Systemshock 2 co-op

[railslave]

Hi, anyone want to co-op this game? (everyone else has abandoned me)
One of the greatest, most immersive and frightening horror/fps/rpg's of all time, if not the greatest

Alot of people seem to think its complicated, heres some reasons why it isnt(compared to the bioshocks).

- it has one vending machine
- everything is on one inventory screen, you dont have to hunt a few screen to play old audiologs
- it has one fire button


Also its surprisingly beautiful...out the box. And made at a time when games were not 6 hours long. A time when you were not bored enough to keep track.

Anyway hit me up on skype: rail_slave@hotmail.co.uk

by it on http://www.gog.com/gamecard/system_shock_2

Its been patched for modern pcs , at LONG last

[Edmond Dantes]

System Shock 2 has a co-op mode? I might give it a try if I have a chance (been busy... and to be honest, I felt like System Shock 2 was terrible compared to System Shock 1 and Ultima Underworld).

[CloudyMusic]

Personal opinion, but I feel like playing this game co-op sort of undermines the atmosphere. The isolation and helplessness you feel, and the drive throughout most of the game to find someone -- anyone -- who was still alive.

Amazing game though. One of my favorites of all time. I think it's pretty hard to argue that it's not more complicated than the BioShock games, though; three starting classes, multiple ammo types per weapon, weapon degradation/repair/mods, an overwhelming amount of skill upgrade options, one-time enhancements, tons of psi powers, the research system, etc. I wouldn't necessarily consider the complexity a demerit, it's just the norm for games today to be more streamlined than games from that era.

I hope you do find someone to play it with you.

[railslave]

Yeah, the coop is kind of an afterthought but still its a great place to go sneaking about together,

Im a huge fan of ss1 as well, im glad i played this first though, just to appreciate how ahead of its time 1 was..



but still people chose doom over 1 and half life over 2

I tend to play about an hour a night .. nothing insane.

[railslave]

Personal opinion, but I feel like playing this game co-op sort of undermines the atmosphere. The isolation and helplessness you feel, and the drive throughout most of the game to find someone -- anyone -- who was still alive.

Amazing game though. One of my favorites of all time. I think it's pretty hard to argue that it's not more complicated than the BioShock games, though; three starting classes, multiple ammo types per weapon, weapon degradation/repair/mods, an overwhelming amount of skill upgrade options, one-time enhancements, tons of psi powers, the research system, etc. I wouldn't necessarily consider the complexity a demerit, it's just the norm for games today to be more streamlined than games from that era.

I hope you do find someone to play it with you.

I thought that about the atmosphere, but me and a friend had to stop when we got to the hangers (and he abandoned ship)... it was that foreboding... horrible, horrible bit, maybe worse with a friend.. lol..
It works, down to the chilling sterile look and the sound design.

I just cant convince him to come back ..

[Ed Oscuro]

If I get my main PC working again in time to catch you, sure, I'll try to make the game.

It's rather finicky about some things (saving, I think, for one, and also having everybody ready to join is not rock-solid either) but it does work with somewhat larger groups. You'll want to set up voice chat of course.

[Mischief Maker]

It's so wonderful that GOG.com was able to rescue System Shock 2 from licensing purgatory because now a whole new generation of gamers can experience the most overrated PC game of all time.

Playing in Co-op you can experience double the boredom! Imagine squabbling with your friend over repair kits only to be interrupted by a zombie teleporting in. Together you fight it off and then your guns jam in stereo! Now you get to squabble over un-jammed guns and the one shotgun round the zombie has on him. Finally one of you decides to stop trying to use guns and just rely on the indestructible wrench. But guess what? When he finds one of the super-rare OS upgrades, he gains the ability to use an overhead swing with the wrench! RADICAL!!!

Nothing improves action games more than shoehorning in simulated incompetence with RPG skills. That way you can spend hours grinding your way to max level, at which point your state of the art military cyborg finally controls like the Doom Marine. Now let's move out and start repairing some broken space elevators, soldier! VALHALLA!!!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that System Shock 2 is the Euroshmup of FPS games.

[Ed Oscuro]

/me leans out from behind the corner and traps Mischief Maker behind ten force fields

The patch which included co-op working makes weapons degrade much more slowly. Constant respawns mean you pretty much brute-force your way through everything, but it also gives you some reason to invest in Psi powers because you get free recharges. Yeah, it's broken in a real sense and not a polished experience in difficulty, but you know people are only playing to see the story and get to the end anyway.

[Mischief Maker]

but you know people are only playing to see the story and get to the end anyway.

"Nah."

TOTALLY WORTH IT!

[louisg]

It's so wonderful that GOG.com was able to rescue System Shock 2 from licensing purgatory because now a whole new generation of gamers can experience the most overrated PC game of all time.

Playing in Co-op you can experience double the boredom! Imagine squabbling with your friend over repair kits only to be interrupted by a zombie teleporting in. Together you fight it off and then your guns jam in stereo! Now you get to squabble over un-jammed guns and the one shotgun round the zombie has on him. Finally one of you decides to stop trying to use guns and just rely on the indestructible wrench. But guess what? When he finds one of the super-rare OS upgrades, he gains the ability to use an overhead swing with the wrench! RADICAL!!!

