That’s a legacy that Nightdive Studios, the team behind the upcoming System Shock remake, is well aware of. Because so many of the games that followed in System Shock’s footsteps went on to become more successful (at least in terms of sales), there are times when System Shock is remembered more for the games it inspired than LookingGlass’ original experience. In fact, imagine playing BioShock in 1994 and you’ll have a pretty good idea why System Shock is typically referred to as a game ahead of its time.Įven in that respect, the case of System Shock has always been a strange one.

By the time BioShock arrived in 2007, a “Shock” game was a bit easier to define. Other games, such as 2000’s Deus Ex, were largely re-imaginings of the System Shock formula. Titles like Thief and Half-Life, both released in 1998, expanded on System Shock‘s emergent gameplay and first-person storytelling.

In fact, LookingGlass lost money on the game.īut not long after System Shock’s release, a new breed of games began to emerge, PC titles that were clearly inspired by its innovations. While System Shock received quite a bit of praise from critics and players who took a chance on it, but it wasn’t exactly revered as a game-changer or considered a major hit at the time. It featured navigation and level design similar to games like Ultima Underworld, but it wasn’t necessarily an RPG in most respects. It was a first-person game with action and guns, but it most certainly wasn’t a first-person shooter like Doom, which had been released less than a year before System Shock.

When LookingGlass Technologies’ System Shock released in 1994, few people knew what to make of it.

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