Ahead of its time, foundation of immersive sims
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews
“It's amazing that this game came out just year after DOOM and even before DOOM 2.”
Steam review · 13.8 h played ↗
System Shock: Enhanced Edition
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 91%Very Positive · 91%Looking Glass Studios, Nightdive Studios2015Immersive Sim · Horror · RPG
−80%$9.99$1.99
US Steam price, checked 1 h ago
The verdict
A landmark 1994 immersive sim with superb atmosphere and SHODAN, modernized with mouselook but still clunky. Skip it if you hate dated interfaces or stutter.
Great for
Immersive sim fans and retro players who enjoy exploration, audio logs and learning clunky systems
Main risk
Clunky controls/UI and a long-standing micro-stutter bug can make it exhausting or unplayable
What players love
Atmosphere and SHODAN
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“The lonely atmosphere of it is so gripping.”
Steam review · 24.7 h played ↗
Exploration, level design and no hand-holding
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews
“the game doesn't treat the player like a baby, he/she must really pay attention to those E-Mails, Notes and other clues”
Steam review · 16.9 h played ↗
Great music and sound
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 positive reviews
“it's the killer soundtrack”
Steam review · 5.5 h played ↗
Mouselook makes it playable once learned
Mentioned in ~1 in 10 positive reviews
“Being able to aim with your mouse and play it like a real FPS is so nice, while you still get the freedom to unlock the mouse and play with the interface.”
Steam review · 13.8 h played ↗
Rich mechanics for 1994
Mentioned in ~1 in 19 positive reviews
“You can lean WHILE crouching or going full prone.”
Steam review · 17.6 h played ↗
What players complain about
Clunky controls and cluttered UI
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews
“as played through the interface of an Excel spreadsheet”
Steam review · 0.5 h played ↗
Micro-stutter from a patch, unfixed for years
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“5 years ago, an update was pushed that makes the movement so choppy and weird it makes me feel kind of sick.”
Steam review · 210 h played ↗
Aged badly, remake recommended instead
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews
“Aged really, really bad. Go and play System Shock Remake, it's good.”
Steam review · 0.1 h played ↗
Crashes and save/startup bugs
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews
“My name contains a "í", so this "remastered" game can't write the save game file lmao 1/10”
Steam review · 0.1 h played ↗
Harsh visuals, music and sound
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“The sound and visual design not only show their age, which I can forgive, but are an assault on the senses.”
Steam review · 11.9 h played ↗
Confusing direction, backtracking and cyberspace
Mentioned in ~1 in 11 negative reviews
“I became increasingly frustrated with the lack of direction the game provides.”
Steam review · 13.2 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Playable1 GB
Minimum
OSWindows 7
Processor1 GHz Processor
Memory128 MB RAM
GraphicsAny 100% OpenGL capable card (Card or Onboard)
Storage1 GB available space
Recommended
OSWindows 10
Processor1.5 GHz Processor
Memory256 MB RAM
GraphicsAny 100% OpenGL capable card (Card or Onboard)
Storage1 GB available space
OSWindows 7
Processor1 GHz Processor
Memory128 MB RAM
GraphicsAny 100% OpenGL capable card (Card or Onboard)
Storage1 GB available space
More games to check
Other games we’ve read the reviews for
Roguefort
Very Positive · 88%
+ Huge depth and content for the price
− Pronoun option removal and community moderation
analyzed 5 d ago
Gloomwood
Overwhelmingly Positive
+ Thick, creepy Victorian atmosphere
− Inconsistent, weak enemy AI and stealth
analyzed 2 h ago
Madden NFL 22
Mixed · 58%
+ Fun, enjoyable football gameplay
− Bugs and weak AI hurt gameplay
analyzed 1 d ago
Thief II: The Metal Age
Very Positive · 94%
+ Better than Thief 1 in most ways
− Dated, clunky controls and graphics
analyzed 1 d ago
Weekly digest
Fresh games worth a look, in your inbox
The most interesting games we’ve just analyzed, once a week.Once a week we send the most interesting games we’ve just analyzed: the verdict, top pros and cons, and what changed. No spam.
One email a week · unsubscribe in one click