Well, we’re not dead, but the pod is. Looks like we successfully burrowed our way into the Body of the Many. Good thing we were carrying that Life Preserver! I’d hate to think of what would happen if we didn’t have it…
So, here we are. Crawling around the internal organs of some giant squishy monster-thing. I’m glad there’s air in here. Though I’m not even going to try and ask what some of these multicolored things are.
In here we get our first log (of several) from Prefontaine, that scientist guy who’s way too obsessed with cataloging everything around him:
“One of those flying things dragged me and David in here last night. I don't remember much about the trip... I guess I must have blocked it out, half- conscious most of the time. I keep remembering that part from Pinocchio, you know, where the old man goes looking for the puppet inside the whale. Except I don't think anyone's coming in here to save me...â€
Surprise, getting captured by the flesh-devouring monsters isn’t such a hot idea.
Sneaking our way around, we come to find what looks like part of the Rickenbacker. Since this thing’s wrapped around the ship, there’s parts that are still intact. Maybe there’ll be some useful junk in there.
Woo, a couple chemicals, and a vending machine! We can use some of these chemicals to get started on researching those worm thingies we picked up earlier. Also, this will be one of the last vending machine we come across, so now’s the time to dump everything we won’t use and stock up on supplies.
Walking along, we can start to see these weird blue nerve-like things. I’m guessing they’re important, so we’ll follow them.
There’s another log in here:
“Now I'm convinced that this... Many, as it calls itself, indeed has a centralized nervous system. Which means it would have some kind of centralized control. To this end, I've gathered as many weapons as I could and stashed them in caches. One of the beasts discovered a cache and apparently mistook it for food... it simply brought into the crunching room...â€
I kinda figured there’d be a final boss at the end.
One of those blue nerves ended in a big balloon thing that pops when you shoot it. Since we don’t give a crap what happens to this big thing, we’re going to shoot everything that pops whenever we come across them.
A log around here sheds some light on what we’re breaking:
“The arterial passageways are blocked by some kind of sphincter. I've followed the nerves that threaded out of the walls from the blockage. They lead to a pair of nerve clusters. When the passageway's open, the cluster seems to contract. Conversely, I wonder if I was able to destroy both clusters, it would open the blockage permanently. I'm anxious to see the rest of this beastâ€
I know clearing blocked sphincters is how I want to spend my weekend, so it’s good to know we’re on the right track.
Anyway, it looks like there’s another part of the ship here, so let’s check it out!
Hey look! A chemical storeroom! We’ll be able to finish our research here.
This place is half flooded. With what, I don’t wanna know.
The items we were carrying were a Worm Launcher, a homing weapon that shoots deadly, deadly worms; and Wormskin armor, which boost our Psi but drains psi points. Neat, but the psi point drain isn’t really a good thing, plus it’s less protection than our power armor. Our Psi stat is maxed out as it is, so the bonus it gives isn’t that useful to us.
The last item, however, is useful. The Wormheart implant grants us near immunity to toxins, and actually regenerates our HP at a slow rate. The downside to it is if it runs out of power or we remove it, it injects us with a ton of toxins, just to be a prick. Well, since we’ve got Electron Cascade and a ton of toxin hypos, neither downside will cause us much of a problem, so let’s slot ‘er up!
The other nerve cluster thing was nearby, and shooting it opened this blue… ass hole. Or something. This whole place is just gross, so let’s get through here as fast as possible.
We can kind of hear something coming from the other side, and there’s another log here to explain:
“There's some kind of horrible grinding noise coming from the next area. It sounds like... chewing. I think I know what's going to happen here. This is some kind of digestive tract of a very, very large animal. I go back and forth between being fascinated and terrified. This creature is a remarkable discovery... I wish I could live long enough to learn more.â€
Only this guy could actually want to be passed through the bowels of another creature.
