The visual changes are very underwhelming, at least in the trailer they make the game look like something from 2003 instead of 1999. Buttons and other user interfaces look a lot better but everything else doesn't seem to gain much. I don't yet see a reason why we should spend money on this, given that System Shock 2 is still perfectly playable and texture mods can achieve similar results.
We shouldn't. That's the point. I speak out against Nightdive whenever I can. They pretend to be all about "oh, we love old games, and we're here for you," but in reality, there's hardly such sentiment at play if they allow themselves to be part of such inclement profiteering. Zero respect for charging 40 bucks for slapping some textures on an old game, and patching a few bugs or UI shortcomings. I mean, I don't care about the money per se, I have a reasonable income, hh, but the practice itself—so sedge.
I wouldn't have said anything—heck, I'd even praise their passion—if they'd priced
their modding appropriately. Why, some people mod for free, and some are "smarter" and ask for a few bucks for their work. I'm cool with that. Moreover, paid "better mods" could attract a new audience, add credibility to IP revivals, and, last but not least, offer a refreshing new take on old games.
That being said, Nightdive did at least one thing really well—the SS remake. Very thoughtful approach. But that's a whole new level of development. I've replayed the original SS several times since it came out, and I'm usually a sucker for "old before modern" and even I liked it.
