Taking place 40 years after the events of the original, System Shock 2 takes place not within Citadel Station, but onboard the first faster-than-light ship ever created, the Von Braun. “That image was snuffed out by the hacker who created her…”ĭid they succeed? To a remarkable degree, yes, and in the process, Looking Glass has created one of the finest games of 1999.

In response to the wishes of the fan community, Looking Glass teamed up with Irrational Games, a fledgling development studio, and set about the unenviable task of creating a game that would improve upon the original, while still staying true to its roots. While not the commercial success that Doom was, System Shock still developed a hard-core fan-base, critical acclaim, and high replayability. “In her limitless imagination, SHODAN saw herself as a goddess destined to inherit the Earth.” System Shock was a victim of its own complexity and uniqueness – the interface was simply intimidating until it was learned. While the game ultimately sold over a hundred thousand copies (thanks in part to the CD-ROM re-edition with high-res graphics and voice acting), it was Doom that gained the attention, and the reputation for propelling the FPS genre forward – despite lacking anything as basic as the ability to jump. Considered by many people to be one of gaming’s finest hours, System Shock combined a chilling storyline, one of gaming’s most memorable villains (SHODAN), an interface with unparalleled depth, and solid gameplay. Several years later, the same thing happened – id released Doom, and Looking Glass released System Shock.

Having features unheard of at the time (such as an inventory system and the ability to look up, down, and jump), Ultima Underworld was perhaps the first melding of the FPS and RPG genres. In the early 90s, when id’s Wolfenstein 3D was garnering all the attention, Looking Glass released Ultima Underworld, a spin-off of the popular RPG series.

Looking Glass Technologies has always proved to be an innovator. “In 2072, a rogue artificial intelligence known as SHODAN lost her mind…”

System shock 2 the many