System Shock Upgrade Your Weapons

This obsessive compulsive dance of death with your wrench will serve to save up on supplies for the first half of the game, and the internal logic of the world will often leave you making some odd decisions to maximize your gear.

Youre shown the basic workings of the world and are left to customize your character through a hub-style network of academies and assignments that fast-forwards you four years in game time.

This style of character building does have an immediate effect on how you start playing, as your choices will dictate your starting stats and what areas youll specialize in.

Cliched or no, it does offer a convenient premise on why you cant remember the tragedy that has befallen the crew of the ship, or even why youve been put into suspended animation in the first place, or what you must do to fix things.

Regardless, a little exploring reveals just how grim the situation is everyones dead or dying, a rogue AI has taken control of the ship and parts of the super-structure are falling apart after a few pitched battles.

And then you get contacted by another lone survivor who has a seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of the ship and what you must do in order to make it out alive.

The areas featured in the ship include your average research, storage and engineering sectors, but some of the more creative levels depict theaters, bars and markets, giving the ship an eerie feeling of authenticity (minus the artificial gravity, which is never explained).

One thing youll almost immediately notice is just how very non-linear the levels are.

It takes some time to fully grasp the magnitude of the ship, but once you unlock a central elevator connecting the ships five decks Engineering, Medical Science, Hydrophonics, Operations and Recreational youll be able to travel between levels and sub-levels on a whim.

Youll fast learn that the vessel is heavily infested with aliens, mutants and whatnot, and that youre never quite safe.

Even after clearing an area, enemies will continually respawn from time to time outside your view.

One time I was rummaging through my inventory in what I thought was a safe room.

Out of nowhere the door behind me opens and a mutant barges in.

To this effect, the game looks and plays a whole lot like Thief, going as far as keeping the same menu layout, sound effects and animations.

Theres even a few fragments of the old AI stuck in there if youre detected but then hide in the shadows, foes will proceed to look for you, and you can sneak up behind them if you crouch and move slowly.

Even if you do get caught, the alarm will only spawn enemies for a couple of minutes before everything goes back to normal.

Skills, which are as passive as stats, are nonetheless more numerous, and highlight the range of stuff you can do in this game Hacking lets you brake electronic locks, security terminals or Replicators, ATM-style shops that you can buy supplies from.

System Shock Upgrade Your Weapons

Modify lets you upgrade your weapons to make them more lethal.

There are three weapon proficiencies, and a separate Psi skill tree that lets you cast psionic powers, both offensive and defensive (consider this a makeshift magic system with added techno-jargon).

Accomplishing objectives earns you points that you can use to upgrade your character and unlock new psi powers.

Youll also find various boosters to better your character, including implants that you can hook up or detach anytime.

Whats more, the range of items you can find and use here is quite expansive, if initially scarce as you sink into the game.

As with all survival horror games, Shock 2 is extremely cheap with weapons, ammo and health pick-ups, so engaging enemies with your wrench (or any other melee weapon) without getting hit yourself is almost always the better option.

System Shock Portable Download