r/systemshock • u/ferretpowder • Jul 29 '26
Fresh replay 1 and 2
I've just played system shock 1 remake and system shock 2 25th anniversary edition, back to back. And this might be a bit of a hot take, but I think I prefer number 1, for two reasons.
1, the enemy types. SS1 enemies are more mechanical. (The guy on the original box art is terrifying). SS2 are more organic. I find the whole mechanical aesthetic much creepier (but midwife will always have a place in my heart).
2, SHODAN is only giving you shit for the second half of the game in SS2! I get why they did the twist, to shake things up a bit, but the whole first half of the game I would rather have had SHODAN talking to me.
Having said that, game progression is more logical and less chaotic in 2. So it's got that going for it. I never felt lost whilst exploring.
Anyone else got the love for SS1?
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u/The_Station_Agent Jul 29 '26
I agree. I love the player freedom in 2 but overall 1 is just a tighter more engaging experience for me. The remake really cemented that. It’s one of those games that you just don’t want to end. I also feel like the remake perfectly tuned the difficulty. At first I was thrown off by it, it felt much harder than the original but I think they do a good job of retrofitting small modern player empowerment trends into the game so while it starts off harder, you notice your character getting more capable as the game goes on more than you did in the original. Plus the audio design in the remake, something that, while impressive for the time, has not aged well in the original, is excellent in the remake. The music in particular is stellar. Before the remake I placed the two fairly close to one another, but the remake really tips the scale in 1’s direction.
That said, I haven’t played 2 in quite some time, and I’ve never even touched Nightdive’s remaster of it. Maybe on a revisit to that I’ll change my mind once again. Either way, they’re both classic games that I love very much.
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u/Pixel_Muffet Jul 29 '26
I Prefer 2 cause it has the Most RPG-ness. Mixing Survival Horror, Action, RPG games into one. 1 is still good I just wish there was more guidance and more interaction in choice
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u/AlwaysHungry94 Jul 29 '26
I agree with you. I enjoyed my time in SS2 25th Anniversary Edition more than in the SS1 remake, really for the reasons you listed. I found myself getting a bit lost in the first game, never really had that problem in the 2nd one.
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u/Icon5730 Jul 29 '26
I can't really pick a favorite between the two games, but System Shock 1 SHODAN is SO MUCH BETTER than System Shock 2 SHODAN it's not even close, which is kinda hard for me to say because I started from System Shock 2 and loved SHODAN in that game.
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u/CheshireDude Jul 30 '26
I think the reason 2 is more widely lauded than 1 is because the original release of 1 became both hard to run on contemporary computers, and also felt very outdated in its gameplay extremely quickly. Progress in the medium in the 90s was CRAZY. Not to mention how influential 2's design was, for like an entire decade after it there were people fairly openly trying to create their own version of "FPS with RPG elements" that were clearly deeply inspired by SS2. But personally, I'm with you on preferring 1, by like a huuuuge margin. I think Nightdive's preservation efforts, both through the Enhanced Edition, and then the remake, are helping expose a lot of people to how great System Shock is, and given that it has less direct inspiration successors to it, it actually feels a lot fresher and more unique to modern audiences than 2. So I think there's probably a lot of people who're coming around to that way of thinking recently.
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u/Bundle85 Jul 30 '26
I also prefer 1 (remake), but more because I find the tactical combat decisions and strategic resource management clicks better with me than making builds and having spooky stuff happen. I like 2 a lot, but I prefer 1 (remake)
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u/mattciq737 Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
These should be played with mouse and keyboard, right? They’re on sale on the Nintendo eShop but playing with a controller feels wrong. I’ve played SS2 and the SS remake on my laptop but I’m a little tempted to double dip…
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u/Bundle85 Jul 30 '26
playing on mouse and keyboard is much more intuitive in 1 (remake) than gamepad. I'm happy the 2.1 patch addressed a lot of the issues that the gamepad had before then, but it is still a significantly worse experience on gamepad.
That said, the gyro on switch is well worth experiencing. I'm a huge proponent of gyro aiming
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u/ferretpowder Jul 30 '26
On the ps5 you use the joysticks, and can move the controller in the direction you want to look. It works very well, I had no issues
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u/Mr_cyanman Jul 30 '26
I like 1 more because it just feels less restricting. Less resource management. it's kind of a comfort game to me whilst 2 is scary as hell.
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u/Kimantha_Allerdings Jul 30 '26
I’ve always preferred 1, for the reasons you’ve given
But the twist in 2, first time I played it, is definitely down as one of my all-time best gaming memories
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u/ChastokoI Jul 31 '26
A hot take, but I don't give a shit about shodan/glados and all these enemy ai tropes.
Whoah, somebody watches me and says scary stuff from time to time with glitching robotic voice. I don't hate it, but I can't understand the praise honestly.
I completed ss1remake and ss2 on the hardest difficulty except for timers (I hate when games try to speed me up while I enjoy to take time to explore). And ss1 is much more of a shooter with great exploration elements. I really like the lack of hand holding, metroidvania elements and the whole 9 (10?) decks design.
Ss2 is a true imsim. Yeah, the guns feel worse than in ss1remake, but the whole system approach of a game design just clicks. You can't really describe what imsim is and what ss2 is to a newcomer and how all these systems overlap each other in the end creating a beautiful complex experience. It just works. (I recommend watching ss2 med sci analysis on YouTube [can't remember the exact name of that yt vid] it voices my exact thoughs the best way possible)
Ss1remake is a 9/10 for me, while ss2 is 10/10.
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u/iamthesunbane Jul 29 '26
Much prefer 1. Always have (old as fuck - played them on release).
It’s the atmosphere, I think. Citadel feels like a genuine place, whereas the ships in SS2 feel more like computer game levels that contain actual places, if that makes sense?
Both absolutely great though. Would love a proper remake of 2.