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

Painman on 21/10/2009 at 01:57

I bought it in '94. I was pretty big on Origin's stuff back in those days, and I grabbed the CD version. It blew me away. It scared the crap out of me, but I couldn't stop playing. Over and over.

For some reason, it was Beta Grove that always creeped me out the most.

RocketMan on 21/10/2009 at 06:21

Quote Posted by icemann

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.

Inviso mutants are creepy as hell....mostly because they have that element of surprise and can make you jump when you get hit. You're always on edge, searching frantically for movement in an already dark level.

D'Arcy on 21/10/2009 at 09:59

Quote Posted by Painman

For some reason, it was Beta Grove that always creeped me out the most.

I find that perfectly normal :)
Especially since, on my first playthroughs, I used to go there without a suit that would protect me against biohazard (all I had was the v1 suit). So I'd try to run in, using Medi patches and First Aid kits one after another, get to the switch, then run away as fast as possible.

Skizomeuh on 22/10/2009 at 15:25

Played through the demo over & over, then bought the CD version once it came out here in France.

A shock, because of the narrative originality, the Citadel as the best character of the game, SHODAN as the best foe of all games... If only more games like this emerged after...

Doom made me into FPSes, System Shock made me into what I exactly and definitively look after in a game.

MightyMouse on 23/10/2009 at 02:54

I bought the 9 disk version when it came out, but disk 9 was corrupt.
Days of attempted reinstalls later, I took it back and exchanged it for something else. I think Myst...
Then the CD version came out, so I tried that one and fell in love :)

I agree about the difficulty levels. I spent months wandering around trying to work out some areas where I was stumped. This was before the internet and you couldn't download a walkthrough. If you were really stumped, you could write in to the local TV guide, which had a tech section that contained help for gamers.

When I played BioShock, even with the hint mode turned off, it still instisted on highlighting every step I had to take. plus, the fact that even on the hardest level it was impossible to die most of the game. I figure they were trying to accomodate idiots who would select the hardest setting to show how l33t they were and then cry if they had troubles.
Sorry, I got sidetracked :)

Matthew on 23/10/2009 at 09:16

Quote Posted by MightyMouse

even on the hardest level it was impossible to die most of the game

Showoff :mad::mad::mad::(

C0rtexReaver on 23/10/2009 at 15:58

I bought & played it on release day. Infact, there used to be a post on here with a scan of my original EggHead Software receipt, but the images that were linked were lost when a web server ate its hard drive.

This was obviously the original floppy version. Later, Origin offered a deal where if you mailed-in disk 1, along with a nominal fee, they'd upgrade you to the CD version, so my original SS1 box is short that first floppy.

-CR

Enchantermon on 23/10/2009 at 16:25

Quote Posted by C0rtexReaver

Later, Origin offered a deal where if you mailed-in disk 1, along with a nominal fee, they'd upgrade you to the CD version, so my original SS1 box is short that first floppy.

That's a pretty sweet deal. Whatever happened to the nice video game companies?

Matthew on 23/10/2009 at 16:46

They all lost money and died.

D'Arcy on 23/10/2009 at 19:45

I'd be annoyed if I had a floppy missing from my original Shock. They should have mailed the floppy back, along with the CD.