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	Message: : System Shock Marathon Comparison & talkthrough Season 2: System Shock 2 : : Episode 1: Arrival : Welcome back to the System Shock 2 Marathon Comparison writeups. Now we get : to the main game. : Act 1: Arrival – MedSci: Science section : : : : Year 4. Last leg of this military Marathon. The shuttle docks in the Von : Braun and I presumably make my way upstairs to the Rickenbacker. : : : I’m in cryosleep again? The pods remind me of both Halo and Alien. : : Uh oh, that can’t be good! : : : Hmm. Interesting. Before, the healing coma went off without a hitch, but : there’s an error. I have amnesia because there was an error in the memory : storage banks or someone tampered with it. Yeah, we’re a cyborg again and : we have the player character’s titular goggles from the cyborg elite guard : in the first game. Take a deep breath, and step out of the cryotube. I : won’t leave you twisting in the wind. A calm, warm voice comes over the : radio as I leave the cryotube. : “Steady yourself, soldier. This is Dr Janice Polito of the Computer Ops : staff of the Von Braun. You’re safe for the time being. You’re recovering : from the effects of surgery and won’t be able to remember the events of : the last few weeks. You’re onboard the starship Von Braun and something’s : gone very, very wrong. : Some kind of force has hijacked this ship. That’s why you volunteered to be : implanted with some experimental cybernetic implants.” : : “Rely on your cyber-interface, it just might save your life! You must find an : elevator and come up to deck 4 to meet me. Deck 4, can you remember that? : But keep your eyes open, they’re after us both now.” : This is where the main game begins. All radio messages play the way you : expect and the only way to see the text now is by replaying the radio : message in your PDA. Good news for System Shock 1 Enhanced Edition fans; : this game was CD only, no floppies allowed so the text matches the audio. : : : The radar dish breaks off in explosions and crashes through the window, : shattering it. The blue shield is a vacuum shield for safety ala Halo : Anniversary & Halo SPV3’s Covenant shuttle bays which is why I’m not : dead. Now would you kindly find a crowbar or something? A corpse in the : small alcove nearby has a wrench I can use. This is our PID Knife again : like the lead pipe in the first game. Bioshock gave us a monkey wrench : both in reference to this game and Half Life Opposing Force, with Atlas : referencing crowbars when he told us to go find one. Prey 2017 also has a : wrench in reference to both. Dr Polito warns that the vacuum shield won’t : last long and I need to hurry through an airlock before it fails and sucks : me into space. Using the wrench, I break the fallen vent over the ladder : and leg it down the hall. : More vents fall and things explode as I run through a nearby door. Inside is : something I really wasn’t expecting when I first played, which coupled : with pattern buffers, the setting at Tau Ceti and major story points in : Bioshock Infinite made me suspicious about Ken Levine’s inspiration for : his games. : : Look familiar? Sure it looks different and the messages are just gameplay : tips but we have terminals in the game just like Marathon, like the text : logs and papers in the floppy version & Enhanced Edition of the first : game. They stop appearing eventually and give way to audio logs but we : still have the PID style examine button for pretty much all items in the : game. Next to me is a keycard for the door. Behind it is a keypad locked : door and an audio log with the code, which is 45100. Another terminal : explains the PDA. : : Meet the hybrids. They are basically the splicers of this game and they come : in 3 types I’ll name after their Bioshock counterparts: Thuggish Hybrids : who wield lead pipes and carry coke, Leadhead Hybrids like this one who : wield shotguns and carry booze, and Nitro Hybrids who throw grenades and : pack cigarettes. Unlike System Shock 1, we can no longer throw grenades : ourselves, we have to use a grenade launcher ala PID. The door out of here : is broken and I can’t save the nurse so I crawl through a vent to a vacuum : safe door. On the floor is a battery and I recharge it at the charging : station before inserting it into slot on the wall via Use mode. : Dr Polito gives me some cybernetic modules which as discussed before are XP. : There’s one of each upgrade unit for each skill category in the next room. : “But use the modules carefully.” She warns. “They’re hard to come by.” : She’s right. We can find them hidden in the levels but there are never : enough as the ones we get from completing objectives. Laughably, a corpse : nearby has some more modules on him. 2 terminals here explain how the : automap and MFD works. I take this time to activate the minimap. : : You want hack and maintenance skills so I’m gonna save my XP for later. More : research doesn’t hurt either and I will be upgrading