This place is really, REALLY loud. As in ‘turn your speakers down or else your ears will bleed’ loud. And strangely, it looks like somebody set up a little fort here or something. There’s another log in that fort:
“Five minutes ago, one of those large, burly creatures dragged Claudette towards the sound of the grinding. Apparently, the animal uses the smaller creatures to help move food along its digestive tract. I tried to help Claudette, but it wasn't even a contest. And, I'm ashamed to admit, I judged that seeing what happened to her was a vital element of my studies here. I imagine I won't have the opportunity to record any observations when it comes my turn.â€
…Yeah.
Welcome to Xen, err… the big Platforming ™ section of the game. There are these huge teeth things that move up and down, and we need to navigate around to shoot more nerve clusters to open this secondary ass hole here. This is a good time to save the game.
Here’s one of the ways we need to go. You need to be careful on the jumps here, since these things go up and down in addition to chomping down on you. You have to time it so that each section is both open and high enough that you can make the jump.
Anyway, with that part out of the way, we can move on. Thankfully we don’t have to mess with that again. Also, we can turn our sound back on, since the annoying noise goes away.
Continuing on, we come to another section where somebody’s set up bits of debris, in what I can only assume is some sort of attempt to hide. Judging from the corpses nearby, I’m assuming that didn’t go too well.
This area has not one, but two logs:
“Besides the parasitic behavior evidenced in the life cycle of the human/annelid hybrids, it's becoming clear to me that SHODAN has bred the Many to use humans for other purposes. First of all, the Many clearly has the capability to convert human flesh to energy... it can eat us. But it can also directly use us in the creation of its egg pods... corpses are fed into some kind of tubular structure... and eggs are birthed through a nearby tube. I've been unable to determine whether the organism is directly converting the corpses into the egg structures or not, but it's clear that there's some connection between the nutrient pool we provide and the eggs that are being produced.â€
And:
“While I don't understand the Annelid life cycle fully, it's clearly extremely diverse. The eggs produce either a male or female spore. The male, the drones, are small wasp-like creatures. The females are worm-like annelids that seek a host to infect. Following infection, the host begins to transform into a human/annelid hybrid. From that point, the life form can take numerous paths. I believe this path is determined by the Many itself. The creatures have communicated their need to grow the biomass, so I imagine that biological material is their primary resource. Therefore, each path has costs and benefits. The proto-arachnid is extremely quick and potentially relatively cheap in biomass. The hulking, fleshy ones are powerful, but are clearly a larger investment. I've observed only one example of the floating organisms. The only comfort is that the more dangerous organisms are quite costly to produce, limiting their numbers.â€
Wouldn’t everything be awesome if all the most powerful stuff was cheap and available from the beginning?
Look what washed up.
I’m just going to stop asking what these things are, because I really don’t want to know.
Another room with junk in it, this time it has a rumber. You know, for being the inside of the very creature that’s been causing problems, there haven’t been all that many enemies. Sure, there’s been a couple, but you’d think there would be like dozens of these things all over the place.
There’s a couple more logs in here. I guess this guy likes hearing himself talk:
“It's clear that this thing I'm trapped inside of is intimately linked with all of the organisms I observed aboard the Von Braun. Strike that... this creature IS the same organism. Perhaps the best way to describe it, or perhaps the only way I can comprehend it, is that this organism serves to perform the highest mental functions of the entire species. The smaller creatures exist only to enact its will... no strike that, too. All of the specimens act as a whole, like different organs in a single body, with this entity acting primarily as a brain. If one were to destroy this large specimen, I wonder, would it snuff out all the others?â€
and:
“With only a few short years of evolution, they've been able to conquer this starship, mankind's mightiest creation. Where were we after forty years of evolution? What swamp were we swimming around in, single celled and mindless? What if SHODAN's creations are superior to us? What will they become in a million years, in ten million years? What's clear is that SHODAN shouldn't be allowed to play God. She's far too good at it.â€
And here I thought mankind’s mightiest creation was the Manwich.
