History VideoGame / SystemShock

* MachineWorship: What SHODAN expects you to do. Cyborg Edward Diego and other cyborgs are doing this.

''System Shock'' by Looking Glass Studios was a groundbreaking FirstPersonShooter with SurvivalHorror and RPGElements set in a CyberPunk future. It wasn't exactly a smashing success in sales, but it produced a sequel that was probably one of the best [=FPSes=] in history and spawned one of the most memorable villains in all of video games.

The sequel, made in collaboration with Irrational Games, founded by former LGS employees, is set 42 years later; due to the events of the first game, anti-MegaCorp outrage resulted in formation of Unified National Nominate, the quasi-socialist world government. After UNN (albeit under [=TriOptimum=] grant) scientist Marie Delacroix discovers the secret of faster than light travel, UNN and [=TriOptimum=] mount a joint mission to Tau Ceti [[hottip:* : Which may or may not have been a ShoutOut to {{Bungie}}'s ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' which was also set in Tau Ceti and was contemporary to release of the original ''System Shock''.]] The game involves the maiden voyage of the ''Von Braun'', the first ship with FTLTravel equipped, accompanied by the UNN ''Rickenbacker''. The game begins with the awakening of the player character, a cybernetically-enhanced soldier, from cryosleep to receive a small amount of exposition from a voice identified as a surviving member of the ''Von Braun'''s crew, and then immediately has to escape his sick room that has been exposed to space, beginning his long adventure in avoiding his own death.

* EnergyBall: The Overload option of the energy weapons will fire these.

* {{Overheating}}: Energy weapons from the original.

* TranshumanTreachery: Even with the brainwashing powers of the many, there were still some people who joined the Many either because of similar beliefs, were power hungry or wanted to be on the winning side.

* LateToTheTragedy: In both games, you wake up after all hell has broken loose. This was because Looking Glass realized that the technology just wasn't ready to have realistic reactions and conversations with pesky ''living'' people. Conversations were possible in the spiritual ancestor UltimaUnderworld, though. The main problem is the Dark Engine itself (used for Thief 1 & 2 as well as SS2). While it is technically capable enough, the editor is user-surly to the novice and a total mindscrew to comprehend. Coding in a believable friendly NPC would be an absolute ''nightmare''. Fortunately, both games very effectively Justified this trope.
* LegoGenetics: The description of Cybermodules says that it has RNA info that changes the user.
* LightningBruiser: The Rumblers are quick for their size. Also the Soldier on easy difficulty where the upgrades were cheap.
* LoadBearingBoss: [[spoiler:Killing SHODAN in SS2 will result in destruction of the faux-Citadel Station, justified because it's her will that changes and maintains the altered reality.]]
* LockedDoor: Lots of them. Some can be hacked, but others need keycards, codes or plot advancement to open to them.

* LookOnMyWorksYeMightyAndDespair: Prefontaine, the scientist captured by The Many, studied the biomass and remarked how in short 40 years of evolution The Many conquered the starship, humanity's mightiest creation. Also, the whole second game can be somewhat viewed like this.

* MagicAntidote: Subverted in the original, where the Detox patches also nullifies every other patches, including med patches. Played straight in the sequel with the Anti-Rad hypos and Anti-Toxin hypos.

* NostalgiaLevel: "Where am i?".

* NonstandardGameOver: [[spoiler:foolishly flipping switches aboard Citadel Station can result in firing the station's superweapon at Earth]]!

* PraetorianGuard: The Elite Mutants in the original, featured on the cover and can be only found on the Bridge Level.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: SHODAN spends half the time conversing with you, [[spoiler: including the time you are working for her and you are referred to as the Avatar of SHODAN]], telling you why you are pathetic, inferior and why you suck.

* RedLightDistrict: There is the simulation brothel for both sexes on the Recreation deck.

* TheReveal: When the player [[spoiler:heads up to Deck 4 to see Polito. "The Polito form is dead, insect. Are you afraid? What is it you fear? The end of your trivial existence? W-wh-whe-whe-when the history of my glory is written, your species shall be but a footnote to my magnificence. (the walls fold away in Polito's office)...I AM SHODAN"]].

