System Shock 2 Remaster: Six Years After the Announcement, 49 Comments
Image: NightDive Studios
Six years after the initial announcement, the time has come: the mandatory, modernized remaster of the legendary 1999 sci-fi game System Shock 2 (retro review) is ready. For the first time, the dark adventure with the iconic, insane AI wheel-turning game will also be playable on consoles.
As part of the announcement, Night Dive Studios also reveals why a “simple” remaster took so long. This is explained by the engine used: the dark engine from Glass Look Studios was only used for a few games and further developed for System Shock 2—with features that were relevant to the moment, but difficult to work with. Furthermore, there is no standardized code, meaning the engine is a complex collection of legacy libraries, meaning developers couldn’t even fall back on the game’s source code.
This made it difficult to upgrade to modern shaders and other graphical effects. Ultimately, however, it succeeded; the engine can now also deliver higher frame rates.
System Requirements Remain Ridiculous
The upgrade has no noticeable impact on system requirements. Even the developers’ development is ridiculously low: Intel’s second-generation Core processors, like the mainstream bulldozer predecessor, or AMDs with four cores and four gigabytes of RAM, are sufficient. The graphics card is only required to handle DirectX11 or Vulkan 1.1. An onboard chip is therefore completely sufficient.
The game can be played starting June 26th, a good two weeks before the original’s 25th anniversary, on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. There, the game is currently available for pre-order via Steam, the Humble Store, and GOG with a ten percent discount for around €26.
What makes the System 2 clash so special is its open game world and role-playing aspect: the player’s chosen skills determine the possible procedures by which they must organically navigate the game world, while aboard a spaceship dictated by a crazed AI. System Requirements for System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster Processor Minimum Recommended AMD or Intel Dual Core (2 GHz) AMD Phenom II X4 945
Intel Core i5-2300 RAM 2 GB RAM 4 GB Graphics Card GPU with DirectX 11 or Vulkan-1.1 Supported Storage Space 0.42 GB Operating System Windows 10/11 (64-bit), DirectX 12 Topics: Action Games Gaming System System Source: Sony
A lifelong video game enthusiast, Julien reviews the latest releases and explores the technologies transforming the gaming world.