After that room we come to… nothing?
Actually, there’s stuff down there, bit it’s a loooooong way down…
But it’s ok, we can fall just fine. Video game physics mean as long as there’s more than two inches of water at the bottom, you can fall any distance without injury. As we approach the edge of the slime pool or whatever it is, we find another of those Psi Reaver’s blocking our path. These things hurt, and if you shoot the reaver, it just comes back. So, we’d better hurry.
In this area is one final log from Prefontaine:
“I'm being taken away now... it's my turn... I'm being dragged into some kind of chamber... The ceiling is lined with a number of panels bristling with what appear to be stalactites... or teeth... The creature's put me down now... he's leaving... am I to be spared? What's going on? It's dark in here... I can hear the moans of someone... Claudette? Is that you? Hmm, I seem to have stepped in... something soft... slippery... Are the stalagmites mov-“
Can’t say I’m surprised.
Now we’re starting to see more enemies. There’s like 5 or 6 rumblers in this one section. Fortunately we’re up here, and they’re down there. Fireball + 50 feet > claws.
Hmm. Long hallway with no more enemies around. My spider sense is tingling (both figuratively and literally).
DUNNNN, DUN-DUN DUNNNNNN!!!
It’s boss fight time!
“I’m a gigantic brain!â€
Say hello to the Brain of the Many. It’s surrounded by constantly respawning rumblers and spiders, in addition to a number of psi reavers and one Super Psi Reaver ™. In order to kill it, we need to shoot those stars that fly around it before you can do damage to the brain itself. Now, we could just take the cheap way out and use Soma Transference on it, but what kind of epic boss fight would that be?
The problem with being an OSA guy is that while psi powers in general work well against organic targets, they don’t exactly fire fast, making hitting those stars extremely difficult. Especially while being chased by half a dozen monsters.
But fortunately, we have another option.
Remember that dinky pistol we’ve been carrying since the beginning of the game? Yeah, now it’s time to use it.
Let’s rock.
Monsters to the left of me!
Monsters to the right of me!
This is going to be a little harder than originally anticipated.
Time to switch back to the psi-amp. If we can thin their numbers, we can work on taking out the brain in between spawns.
Yeah! Blam! Die! Those psi reavers are still a problem though, so we’d better look for a way to take them out.
And luckily there is a way. Around those big walls on either side of the brain are these pits with smaller, more human brains in them. Killing these will let us kill the reavers for good, making the fight a whole lot easier.
With the enemies thinned out, we can work on the brain itself.
Crap! They’ve respawned already! Well we got one, we’d better hurry and get the other two.
Boom! The last stars go down, now we can end this once and for all.
Brains are not immune to bullets.
SPLORCH! And it goes down! Victory for the humans! However, the other enemies are still moving around. We’d better scram!
Crawling up to where the brain was reveals a hole we can drop down. And not a moment too soon, because it looks like I missed a reaver!
Time to go swimming in brain juice!
Sploosh! Apparently the brain has it’s own waste disposal system. That’s gross as well. Fortunately, this is almost over.
Now we’re going down a dark tunnel. I hope we don’t run into any sphincters down here.
Looks like we’re nearing the end, I can see something at the far end of this tube.
Whaaa! We’ve sped up, and it looks like there’s a drop off ahead. This is one of the worst water parks I’ve ever been to.
In any case, the Many has been destroyed. Without its brain, we should be able to separate the Rickenbacker, blow up the Von Braun, and save the day! Will all of that happen? Find out in the exciting conclusion of System Shock 2!
Man I had the assault rifle by the time I got to the many. that was a quick boss fight.
Shit, with anti-personell bullets loaded you are a god in there, dispensing some old testament smackdown. Seriously, I 'm having a hard time not using the assault rifle. It's simply too damn good.
