System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster Review

It can be weird reviewing a game so iconic, so beloved, and so influential on the industry in general. Though still mostly considered a cult classic and the game that has ultimately become overshadowed by its spiritual successor, BioShock, there’s a large group of people that grew up with System Shock 1 and 2, and absolutely adore both to this day.

That’s why I feel like I need to rip the band-aid off immediately. System Shock 2 is a slog, and I don’t think it’s fun to play in 2025. Phew.

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Look, I know that opinion is going to make a lot of you annoyed and ready to bounce off of this webpage immediately, and I get it. Others will simply question my ability to play hard video games, and that’s a fair enough stance to take as well.

But for those of you that want to hear more about why this game just doesn’t work for me anymore in the modern landscape, I have a lot of things to get into with you, dear reader. Don’t get it twisted, either. System Shock 2 still has a lot going for it to this day too, and I’m excited to give all the credit where it’s due.

Wipe the cryosleep from your eyes, grab your favorite wrench, and get ready to dismantle your local AI overlord.

Straight From A Throwback Sci-Fi Action Movie

I will be the first to tell you that, even 25 years later, the vibe of System Shock 2 is pretty immaculate. It’s a healthy dose of Blade Runner mixed together with a dash of Alien, Star Trek, The Matrix, and even some Starship Troopers. For me, a massive sci-fi dweeb, I was immediately intrigued.

The ship you spend most of the game on, while lonely and daunting in its size, becomes a character in itself, much like a Rapture or Columbia from the BioShock series. Nothing feels as lived-in and truly haunted as those other all-time great video game locations, but it’s still impressive world-building nonetheless.

There’s a similar charm here to going back and playing the original Halo for the first time, which also works incredibly well in System Shock 2’s favor, though clearly, this game is aiming for more of a survival-horror-type experience instead of a bombastic space marine adventure shooter.

Essentially, if you’re into sci-fi, you’re going to be into System Shock 2 on a base level if only to see the team’s take on a derelict space station floating around in oblivion while the strings are ultimately being pulled by a hostile AI and a race of hive-mind aliens that definitely do not have humanity’s best interests at heart.

Though none of the cutscenes or reveals throughout are super shocking in 2025, the story still holds up marvelously well. If you played the original game and are familiar with SHODAN, the iconic AI antagonist, there is a lot to like about how everything unfolds in this sequel as well, including a really cool ending sequence and cliffhanger that’s sadly been lost to the last couple of decades.

The music swaps from eery lulls to heart-pumping, rave-like cyberpunk beats, though it’s not contingent on the on-screen action at all and just works in a loop. There were many times that my gamer-conditioned brain thought I was in mortal danger when a song would kick in full-force, but then I’d remember I was playing a game from 1999 that hadn’t progressed that far in immersion yet.

The BioShock-iness Of It All

If you’re like me and agree that BioShock, BioShock 2, and BioShock: Infinite are the best trilogy of first-person shooters to ever exist, you’re going to have a lot to uncover in System Shock 2 that feels strangely nostalgic, even if you don’t have prior experience with either of these spiritual predecessors.

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It’s a game that likely will never have an equal, but there are a handful of titles that try to replicate that iconic first trip to Rapture.

This is driven home tremendously by the audio logs you’ll collect throughout the journey, which, just like BioShock, you can pick up, play, and seamlessly listen to as you continue to explore the world. System Shock did this in 1999, and modern games have still yet to accept that allowing players to listen to lore as they continue to play the actual game is the correct choice almost 100% of the time.

The maintenance droids are clearly prototype Big Daddies, and the Hybrids are an easy and fitting comparison to the variety of Splicers you’re already familiar with. No, none of them are quite as scary and imposing as what you may be expecting, but the direct connection and inspiration to be found is really cool either way.

While still not as well-integrated as the plasmid system in BioShock, the psionics in System Shock 2 function in a very similar fashion with a truly impressive number of options and uses for each new power-up as well. You replenish your ability to use these powers with syringes, just like hypos in BioShock.

Even the initial moment you take control of your character feels like stepping out of the bathysphere for the first time. Sections of the map are separated by bulkheads between loading screens. If you didn’t come into the game already knowing it was a Ken Levine and Friends joint, you’d think there’s enough shared DNA here to file a lawsuit.

From this perspective, System Shock 2 is a fun look back at a rich video game lineage if you want to see how Ken Levine eventually made the transition to BioShock. If you’re a longtime System Shock fan, obviously, none of this will be news to you. Still, it’s a fun exercise in game development history to see all the connections here.

A Half-Measure Remaster

If you’ve noticed, I have kind of just been talking in this review as if it’s covering the original version of System Shock 2. “But wait, isn’t this supposed to be about the 25th anniversary remaster?” A valid question, hypothetical inquirer. Unfortunately, I now need to let you know that this remaster simply still feels… old.

Though I must admit, I’m kind of split on this fact. In a way, there’s a certain charm that comes with playing a new version of an old classic, now running in 4K and whatever framerate your console of choice can handle. I’m pro-game preservation, and even though this remaster isn’t actually the same 1999 visuals, it’s neat to revisit System Shock 2 in the way our brains remember the original.

On the other hand, I think there was a happy medium well beyond where NightDive Studios chose to stop with this one. I wouldn’t have expected the highest-fidelity, AAA-style graphics to be present here, but the “Still looks like 1999 but smoother now” choice ultimately makes this all feel a little… unnecessary, too.