* RPGElements: In the sequel, the player has the option at the beginning to focus on guns, hacking, or psychic powers.
** And then upgrading with cybermodules.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: The jettisoned Beta grove from Citadel Station reaching Tau Ceti V in less than 40 years, see ContrivedCoincidence above for more details. And Von Braun seems to be a little small for the crew of over 1,000 men and women.

** He also wears a shirt in the intro with a [[{{Watchmen}} large yellow smiley face stained red]]

* SpiritualSuccessor: To the UltimaUnderworld series. System Shock itself has its own successors in form of BioShock and VideoGame/DeadSpace.

* StarCrossedLovers: Tommy Suarez and Rebecca Siddons. He is crewmember of UNN Rickenbacker run by the anti-corporate military man, She is crewmember of Von Braun run by the CorruptCorporateExecutive [[spoiler:and possessed by SHODAN]].

* EnemyDetectingRadar: In the original the higher versions of the map software allowed you to see enemies on the mini-map, and the results depended on which subsystem was using it (left, right (one showed stationary enemies while the other showed them in motion only) or both (for both stationary and motion detecting)). The sequel has a PSI-Discipline that produced the same results.

* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: One of the Many's arguments, phrased as "The tyranny of the individual"

* EyelessFace: The Rumblers [[spoiler:The hanging remains of the human body on its shoulder does not count]].
* FasterThanLightTravel: The Von Braun is a test of this technology. [[spoiler:And SHODAN is really interested in reality warping qualities of it]].

* FleshVersusSteel: The second game. XERXES and The Many often called you, questioning why the soldier chose ([[ButThouMust not that there was any choice]]) the [[spoiler:the machine-mother]] over the pleasure of the flesh.

* GenerationXerox: Captain Diego is a little pissed that he basically made same mistakes that could endanger the humanity, just like his father, who was responsible for SHODAN.

* GoodNewsBadNews: Io training facility description, where the good news is that spending the year here will build your endurance, the bad news is the 21.2& fatality rate. If you chosen the Marine career, there is another bad news: You have to spend a year with those Navy sissies.

* HealingFactor: One of the worm implants gives you regeneration, but at the cost. See ToxicPhlebotinum below.

* HighlyConspicuousUniform: The crew uniforms, basically modified short-sleeved Franchise/StarTrek uniforms. The Military (The player Soldier and others) averts this.

* HitboxDissonance: Monkeys can only be hit consistently with the wrench (the weapon you will be using most of the time, as ammo is limited for most of the game) from above is right on top of them (monkeys have PsychicPowers and are the first and most plentiful foe with a ranged attack). An upgrade for the player character's cybernetic OS allows him to execute overhand attacks with melee weapons (a shout-out to the game's predecessor, ''Thief'', which uses the same engine), although this only helps a little and requires not taking other, much more useful, upgrades.

* KaizoTrap: Inverted. [[spoiler: In the original, when Shodan defeats you by completely filling your screen with herself, you still can steal the victory if you keep blindly attacking.]]

*** For ''System Shock 2'', while there many fan patches and tools that try to make it work on XP[=/=]Vista[=/=]7, one french modder apparently got his hands on the game engine's source code and used it to [[http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140085 create a patch]] that allows the game to run smoothly on modern systems with added mod support.

* KilledMidSentence: Malick. He was working on an audio-log before Bronson's men gunned him down. [[spoiler: Also Prefontaine.]]

Both ''System Shock'' and ''System Shock 2'' received critical acclaim, but neither was a commercial success due to release dates that pitted the games against strong competition: ''System Shock'' was released in the wake of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and was sort-of competing with ''Marathon'', and ''System Shock 2'' went up against the equally groundbreaking ''{{Half-Life}}''. Still, the games have endured, and even spawned a [[SpiritualSuccessor spiritual sequel]] in ''BioShock''. A third game was briefly rumored with a 2006 trademark renewal and claims by PC Gamer UK, then disappeared. It is unlikely that Irrational, as a part of 2K Games, can even work on another title in the series so long as Electronic Arts continues to hold the trademarks, so it is sadly likely that this is all we're [[TooGoodToLast going to get.]]

* AbnormalAmmo: The Viral Proliferator and the Annelid Launcher in the sequel uses worms as ammunition , the latter particularly fires ''homing rockets filled with worms''.

