How many of you played System Shock when it first came out in '94?

DentonSHODAN on 16/10/2009 at 20:29

Just curious to see who the really old-school folks here are. And what did you think of it when you first played it? Difficult to get into? Amazing?

JediKorenchkin on 16/10/2009 at 22:06

I did. The first run through I was about 8, and sat watching my father play. I found it to be incredibly atmospheric and detailed. I mean, you're talking 1994 when the "best" game available was Doom. It was pretty mind-blowing at the time.

15 years later - It's still my favourite game of all time. It's completely unmatched in several ways.

Trance on 16/10/2009 at 22:52

I remember being absolutely petrified. Every single enemy would make me jump when they saw me, and I lived in a constant state of terror during every moment of my first playthrough. But I couldn't stop playing.

Of course, I was 8 as well.

D'Arcy on 17/10/2009 at 00:52

I played it in 1994 when it first came out. The original floppy disk version. Years later that I finally got the chance of playing the enhanced CD version.

Al_B on 17/10/2009 at 11:15

Yup - grabbed it as soon as it was released (in the UK) and loved it. I think they released a demo which contained the medical level beforehand so I was already used to the controls.

On the downside, after UW1 and UW2 I was a little disappointed that there were no two way conversations in the game and my PC at the time struggled with the graphics and it certainly couldn't cope with full screen.

Like D'Arcy I replayed it as soon as the CD version came out and was blown away by how much the voices added to the game.

ZylonBane on 17/10/2009 at 20:33

I didn't buy it when it first came out, but thanks to a very old Excel spreadsheet, I know exactly when I got a copy off eBay-- 26 October, 1999. Apparently I wanted to play SS1 first before starting SS2. :thumb:

swaaye on 17/10/2009 at 20:47

I ignored both SS and SS2 until about 2006. :) I read about them at the time of their launches, but wasn't interested enough because I just was more interested in other new games that the time. I think the latter game has aged much better than the original.

Matthew on 18/10/2009 at 11:38

I first played it either in 1994 or very early 1995, not honestly sure which. I bought a copy of US Navy Fighters that came with a buy one get one free coupon in it, so I sent off for this interesting little game that I'd played a short demo of, called System Shock. :D

JediKorenchkin on 18/10/2009 at 15:41

Quote Posted by Trance

Haha, oh man, I remember reaching Deck 3 and just getting perpetually killed by the invisible mutants. That was terrifying.

icemann on 18/10/2009 at 17:36

96 for me. I came across the game in a bargain bin at the local newsagent. Money well spent. Picked that up + Ultima Underworld 1+2. Was enthralled from start to finish. I recall those invisible mutants scaring me a lot of times same as others here. The game was just so ahead of its time in so many ways.