Nothing improves action games more than shoehorning in simulated incompetence with RPG skills. That way you can spend hours grinding your way to max level, at which point your state of the art military cyborg finally controls like the Doom Marine. Now let's move out and start repairing some broken space elevators, soldier! VALHALLA!!!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that System Shock 2 is the Euroshmup of FPS games.

I haven't played SS2, but had the misfortune of trying BioShock and Deus Ex.. and.. well.. this is Post of the Year as far as I'm concerned

[Ed Oscuro]

had the misfortune of trying BioShock and Deus Ex..

I think Paul just had a soft spot for the plague victims.

If there was no Deus Ex, it would be necessary to invent it.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I actually used to love playing SS2 Co-op... I'd have to reinstall it again and get it patched/setup, though.

[CloudyMusic]

SS2/Deus Ex are both really bad FPS'es, absolutely. They'd probably be better off if there were no combat at all, rather than what they had. You have to create stakes somehow, though, so I'm not sure what sort of alternative I'd prefer (and if I was, I'd be a game designer).

But I'm the same way about all of those sorts of games; I usually love everything about them except the combat. I really liked Bioshock Infinite, but I considered all of the combat in that game to be something I just had to slog through to advance the story along.

...And, yeah, the ending to SS2 was really stupid. But by this point it seems like you're just trying to provoke a flamewar, so I'm out.

[Ed Oscuro]

Deus Ex is a bad game-by-the-standards-of-other-FPSes. But it's not meant to be just that. What it does really well is allow you a gigantic number of ways to fight through situations. It just so happens that going to combat is usually the completely wrong and unsustainable way of doing things most always, and I don't think that was entirely by design (although it would fit the predominating theme of the game that violence is bad). They definitely should have worked more on that aspect, but that people still put up with combat despite this is a testament to how good the game is.

Also, don't underestimate the silenced pistol

[Edmond Dantes]

It's so wonderful that GOG.com was able to rescue System Shock 2 from licensing purgatory because now a whole new generation of gamers can experience the most overrated PC game of all time.

Playing in Co-op you can experience double the boredom! Imagine squabbling with your friend over repair kits only to be interrupted by a zombie teleporting in. Together you fight it off and then your guns jam in stereo! Now you get to squabble over un-jammed guns and the one shotgun round the zombie has on him. Finally one of you decides to stop trying to use guns and just rely on the indestructible wrench. But guess what? When he finds one of the super-rare OS upgrades, he gains the ability to use an overhead swing with the wrench! RADICAL!!!

Nothing improves action games more than shoehorning in simulated incompetence with RPG skills. That way you can spend hours grinding your way to max level, at which point your state of the art military cyborg finally controls like the Doom Marine. Now let's move out and start repairing some broken space elevators, soldier! VALHALLA!!!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that System Shock 2 is the Euroshmup of FPS games.

Oh God, you summed up half my issues with SS2 in a nutshell.

Here's the other half:

Remember how in the original, the speed stimpatch made the rest of the world move in slow-mo while you moved normally, thus truly simulating being sped-up (including having more time to think and solve puzzles and stuff)? Well, in System Shock 2, they've upgraded that to the Speed Hypo, which... literally just makes you run faster and is good for nothing more than quickly sprinting around like an idiot.

Remember how in the original, enemies would respawn in a sector you weren't in and so you'd generally only find new enemies in an area you haven't been to in awhile? In System Shock 2, they decided to fix that, so now enemies spawn from out of your ass, while you're trying to hack a door!

Remember how in the original, you got pre-set, permanent upgrades by finding new gear and installing it on your person? Well System Shock 2 has none of that noise! Now you have to buy skills with chips that are stingily given out! Feel the thrill of constantly feeling like you made the wrong decision when you suddenly realize you actually needed that shotgun skill you passed on because level one hacking seemed like it was more important at the time!

Likewise, don't you just love how your character can't actually use shotguns until he or she actually has a skillpoint in them?

Yeah, System Shock 2, awesome game.

[railslave]

Well the atmosphere is unmatched by pretty much anything, and you know its worth it for those magic moments when your hiding somewhere, researching stuff and playing "overworld zero" on your gamepig. Ah the tension as you hear a midwife down the corridor.

Im sorry, but this is an absolutely immersive game that "shouldnt" work in coop , at all, but its just so cool and comforting to know your friend is right there, which actually makes you realize how terrified you are that you need that company

Games were never the same again after this, forget doom, halflife.. the shock series has shaped the modern fps, right from 1994.


....

[Mischief Maker]

Fun fact about Deus Ex: The only cheat code that doesn't brand "Cheater" across your save file is the one that gives you free XP to disable the simulated incompetence (max your skill levels). Someone in the dev team shares my disdain for RPGing up action games. Using that cheat doesn't even eliminate the RPG sense of escalating power because you're still picking up new cyborg powers as the game progresses.

Everything System Shock 2 did okay, Thief and System Shock 1 did better, atmosphere included.

[drauch]

Personal opinion, but I feel like playing this game co-op sort of undermines the atmosphere. The isolation and helplessness you feel, and the drive throughout most of the game to find someone -- anyone -- who was still alive.

I definitely agree. I love co-op as much as the next guy and gal, but I don't think I could play a game that I love as much as this one like that.


Thief and System Shock 1 are both fantastic games as well, but System Shock 2 really gets me off. In every way you can take that.