This is one of the greatest and underrated PC games of all time, simply terrifying to play with its unparalleled level of ambient horror this is the RPS that defined the genre and has set the standard for future games in this category. Dead Space/Bioshock/Deus Ex - all the others stem from SS2 and it's no surprise why. The gameplay is superior to SS1 and the sound and voice acting are some of, if not the best I have ever heard in my years of gaming. To me reviewing this in 2011 after playing it for about 8 years - this is the pinnacle of PC gaming and if you can get your hands on a copy and get it running then you are in for a world of horrific joy!… Expand

This game is broken to the point of being unplayable. I don't get a gun when I start, I'm told that I can't even use the gun I just found (because people in the military don't know what guns are), and my only weapon is a wrench. Wow, isn't that fun. Easily the worst PC game ever made.

Certainly one of the best games I have ever played. A real classic!

Extraordinary. System Shock 2 combines FPS action, a nicely-thought-out character building system, a genuinely frightening atmosphere and a superbly-told story into a package which, despite its faults, stands as one of the finest and most gripping interactive experiences ever, even 5 years after its release. Utterly indispensable.

Possibly the greatest game I have ever played. Great music, great gameplay, and even greater story.

Everything that Bioshock should have been. I'll take the less impressive graphics of SS2 and stellar replay/gameplay over the stellar graphics of Bioshock and lacking replay/gameplay. If you've played Bioshock, you owe it to yourself to find a copy of SS2 and see what could have been!

I spend about 2 weeks locating patches, hacks & add-ons to make it run under Vista32. Still a great game!! I graphics were dated at its release, but the audio more than made up the difference. I believe it is still one of the creepiest game audio experiences there is to be had.

SS2 is simply the best PC game Ive ever played. I got it around 4 years ago in a PC game bundle and was blown away. Ridiculously atmospheric, great for allowing different approaches and a stunning plot make this a classic. This one goes up to 11!

Playing this for the first time 10 years after its release, it still impressed me enough with the gameplay, story and atmosphere to rank it in my top five games of all time. Wanting to see how good a modern remake of it could be, I tried playing Bioshock, and now I weep for modern video gaming. Seriously, if we've digressed this much, I pity our future generations. SS2>>>>bioshock (and most other games for that matter).… Expand

Best survival horror I have ever played. This is a game wear I actually was scared a few times, and the tension of every shot having to count is pulled of perfectly.

This is such an easy review, it's the greatest game ever made. If you haven't played it, get it now! Don't think I've over hyped this game, you can't it really is that good. If you are a game developer reading this, please, please play this game and learn from it. We don't need another boring shooter with no atmosphere and a plot to fall asleep to. We need a System Shock 3.… Expand

There are only two games in history that can compare to it - Thief and Deus Ex. It's simply a masterpiece.

System Shock 2 received a lukewarm market reception and suffered from the closing of its development studio shortly after release. Despite the obvious troubles Looking Glass were experiencing financially, System Shock 2 was released to universal critical acclaim. And rightly so. Every element of this Science Fiction FPS/RPG is so close to perfection it is almost a religious experience to behold. [***SPOILERS***] Your journey through the halls of the Von Braun on her maiden voyage gone awry is one of wonder, excitement, trepidation and outright terror, all convincingly fit into an RPG that was (for its time) uniquely set in the first person without feeling shoehorned. Character building is balanced, rewarding and essentially requires enough thought and planning to satisfy RPG fanatics without being inaccessible to fans of the more arcade style FPS genre. The interface is clean, clear, informative and functional. Each item has a complete text file attached giving its history, stat requirements and method of use, giving a sense of depth to the System Shock universe and even filling many story gaps from the previous game. The storyline is rich, detailed and full of the kind of incidental information that makes the Lord of the Rings feel like a living breathing world. As mentioned above, each and every item, from weapons and health items to potted plants and bottles of whisky have their own lovingly crafted place in the overarching plot of the System Shock world. Gameplay is closely linked to the main story and follows as a direct sequel to the original game in a manner that would make most Hollywood script writers embarrassed of their work. Each morsel of storyline, sparingly fed to you throughout the game, is like a treasure uncovered, another piece of the jigsaw slotted into place. Coupled with satisfyingly cerebral and often intense combat in both the ranged and melee departments, it still stands out as one of the most well crafted FPS games in existence. Sound is a standout feature, with an attention to detail more acute than is given to entire games. The low hum of machinery, the various computer noises, the inane chatter of the ship's droids and the tormented ramblings of your ill-fated crewmates will all conspire to build a tension so thick that it becomes almost unbearable. Much of the story is told through audio logs from dead or missing crewmates and the voice acting must be heard to be believed. If even one quarter of the games released today had this quality of voice acting, the gaming industry would be a much better place. The single drawback of System Shock 2 is in the graphical department. Whilst the concept design of the Von Braun, the items and the creatures which inhabit the ship are of exceptional quality, the Dark engine didn't allow the game to be a shining example of graphical prowess, even at release. That said, everything is functional and well made, but the low number of polys on the characters is a drawback, however small. System Shock 2 is easily one of the best games ever produced in this world or any other. Smart, tense action backed up by a surprisingly deep character development system makes this the ultimate 'thinking man's shooter' and will be no doubt held in the hearts of gamers as an overlooked gem for many years.… Expand