The first time I played system shock 2 I wasn't scared really up until I got to the inside of the many... I just couldn't go on and finish the game. It was just too freaky for me, like the last level of system shock 1 eugh. I have completed it on subsequent playthroughs though.
Well, our little Slip n Slide adventure came to an end, but it looks like there’s still more to go, so let’s jump!
And it looks like we’re back on the Rickenbacker. So far so good.
But just when it looks like things are looking up for us, Shodan calls us up. She “congratulates†us for our effort in destroying the Many for her, but now she reveals her SEKRAT PLOT!!1one! She had no intention of destroying the Von Braun, she just wanted control of the ship, more specifically the Faster-Than-Light drive, for her own nefarious purposes! With it, she can remake reality to her whim. And with that, she has no further use for us.
Seriously. Who didn’t see this coming?
But since I like reality, what with it being real and all, I think we’re gonna have to put a stop to her plans. We made it this far, it’s not like we have much of a choice anyway.
We’re at the end of the game now, but we’ve got a ton of cyber modules racked up. There’s nothing really left to buy, we have all the key skills we need, and all the weapon skills that will be useful.
So, I blew all our points and maxed out Strength. I imagine seeing this whimpy looking Psi dude standing there, then a split second later totally bulking up. We’re like totally ripped now. Not that we need this or anything, but we may as well be as awesome as possible for the final showdown.
Welcome back to the Rickenbacker’s bridge. But this time, it’s… different. Why is there a hole in the middle?
Up by the captain’s chair is a cool, transparent, floaty audio log. What’s kind of neat about it is the fact that they were thorough enough to draw in the hidden half of the disc inside the thing. This log’s from Delacroix:
“If you are receiving this, I am already dead. When I realized SHODAN had betrayed me, I integrated these comments into her primary data loop. SHODAN has exploited the warping capability the Von Braun's faster than light device for her own purposes. The device works by altering space around the ship to fairly arbitrary specifications. SHODAN has altered it to HER specifications. The effect is rather small now, but spreads with alarming speed. Soon, it will reach earth. You're in her world now... her memories and her rules. Watch your back.â€
So the FTL drive can alter reality? That seems kind of dangerous, even without an evil AI trying to take over. I’m gonna have some strong words with TriOptimum when we get back.
There’s no other way to go, so it looks like we’ll have to take this weird glowy tunnel.
Hmm, space looks pretty normal outside…
Wha?
This looks like those training simulations back on Earth! I guess Shodan kept herself up to date with the latest advancements in military training.
There’s another ‘comment’ from Delacroix in here:
“You're not alone here... SHODAN has spawned her own versions of the Von Braun's horrors... remember, they are virtual, they are not real... do not assume anything about their strengths or weaknesses...â€
Because what would a final level be without some random enemies?
It’s one of those red ninjabots! And he’s kinda transparent! They’re still inorganic targets, so the EMP Rifle works wonders.
Look familiar?
We’ve still got like 5 of these surgical unit keys, so may as well use it.
There are these neat floating polygon shapes that zoom around the level at a blazing speed. Because it wouldn’t be cyberspace without random polyhedral shapes floating around.
We’re attacked by a bunch of ninjabots! At this point, we can just unload into them and not worry about power conservation, we’re almost done.
Blam blam! Take that! Sadly, none of these ones drop Sim unit keys. That would be an ironic way to take Shodan out, we just go to the computer she’s installed into and overwrite her with gigs of porn or something.
Remember those floating polygons? Most of them are harmless and pass right through you… with the exception of these. These multicolored ones do damage if they pass through you. So you can’t just stroll around carelessly. But we’ve got so many med hypos at this point, they’re just a minor inconvenience.
Ooh, this looks neat. Sadly, there’s nothing cool down here.
