Nightdive Studios, which is self-publishing System Shock, made the announcement on Wednesday. The demo is described as a “first-hand look at Nightdive’s reimagining of the classic.” It’s made clear that while the game has a new look and feel, Nightdive retained the “classic stylings, story, and gameplay” from the original game.
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The demo picks up right at the start of System Shock, when the player awakens from a 6-month medical coma to find that something has gone very wrong while they were sleeping. The demo then proceeds with the player running into several mechanical enemies turned villainous and even some other more disturbing enemies. Players will have to see just how badly things have gone for themselves.
It’s also been confirmed that the demo is a brand new build, unlike the demos that have previously been released for Kickstarter backers. That said, the demo doesn’t entirely represent the finished quality of what Nightdive is working toward in System Shock. One specific example is that Nightdive is planning to re-record the voiceover for the game. It hasn’t aged particularly well. But, with COVID-19 being what it is, the voice recordings haven’t been done yet. As such, the demo still uses the original audio.
Those worried that Nightdive might get rid of some of their favorite System Shock audio, specifically SHODAN’s voicework, don’t have to stress. Nightdive is retaining the original voice actress for SHODAN to rerecord her lines. SHODAN lives.
Overall the demo offers around 40-60 minutes of alpha gameplay from System Shock. It should be more than enough for players, whether they’re fans of the original System Shock or new to the game, to be able to judge if it’s something they’re interested in. It’s the perfect way to sate any excitement for System Shock while waiting for Nightdive to confirm the game’s final 2020 release date.
System Shock launches in 2020 on PC.
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Source: Steam