energy weapon and : agility skills later too. Nearby is a log from a man named Grassi who asks : Polito why she’s giving us the same cyborg augmentations as the hacker : when they were made illegal after the Space Colony Citadel fiasco 42 years : ago. 2 more terminals explain software (they make tech skills slightly : easier) and how to hack. The corpse by the keypad has a med hypo on him. : Up the lift I find a speed booster needle on some girders above the lower : area which is basically the red potion from PID without the bullet time. : In a nearby room I find a terminal explaining how to equip weapons, some : medical computers, a body with nanites on it and a keycard out of here. : : I still get strong Marathon vibes from the computer designs in this game, : especially the contrast between black and green. The “break glass” : compartment by the corpse has a PSI hypo and shotgun shells. By the : cryogenics wing exit door I see the ghost of someone who got locked in : here, possibly the man I just found? : : : As with all good Shock games not counting Bioshock 2 & Infinite, the 1st : or 2nd level is a hospital. Technically SS2’s hospital is both as while : this is the first level, it’s the second deck of the ship. Using my card, : we leave the cryogenics section and enter the science section. How the : downstairs inner bulkhead door was meant to link to the starting area : other than that vent I don’t know. : : “Silence the DISCORD!” : : A closer look at the hybrids, this one a Thuggish one and he seems to think : I’m Kontaru or Cat-Three. They’re clearly inspired both by Alien and the : headcrab zombies from Half Life except the “headcrab” in this case is a : large alien worm wrapped around their head like a mummy headdress. : : In Bioshock, you find similar heart organs to that one on spider splicers : once you have a research bonus on them. You can eat those hearts or other : organs as first aid kits. Yummy. : : In System Shock 2, we have to research that organ. All enemy organs require a : research skill of 1 to study. This one requires no more effort on my part. : While I wait for it to “cook” I check out the description of the cola I : looted. : Can of Soda : Soda is a refreshing beverage, a mixture of carbonated water and corn syrup, : and was invented in the early part of the 20th century. For such a : trivial-seeming product, soda and similar beverages fueled the rise of the : first two mega-corporations, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Net rumors suggest that : these two corporations’ marketing skirmishes turned into physical ones, : triggered by the destruction of offshore bottling plants by hired : mercenary squads in 2023. : It’s only spring of that same year at time of writing. Give it time, I’m sure : we’ll see Crack Cola & Postal Pepsi soon enough. The crate in this : small room is a security crate. Basically it’s an electronically locked : safe and you need to hack it to open it, requiring 2 skillpoints in : hacking. I’ll be back. In the small room next door is a pair of crates : with liquor on one of them, a packet of Crack-Os on the floor and a log : from Dr Delacroix in the desk. Considering the contents of this log, she : needed that drink. : : AI talking to people convincingly and being taught to sing is something : recent. Sure there’s vocaloid and that time a super old computer used TTS : to sing Daisy Bell in 1961 (which inspired HAL 9000 doing the same in : 2001: A Space Odyssey) but I don’t know if that’s true AI. For that, check : out Neuro-sama and her creator/programmer Vedal. The first time I heard : her sing was Still Alive fittingly enough. Even though she isn’t rampant : yet, she’s still batshit insane and we love her for it. She could well : become rampant one day. I even asked her if she knew about the condition. : https://twitter.com/NeurosamaAI/status/1646886519469137920 : The room with the maintenance bot in it requires a keypad to enter. Polito : notes that the AI Xerxes has shut down the elevator in front of it. I can : restart the engine cores on deck 1 to get the lift working again, but I : can’t use it to get down there. The locked room has a maintenance hatch : leading to deck 1 but I don’t have the code. Dr Watts does have it and : he’s probably in the Crew section. Grassi whose log we saw before has a : keycard but he’s in the Medical section. We need to get in there. : Unfortunately, the bulkhead to the medical section is out of power and I : can’t backtrack to the other charger as it’s now in vacuum and the door is : sealed. : I destroy the security camera here while I check my research results. More on : cameras later. : : Another parallel between System Shock 2 & Bioshock is an invertebrate : organism acting as a parasite and driving the main plot. In Bioshock, an : unknown species of sea slug capable of producing the superpower psycho : serum known as ADAM is implanted in the stomach of little sisters so they : can produce more ADAM and recycle it from corpses. Splicers