Prepare puny humans! Nightdive’s remake of the 1994 classic, System Shock, is making its way to consoles on May 21. The terror that is SHODAN will finally arrive on Sony and Microsoft’s platforms. The game will be available physically and digitally on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. It will also be available digital only on previous-gen consoles. Check out the new trailer below:
Shodan Returns
This is your chance to go toe-to-toe with SHODAN, the iconic rogue AI who will stop at nothing to turn everyone on board Citadel Station into some horrifying blend of mutant and cyborg. It’s up to you to fight your way through the station and save yourself, and the entire Earth, from the same fate. Experience the horror of the original System Shock, the way it was meant to be played.
The remake combines the gameplay of the original with all-new HD visuals, updated controls and an overhauled interface. There are also big improvements to the audio design. Updating such an iconic game is always going to be a bit of a minefield. There are several changes in the offing specifically for the console editions, but hopefully everyone is going to appreciate them.
Console Tweaks
One of the big new changes is the addition of a female protagonist. you may now choose to play as either a male or female-presenting hacker. It’s always nice for an RPG or immersive-sim to offer people the choice. We are also going to get up to 4K 60FPS visuals (on PS5 and Xbox Series X) and most excitingly, a newly-reworked final encounter with SHODAN. How exactly that’s going to play out remains to be seen, but it’s a bold choice by the developers.
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Controls are also being tweaked, with support added for PlayStation and Xbox gamepads. That probably won’t be as easy as it sounds, given how infamously fiddly the original game was (and a couple of issues with the Steam version), but Nightdive is up to the task. The remake has seen solid support so far so there’s no reason to think that they won’t be on top of this.
For all you long-time console gamers, this is a huge opportunity to experience a sci-fi, survival horror classic. The original System Shock is an incredibly important piece of gaming history and now more people can play it than ever before. That’s a big win for everyone. We don’t have any pricing information yet, but you can expect the game to cost around the $40 it’s sitting at on PC. As always, we’ll keep you up to date with any developments.
