-fi pop culture titles, the story revolves around humans being humans, willing to give up their freedom to machines like a LinkedIn grifter extolling the virtues of AI art. The demonic AI almost seems reasonable at first, but as you create a path of destruction along the space mining rig, Citadel Station, it becomes increasingly unhinged, glitched and downright nightmarish. After all, SHODAN is the real star of System Shock. With AI the talk of the town, it's nice to have a reminder of just how unsettling the idea of can be.Īs fan service goes, this is up there.
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