This is the best game in the world ever! Well, at least that’s what I tell people. You know what it’s like: you get into one of those discussions about why such and such is a large pile of toss, then without fail you start spouting pristine examples of the genre. Undoubtedly, you will mention Okami, Perfect Dark, Mario 64, perhaps even Silent Hill. These regurgitations are so well oiled by now that you’ll hear the same few examples spouted again and again (perhaps because there are so few good examples) until they reverberate around your own sub-consciousness and you recite them without a second thought. I’m as guilty as the rest of them I’m afraid. My own personal favourite knee-jerk reaction to such situations is System Shock 2. I’m not trying to say that those titles are totally without merit or that we’re only repeating others' opinions, just that maybe most echoes going around might be the result of a little Danger Mouse effect. You know about the Danger Mouse effect, surely? From your childhood it’s your most loved early Saturday morning cartoon, equally cherished and adored by others you mention it to (who remember those days). However, upon watching Danger Mouse again today you will no doubt quickly realise it’s the most nonsensical pile of piffle you’ve ever laid your eyes on. A secret agent mouse with an eye patch who lives in a post box? Come on, really. So I worry from time to time that my unchallenged devotion to System Shock 2 might also be on shaky foundations. I was, of course, much younger and much less wise to the intricacies that go into making a truly first class video game. More then this though, I’m sure the graphics would be laughable by today’s standards, the game play dynamics would have been studied thoroughly and improved upon since then and I’m sure I’ve heard more chilling moans from the dimly lit distance of abandoned space ships. I’d best take another look, just to be sure. CRICKEY!!! This still scares 7 shades of top soil out of me. After about 10 minutes in I’d saved the game about 20 times and managed to walk about 4 meters through the ship. Progress was going to take some time unless I grew some stones fairly quickly. Aside from dimly lit corridors and the sense of isolation (occasionally interrupted by your back seat driver friend who drip feeds you cyber modules when you’ve been good), I believe it’s the level design that’s most responsible for the new colour scheme decorating your pants. It’s claustrophobic, features many corpses that have been discarded in the most uncomfortable of circumstances and some very disconcerting noises coming from almost every area of the ship. Also, a significant portion of the terror can be put down to your character being about as hard as a lattice of rice paper. He is, essentially, a copy of your average IT admin: great technical and hacking skills, likes hanging out in dark rooms with only the odd little flashing light for comfort and immediately pisses himself and dies at the slightest inkling of confrontation. Oh, he also likes to fiddle with himself due to a fetish for the latest upgrades. What was it Tyler Durden said about self-improvement? Anyway, the sense of feebleness is only further increased by your only reliable weapon being a wrench, the fact he manages to break every gun after a few shots and his main special ability is shooting snow flakes from his hands. Interesting how they swapped snow flakes for bees in Bio Shock. To begin with this was all fine and marvellous, and I thought to myself: “Well done chaps, this environment has certainly given me the willies.” As time pressed on, though, other thoughts started to creep in, like “What the feck have they made this gun out of, potatoes?”, and, “How the hell did anyone actually live on this ship without some bread crumbs and a months supply freeze dried SAS rations”. By having a gun that jams while a bunch of hybrids (zombies to everyone else) chew on your arse, the game immediately dampens the fear factor a little (further reduced by you dying all the time), replacing it with a bit of pure rage. Even if this might seem to some to be excellent game dynamic, where’s the explanation? If I’d been told from the start that all the weapons you’ll find are going to be made from Styrofoam, then, at least the game world would have remained a little more intact for me. This is balanced out by letting you upgrade your repair skills which will allow you to fix various weapons. All perfectly reasonable, and I’m sure I’d need a few night classes before I could do the same but I fail to see why he needs an upgrade to actually use these guns. What’s he upgrading? The length of his index finger? This brings me onto the level design. The layout of most the decks are superbly considered from a gameplay perspective. You have to be as carefull when you tackle enemies as you do with the rest of the ship. Almost every room is a small puzzle that can be engaged in in many different ways depending on your skills at the time. In creating these labyrinths full of fear and puzzles, however, what seems to be lost is the sense that this is a layout of a real ship because it looks more like a mangled submarine. Other games have pulled this off by starting out with a convincing layout only to introduce an abundance of locked doors that not even a shotgun can get through (you know what game I’m talking about). At least here they could have just been welded up, perhaps as the crew tried the seal themselves off from the body snatching invasion. This would have fitted in nicely with all the other ripped off elements from Aliens – of which there are many. At the end of the day it’s all too easy to grumble about inconsistencies between the realities video games create and their gameplay - not to mention futile. Very few games seem to care about this sort of thing and - if you believe in sales figures - very few players do either. I suppose as long as the game play is solid and the environment is engaging then it does not really matter. In System Shock 2’s case it certainly excels on both these counts and many more. So I guess it’s safe for me to continue holding up SS2 with such unwavering praise then? Well, if you consider that its failures continue to plague very many games today whereas its successes are only bettered by very few, then yes, I guess I still can. I’ll just have to keep in mind that it’s not perfect, to be wary of the Danger Mouse effect and to make sure I never sit down to watch Thunder Cats (ho).… Expand