But this place looks important. There’s another comment from Delacroix:
“You are near the seat of SHODAN's power. You will probably not be able to defeat her. But there is no choice... Remember to focus on your strengths... she will be vulnerable to your weaponry and your psionic powers. I've been able to introduce some assistance in the form of virtual terminals that you can hack into... they should help you defeat the monster.â€
…If Shodan’s controlling reality, why is she vulnerable to our guns and powers? If I controlled reality, the first two things I’d do would be “sv_cheats 1†and “god.â€
We’ve got to jump down these blocks, while those damaging polygons fly around. Not hard or anything, just don’t slip.
It’s a looooong way down.
If you’re not observant, you could miss the way you need to go. Rather than jumping all the way down (and to your doom), you need to go through here.
There’s one last comment from Delacroix before we take the plunge into the heart of Shodan’s world:
“You must understand the stakes here... if SHODAN is left to continue, her reality will completely assimilate ours. Space will become cyberspace and SHODAN's whims will become reality.â€
Ok. So, like, no pressure or anything.
I remember seeing something like this in Star Wars.
Wheeeee!
It’s a long way down this way as well.
…Yep. Still falling.
Say hello to Shodan. She’s a like something straight out of Tron: a big floaty head surrounded by multicolored shields. Shodan’s head can attack us by launching these green spitballs or something at us. They hurt.
She also has some backup in the form of these Avatars.
Aww, Shodan just wants a hug!
Like Psi Reavers, they shoot energy blasts at us and respawn upon being shot, so they’re a constant threat.
There’s two ways you can go about fighting Shodan. You can just shoot at the shields to weaken them, or you can use these panels to hack them and take them down. Shields shot at eventually recover, so that’s a temporary measure. Hacking these terminals takes them down permanently.
However, these things are really hard to hack if you’re not like maxed out. You could use ICE Picks to automatically hack them, but we left ours back in Storeroom 2, and I blew all our modules on strength just so we’d look manly while fighting. So, the gun way it is!
There’s this big display monitor on one wall with a Matrix-y version of Shodan on it. I guess she just likes looking at herself.
But nevermind that, it’s fight time!
Blam Blam!
While running around and being shot at, I accidentally activated a speed booster hypo, one of those things we’ve been collecting throughout the game and just kinda forgot about. Speed boosters max out your Agility for a short while, giving you super running speed.
The amusing thing about this is if you hit a ramp or something, you go flying. The walkway in this room dips down where the terminals are, so as I’m circle strafing Shodan at like 200mph, I hit the little lip to the sunken section and get launched through the air! So for a little while anyway we’ve got this awesome aerial battle going on!
As you shoot the sections, they eventually disappear. That itself isn’t enough to damage Shodan, your shots still have to go through the hole and hit the head, and the sections rotate around.
So in addition to regenerating, rotating shield panels, we’ve still got this floating head spitting acid globs at us while some sort of ghost clone shoots us with energy balls. Throughout this I’m constantly jamming the medkit button, switching to the psi-amp to use heal, and opening the inventory to drop maintenance tools on the EMP Rifle to keep it functioning.
But, as we keep up the offense, the shield segments are going down faster than they regenerate, and more shots are getting through to Shodan herself.
As you damage her more, the monitors on the far wall start breaking and sparking.
Blam Blam! We’ve almost got it…
And the final shot gets through just as the shield rotates again! Success!
Well there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. System Shock 2. Our overall play time clocked in at just under 12 hours, though that is with someone who’s well versed in where to go (with the couple exceptions where I just plain forgot for some reason). Since we played OSA we ended the game with around 50 psi hypos, 30 med hypos, and around 20 maintenance tools. We only had a gun break once, at that part in the cargo bays when we completely ran out of tools. We also never actually died through the course of the game. Came close a number of times, but between a vast sea of med hypos and Psi Heal, it's difficult to die if you're careful. Other play types will have different numbers, since we rarely had need for most of the items in the game.
