System Shock 2 is a 1999 action role-playing survival horror video game designed by Ken Levine and co-developed by Irrational Games and Looking Glass Studios.Originally intended to be a standalone title, its story was changed during production into a sequel to the 1994 game System Shock.
Do you feel a little bit limited by the existing Upgrades available in System Shock 2? Are you hoping to specialise your character just a bit more? That's where the O/S Upgrades come into play. O/S Upgrades are one-time, passive improvements to your cybernetic rig, which give you some sort of bonus, discount, or additional ability.- How can you challenge a perfect, immortal machine? Customers who pre-order this version of System Shock will receive System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition for fre.
- Apr 07, 2001 System Shock 2 rivals Half-Life for the game of the year (1999), and with a great storyline, brilliant graphics and sound, plus all the small things that the game has, this is the game that you must own.
- With this blueprint, Nightdive found that there was a solid enough foundation in System Shock 2 to begin fleshing out a full VR version. Kick says System Shock 2 Enhanced Edition will be fully.
Though there are 16 O/S Upgrades in total, not all are made equal. The unfortunate fact is that while many might sound good on paper, in practice there's only a handful of them worth getting, though some are useful in a specialised context depending on your character. Considering the limited number you'll have throughout the game, you'll want to pick and choose from the best depending on your play-style.
| Strong Metabolism |
| Description: Damage from radiation and toxins reduced by 25%. |
| Assessment: Radiation and toxins are minor threats throughout the game, and there are plenty of ways to deal with them (Hypos, Hazard Suit, etc.). Not very useful compared to many others. |
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| Pharmo-Friendly |
| Description: Extra 20% benefit from all Hypos. |
| Assessment: One of the better choices. Hypos are your main source of healing and essential to Psi users, so this will, in theory, reduce the number you need to use. |
| Pack-Rat |
| Description: Adds three extra inventory slots. |
| Assessment: Useful early on, but only get this if you don't plan on increasing your Strength at all. Midway through the game you'll probably have all the inventory space you need. |
| Speedy |
| Description: Movement speed increased by 15%. |
| Assessment: Like Pack-Rat, this provides an effect similar to increasing an attribute without providing all the benefits. Can be useful early on, but you're better off just increasing your Agility a level or two. |
| Sharpshooter |
| Description: Ranged (non-Psi) weapons do 15% more damage. |
| Assessment: One of the most useful O/S Upgrades unless you focus on melee or Psi. Ammo is your most important resource and this will make each shot count a little more. Applies to Heavy and Exotic weapons too, so pick it up even if you don't plan on using the Standard weapons. |
| Naturally Able |
| Description: One-time bonus of 8 Cyber Modules. |
| Assessment: This will seem tempting early, but unless you avoid all exploration, you'll have more Cyber Modules than you know what to do with later in the game. Only get this if you feel the early-game benefits of more Cyber Modules outweigh all other options. |
| Cybernetically Enhanced |
| Description: Allows the use of two implants at once. |
| Assessment: One of the best choices, hands-down. Implants provide better bonuses than many O/S Upgrades themselves, and while they require recharging, the versatility offered by them makes up for the drawbacks. |
| Tank |
| Description: Increases maximum Hit Points by 5. |
| Assessment: Near-useless, even when playing on Impossible difficulty. If you need more health, 5 Hit Points aren't going to help much - you're better off boosting your Endurance instead. |
System Shock Is Reborn.
