Months passed.
My video card burnt out - no more 3d games for a while. What a good reminder to get back to basics. There was a point to all this. Play, or at least experience as much as possible, System Shock, then play the sequel, then finally Bioshock.
It looks like I had last decided on using this playthrough; might as well start over:
"Joey's System Shock Commentary: Part 1 - Incident on Citadel Station"
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-5sPhZOJtk]
From here on, there be SPOILERS.
Thoughts while watching:
The opening music (all of six seconds) is just amazing at establishing the tone and environment. It sounds like something soaring towards you from a great distance, it sounds something materializing into existence, it sounds like coming awake from a dream, its sounds like you're about to realize something, and this is all just the first four seconds. Then there are a few short but ominous base tones and a few high notes - whatever was coming, its here now, and its cold and its inscrutable, and things are going to different now, and probably not for the better.
The intro video is surprisingly good, a decade and a half later, and unsurprisingly dated. In the future there will be flying cars, of course, and the whole planet will look like Bladerunner. We will have space stations far out into the solar system. Cutting edge hackers will have 3d holo cube screens, but still use green-screen text to breach systems (OK, this part actually makes sense). It all wraps up beautifully as you realize who your narrator is. Even avoiding spoilers, its hard to get this far in gaming and on the net and not know who your enemy is, the AI Shodan. What a great little video; probably one of the best game intros I've ever seen.
Our playthrough player begins to set up his game, and his voice-over indicates that he will be playing through in character - uh oh, not a good sign. But as long as he is thorough and gets the game across, I can put up with it.
The in game voice acting is OK for its time but not really acceptable by current standards. It's hardly a showstopper, though. Heck, Deus Ex had some real bombs, but it couldn't drag a good game down.
OK, the player is at least taking time to show the text messages, so far so good. And its high enough res that I can pause and read them.
More awful in game voice acting, ouch. At least Shodan's voice is respectable (but being an insane AI gives you more leeway). When you're voice acting a desperate security guard who knows they're probably leaving their final voice message to whoever finds it, you shouldn't sound like you're ordering pizza.
It is remarkable that this game (1994) is only a year older than Doom (1993), but it has so many more bells and whistles on it. Even Doom 2 (1994) wasn't nearly as complex. However, from this distant perspective, I'm guessing the Doom games gave a better overall experience, at least as far as UI, if not gameplay. I can still somewhat remember how different the weapons felt in Doom 2, as if they each had their own personality; from what little I played of SS everything feels like it is being handled through thick gloves, and so everything feels the same.
Also, System Shock seems to have as many UI controls as an airplane, and you haven't been to pilot school yet. I can see how this eventually evolved into the similarly clunky UI of Deus Ex (2000). But that's OK, it had evolved by then, and I got used to it. It also helped a lot that Deus Ex has a tutorial to ease you in, and even the first few levels introduce you into gameplay. Hopefully I will find System Shock 2 (1999) to be playable; I don't want to have to watch a playthrough of that too.
"Joey's System Shock Commentary: Part 2 - Found the crew"
The player is talking over the in game voice messages.
Interesting little puzzle game as you re-wire a stuck door.
Wow, you can switch on lights, and climb ladders. I remember in Doom where even a one inch high obstruction meant you had to find a way around.
Player says he will swap out some of the original music for remixes. I'd rather all things be left as original as possible; I can still nostalgia over midi soundtracks.
"Joey's System Shock Commentary: Part 3 - Cyberspace Violation"
A visualization of cyberspace, as imagined from the days when we perceived some need to see it visualized. Besides being quaint, it was the final straw as to why I could no longer play this game myself, and went for the playthrough. It plays like you're a brick floating through a Vaseline filled maze of ductwork, attempting to catch some glowing and/or blinking objects, while avoiding some other glowing and/or blinking objects. I'm all for climbing up a learning curve for a rewarding experience, but this is too much.