This game is brilliant. not one for all you f..king noobs who can only play counterstrike though.

It cannot be helped. I'm a veteran in this game series. I've played sshock1 through about 10 times and I loved it. Maybe it's just me but I was a bit disappointed. Where did all the cyborgs go? Don't get me wrong I like the game and it's good but I compare it to sshock1 and that cut's the points down. Hopefully WHEN the sshock3 is for sale (I hope for their sake that they'll make one) it has cyborgs and more guns better puzles and even thicker plot.… Expand

Certainly one of the best games I have ever played. A real classic!

It is an awesome game, must have!

In this day and age where the typical FPS game has more style than substance, this game, despite its age, is a welcome breath of fresh air. I've almost never come across a game so well-crafted, and I've played a lot of PC games. From its believable characters, deep plot, immersive atmosphere (read: spooky), exquisite sound and art, System Shock 2 delivers in every way. It is a successful marriage of several game genres. Although FPS games nowadays may be fused with better graphics and sound, very few can come close to the production values and innovation of this game. Unforgettable. A classic in PC gaming.… Expand

The multiplayer patch added later enhances the game immeasurably. Suddenly you and four friends have the freedom to specialize in different skill areas and team up against any enemy you come across - or split up and complete objectives separately to make it through the game faster. Coop is -so much fun- that for a period of 6 months I played it exclusively. I've never seen another game approach anything like this, in the 5 years since its release. … Expand

Great Game.One of the best I ever played. Would like to see a remake of thi game. Having Valve do it.

Not quite as good as Deus Ex or Half Life for me but still a great game. Scary, atmospheric, great storyline and acting. Graphics are good but not brilliant but what do you expect from a game made in the 90's. Only grime is unlike Deus Ex the game is finished in around 15 hours.

Clearly, one of the all-time greats!

System shcok 2 is among my list of Best Games Ever, and considering all the pcgames I've played, that is high praise. Not for newbs, and definently not for console kiddies, but for everyone else, ENJOY!

