GOG.com
Donate to Codex
Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games

Early System Shock 3 concept art revealed at Starbreeze event

Click here and disable ads!

Early System Shock 3 concept art revealed at Starbreeze event

Preview - posted by Infinitron on Thu 11 May 2017, 00:31:22

Tags: OtherSide Entertainment; Starbreeze Studios; System Shock 3; Warren Spector

Back in March, we learned that OtherSide Entertainment's System Shock 3 was going to be published by Swedish publisher Starbreeze Studios. Today Warren Spector appeared at a livestreamed Starbreeze promotional event, appropriately called the StarStream, to talk about the game. The System Shock 3 segment of the stream was pretty short and apparently Warren didn't have much to say, but he did bring some early concept art with him. Polygon have written a brief summary of his appearance:



System Shock fans were treated to a new look at the game’s long-awaited sequel today, with new concept art shown off during a livestream event hosted by publisher Starbreeze Studios.

Polygon’s got some additional peeks at System Shock 3’s world, courtesy of Starbreeze, developer Otherside Entertainment and the game’s returning designer, Warren Spector. Both are pieces of early concept art meant to set the tone for the cyperbunk action game, set on a lonely space station years in the future.

Spector’s return to the series comes more than 23 years after the original System Shock, hailed as an innovative action role-playing game at its time of release. Although he wasn’t involved with System Shock 2, Spector told Polygon that returning to the series after two-plus decades was an easy decision.

“I produced System Shock and played System Shock 2 so I’m pretty familiar with the universe,” Spector said. “And there were some fictional loose ends to explore and tie up. That sounded like fun. Also, SHODAN. You know what I mean?”

SHODAN, the A.I. being that terrorizes the player throughout every System Shock game, is absent from what we saw today. Yet she’ll again play a significant role in System Shock 3, just as Spector told us last August. The game picks up where System Shock 2 left off, when — spoiler alert for the 1999 RPG — SHODAN takes the form of a human woman.

As genre-defining as System Shock 2 and its predecessor were in the 1990s, the concept — “you alone on a space station,” as Spector called it — has come to feel commonplace these days, in the post-BioShock era. The recent release of Prey, which pays obvious homage to System Shock developer Looking Glass Studios in myriad ways, may further point to the genre’s mainstream familiarity.

Now that System Shock’s setting and storyline isn’t quite so unique, is Spector concerned about System Shock 3 failing to stand out among the pack?

“I think having more immersive simulation games out there is all to the good,” said Spector. “Based on what I’ve seen of Prey so far, there are some similarities but I assure you we’re doing stuff that team didn’t do, just as they did stuff we’re not. I’m not worried about people getting confused.”

System Shock 3 remains a ways ahead; it’s due out on PC and consoles, but no release window has been specified. Spector mentioned during the Starbreeze livestream that the team would be “transitioning into pre-production” soon. For more concept art, check out the gallery below.

In the meantime, a reboot of the original System Shock is coming sometime in 2018 from Nightdive Studios.
Colorful! They're definitely going for a more System Shock 1 look there.

There are 12 comments on Early System Shock 3 concept art revealed at Starbreeze event

Site hosted by Sorcerer's Place Link us!
Codex definition, a book manuscript.
eXTReMe Tracker
rpgcodex.net RSS Feed
This page was created in 0.05216908454895 seconds