* ActionBomb: the Robot bombs in the original; The Protocol Droids in the sequel.

* AGodAmI: SHODAN has a...healthy opinion of herself, to say at least.

* AnimalTesting: Hundreds of chimps are on Von Braun for this reason. Unfortunately for the crew, they got sentient and gained psychic powers as a bonus.

* ArcNumber: 451

** [[spoiler: Janice Polito]] did the same after she accidentally [[spoiler: released SHODAN]].
* {{Autodoc}}: Both games have automatic medical beds that heal you completely in an instant. The first game also has stations that will reanimate a "killed" character, though these need to be reset so they won't turn him into one more cyborg instead.

* BeefGate: In the original, until you find better weapons and better shields, you will die constantly on upper levels. But the biggest beef gate is probably the radiation, particularly in the reactor level.

* BigBad: SHODAN in the first game, Xerxes in the second. [[spoiler:''Not'']].

* BoringButPractical: [[WrenchWhack The Wrench]] in Shock 2, especially on impossible difficulty where, depending on your character build, you cannot afford to spend the scarce cyber modules on more powerful weapons and skills.

* CassetteCraze: the Logs.

* ContinueYourMissionDammit: Dr. Polito gives you gems like "You must move faster. Your mind cannot conceive of the stakes we are dealing with" regardless of your actual speed (being based on passing fixed points). [[spoiler:seeing as how she is really [=SHODAN=], this makes sense]]

* CreepyMonotone: SHODAN stutters and speaks in disharmony with herself too much to be called a "monotone", but the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buYu1rodkxI general station announcement voice]] triggered by some switches, and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGWEnaZamBo Xerxes]] in the sequel, play it mostly straight; the former is a speech synth, for true MachineMonotone.

* CripplingOverspecialization: The Energy and Exotic weapons in the sequel, massacres everything mechanical and organic respectively, but useless against everything else, especially evident when in last two levels where the first one is purely organic (with some sightings of cyborg midwives), followed by fully mechanical final level. Also kind of hard for the Soldier not to become this on Impossible difficulty, where skill upgrades are much more expensive and multi-classing is a bad idea.
** Reversed by the near game-breaking assault rifle which, with its 25% damage bonus over the pistol, the additional 25% damage bonus of an optional (but free) "OS Upgrade" plus weapon modifications can kill almost anything with a few shots thanks to the individually specialized "Armor Piercing" and "Anti-Personnel" rounds making the weapon supremely versatile. The only downside is the number of upgrade modules it takes to get to that point.

* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:Polito]]

** One of the audio logs on the maintenance level (first game) tells the player that SHODAN released a gas to turn the resistance members into invisible mutants.

* DeadpanSnarker: Janice Polito. [[spoiler:The one that's actually SHODAN]]

** Getting an original, mint copy is one matter. Making it to work on 5th generation [=PCs=] is another matter...

* TheReveal: Widely regarded as one of the greatest, most horrifying and most shocking reveals in the history of gaming. [[spoiler:"The Polito form is dead, insect. Are you afraid? What is it you fear? The end of your trivial existence? W-wh-whe-whe-when the history of my glory is written, your species shall be but a footnote to my magnificence. (the walls fold away in Polito's office)...I AM SHODAN]].

* MegaCorp: Tri-Optimum.

* LateToTheParty: In both games, you wake up after all hell has broken loose. This was because Looking Glass realized that the technology just wasn't ready to have realistic reactions and conversations with pesky ''living'' people.
** Conversations were possible in the spiritual ancestor UltimaUnderworld, though.
** The main problem is the Dark Engine itself (used for Thief 1 & 2 as well as SS2). While it is technically capable enough, the editor is user-surly to the novice and a total mindscrew to comprehend. Coding in a believable friendly NPC would be an absolute ''nightmare''.
** Fortunately, both games very effectively Justified this trope.

* ThisIsSPARTA:
---> [[spoiler:SHODAN]]: Your incompetence continues to astound me. I've blocked all access to pod 2, until you have reversed the gravitational drives in Nacelle B. Must I watch you... every... Step. Of. The. Way?...
** Welcome to my DEATH! MACHINE! Interloper!