It's fun. If you've ever played half life, this plays similarly. It might be just me, but i didn't like the rpg elements. the sound and atmosphere absolutely rule though.

Hey, I like Counter-Strike! :P This game mixes the best from the FPS (Shoot 'Em Up) and Survival-Horror genres together into one awesome experience. Could've had about two months more polish though: the cutscenes are rushed, the menus look amateurish, the enemies need more polygons, etc. The sound and atmosphere, however, is fantastic. If you could imagine Alien and Dawn Of The Dead combined, into a game, I think it would be sort of like this. 9/10… Expand

Forget Half Life or Doom forever! This game is still my favourite of all!

Quite simply The best PC game I have ever played, dethrowning the previous champ; System Shock One. Terrifying, exciting, and engrossing, with amazing sounds, level design, and plot. Oh, and don't expect to finish it in a weekend, it has plenty of challenges to offer.

Very intelligent game design with near flawless execution. The art and sound direction contructs a thoroughly believable, atmospheric setting laden heavily with tension. It really does seem that you are 6.5 billion miles from Earth, utterly on your own, and that the ships were once well lived in. The nature of the antagonist as all-pervasive is brilliant in instilling a sense of futility. There are just so many design decisions here that seem so well thought out, even insightful. Brilliant.… Expand

Probably inferior to Half-Life in its scenic variety and execution - but a far more compelling story, with intelligent and very well balanced rpg elements - Story and depth - this is as games should be. Better than BioShock, by a country mile. We need a System Shock 3.

All I can say, is that I love this game so much, that if I were to win the lottery, I would hunt down all the previous developers of this game, and hire them to make a system shock 3. I would then publish it, and the computer gaming world would be sent into a frenzy. Nobody would be able to get enough of it, because it would be the most perfect game ever made. And this version would have the multiplayer built in, in an easy to use way. One of my absolute top 10, no, top 5 games. I'm wanting to play this game again, but it doesn't run on my new computer. Dumb new technology...… Expand

A Masterpiece, why this game hasn't had a HD remake is beyond me. A terrifying and clever take on the original with brilliant writing by the always magnificent Ken Levine.

How awesome is this game? Well - I've played it for the first time in 2007, right after I have finished playing Bioshock and OH MY GOD, SS2 just dominated it.... SO DAMN MUCH. It is a really unique game - one of few games, which manages to combine perfectly cRPG with a shooter - no really, I was very disappointed with Bioshock, Fallout 3 and even Mass Effect 2. SS2 is just so damn good. Sure, the graphics are kind of ugly now, but the game is just so original, so complicated and at the same time, so player-friendly. It shows a beautiful and convincing vision of future - combine it with really great gaming mechanics, good plot, great sounds, beautiful music, huge replayability and even 4 player COOP - and you get System Shock 2. Yeah, the game has some worse moments, but playing it is just so fun, that it makes you forgive about anything that's bad about it (and there's not many bad things about it). If there's a game which makes any new game looks bad and 'brainless', it's System Shock 2. My favorite game of all times and well-deserved 10/10.… Expand

What else to say? Other comments said everything that has to be said. A simply masterpiece done by Looking Glass.

One of the most memorable, thrilling and exciting games I've ever played on a PC. Or for that matter on any platform. And I've played computer and video games over 20 years. A classic, this one is.

A disturbing masterpiece.SHODAN, the arch nemesis which is also your ally is the greatest villain in Gaming History.SS2 inspired a lot of games like Doom 3, Bioshock & Dead Space & it's 3 in 1:FPS, RPG & Survival Horror in a cyber punk universe.Truly revolutionary.The things that suck about this game?It's too hard & the graphics are outdated.

This game is one of my all time favorites, not because it's good graphic or fancy characters, but the awesome story and epic atmosphere. Too bad, current games are lacking those elements. I am waiting for the new episode more than 10 years now, and still hoping someone can do it right! Best mix in FPS-RPG elements, just like Deus Ex one.