| Lethal Weapon |
| Description: Increases all hand-to-hand damage by 35% |
| Assessment: Essential for melee fighters, and even worth considering if you plan on using ranged weapons, as the Wrench will be your most-used weapon early on. |
| Security Expert |
| Description: Provides a +2 Hacking skill bonus for Security Control Stations only. |
| Assessment: Near-useless. You'll want to improve your Hacking skill throughout the game anyway, and most Security Control Stations aren't even that tough to hack. |
| Smasher |
| Description: You can execute overhand power attacks with melee weapons. |
| Assessment: Only useful for melee-based characters. Combined with Lethal Weapon, it will make your melee attacks extremely powerful. |
| Cyber Assimilation |
| Description: You can extract Repair Modules from destroyed robots, which heal 15 Hit Points when consumed. |
| Assessment: Mediocre ability. There are enough sources of healing to make this redundant, and robot enemies are less common than organic ones; only consider this if you are having a huge amount of trouble staying alive. |
| Replicator Expert |
| Description: All items bought from Replicators cost 20% less. |
| Assessment: One of the better upgrades, regardless of character. Replictators will be one of your best sources for certain items throughout the game, and when also hacked, you can get some very big discounts. |
| Power Psi |
| Description: Psionic burnout (charging a Psi ability too long) no longer damages you. |
| Assessment: Not very useful. Burnout does not do much damage, except for the highest-tier abilities. Only worth considering for 100% Psi-only characters. |
| Tinker |
| Description: Nanite cost for modifying weapons reduced by 50%. |
| Assessment: Not very useful. You'll likely only modify a few weapons during the game, and you'll have more than enough Nanites for that. |
| Spatially Aware |
| Description: Automap for each level is automatically revealed. |
| Assessment: Mediocre overall. At best, this will show you where Upgrade Units and similar are, but you'll probably be exploring everywhere, anyway. Doesn't work on the final levels of the game, either, where there are no maps regardless of this ability. |
Players Guide: Part 1
There's no doubt in our minds that System Shock 2 is one of the greatest games ever - it's certainly one of the most atmospheric and downright scary. In fact, you're likely to become so immersed in it, you won't be able to stop until you've completed it. To avoid any unnecessary frustrations, here is the first part of our thorough guide to getting to the end. Keep in mind that you create your own character and develop him as you progress through the game. Choose your skills wisely and read on.
MED/SCI
As you wake up you receive an email from Dr Janice Polito.The message explains your partial amnesia, warns you that something has gone drastically wrong with the ship and instructs you to meet her on the operations deck (deck 4). The elevators have no power; in order to restore it, go to the engineering deck through the maintenance access shaft. The shaft is locked, so get the code from Dr Watts in the crew sector. The crew sector is also locked, but you can get an access card from Grassi in the medical sector. Unfortunately, the door to the medical sector has lost power as well, but it can be reopened with a power cell. There's one by the door, but it's not charged, so you have to find a recharger.
Just down the hall from the door to the medical sector you find a room with a quantum bio-reconstruction machine.Once this machine is activated, your body is automatically reconstructed inside the machine whenever you 'die'.The machines have a limited range, so try to find and activate them whenever you enter a new sub-level.
You can find a recharger under the pump station, but watch out for the nearby turrets. Recharge the power cell and proceed to the medical sector. Grassi is in the lower level of the biopsy lab in this sector. Get his access card, go to the crew sector and find Dr Watts' quarters (they're clearly labelled). He's not there, but he has left a spare access card to the R&D sector in his desk, so try his office there. You find him when you get there, and he gives you the code to the maintenance access shaft.
Engineering
To restore main power and get the elevators working you need to get into the engine core. However, the seals on the core have been automatically locked due to a radiation leak in the coolant tunnels. The leaks are pretty bad, so you need plenty of anti-radiation hypos while travelling through this area. You could purge the radiation from engineering control, but Sanger has recoded the door lock. Sanger is hiding in cargo bay 2, which is also locked. You can find the access card for cargo bay 2 in cargo bay 1 (though you might want to stop in at command control first, where there's a quantum bioreconstruction machine). Sanger is in cargo bay 2B, all the way back, on the top level; you can get the code to engineering control from her.
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When you get there you find that Xerxes has locked out the controls. Luckily, a log left here by Delacroix tells you how to perform a manual override. First, you need to get part 45m/dEx from a storage room in the coolant tunnels.