Heck, there’s not even an option here to flip between the new visuals and the OG version, probably because the team realized that there really wasn’t much of a difference to highlight anyway.

I’d even go as far as to say that some of the original designs from 1999 look better than what we’re presented with in this remaster. This will come down to your own preference, but the Hybrid enemies in the OG, in my opinion, are creepier and more grotesque in the somewhat smoothed-out versions we’ve gotten in 2025.

I think this is a shame, and just kind of tells me that this remaster attempt is not enough to be a substantial improvement while still being just enough to feel like an uncanny mod at times. If you’re into it, I’m happy for you. But I just think many will ultimately be taken aback by just how 1999 this still looks in a weird way instead of an endearing, old-school way.

I understand that not everyone loved the revamped visuals from the 2023 System Shock remake, and I also understand that the 2025 version of 2 is a remaster, not a remake. But… why? It just creates an inconsistency in the products and makes it feel like 2 is the inferior game now.

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I just can’t help but think that the correct choice would’ve been to give System Shock 2 the full remake treatment as well, with the option to swap to retro visuals for those that so choose. Instead, you’re going to play a 1999-ass-looking version of the game, and you’re going to like it. Maybe.

I did really enjoy the collection of concept art and fun marketing materials that the team pulled together to celebrate the 25th anniversary. It was nice to have the perspective and get a look back into the history of the game and the world of 1999 before Y2K actually happened, the simulation restarted, and we all wound up in… whatever this is—*gestures at everything*.

Gameplay Stuck In 1999

As much as I wish the System Shock 2 Remaster had done a bit more to bring the visuals smoothly into 2025, those are all things I can look beyond as a gamer. As long as a title runs smoothly and steadily, visual fidelity is a secondary concern to me. Gameplay is king, and this is sadly where I have the worst news about System Shock 2.

There’s simply not much of a reason here… to justify the $30 it takes to purchase the 25th anniversary edition.

While, once again, the 2023 remake of the original System Shock updated the gameplay and made everything feel more fluid, satisfying, and exciting, the System Shock 2 Remaster still feels entirely stuck in 1999. I know, some of you will be happy for this continuity with the original version, but I land on the side that this game pretty desperately needs modernization.

At a certain point, the remaster starts to lose its justification for existence when it not only looks mostly the same, but also plays mostly the same. The 1999 version is still on Steam for $6 at the time of writing. There’s simply not much of a reason here on the gameplay front either to justify the $30 it takes to purchase the 25th anniversary edition.

If you never played an FPS in the 90s, I really don’t know how you could go back to a game quite like this. It’s a genre that simply hasn’t aged in the same ways that other classics of the time have. You might fondly remember playing GoldenEye 64, but have you gone back to it recently? Oof. It’s… an experience.

…far too obtuse and “hardcore” in ways that just aren’t fun anymore.

Still, being a PC game at the time and coming out two years after your GoldenEye-likes, System Shock 2 hasn’t aged quite that poorly, but it’s still a difficult experience in 2025 regardless. The guns feel bad. Your melee weapon/wrench feels like it hits with the force of a dustbroom and gets caught on objects instead of landing blows on the enemies.

It’s a survival-horror FPS in terms of ammo scarcity, so every bullet matters. It’s incredibly annoying, therefore, when you’re firing directly at an enemy and a bullet simply isn’t registering damage for no perceivable reason.

Navigating the map is tedious. The insane number of security alarms is frustrating. The inventory management is a slog. The constant back and forth between menus is a pain. The quests are vague at best. The weapon degradation feels random and inconsistent. It’s all just, unfortunately, far too obtuse and “hardcore” in ways that just aren’t fun anymore.

Some of you know what you’re in for here already, and you’re good with it. My hat is off to you. Others of you will jump into this game, have no idea what the hell is going on, and bounce off quickly enough to get a refund if you’re playing on Steam.

I respect System Shock 2 and how much it demands of you right off the bat, but I’d find it hard to believe that anyone can really attempt it anymore without following a detailed walkthrough for the vast majority of a playthrough. Even then, it would be a challenge.

There’s not even the quality of life improvement to include button prompts in the tutorial sections, as a robotic voice walks you through every aspect of the game you’ll have to master. You’re left to study the controls menu and hope you remember everything right off the bat as you get fed directions that really don’t make sense at all yet.

…not enough had been done here to give System Shock 2 the love and attention it deserved…

I can forgive all of this for a 1999 game. I get it, really. But it all just feeds into my notion that kept growing throughout my experience that not enough had been done here to give System Shock 2 the love and attention it deserved to get back in front of modern audiences.

Maybe my expectations were off, but this same team had already shown us more of what they were capable of with the release of the original game’s remake two years ago. Despite System Shock 2 just being a remaster, I’m still kind of failing to see much of a point this time around.

Closing Thoughts:

I get why diehards love System Shock 2, but it doesn’t change the fact that it hasn’t aged all that gracefully in 2025. This game deserves its legendary status for the influence it had on the industry at large, but it’s one most of us should just appreciate from afar. This remaster is undoubtedly the best way to play the game on modern hardware. Still, it also ultimately feels like a low-effort endeavor that’s devoid of desperately needed Quality of Life improvements, making me question why they even bothered. The lore and vibe are still incredible, but the moment-to-moment gameplay can sadly be a downright slog. You’ll already know if this remaster is for you, and I think you’ll enjoy it if that’s the case. Curious newbies should just watch a playthrough.