That and the intro to System Shock 2. You would think she would say it at some point during the game as you’re panting and sweating while running through her corridors.
Not required. I made it out of there by using the “fast reflexes” drug (IIRC), and picking the lock on the door before the explosive went off.
There was a door? SHODAN traps you in with a force field. There was a panel with one of them puzzles which I found impossible to do (theres no way to click fast enough to solve it) before the explosion went off. (a matter of seconds)
Sounds like you’re talking about something completely different.
I think he’s talking about using the reflex patch to slow things down so that there’s time enough to do the puzzle that unlocks the panel. From what I’ve read it’s still really hard to do though. I just turned on the reviver since I didn’t have patience for those puzzles even when I wasn’t rushed.
Yes the reflex patch works. Like, far out man.
Can I just point out that this particular sequence was NOT one of her finest hours.
“Oh no, I have to resurrect a few meters away with my task complete. Oh, you evil, evil bitch. Oh the horror.”
Cut her some slack. She may be an omnipotent AI, but she’s still kinda new to the whole super-villain thing.
Although, as the sequel shows, it’s not like she gets much better at it.
Yeah, the revelation of your big superplan shouldn’t really be met with the rolling of eyes and slamming of heads against desks. Mind you, that’s what you get when you play a game that spends ages trying to be cryptic and mysterious about its new alien threat…after running a competition called ‘GET KILLED BY SHODAN’ ;-)
Yeah, my reaction to the “big reveal” in the middle of SS2 was along the lines of “Well, freaking duh!”
It was a cool reveal, but not a good one. SHODAN in the first Shock is smart enough to have backup plans, and twists on her plans, and alternative strategies, just to be on the safe side - the SHODAN in Shock 2 is a bit of a ditz, really. Blah blah, insect, got it. Yeah, shallow plan to take over the ship, got it. Cyber-implants just toys? Yeah, most of them give me the power to do stuff I can do personally, in real life, and the century old ones ones in Shock 1 were much more powerful. I’m like a living god.
Although I still object to the ‘Nah’. You don’t get to say ‘Nah’ to SHODAN.
In fairness, they all but gave it away on the preceeding level anyway - but I think most people who played the first game pretty much had it figured out about the point ‘Your corpse is useless to me’ entered the script, about five picoseconds after starting.
Having played System Shock 2 first, I had no idea until the reveal. The obvious hints must have went right over my head. Funny thing is on Deck 3 - Hydroponics, I remember she was getting increasingly bitter(forget the exact dialogue but it was off-putting for sure) However it still didn’t hit me having never known SHODANs demeanor.
There was a real red flag for the big reveal a little earlier in the game that was easy to miss. It was an audio log from Dr. Whatsherface from a few days earlier - if you listen to it, her voice sounds nothing like the voice that’s been bossing you around.
Well, the VOICE does. The acting is totally different.
Interesting. It was of the few things in SS2 that I thought Irrational fumbled, as her demeanor turned very SHODAN-esque right before you found her body. Don’t get me wrong; it was a very cool momnet when the thought hit me that my guide was actually SHODAN. But I think the already nifty reveal when have been much better if it had been a complete surprise.
The fact that those who weren’t already familiar with SHODAN might not catch on never occurred to me.
If you didn’t get that, there were also the genuine logs from the character where her voice was quite different.
I reinstalled SS2 with the Shock Treatment compilation last night. It’s still very cool, and scary.
Potato, potahto. The point is it’s clearly not the same person. :-)
The fact that those who weren’t already familiar with SHODAN might not catch on never occurred to me.
Probably the only benefit of playing SS2 first.
I’m assuming the logs of her are “actually” her. IIRC she was the one that releases SHODAN. I wonder if SHODAN fits on a Floppy.
I might have to replay SS2 after I finish with SS1 for the full effect.
That kind of reveal is hard to calibrate right, since so many people come to the game with different expectations and knowledge. We were actually pretty worried people would get to that part of SS2 and be like “WTF? Where did that come from?”
For my 2 cents, I think people who see the reveal coming and can pat themselves on the back still get enjoyment out of the experience, whereas failing in the other direction just seems cheap.
Oh absolutely. It was one of those great emotional mixes of “Hey waaaaaaaaiiiiit a minute” and “Holy shit!”
It’s just that, for me, it was a moment like in KOTOR
(I know this is lame, but Spoiler Alert)
|
|
|
|
v
when I figured out I was Revan almost immediately before the reveal. I got that great charge of “I’m Sherlock Fucking Holmes!” but it was mixed with a tinge of disappointment at not getting the full brunt of the surprise.
Still, I see your point about balancing it, especially for the folks who didn’t have the background of SS1 to fall back on. And it was still cool as hell.
For my 2 cents, I think people who see the reveal coming and can pat themselves on the back still get enjoyment out of the experience, whereas failing in the other direction just seems cheap.
Quite. See Fahrenheit and its gut-bustingly stupid second enemy reveal.
I do think it’s pretty funny that SHODAN proves entirely impotent against the threat of the Many, gets thrown into the first real situation where she can’t puppeteer the universe, is pretty much inches away from having her system disk used as a bottom-wiper, and still takes the time to construct the universe’s largest home entertainment system just to go ‘Ha ha! Fooled you, insect!’
Even if it’s totally the kind of thing she’d do.