don’t have the : slugs, but they want them. The slugs and their ADAM act like a slightly : less horrible cancer: killing native cells and replacing them with : unstable stem versions of themselves. Unfortunately, the unstable stem : cells can die off themselves leaving huge wounds and disfigurements, : requiring more and more ADAM just to keep up. Little sisters seem fine : though as they are in a symbiotic relationship with the slugs so they : often get more ADAM. They do look like zombies though. : In System Shock 2, the parasite is a worm which infects a host and bursts out : of their chests before attaching to their necks. The worm replaces various : parts of the host with many more tiny wormlike creatures forming flesh of : their own, using telepathy and mind control to make the host do what it : wants. So in effect, they’re like a cross between little sisters and : splicers. Some of them are convinced to join the worms and live together : as seen earlier when that thuggish hybrid called us a discord, others : don’t want it but end up getting infected against their will and the worms : force them to do their bidding. The hybrids even have dialog that reflects : this: “I’m…sorry!” : “They see you! Run…RUN!” : “Hurry! Run!” : “What happened to me?” : “URRGH KILL ME!” : A terminal here explains charging stations and a log from Curtiz says the : hazard suits are missing so he’s forced to bring a ton of rad hypos to : engineering due to constant coolant tube leaks. Gee, where have I heard : that before? : : Hi. The look on his face says what he saw as he committed suicide was worse : than actually dying. : : Pattern buffers return! Like the first game, they must be turned on first : before they can be used and some levels don’t have them, forcing you to : rely on savegames. Unlike the first game, they now cost nanites to use and : if you don’t have enough, you stay dead. Bioshock Infinite would make : reference to this in its hardest difficulty, 1999 mode named after this : game’s release year. It’s the same theory I guess: in this game, your : nanites are used by the pattern buffer to disintegrate your body and : rebuild it in a more or less healthy condition. In Bioshock Infinite, : Elizabeth AKA Anna DeWitt is using Booker’s money to buy medical supplies : to save his life. : In the crematorium is a log from Grassi. : : “Well la-dee-da”? Seriously? That’s the best comeback you can come up with? : What are you, 7 years old? : : ***INCOMING MESSAGE FROM XERXES*** : “This is Xerxes. Please report any unauthorised dattabase interaction to your : direct superior. A smooth operation is everybody’s responsibility.” : ***END MESSAGE*** : It’s pronounced “data” not “datta”, dumbass. Cortana made this mistake a lot : in Halo 1 too. Behind Xerxes’ core is a replicator. : As stated before, replicators are vending machines. Instead of storing the : items to buy and dispense, they take nanites and use them to make the : items we want, dropping them in that chute. The prices are fixed to allow : profit, not just building the items. Not only can we buy food & drink : or cigarettes from those things, but we can also buy ammo, med hypos, PSI : hypos and other stuff too. Hacking the replicator can only be done at : level 3 but it lowers the prices and gives us new items for sale that : normally aren’t allowed. They would return in Bioshock and even System : Shock 1’s remake is getting vending machines. The latter don’t use nanites : but as mentioned in the SS1 Marathon comparison, they take coins you earn : by recycling junk items like in Prey. : : “Thank you for choosing Value Rep!” (Or Value Wrap as I keep hearing it, : making me think of a good brand of convenience store sandwiches) : : Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Kill your cravings at the Circus of Values!” : In some RPGs and a few RTS’s such as Dungeon Keeper and Rollercoaster Tycoon : (for the latter), there is a research mechanic you can use to unlock new : spells, weapons etc. The earliest example of this I can think of is in : Mother 2: In that game, the party member Jeff can repair various broken : items whenever the party goes to sleep either in Ness’s home or hotels : etc. He’s actually crafting them MacGyver or Commander Keen style into : various items and weapons. E.g. a broken tube becomes a health drainer : similar to an SS2 PSI power (SOMA transference), a broken air gun becomes : an assault rifle or “Super Air gun” as the game calls it, a scrapped : deodorant can becomes “defence spray”, a broken mouth organ becomes a : freaking plasma rifle etc. : In Bioshock, research is done by taking pictures of enemies using a “research : camera”. This requires a lot of artistic licence as there’s no way in hell : a film camera (I knew them as disposable cameras growing up) can perform : complex scans of enemy bodies to learn how they work. Bioshock 2 upgrades : it to a video camera and you research by filming yourself killing enemies : in various creative ways. : : : There is a