Sci-fi and space horror Horror shooters and action horror

System Shock

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Fight through a space station run by a mad AI and its cyborgs.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (90% of 13,064 reviews)
Players: 1
Made by: Nightdive Studios
Released: 2023

Get it on Steam PlayStation Store (PS4, PS5)Xbox Nintendo eShop (Switch)Nintendo eShop (Switch 2)Official site

What frightens SHODAN, an AI gone mad, has taken over Citadel Station and turned its crew into cyborgs and mutants. You explore the station's dark decks while she watches and speaks to you, and her creations come at you from every room.
Content: gore, violence, spider-like enemies (the store warns players with arachnopho.

System Shock is Nightdive Studios' full remake of the 1994 original. A rogue AI called SHODAN has taken over Citadel Station and turned the crew into cyborgs and mutants, and you explore and fight your way through the station to stop her before she turns on Earth. The fear is a station gone wrong, with a voice in the walls that knows where you are.

About System Shock

System Shock is the remake of the 1994 first-person game of the same name, rebuilt by Nightdive Studios with new HD visuals, updated controls, a new interface and new sound and music. It came out on Steam in May 2023 and has since come to PlayStation, Xbox and Switch. SHODAN is voiced by the actor from the original.

The setting is Citadel Station, a space station. SHODAN, the AI that runs it, has become self-aware, taken control and turned the crew into an army of cyborgs and mutants. She plans to do the same to Earth. You wake into this and have to stop her.

The game is an immersive sim as much as a shooter. The story unfolds at your own pace as you explore the station's decks, find weapons and upgrades and improve your skills, and jack into cyberspace to hack the system and open other routes. Fights are close and violent, with melee weapons, guns and energy weapons against mutated crew, cyborgs and security robots.

What frightens is the station itself and the voice that runs it. SHODAN talks to you over the station's systems, raises security as you go and sends her creations after you, so the halls never feel safe. The art pairs retro-future design with grimy, blood-stained rooms.

If you have played System Shock 2, this is the story that came before it, on a different station, with more emphasis on fighting and less on scarcity. It suits players who like Prey, BioShock or DOOM 3: first-person sci-fi horror where you fight back.

How to play System Shock

Buy the game on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox or Switch and start a new game.
Explore Citadel Station's decks; the story unfolds at your own pace as you go.
Pick up weapons, ammunition and items, and manage what you carry in your inventory.
Fight the mutants, cyborgs and robots SHODAN sends after you, and improve your skills as you go.
Jack into cyberspace to hack the system and open other routes.

Screenshots

Two pale mutants crouch in a red station lounge behind a laser barrier as SHODAN speaks in a subtitle

A cyborg in black armour swings a pipe at the player in a neon-lit room

A bloodied mutant runs at the player in a blue-lit corridor as the player raises a pistol

Tips

Search bodies and rooms: the inventory screen shows what a corpse carries before you take it.
Keep an eye on the minimap in the corner; the station's decks are large.
Watch the security level SHODAN announces; it tells you how much of a deck she still controls.

Questions

Is System Shock a horror game?

Yes, a first-person sci-fi horror game: you are alone on a station whose crew has been turned into cyborgs and mutants by a mad AI. It has more fighting than slower survival horror games.

Is this the original 1994 System Shock?

No. It is a full remake by Nightdive Studios with new visuals, controls, interface, sound and music, built on the original's design.

Do I need to play System Shock before System Shock 2?

No. They are separate stories on different ships, though SHODAN links them. Playing this one first shows where she came from.

What platforms is System Shock on?

Windows PC on Steam, PS4 and PS5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.