The long-awaited, long-awaited System shock remake has been given a fixed release date: May 30. Developer Nightdive Studios announced the news this morning, confirming that the game will be coming to PC via Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store. After launching there, it will come to PlayStation 4 and 5 “in due time”, as well as Xbox One and Series X and S.
The System shock wash remake announced in 2015, shortly after developer Nightdive tracked down the elusive rights to the classic cyberpunk horror series. The game hit a hard speed bump in 2018 and was put on pausebut it’s been brought back to life and we’ve had incremental updates over the years, most recently one surprise demo in February. The game was given a release window in March with no exact date earlier this year, but that slipped a bit – “we’re only human after all (unlike Shodan!)” Nightdive acknowledged in today’s announcement.
Unfortunately I postponed it System shock remake demo, a bug I’ll have to correct soon. Based on Ars Technicahis impressions, it fulfills Nightdive’s mission to make a brilliant shooter with a notoriously complicated interface more accessible, but it left behind some clunky gameplay elements (including melee combat) – a problem I had with a much earlier demo around 2020. It’s a glossier look than the original 1994 game, but one that’s still a bit retro; if anything, it kind of looks like a hypersaturated version of the 2000 sequel System shock 2. While there are apparently new enemies and a new hacking system, the game isn’t meant to deviate too far from the original plot and setting.
It is always possible that we will get another delay System shock, but this is the firmest date we’ve gotten yet for the remake. And it’s much livelier than the sequel that was effectively canceled in 2019. I am cautiously optimistic that I will make another attempt to beat SHODAN later this year.
