A Shock to the System
Media / 12/11/2007 12:26:22 AM
"FINALLY!", you say, "Your first article on video games!!!" I could employ no one but our guest writer and self-proclaimed gaming geek, Jude Walter Mire, for such an honour. Enjoy!
It’s 2007 and I have the strangest sense of deja’vu. You see,
BioShock, the new game by
Irrational Games has
finally been released. It’s sweeping up awards and being called
revolutionary, groundbreaking, and breathtaking. So why does this
all seem so familiar?
Well, back in 1999 Irrational Games released the
sci-fi/horror System Shock 2 and it did very much the same
thing. It topped over a dozen game-of-the-year lists and was
considered to be the next generation of gaming. A first person
perspective with a novel worthy plot, game-play choices beyond point
and shoot, interactive environments, and a host of options. After
playing, I was certain these features would become standard.
Sadly, it didn’t happen. There was no “intelligent” revolution in
first person games. The years rolled by and nobody came out with a
game as well designed as System Shock 2. It’s no surprise
that BioShock, its “spiritual sequel”, is being called
cutting edge. Evidently the game was brilliant beyond duplication by
anyone other than the original creators and it took Irrational
Games almost a decade to bring us another. So before delving
into BioShock, I recommend taking a look back at the game
that started it all.
System Shock 2 sets you as the sole survivor on a pair of
conjoined starships trapped between a murderous artificial computer
intelligence, Shodan, and her rebellious genetic offspring, the
Many. The ship is a slaughterhouse you must pick through, all the
while harassed by the new disturbing residents. Turn a corner to see
a ghostly vision of a messy suicide or perhaps a surgery on an
unwilling (and un-anesthetized) patient. In the hydroponics level
the whispers of the corpse-mothers
echo as they guard their larvae; “Don’t disturb the babies.
Babies need meat!” Remove the internal organs of your enemies to
study and learn new ways to combat them. Science!
There are unique tricks the designers use to draw the player into
the fear experience. The two starships are designed logically and
feel like a real vision of the future; living quarters, shopping
districts, engineering areas. The plot is emergent, revealed as you
explore the ship. Clues are gleaned on the PDA’s of corpses, read in
emails between deceased crew members, and sometimes painted on walls
in blood. It all seems very human and the details create an
unparalleled sense of realism that puts you in the game, and right
on the front line for the scares.
Anyone even remotely interested in horror gaming should not miss it.
If you’re worried about it being too old and not up to snuff with
graphics, fear not! The game has a devoted following (SHTUP-Shock
Texture Upgrade Project) that has never stopped playing and have
actively been modernizing the look of the game.
So turn the lights off, the sound up, and settle into your computer
desk for a trip into a deep space nightmare!
Jude Walter Mire
Jill's p.s. If you want to hear more about dark and disturbing games of all kinds you can ask (cajole, beg...don't be shy) Jude for more information via our killer-works email