System Shock 2 Rebirth
Bring this part to the command control centre at the far end of engineering and install it in the system's monitoring unit. Return to engineering control and purge the radiation.
You are now able to enter the engine core and restore main power. You need to reset both nacelles on the lower level of the engine core, then reset the master power computer on the upper level.Once power is restored, you can (optionally) use a lift from the engine core down to a tunnel in the lower level of engineering. This is a shorter route back to the elevator than going through the coolant tunnels, but there are a lot of monsters down there, so you might prefer to take the long way around.
Hydroponics
When you try to take the elevator to the ops deck you find that the elevator can't get higher than the hydroponics deck. The aliens are using the hydroponics deck as a breeding chamber, and some of their biomatter is clogging the elevator shaft. To clear the biomatter you need to find (and research) an experimental substance called Toxin-A, and place some of it in each of the four environmental regulators on this deck. There are five vials of Toxin-A (though you only need four of them): one is in the administrative offices of sector C, two are inside a locked office (you need to break a window to get in) in the biological survey area of sector C, one is in the chemical storeroom in sector B, and the last one is on a corpse just inside sector A. If you don't want to buy the research skill, you can research the Toxin-A with the help of a lab assistant implant, although even with this you still need two units of antimony and one of vanadium; these can be found in the chemical storeroom in sector B, or by going back to the chemical storeroom on the engineering deck.
There is one environmental regulator in each of the four sectors, marked on your automap with an'A'. The elevator lets you out into sector C, but the other sectors are all locked.
You can get into sector B by breaking some windows that overlook it, either near the administrative offices or near the experimental office. A body in the biological survey labs has the access card for sector B, so you can get in and out without having to jump through windows. Another body in sector B maintenance has the access card for sector A.Once you're in sector A, you need to find the access card for sector D, which is on a body near an assault rifle.
Place Toxin-A in each of the environmental regulators.
Operations
Your first task is to go to Dr Polito's office in sector A. Turn right out of the elevator, and go through the bulkhead on your right. She explains how a bizarre hive-mind (called 'The Many') evolved from the mutants SHODAN created back on Citadel Station. The Many have taken over some of the crew members of the Von Braun with their telepathic powers. Worse still, SHODAN herself has gained a foothold in the computer system. However, she and The Many seem to be working at crosspurposes, and The Many is the more immediate threat.After this meeting you need to perform tasks on both the operations and recreation decks. You can go on to recreation now and go back to the tasks on this deck afterwards if you prefer.
The three simulation units on this deck have been co-opted by The Many to engineer a mutagen which will create a new kind ofhunter-killer hybrid - you have to reprogram all three sim units to prevent this from happening. In order to do so you need to get three special chips (one for each sim unit) that are being carried by special red cyborg assassins.
These are tougher than the ordinary cyborg assassins (who are no pushovers!), and are programmed to try and avoid you whenever possible. Watch which way they run, track them down to their hiding places, and kill them. There is one red cyborg assassin in sector B (hiding in the systems administration area), one in sector C (hiding in the storage area), and one in sector D (hiding in the command centre, not far from the brig). Take the chips from their bodies and place each one in the matching sim unit to reprogram them. One sim unit is in sector C in the power administration offices, one is in sector D in a security station near the brig, and the other in the lower level of power operations.
Recreation
Some crew members on the recreation deck were building a transmitter to warn Earth. They were unable to complete the job, so you must find and activate the transmitter. The activation code is hidden in art terminals scattered around this deck, so cycle through all available pictures at each art terminal to find pieces of the code.The locations are: sector A (across the hall from the upgrade units and upstairs in the crew sector); sector B (in the pool hall) and sector C (in the ArTechnology store in the mall). The transmitter is in the athletics sector, which is locked. The access card for it is in the crew sector, which is also locked, so find the access card for the crew sector in the maintenance tunnels under the garden in sector B.