Overall, System Shock 2 is a fun and amazing game, especially for the time it was created. It’s easy to see all the little elements that made their way over to Bioshock, and it’s interesting to compare the two. It’s also nice to see play a game that tries to do more with the genre than the same old “shoot, walk down next corridor, shoot†gameplay that most FPSs continue to do to this day. The RPG elements, the more interwoven story, and the tense atmosphere are things that keep the game fresh and interesting, even as the graphics age.
In any case, I hope you enjoyed this little trip through one of the best PC games of all time. It was certainly fun being your tour guide through the corridors of this messed up ship, and I hope this inspires people to take another look at the classics.
I've certainly enjoyed this LP. Now I know why everybody sings praises for SS2 - I hope there is some room for me in the choir.
Many LPs have sprung forth recently on these forums and I think it is a good trend. Since someone mentioned that these threads should be archived, I have to mention FromEarth's excellent LP Archive as a viable option. However, I think the SA goons won't be too happy about this.
Thanks for all the replies. I'm glad other people seemed to enjoy this as much as I did playing it. I know there were a couple rough spots and some mistakes in the screenshots, but overall I hope I gave a good demonstration of the awesome that is SS2.
So is there a particular part of the story i missed or forgot that explains how SHODAN managed to
possess Rebecca?
Are we spoilering SS2 stuff?
SHODAN used her magical reality altering powers to create a plot hole.
Yeah, the didn't really say anything about that, but it seemed pretty obvious that whatever happened was due to the whole reality warping thing. It's clear that they left that open in the event that they wanted to do a sequel. But what really gets me about that whole thing is if the FTL drive is that powerful, why would TriOptimum "waste" it by merely using it to take a ship to another star system? We knew Korenchkin was a bit of a dick even before the whole Many thing, so why not just outright try to take over the world?
Speaking of sequels, anyone remember that one comment EA made about doing a System Shock 3? Before Bioshock was released and the hype surrounding it was still going full steam, EA released one statement that they were planning to do SS3. Since then, we haven't heard anything about that. It was obvious at the time that they were just saying that to get some attention since Bioshock seemed to be gaining interest, so we'll have to wait and see if they're actually serious about it.
As for what I plan to do next, this week's going to be pretty busy for me, so I'll have to hold off for now. I have tons of lesser known games that I'd love to cover for you people, but unfortunately a lot of those are console games and I have no capture equipment. So, I'll have to dig through my PC games to see what's interesting there. I've got a coupe of fairly obscure things there as well, so I'm sure I can do something that would be just as entertaining.
As for what I plan to do next, this week's going to be pretty busy for me, so I'll have to hold off for now. I have tons of lesser known games that I'd love to cover for you people, but unfortunately a lot of those are console games and I have no capture equipment. So, I'll have to dig through my PC games to see what's interesting there. I've got a coupe of fairly obscure things there as well, so I'm sure I can do something that would be just as entertaining.
I don't suppose I could convince you to do a Planescape: Torment LP... You know, after a much deserved break.
Whatever you pick, please post a link to it in this thread once you start.
I don't know about doing Deus Ex, my playthrough would probably end up being nearly identical to the Sunglasses at Night walkthrough, which already exists.
As for PS:T, I'm not sure about doing an RPG or something, as I'd either have to post page after page of text, or start summarizing and risk omitting something vital or particularly interesting/amusing.
In any case, I'll be spending this week digging through my stuff to figure out what would be best.
I don't know about doing Deus Ex, my playthrough would probably end up being nearly identical to the Sunglasses at Night walkthrough, which already exists.
As for PS:T, I'm not sure about doing an RPG or something, as I'd either have to post page after page of text, or start summarizing and risk omitting something vital or particularly interesting/amusing.
In any case, I'll be spending this week digging through my stuff to figure out what would be best.
Thanks for all the replies. I'm glad other people seemed to enjoy this as much as I did playing it. I know there were a couple rough spots and some mistakes in the screenshots, but overall I hope I gave a good demonstration of the awesome that is SS2.
