System Shock 2 MedSci Review by The Playing Field (Jared Mitchel)

[673f8163e5fe8unn_atropos]

°review
Reviewer:  The Playing Field (Jared Mitchel)

Title: MedSci | System Shock 2
Duration: 01:07:29
Language: English
Year: 2017
Topics:
High time for Looking Glass fans:
- Otherside Entertainment (Looking Glass 2.0) with Underworld Ascendant and System Shock 3
- Nightdive Studios with System Shock reboot

1:45/2:05 What makes System Shock 2 good? And what is is that makes the MedSci level inviting to some players but offputting to others?

Part 1: Gameplay and Systems
2:40 System Shock = first entry of the immersive 0451 genre
3:48 traits of immersive sims
   - First Person Perspective
   - RPG influences
   - Emphasis on system driven gameplay-driven- Player authored gameplay
4:25 Emergent gameplay (intend)
5:10 Creating stories and gamers unique experiences
7:20 Systems and mechanics of System Shock 2
- FPS controlls: frobbing and use modes, inventory, weapons, psi, hacking & nanites, QBR, Stats (D&D in Spaaacccceee!); combat, tech, psi, os-upgrades→interactions of skills to make an ideal player
16:46 creating stories via skills: result/option trees
19:53 System Shock 2 is allowing the player to get stuck in a mess of their own creation

Part 2: Level Walkthrough (MedSci)
20:16 Tutorial levels (earth) 20:44 Tron references ftw!
21:54 class paths (Space Station) serving as a Diegesis instead of being a simulacrum
22:54 Critical path (needed) and golden path (optional), Cryo A = a skill gate with redundand tutorials
25:38 scripted sequence: hybrid in framed introduction
26:48 expanding level layout
28:08 the real start of System Shock 2 at the second key card → Level Design Analysis
   - Lighting and composition: communication space = initial read
   - 30:30 high amount of quests to open elvevator: watershed to like or dislike the gameplay
- 36:00 rewards to the player: recharging trap represents micro (bosom of the) cosmos of Sys 2 level design
- 38:45 ghosts (doing stuff to your head)
- 40:00 psi monkeys with dodgeable projectiles-→ Doom
- 45:11 points of visual confirmation for progresses47:30 setting up situations to scare the player: being unprepared and forced to reorganize and adjust to new situations

Part 3: Analysis and design philosophy
48:33 What works and what doesn’t? Pros and cons
 
cons:
- Info dump at the elevator (should be in smaller chunks)
- another long level before finishing the first quest: seems unrewarding
- rather flat level design at times,

pros:
-some interesting and authentic places (balconies and “3 dimensional” rooms)
- level that bends back to itself with preview areas allows to see ahead or back (progress)→ immersion
- as Warren Spector says: Problems (open ended) not puzzles (one solution)
- bottle neck: freedom and constraint
- amazing audio work

57:00 System Shock 2 design philosophies
- Design Problems, not puzzles (Spector)
- Problems that need the combination of skills
- “choke points”: direct confrontation
- shortcuts by progres
- previews for visual indications of progress and believability of the environment

58:51 Suggestions*
- QBRs near start of the level against difficulty drops
- QBRs as a save space (don’t get triggered, goggles)
- create interesting spaces

1:00:23 Conclusion
What’s the overall quality of System Shock?
- MedSci and Engineering are a rough start
- anti linearity doesn’t always hold up (Engineering)
- Body of the many = break with the design philosophy
- ‘tis the stuff in betwenn that makes System Shock 2 acclaimed and loved

1:03:25 video sources

1:04:00 level announcement
wait...we have to pay to get it???

Named Modifications: none

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0beVkxu--M

See the full list of reviews here.




* turning the game into Bioshock...kind of!?!

and sorry for the expansive summarize. Got carried away a bit here...

[673f8163e619cicemann]

Just once I'd like to see someone go into talking about the Hydro and Rec levels. Those were some of my favorite bits in the game. Some damn fine logs in them also.

[673f8163e62b2fascinate4]

F  R  O  B  B  I  N  G

[673f8163e63cfunn_atropos]

I think this fits nicely in here. It's an interview with Ian Vogel, the designer of med/sci.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-09-03-the-making-of-system-shock-2s-best-level

[673f8163e64b0icemann]

Medsci is so not the best level in the game.

[673f8163e65f2Hikari]

Perhaps that is the problem since MedSci is where you get your first real look at the gameplay.

[673f8163e6775Kolya]

Med/Sci does a lot of cool things things though that were replaced by more conventional gameplay in the later parts of the game: The satellite dish impact clearly shows the dangers of a space station, while many of the later levels could have taken place on a planet base. The following (fake) evacuation countdown is singular in the game. The radiation showers and the flooded area are also outstanding.