A closer inspection reveals just how stylized System Shock is, with environments given a semi-low resolution appearance, reminding you that it’s still a retro game at heart. The game isn’t afraid to fill its environments with color and cashes in hard on the retro, neon aesthetic. The flat panels covering the corridors now feel more intricate, accentuated even further by the vibrant lighting. Where System Shock’s overhaul really becomes apparent is in its visual updates. The beats are effectively the same as the original. With the exposition succinctly established, players now need to move through the station's many levels and prevent SHODAN from extending her destructive reach to Earth.

The game wastes no time getting into the thick of it. After removing the restraints from SHODAN, the hacker is put to sleep, only to wake up deep in Citadel Station now overrun by mutants, cyborgs and aggressive robots under SHODAN’s control. In exchange for removing the ethical restraints of Citadel Station’s AI, SHODAN, the hacker is promised the neural implants complete with the surgery to install them. Shortly after, the drone hones in on our protagonist: a nameless hacker who, after attempting to access restricted neural implants from TriOptimum’s server, is captured by a security team and brought before a TriOptimum executive, Edward Diego. Three subjects indicative of a plot that’s about to take a nasty turn. A news announcer speaks of mega corporation TriOptimum and its earth-orbiting Citadel Station entering its tenth year of operations, specializing in robotics, genetics and pharmacological research. A drone camera sweeps through the retro-futuristic cityscape of New Atlanta, with architecture plucked straight out of Blade Runner. Like the original, the game takes place in the year 2072. Nightdive Studios’ 2023 remake of System Shock reminds us just how far games have come in an almost 30-year gap between the two releases - and where our expectations for games now lie. As we reevaluate our usage of modern technology, perhaps it's time to revisit some of the games that put us on the path to progress.

Now, as it creeps steadily into every corner of our lives, we’re using it to drive cars, write emails, and create audio deep-fakes of Barack Obama playing Five Nights at Freddy’s with Donald Trump. The original System Shock came out during a time when artificial intelligence was simply a sci-fi trope in a blockbuster movie.

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