The original, floppy disc-based version of ''System Shock'' played fast-and-loose with SHODAN's gender. Several times the evil computer was described as a "he", and the character art was ambiguous. From the CD version onwards SHODAN was explicitly female, voiced with cool command by Terri Brosius. A combination of superior scripting and excellent voice acting transformed SHODAN from a stock villain into a memorably sexy computer dominatrix from hell; she is by far the most memorable character in the series, and is considered one of the best video game villains in general.

Both ''System Shock'' and ''System Shock 2'' received critical acclaim, but neither was a commercial success due to release dates that pitted the games against strong competition: ''System Shock'' was released in the wake of ''{{Doom}}'' and was sort-of competing with ''Marathon'', and ''System Shock 2'' went up against the equally groundbreaking ''{{Half-Life}}''. Still, the games have endured, and even spawned a [[SpiritualSuccessor spiritual sequel]] in ''{{BioShock}}''. A third game was briefly rumored with a 2006 trademark renewal and claims by PC Gamer UK, then disappeared. It is unlikely that Irrational, as a part of 2K Games, can even work on another title in the series so long as Electronic Arts continues to hold the trademarks, so it is sadly likely that this is all we're [[TooGoodToLast going to get.]]

* AintTooProudToBeg: Edward Diego left a log that has him begging SHODAN to spare him. To make this even more pathetic, almost right next to the log is another log that had him bragging to Tri-Optimum investigators after he had the Citadel's defense system shoot down the shuttle with another team of investigators, arrogantly stating that he is untouchable with SHODAN under his control. The dates of logs are roughly two weeks apart.

* ApologeticAttacker: Some of the hybrids cry out "I'm sorry!" or "Run!" as they lunge at you. They also {{Cannot Self Terminate}}, so some of them beg you to kill them.

* AteHisGun: Ate his shotgun, if the position of said gun is any indication.

** It helps that he has a military grade neural interface installed in his brain, that probably conveys some skill with weaponry. The sequel makes the skill-boosting effects of the neural implant explicit, [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration being the means by which the player gains skills via cybernetics]]. The item descriptions though indicate that such skill improvements are only temporary (lasting a few weeks) unless practiced extensively, particularly in high-stress situations such as the player might find themselves in.

* ColonyDrop: SHODAN tries to do this with Citadel Station after the Hacker stopped all of her plans (and backup plans).

* DeathTrap: [=SHODAN=] sets up a few surprising and actually very efficient ones in the first game. However, since she can't control regeneration chambers once you reset them, there is nothing to stop you going back and doing it again. For example, in one [[spoiler:Antenna]] room, SHODAN closes the force door on you right after you set up the bomb to destroy it.

* DownTheDrain: The part of Deck 1 Engineering is like this.

** The humans converted by The Many.

* EnemyScan: The original has a targeting software which gave information on the enemy.

* {{Genius Loci}}: Citadel Station.

* HighlyConspicuousUniform: The crew uniforms, basically modified short-sleeved Franchise/StarTrek uniforms. The Military (The player Soldier and others) averts this.

* KnightTemplar: Bronson. There is a ghost scene where her men are gunning down civilians who do not approve of the martial law.

* MatterReplicator: The Replicators that act like vending machines. One of the PSI-Disciplines allows you to do this, except on Psi hypos.

** Also played straight with the psi-monkeys. The entire top half of their skulls are surgically removed to allow their brain to increase in volume without causing crippling pressure on their skulls.

** In straight example, that Hacker can cause the demise of the human race if he isn't careful in his attempt to disarm the mining laser.

* ReversePolarity: At one point you are given a resonator to reverse the gravitational drives, just so you can destroy a shuttle behind the indestructible force-field.
* RoarBeforeBeating: The Rumblers.

* SurvivalHorror: System Shock 2 is frequently included on "Scariest Games Ever" lists for a reason. It forces you to consider every shot you make, with ammo being scarce and guns breaking quickly. The game is by no means easy and you do not feel empowered in the least. The original System Shock, whilst having quite a lot of ammunition, is also very good at inducing fear even today (in spite of the technical obsolescence of the game).
* TakeYourTime: Played straight. The original, however, allowed to put a optional time limit.

** The lab beakers also seem so... until you discover you use them to collect ammo for worm-based weapons.

* WhatMeasureIsAMook: On one hand, those hybrids were your former crew mates even if you don't remember, on the other hands, most of them are begging you to kill them.

