The incredible machine. - by Dokix2
Dokix2 on 28/9/2010 at 12:08
"For days I have been running around in the same dark and cold corridors. I'm starting to doubt if there is any way out of here. This "machine" keeps taunting me. Why I do not know, but it seems to hate me or rather mankind more than I have ever seen.
I do not know how long ago it all happened. Neither do I know if anyone is still alive. It for sure would be nice to see a friendly face again some time. Though all I have seen lately are the tormented faces of people who died in sheer terror. Citadel station is no longer. Or rather is no longer under our control.
I had been trying to do something about it, but I failed. SHODAN it calls itself, it calls me "insect". I'm almost starting to believe it. It seems to have become sentient. Hellbent on breaking me.
I came close one day, but it was a trap. I thought it would be simple. Destroy the computer system. She, or rather it even guided me. Only to be trapped in a dark room with nothing to see. Only the stench of the dead security officer to keep me company.
I tried talking to him to at least have some company, though he did not reply. All I hear is now and then the taunts of the machine. The Machine God. It seems she wants to keep me alive, to see me suffer. I get even send food now and then by some of the service bots. But nothing to kill myself. No release from this prison. Not until I die of luck or age.
If only I had a way to end this. But instead I'm forever trapped inside her corridors."
The rogue AI story I have seen now several times. In bookform, movie form, games. Some of them more convincing than others. Everybody knows HAL 9000 (good but not so scary), there is AM, incredibly sadistic AI and very unsettling. Then there is some bunch of AI's in games, which are not too memorable in general (or at least I cannot come up with any names now, the one from Portal is ok, but I did not like her too much)...
Then there is SHODAN. She can send a shiver down my spine. Literally. The way she looks but most of all the way she talks. This glitchy voice (or rather several voices all at once) and the things she says to my poor characters are just beyond good and after a while really go on the nerves, in a very good way.
The disregard for anything living shines through so much it is really unsettling. The greatest thing I find about SHODAN is that even though she is most obviously the main villain of the series, she rather feels to me as not the "lame endboss to kill after 1000 levels", but rather the core of the series. The way SHODAN is used to tell the story and taunting/helping the player is very unique.
Will there ever be again a villain which is the main thing I like about a series? Most likely no. These times have passed. Will there ever be another game this scary? Most likely also not; though there is still S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (sadly this series after Shadow of Chernobyl has also become a lot less scary).
The good thing is that both System Shock games are very playable for me up to this day still and have withstood the sands of time very well. Do I want a System Shock 3? No way, it would never ever be that good, the high poly count SHODAN would not cut it and would not be scary at all. Slightly intimidating if the game would be very good, laughable would be the most likely scenario though.
Apart from the ending movie of System Shock 2 (which was really not too good in my opinion) the whole story is closed and should not be resurrected. That does though for sure not mean that for me the series has died. The replayability takes care of that and it stays good.
Well, to add a point of discussion; What is it that makes SHODAN work so well for you as the main villain (main part of the series)?
unn_atropos on 28/9/2010 at 15:47
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Well, to add a point of discussion; What is it that makes SHODAN work so well for you as the main villain (main part of the series)?
I guess you already said what makes her special. It is the fact that she isn't
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the lame endboss to kill after 1000 levels.
While in other games the villain could be on a vacation, except for some cutscenes, SHOdAN is there to fight against...everyone.
In System Shock 2, she isn't very powerfull though. She needs the player-and he needs her.
So she is an enemy you can hate/fear but every step you do makes her stronger and that is increasing your own risk. It's like you are fighting against yourself, somehow.
I have to disagree with you(sorry^^) about HAL when you say, that he is
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good but not so scary.
For me, he and Shodan are quiet compareable. They both watch all of your steps, work against you at you back and, to some degree, fear you.
I will never forget how HAL was able to read Bowmans and the other guys lips. Shodan is able to take some of your abilitys away.
Both subtil methods^^
Interesting: I never saw Shodan as a
female computer(although there are knockers^^). So she hasn't got a sex appeal, like the AI from Gunmen-Chronicles for example, to me.
Dokix2 on 29/9/2010 at 14:30
Quote Posted by unn_atropos
In System Shock 2, she isn't very powerfull though. She needs the player-and he needs her.
So she is an enemy you can hate/fear but every step you do makes her stronger and that is increasing your own risk. It's like you are fighting against yourself, somehow.
This I actually liked a lot in SS2. Made me feel the whole game that I was simply being used. The psychological warfare used by SHODAN is one of the reasons this series stands out for me.
And, there's nothing wrong with The Incredible Machine!
