In 2016, Nightdive Studios launched a successful Kickstarter fundraiser to remake the original System Shock with cutting-edge graphics and modernized gameplay.
Before the Bioshock franchise, before even System Shock 2, there was the original "shock": System Shock, a fusion of sci-fi action and cyberpunk horror released by Looking Glass Studios in 1994. Eschewing that era's trend of action-packed first-person shooter games, System Shock innovated by prioritizing story development and exploration. A foreboding mystery permeates each title in the "shock" lineage and the iconic moments in the Bioshock and Prey franchises can be traced back to this game series.
Nightdive's ion and deep understanding of these games (first exemplified when the studio produced System Shock: Enhanced Edition) has earned them full creative rights to the franchise. Here's a look at the current status of the System Shock remake and how its developers overcame production issues and quandaries of creative vision to get the game back on track for a Fall 2020 release.
System Shock Reboot: Welcome Back to Citadel Station
The latest demo for the System Shock remake, privately released for backers in December 2019, illustrates Nightdive Studio's commitment to giving the original System Shock a modern touch. Pipe in hand, the player character creeps through the halls of Citadel Station's medical deck, sneaking past mutants and hostile robots. The glitching voice of SHODAN, the station's deranged AI, taunts the player from every screen, and her security cameras swivel to follow their every move before being smashed into junk. The level design is strange by modern standards. The space station's halls are cramped and cubical, the enemies slightly cartoonish in proportions. It feels like the original 1994 System Shock liberated from its pixellated graphics and awkward controls, which was the original design goal of Nightdive Studios back when they first launched their Kickstarter.
Nightdive Studios has a long history with the System Shock series. Their first release was an remake System Shock in the modern Unity Engine while making the controls, HUD, and puzzles more intuitive for modern players.
After raising over $1.3 million, the developers at Nightdive Studios built up their original System Shock remake demo, adding more enemies, rooms, and iconic weapons. As production continued, the developer's ambitions grew: first, to switch from the Unity Engine to the more graphically capable Unreal Engine. Next, they aimed to add new enemies, weapons, gameplay mechanics, and small environmental details that would make the floors of Citadel Station come alive.
A Much-Needed "Shock to the System"
The developers of the System Shock remake had stumbled into "scope creep", a common Kickstarter problem where creative visions expand beyond budget allowances. After promising too many new things to both backers and fans of the franchise, Nightdive took a hiatus to rethink their creative direction. For a time, fans were worried that the project would fall apart entirely, but in April 2018, Stephen Kick, CEO of Nightdive Studios, released an update explaining his company's new direction: to return to their original goal of creating a modernized System Shock. Despite scaling back their creative vision, Stephen assured backers that the development team would still be able to "re-use the majority of work we’ve done over the past year", applying the assets developed in the Unreal Engine to make an updated System Shock experience.
The System Shock remake survived this troubled stage of production primarily due to the forthrightness of its developers. Throughout the process, they've been open with their fans and backers, System Shock 3 sequel has dissolved, Nightdive Studio's commitment to transparency and their core goals not only saved the System Shock remake but seems to be propelling this remastered game swiftly towards the finish line.
Source: Vice, The System Shock Remake Kickstarter
