I recently broke my foot doing something healthy. Playing football for physical exercise. That’s what I get for trying to be active, I guess. The saddest thing about that story is that there were no opponents within 10 feet of me, and that I managed to basically dismantle my ankle trying to stop a meaningless ball going over the sideline for a throw-in. Yes I know, it’s depressing. As I sat in the waiting room at the hospital in what I would describe as extreme discomfort, a man ,who must have been bored to death since he thought it would be a good idea to talk someone displaying all the sign of severe agony on their face, started asking me questions. Observing my ankle, which now had swelled to blimp-like size, he asked me how the hell I  had managed that. I told him my story of ineptitude and he laughed. Before he was called in to see the doctor he looked at me and smiled. “Give the youth booze before they get into sports. It’s dangerous”

The doctor informed me that I had fragmented my bone and tore apart some tendons. I hadn’t expected anything less having heard a sickening crunch and snap as I twisted the ankle trying to stop that fateful ball. He slapped a cast on me and told me to come back in 3 weeks.

So there I was even less mobile than usual in front of my computer, foot propped high as the doctor had told me. Lamenting my condition I decided to fix a stain on my gamer credibility: I had never played System Shock 2.

Of course I had been told about this game, basically ever since it came out, by gamer friends and I was quite aware of its position as possibly the best horror-survival game, and one of the best games of all time. Endlessly my friend told me of the atmosphere and dread which lowered itself over you like a wet blanket while you explored the derelict spaceship. Time and time again I told him I would play it, but for some reason it never happened. Now was the time to fix that.

SS2 was released in 1999. 11 years is a long time. In the world of video games it is an eternity. The first immediate concern is, of course, the graphics. Most games don’t age well in that department, especially first person shooters. So I was expecting to have to ignore a lot of the dated graphics to get in the mood. I was, however, pleased to discover that there are bands of extremely dedicated fans who have taken it upon themselves to perform graphical CPR on SS2. Check out Strange Bed Fellows if you plan on playing SS2 anytime soon. Guides available at the site helps you get the game running if you are using a newer system (there are problems related to dual+ processors for example) and to upgrade the graphics to completely passable standards. The forum is very active as well and it is full of helpful people who will nudge you along the right path and offer helpful tips and tricks.

I spent a week aboard the Von Braun and I enjoyed every second of it. I won’t go into much detail but now that I’ve finished it I can say that there are many things I love about System Shock 2. The legendary atmosphere was still intact, the story was sublime, the sounds the music and the interesting mixture and variety of skills made for great gameplay. But if someone were to ask me what I remember best from SS2, my answer would be very simple. Shodan. The insane A.I. which is, strangely, both an ally and enemy throughout the game.  She toys and abuses me while making me do her bidding; all the while calling me an “insect” and an “irritant”. Like a child playing with an ant before crushing it. To get the complete story on Shodan and her position as one of the best villains of all time, check out the link to Kieron Gillen’s article at the bottom.

Here are some collected quotes from the mouthy A.I.:

“Approach your work as you see fit, but accomplish, human. Disappointment is not something I will accept from a speck such as you.”

Wow. Thanks SHODAN. This is not exactly positive reinforcement at its best. I think she needs some people management classes.

“The Polito form is dead, insect. Are you afraid? What is it you fear? The end of your trivial existence?“

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Oh, Shodan, you know you love me.

“Look at you, hacker. A pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you run through my corridors. How can you     challenge a perfect, immortal machine?”

She’s charming, isn’t she. This abuse goes on for most of the game. No matter how much I toil to make her happy, she still bombastically insists I am just an insignificant insect, her own plaything to manipulate as she sees fit.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Von Braun. Those derelict halls left an impression on me. I can safely say that it is one of the more memorable games I have played, but one thing is for certain: Being stalked by endless waves of zombies and fireball spewing monkeys in scary spacestation is a lot safer than playing football.

Stuff to check out:

System Shock 2 Let’s Play

System Shock 2 @ Wikipedia

System Shock 2 @ Metacritic

Kieron Gillen’s article on Shodan: The Girl Who Wanted To Be God