similar system to Mother 2’s repair/crafting mechanic in that game : in the form of U-Invent stations. “Just take some glue from evil red guy : and a screw from smelly dead guy and you’ve made some crap from scratch!” : System Shock 2 doesn’t have those, but the mod Secmod does try to have : something similar to it. : Prey 2017 does the research camera thing using a “Psycho-Scope” to scan : enemies Metroid Prime style. The scope is also used as your PSI amp too. : : In System Shock 2, research is a lot more fun than Bioshock and a different : flavour of fun to Prey. We right click on an alien organ, technology or : exotic weapon to begin researching it using parts of our cyborg gear. Like : real scientists, we need to insert chemical elements found in storerooms : such as this one into our research systems in order to use those chemicals : to run tests. I’d compare it to a cooking minigame as it’s basically : regular chemistry/alchemy with elements as our ingredients. : We’ll find the first organ that requires elements to research in the next : map. Polito says not to carry all the elements at once as there’s not : enough space for them all on top of everything else even at max strength : and we don’t need to. Our research software will tell us what chemicals it : needs when we research something. It gives us an excuse to backtrack : through past completed areas especially if the current level doesn’t have : the element we need. All chemical storerooms have a text only log that : plays the TriOptimum jingle which list all the elements in that room. They : come in handy for keeping track of what chemicals are where as we find : more. : In PID’s manual, we are encouraged to bring back treasure and alien artefacts : for study, learning about the W’rkncacnter and possibly the Jjaro and : unlock secrets of the universe. In System Shock 2, we can actually do it : ourselves and we’ll need to in order to use them at all. : Around the corner by a terminal explaining advanced ammo, a thuggish hybrid : beats a crewman to death with his pipe. Down the ladder is a recharge : station but it’s guarded by turrets that pop out of hatches in the wall as : I approach. The cyber modules and nanites on the corpse by the charger are : for suckers. That said, you can still get them if you’re fast or you : disabled security, rendering the turrets sitting ducks. Xerxes has a sense : of humour as siccing turrets on me, he reminds me that use of firearms on : board is against the rules. The turrets get me before I can get a good : screenshot and I respawn at the pattern buffer for 10 nanites. At least : it’s easier to walk back to the bulkhead. : : The description also calls it a VMU which is hilarious as it shares the : acronym with Visual Memory Unit i.e. the Dreamcast memory cards/minigame : players like a prototype Switch. It even looks like one crossed with the : “Ultimate Pinball” punch card powered pinball sim game I had growing up. : Unlike the real VMU, Dreamcast console, Ultimate Pinball and the MFD : minigames in System Shock 1, the GamePig sucks. : In SS1, MFD minigames were found in Cyberspace hacking and added to your : software menu in the real world. They featured Gnop!, Xs & Os you : could never win because the AI was too good, a sliding tile puzzle (bleh), : An interesting Wing Commander clone and a combination of Breakout & : Space Invaders almost exactly like a game I made for Game Design class in : college called The Battle of Wimbledon. The latter game which was called : Bot Bounce, Pong, & Wing Commander 0 are my favourites though I never : went over them in the Marathon comparison as I never found time to and it : wasn’t too relevant. They’re controlled using the mouse cursor in use mode : and it takes some getting used to. : In SS2, none of the GamePig’s game cartridges are good. The one I found is : minesweeper and after trying to play it and constantly failing when I : first played SS2, I’ve decided I hate minesweeper. Others include Frogger, : Golf, some kind of safari game and an Ultima clone. The latter is the : worst as not only does it look and play like shit (same as 98% of the : entire Ultima series) but the 20 nanites reward you get for beating it is : a huge waste of time as the game is stupid hard, which makes it even more : terrible. They also all require the mouse in use mode to play but unlike : SS1 it’s clunky and awkward. : Bottle of Liquor : With advances in pharmaceuticals that mimic the effects of alcohol, Liquor : has begun to be rated in both “true proof” and “factor proof,” with the : strongest drinks being close to 330 factor proof. This rotgut gets you : drunk the old-fashioned way, with no added factor proof. : Judging by the bottle, it has to be Jack Daniels. “Good.” Polito says as I : insert the new battery. “I’m uploading some more cybernetic modules. : Spend them wisely: they’re not easy to locate.” : Gotta split it again. I hope the rest of them aren't like this.
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