System Shock II

Alright, so Bioshock 2 was a huge success, but have you ever looked into what the dev team worked on before Bioshock? If you have, you've earned a spot in my heart. System Shock II was the team's first title, and in my opinion, the best. System Shock II is the predecessor to Bioshock; it works with the same inventory and upgrade system, but instead has a cyberpunk feel to it. Oh, and it's a thriller. Here's the copypasta, courtesy of /v/

Quote :

I bet you're all faggots who haven't ever played System Shock 2. Too afraid? Why don't you download it right now and have a look?

Grab the mod manager, SHTUP and Rebirth mods to get some better graphics, and play it with the lights off and a good sound system.

Prepare for the scariest horror survival game ever.
Game: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


Modmanager:
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Rebirth (nice models) mod: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
SHTUP (nice textures) mod: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Get it working on Vista / Seven: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This is a good way to waste a few hours; the gameplay is great and the plot is SO good. My only complaint is that I couldn't get the cutscenes to work with both of the mods installed.

That being said, I've never had more robot/annelid-induced nightmares in my life.

Though I do LOVE LOVE LOVE System Shock 2, I'd argue that Bioshock (the original) was the triumph of this dev team. And while I admit that they are near twins in the gameplay department, I think the technological capabilities that come with the modern gaming era allow for a much deeper environments, story telling, and immersive experience.
That's not to say that I don't still think about what a conniving bitch SHODAN is pretty much all the time. Cause I do.
But Bioshock's Andrew Ryan presents a much more real and effective oppressive entity for me to connect with. The descent into madness of a person is much more compelling for me than an AI. Bioshock is a much more contemporary application of System Shock's formula. I've always had a thing for anti-establishment propagandists and frenzied McCarthyist rhetoric in a villain.
I also really dig steam-powered sentry guns. I mean, come on.