So is there a particular part of the story i missed or forgot that explains how SHODAN managed to
possess Rebecca?
Are we spoilering SS2 stuff?
SHODAN used her magical reality altering powers to create a plot hole.
Yeah, the didn't really say anything about that, but it seemed pretty obvious that whatever happened was due to the whole reality warping thing. It's clear that they left that open in the event that they wanted to do a sequel. But what really gets me about that whole thing is if the FTL drive is that powerful, why would TriOptimum "waste" it by merely using it to take a ship to another star system? We knew Korenchkin was a bit of a dick even before the whole Many thing, so why not just outright try to take over the world?
I'd lay a bet on it being because warping reality takes a hell of a lot of calculations and such or you're just gonna end up with a black void.
I've always been disappointed by that ending. You're going up against SHODAN who has actually become godlike, and all you have to face are some red ninja bots and some glowing data packets flying about?
Plus, SHODAN's "possess Rebecca" plan is kind of silly. Goggles is going to greet them when they return to the Von Braun. He'll see Crazy-Hair Rebecca and shoot her on the spot.
Now possessing her and waiting, until they've returned to Earth and SHODAN can begin anew...
Plus, SHODAN's "possess Rebecca" plan is kind of silly. Goggles is going to greet them when they return to the Von Braun. He'll see Crazy-Hair Rebecca and shoot her on the spot.
In System Shock land, it's impossible to say just how far their escape pod could go. They were probably planning to go back to the Solar system and sleep through a ~30 year trip. Standard sci-fi conventions dictate that she gets picked up by an asteroid mining ship / settlers in a tiny moon colony whereupon hilarity ensues.
I've always been disappointed by that ending. You're going up against SHODAN who has actually become godlike, and all you have to face are some red ninja bots and some glowing data packets flying about?
Plus, SHODAN's "possess Rebecca" plan is kind of silly. Goggles is going to greet them when they return to the Von Braun. He'll see Crazy-Hair Rebecca and shoot her on the spot.
Now possessing her and waiting, until they've returned to Earth and SHODAN can begin anew...
Yeah, I like how the "posses other person" plan also makes no goddamn sense. Hell, if anyone wouldn't the dude whose cybernetics she installed be the easiest target?
A PS:T thread would probably be pretty lame because it would involve just so much text, better to just play the damn game.
I'm just curious, how many times did you die throughout the whole thing, to be resurrected at the minimal cost of ten nanites? Why does it take 100 nanites to create 12 bullets when a whole person can be re-created with ten?
I've always been disappointed by that ending. You're going up against SHODAN who has actually become godlike, and all you have to face are some red ninja bots and some glowing data packets flying about?
Plus, SHODAN's "possess Rebecca" plan is kind of silly. Goggles is going to greet them when they return to the Von Braun. He'll see Crazy-Hair Rebecca and shoot her on the spot.
Now possessing her and waiting, until they've returned to Earth and SHODAN can begin anew...
Yeah, I like how the "posses other person" plan also makes no goddamn sense. Hell, if anyone wouldn't the dude whose cybernetics she installed be the easiest target?
He only thought he won. After celebrating his victory, he went and ate some food, only to get food poisoning from the power being out. Of course, he was doomed to be stranded in space for the rest of his life anyways.
Ever notice how the flying Spheres, Cubes, and Pyramids are a lot like the old EA logo? They're also the correct colors if I remember right. Origin also did something similar at the end of Ultima 8: Pagan with 3 keys.
I'm just curious, how many times did you die throughout the whole thing, to be resurrected at the minimal cost of ten nanites? Why does it take 100 nanites to create 12 bullets when a whole person can be re-created with ten?
I mentioned at the end that during the course of playing I didn't actually die at all. However, that's not 100% true. I did die a couple times, however those were due to me intentionally remaining in harms way in order to get screenshots. That frozen cargo bay with the exploding crates, and the fight with the Brain were a couple examples. Since I was intentionally standing in one spot and focusing on getting screenshots, I didn't count those as actual deaths.
