System Shock 2INFO:System Shock 2 is a 1999 first-person action role-playing game, designed by Ken Levine for Microsoft Windows. The title is a sequel to the 1994 PC game System Shock, and was co-developed by Irrational Games and Looking Glass Studios. The sequel was originally designed as a standalone title with no relation to System Shock; minor story changes were made when Electronic Arts—who owned the System Shock franchise rights—signed on as publisher. System Shock 2 was released on August 11, 1999 in North America.
The game takes place on board a starship in a cyberpunk depiction of 2114. The player assumes the role of a lone soldier trying to stem the outbreak of a genetic infection that has devastated the ship. Like System Shock, gameplay consists of first person shooting and exploration. The game also incorporates role-playing system elements, where the player can develop unique skills and traits, such as hacking and psionic abilities.
System Shock 2 received positive reviews when released, but failed to meet commercial sales expectations. In retrospect, many critics have determined the game to be highly influential, particularly on first person shooters, and far ahead of its time, and inducted it into several "greatest games of all time" lists. In 2006, GameTrailers.com named System Shock 2 as the ninth scariest game of all time.
PLOT:The story begins in 2114, forty-two years after the events of System Shock. After joining the United National Nominate, the protagonist — Soldier G65434-2 — is assigned to the Rickenbacker, a military spacecraft. The Rickenbacker is escorting the Von Braun, an experimental faster-than-light (FTL) starship, on its maiden voyage. As the Rickenbacker does not have an FTL system of its own, the two ships are attached together for the trip. A few months into the journey, the ships respond to a distress signal from the planet Tau Ceti V. This is when things go horribly wrong. The soldier awakens in a cryo-tube on the medical deck of the Von Braun with amnesia due to a computer malfunction. He is immediately contacted by another survivor, Dr. Janice Polito, who guides him to safety before the cabin depressurizes. She demands that he rendezvous with her on deck 4 of the Von Braun.
More info can be found
here.
Sadly, it has become almost impossible to obtain a legal copy of the game. There are several websites on which it can be downloaded for free, but I'm not dumb enough to post links to them. Just search for "System Shock 2 download" in Google.
