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Santa’s Workout II (C64)

System Shock (2023) - 9/10

The 3rd awesome remake this year after RE4 and Dead Space. Didn’t play the original back in the day (1994) but had very fond memories of the sequel System Shock 2 (1999), which was one of the scariest games I played in my childhood, so picked this one up.

Very good game, love the story (narration still via audio logs which this game invented back in the day), love the art style they chose, very true to the original, yet high def, rather complex game mechanics for many problems there are multiple solutions, the atmosphere is top notch, enemy design just breathtaking, one of the best antagonists in video game history with Shodan… It’s apparent the game was way ahead of its time, probably the reason it wasn’t as successful as the very simple Doom back in the day.

It’s also apparent the game is from a time when video games weren’t made for casual gamers, there are no displayed objectives or markers on the map. You basically have to explore the space station, trying to figure out what’s going on and what you can do to stop the horror on your own. And the remarkable thing is it works excellent. There never was a time I didn’t know what to do, although admittedly I once nuked earth because I didn’t listen to some audio logs.

Only regret, I should have played with Combat on lowest difficulty (you can select difficulty separate for Combat, Puzzle, Cyber and Mission). Because the game is rather hard (fast deaths) and I suck at first person shooters especially when playing with a gamepad and I played it on the Steam Deck (ran excellent with ~50fps on Medium settings thx to Unreal engine).

If you are looking for a Sci-Fi Horror Adventure game with survival mechanics and excellent story look no further. Exploration is top notch, I now know the maze-like space station by heart.

From defeating ancient dragons in Skyrim to surviving the zombie in The Last of Us, I’ve been on a gaming journey. Now, I’m curious: what games have you recently beated?