System Shock 3 is bringing back one of gaming's best villains

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Dennis Scimeca the daily dot

A malevolent artificial intelligence that's been taunting gamers for decades is making her comeback.

The development of System Shock 3 has officially been confirmed, after a puzzle teaser for the game went live six days ago. Gamers quickly deciphered a puzzle to reveal the game’s existence, and then Shodan, the rogue AI villain of the System Shock series, proceeded to mock fans checking in on the site via text messages.

The original System Shock, released in 1994, combined role-playing game and first-person shooter mechanics to create an original experience. It also introduced Shodan, a homicidal computer program that over two decades since her first appearance is still considered one of the most memorable villains in gaming.

The third game in the System Shock series is being developed by Otherside Entertainment and promises to be an authentic experience, owing to key members of the development team. Paul Neurath, co-founder of the famed Looking Glass Studios is on the System Shock 3 team along with Robb Waters, concept artist on the first two System Shock games, and Nate Wells, a senior artist on System Shock 2.

Terri Brosius, the voice actress who portrayed Shodan in the first two System Shock games, is also returning for System Shock 3. You can hear a brief clip of Brosius reprising the role on the game’s website, in case you needed a reminder as to why Shodan is so damned creepy.

The development of System Shock 3 is still in “early concept stages

 

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Enhanced new re-release of System Shock will make you appreciate the classics

System Shock, the influential first-person shooter that pioneered mash-ups with role playing games, has been re-released as a new, enhanced edition on GOG.COM.

Long before first-person shooter mash-ups like Battleborn, Borderlands, and Destiny were common in the video game industry, there was System Shock. Released in 1994 for DOS, it introduced the idea of mixing FPS action with role-playing game systems, like donning equipment that changed the player's abilities or altered weapon performance.

System Shock was released only one year after Doom, when first-person shooters were defined by straightforward action and simple plots. System Shock, on the other hand included puzzles, a genuine story told within a cyberpunk future, and introduced the villainous artificial intelligence named SHODAN, a legendary character in video game history.


The enhanced edition of System Shock offers higher resolution than the original release, the ability to look around with the mouse (standard in modern FPS games), custom keyboard controls, and fixes some of the bugs from the initial 1994 release.

System Shock led to System Shock 2, and that in turn inspired the mechanics and storytelling style of the BioShock series. The re-release of System Shock is part history lesson, part fresh access to an awesome game.

 

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Ken Levine, creator of BioShock, has talked about the themes of his next game, which has not yet been officially announced or given a name.

In an interview with Game Informer, Levine was asked if he'd like to have some involvement with System Shock 3, which was officially revealed on December 13. Levine served as writer and designer System Shock 2.

"I'm so deeply involved in the themes of our new thing, our new game is a science-fiction game," he replied. "It involves themes like artificial intelligence and what it means to be programmed, that you are a thing that was created by programming."

He continued: "That's a big theme in the new game. And how much agency you have outside of what you are as a piece of programming instructions. So I'm scratching a lot of those itches in the new game already."
Levine added that the thematic similarities between his new game and System Shock mean that he doesn't "really feel a need to go back to touch those characters again," much like he

didn't feel the need to do so with BioShock and its sequel, BioShock Infinite.

Moving on from System Shock is what led to BioShock, he said: "Say we would have gotten the rights to System Shock before we did BioShock, there wouldn't have been an Andrew Ryan, or Big Daddies, or Elizabeth...I do think it's important to move on and make different things in life."

Elsewhere in the interview, Levine reflected on his personal connection to System Shock and the new sequel.

"I wish [the developers] the best," he said. "I have a personal connection to System Shock, [System Shock 2] was the first game I ever shipped...Without that game, there's nothing else for us. Nothing would have happened. So I have a deep connection with it...I'm excited, I hope they can figure it out and make a cool game out of it."

Little is known about Levine's next game, which he started working on after Irrational Games closed in February 2013. Levine and a small number of others stayed with parent company Take-Two to work on a "smaller, more entrepreneurial" project.

The BioShock series is now in the hands of 2K Games in California. As of yet a new entry in the series has not been announced, but its management has said the franchise still has lots of room to grow commercially and creatively.

GameSpot Staff