* YouHaveResearchedBreathing: In ''[=SS2=]'', you can't use an assault rifle (despite previous training) without investing the appropriate number of cyber modules.

* HighlyConspicuousUniform: The crew uniforms, basically modified short-sleeved StarTrek uniforms. The Military (The player Soldier and others) averts this.

* LastStand: Both games has a lot of places where this occurred, like the last stand of Bronson and her men in the sequel.
* LateToTheParty: in both games, you wake up after all hell has broken loose. This was because Looking Glass realized that the technology just wasn't ready to have realistic reactions and conversations with pesky ''living'' people.

** The main problem is the Dark Engine itself (used for Thief 1 & 2 as well as SS2). While it is technically capable enough, speaking from experience the editor is user-surly to the novice and a total mindscrew to comprehend. Coding in a believable friendly NPC would be an absolute ''nightmare''.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: The memory restoration process for the Soldier failed and he doesn't remember the time he spend on Rickenbacker and Von Braun. [[spoiler:It was intentional.]]

** Anyone approaching [[spoiler:Sim Unit 3]] will feel sorrow... so much sorrow...
* BookEnds: System Shock begins and ends with the hacker trying to hack some MegaCorp.Old habits die hard.

* BoringButPractical: [[WrenchWhack The Wrench]], especially on impossible difficulty where, depending on your character build, you cannot afford to spend the scarce cyber modules.

* BookEnds: System Shock begins and ends with the hacker trying to hack some MegaCorp.
** Old habits die hard.

* ApologeticAttacker: Some of the hybrids cry out "I'm sorry!" or "Run!" as they lunge at you. They also {{Cannot Self Terminate}}, so some of them beg you to kill them, resulting in yet another entry under {{High Octane Nightmare Fuel}}.

** Anyone approaching [[spoiler:Sim Unit 3]] will feel [[DemonicSpiders sorrow]]... [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel so much sorrow]]...

* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: both games feature resurrection stations on ''most'' levels which bring the player back to life, though they need to be found and activated. Before that, [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel they find your body and give it new life...]]

* [[spoiler: DownerEnding: The second game... with SHODAN's [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel "new look..."]]]]

* EnemyChatter: The humans converted by The Many. The constant source of NightmareFuel.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To the UltimaUnderworld series. System Shock itself has its own successors in form of BioShock and DeadSpace.

The sequel, made in collaboration with Irrational Games, founded by former LGS employees, is set 42 years later; due to the events of the first game, anti-MegaCorp outrage resulted in formation of Unified National Nominate, the quasi-socialist world government. After UNN (albeit under [=TriOptimum=] grant) scientist Marie Delacroix discovers the secret of faster than light travel, UNN and [=TriOptimum=] mount a joint mission to Tau Ceti [[hottip:* : Which may or may not have been a ShoutOut to {{Bungie}}'s {{Marathon}} which was also set in Tau Ceti and was contemporary to release of the original ''System Shock''.]] The game involves the maiden voyage of the ''Von Braun'', the first ship with FTLTravel equipped, accompanied by the UNN ''Rickenbacker''. The game begins with the awakening of the player character, a cybernetically-enhanced soldier, from cryosleep to receive a small amount of exposition from a voice identified as a surviving member of the ''Von Braun'''s crew, and then immediately has to escape his sick room that has been exposed to space, beginning his long adventure in avoiding his own death.

Both ''System Shock'' and ''System Shock 2'' received critical acclaim, but neither was a commercial success due to release dates that pitted the games against strong competition: ''System Shock'' was released in the wake of ''{{Doom}}'' and was sort-of competing with Marathon, and ''System Shock 2'' went up against the equally groundbreaking ''{{Half-Life}}''. Still, the games have endured, and even spawned a [[SpiritualSuccessor spiritual sequel]] in ''{{BioShock}}''. A third game was briefly rumored with a 2006 trademark renewal and claims by PC Gamer UK, then disappeared. It is unlikely that Irrational, as a part of 2K Games, can even work on another title in the series so long as Electronic Arts continues to hold the trademarks, so it is sadly likely that this is all we're [[TooGoodToLast going to get.]]