Please note that all games are reviewed against current standards. What the game 'was' for it's time. Does not factor into the score. Only what it is. System shock 2 remains one of the most atmospheric, deep, and psychological games ever made - even in 2012. It's visuals have aged VERY poorly. However it's sound design has not, and remains at the top of it's class. This game is a masterpiece, there is no other word for it. It's one of the scariest game's ever made, and then it layers deep rpg systems over the top as well as exceptional audio design and story presentation. The end result is nothing short of a timeless miracle.… Expand

I remember buying it in 1999. Still it is the best game I ever played. The complexity of the story and the gameplay. You can really immerse into the atmosphere. There are so many objects to use. You can play it so many different kind of ways. There is no flaws in this game at all. Wish they would create a remake of it with a new graphic engine.

with a heavy heart i give this a 9 - why would i do this for a game that is amongst my personal top of the finest games ever made? because it could have been more; nonetheless, it is simply one of the most brilliant horror FPS ever made; the game play is certainly immersive - not quite as much as the Thief series (from which SS2 borrowed a lot of the sounds since the same developer (Looking Glass) made both game franchises), but nonetheless incredibly well done; but what i think the game failed to do is to balance all weapons (some are acquired later on and typically quite under-powered and useless, especially since the RPG aspect is so well developed in this game, meaning that a later stages in the game you will already have developed your character to be most proficient in some weaponry - little use are underpowered exotic weapons that your character has little to no skill in using); and the lonely environment is simply not convincing - other attempts in the genre like Dead Space actually do create horror you can feel and thus heighten your feeling of isolation; but in SS2 this feeling never develops because of the vast weaponry at your disposal and the rather pathetic attempts at instigating several encounters with other alive NPCs that then get killed or run off; however, the musical score is superb and creates incredible atmosphere in this game; all in all a definite must-have!… Expand

Very possibly the greatest game of all time. Terrifying, well scripted with monstrous twists, atmospheric soundtrack.. the lot. As good as the unofficial sequels (the bioshock series) have been, they simply don't touch this phenomenal piece of work.

This game has one major flaw and sadly it is one of the kind that may leave you disappointed and cast down after playing it. - Most likely there wont ever be any kind of official remake or third part of this series due to legal right issues. At least that is how i feel about whats going on there. A lot of aspects about this game are just brilliant. Terri and Eric Brosius work on vocals, sound and music just needs to be honored. The level design. Or the way some RPG Elements are implementented in this sci-fi survival shooter too. Difficult to find anything similar in todays games where 90% of the budgets just seem to float in graphics and mediocre multiplayer modes.… Expand

This game, is quite possibly one of the best ever made. The execution in this product is top-notch, even by today's exacting standards. The atmosphere, frightening, still gives me that creepy feeling on the back of my neck. The NPCs, they seem real, alive with real-issues, all of which drive the story piece by piece. There isn't a single game that I have played to date that is as good as System Shock 2. There are good games, even great games, but this one... I always come back to this one, even a decade later. Sure the graphics are terrible by today's standards, even the controls a tad clunky, but the auditory and psychological experience are second to none. This game /can/ be hard. Even seemingly impossibly difficult. That in and of itself is a rare beauty. Too many games nowadays are made for corn-fed calves; this one makes you think, risk, and if you do it right, survive... A must have.… Expand

System Shock 2 is the pinnacle of first person gaming to date (2012), modern games can barely stand to its intelligent, innovative and rewarding design. Do NOT think twice, buy it now! But do not expect a walk in the park otherwise Shodan will make you her ****

I'd consider this one an underground classic. SS2 introduced RPG elements to the FPS genre before it become trendy years later, so in that regard it was ahead of its time. The main drawbacks are that I can't get the game to run on any version of Windows newer than XP, and the weapons are unbalanced (all you really need is the Assault Rifle, provided you have enough ammo). Aside from those negative points, you can hack computer terminals and turrets, kill aliens and rip out their organs to research their weaknesses, get more intel on the game plot through emails and audio logs, and acquire psionic disciplines (akin to magic powers, but a Psi-Amp is required). Bioshock's resemblance in gameplay is no coincidence. It's also worth noting the survival horror element of the game - it's a creepy atmosphere all around. It's like a cyberpunk Resident Evil. Overall, I consider System Shock 2 to be a cult classic in the gaming industry. A must play at some point in your life.… Expand