Kickstarter announced for System Shock reboot

A reboot of the genre defining classic first person shooter System Shock, something which many have wished for, is becoming a reality, and a Kickstarter campaign has been started to help fund it.

Coming from Nightdive Studios, the game will be a complete remake from the ground up, however will aim to remain faithful to the original.

The original, released in 1994, saw players trapped aboard the Citadel Station fighting against cyborgs and mutated crew members, after the station’s AI ‘SHODAN’ went crazy and started corrupting the ship.

Many compare the Bioshock games to the System Shock series as modern comparisons, as its style of storytelling and brand of first person action, exploration and RPG elements were all inspired by (or at least very similar in concept to) these old adventures. The story was mainly told via audio logs and messages, and many praise both the original System Shock and its sequel (mainly the sequel, to be fair) for its atmosphere and tense, almost horror-esque setting.

The reboot intends to feature re-imagined enemies, weapons and locations, updated UI, mechanics and puzzles to bring the game into a more modern accessibility, a brand new musical score, and new voice over recordings WITH (before anyone gets angry) Terri Brosius reprising her role as SHODAN.

Various goals have been listed on the Kickstarter, including modern inventory management, updated controls, difficulty modes, more puzzles, and even limb dismemberment.

It’s looking pretty good from the screenshots available, managing to keep the aesthetic of the original while making marked improvements.

I personally enjoyed the System Shock games, playing them retrospectively, however came to the unfortunate conclusion that neither had aged particularly well. A reboot seems to be the perfect way forward for the series and it seems to be in pretty good hands – original concept artist Robb Waters is also working on the project.

If System Shock was your thing, take a look at the Kickstarter here. There’s even a pre-alpha demo available on Steam, GOG and the Humble store to get a taste of what’s to come.

The game has already reached above half of its funding goal of $900,000 in the first day, so hopefully we’ll be hearing more updates about the game very soon.