And I have no idea what's up with the costs for things in this game. However, it's apparent that they're at least partially decided on the whim of whoever's programming the replicators as hacking them lowers the cost, and I can't imagine bullets or grenades functioning if there's less physical substance in them. The costs are probably inflated due to the fact that a nanite based economy would completely wreck every single production industry if anyone could make any item with them without constraint.
Hmm How about another looking glass game, like System Shock 1 or Ultima Underworld I or II. Or are those graphics/control schemes too painful nowadays? Perhaps a non 3d game would hold up better, I dunno.
I’ll tell you what happens in Demon’s Souls when you die. You come back as a ghost with your health capped at half. And when you keep on dying, the alignment of the world turns black and the enemies get harder. That’s right, when you fail in this game, it gets harder. Why? Because fuck you is why.
Oblivion could be interesting but would probably take ages to go through and log.
How about a MMORPG? Start a new character and log their joruney. I'm surprised no-one has done this yet.
I kinda see "Let's Play" threads as nostalgia and bed-time story (with pictures!) all in one neat package for gamers. It's a way to teach future generations of the humble beginnings as well as showcase those moments that defined a generation of games. MMORPGs are already
1) littered with folks who have personal blogs of their characters (just google "Blog" and "(insert MMORPG of choice)" and you'll get relevant hits)
2) have no end, in most cases (and no rising action, climax, plot twists, etc.)
3) tend to have really terrible stories to begin with, especially if it's a Fantasy MMO.
I've always been disappointed by that ending. You're going up against SHODAN who has actually become godlike, and all you have to face are some red ninja bots and some glowing data packets flying about?
Plus, SHODAN's "possess Rebecca" plan is kind of silly. Goggles is going to greet them when they return to the Von Braun. He'll see Crazy-Hair Rebecca and shoot her on the spot.
Now possessing her and waiting, until they've returned to Earth and SHODAN can begin anew...
Yeah, I like how the "posses other person" plan also makes no goddamn sense. Hell, if anyone wouldn't the dude whose cybernetics she installed be the easiest target?
She didn't fancy inhabiting a dude.
Isn't there mention of another soldier getting the cybernetic implant works? Isn't Rebecca a soldier? (These are genuine questions, I can't fully remember)
I've always been disappointed by that ending. You're going up against SHODAN who has actually become godlike, and all you have to face are some red ninja bots and some glowing data packets flying about?
Plus, SHODAN's "possess Rebecca" plan is kind of silly. Goggles is going to greet them when they return to the Von Braun. He'll see Crazy-Hair Rebecca and shoot her on the spot.
Now possessing her and waiting, until they've returned to Earth and SHODAN can begin anew...
Yeah, I like how the "posses other person" plan also makes no goddamn sense. Hell, if anyone wouldn't the dude whose cybernetics she installed be the easiest target?
She didn't fancy inhabiting a dude.
Isn't there mention of another soldier getting the cybernetic implant works? Isn't Rebecca a soldier? (These are genuine questions, I can't fully remember)
There's mention that Shodan has a second "avatar," but this is referring to Delacroix sho Shodan was aiding early on, but then abandoned for Gogglehead when Delacroix started to figure out what Shodan was really up to.
Rebecca was just some random Von Braun crewmember. As for the implants, the main character is the only one who gets them, and that's at the specific request of Shodan (posing as Polito). Speaking of which, I still maintain that the ghost we saw in Engineering was the main character, as one of the later emails while going through the Body of the Many, Shodan is going on about how it was her whim that gave us the implants, and how she ordered some droids to "render us us unconscious." Since shit started happining on the Von Braun at a fairly slow pace, I could easily imagine there being a couple droids with stun prods or something waiting at the nearest Reconstruction Chamber for our good friend to re-form.
Posts
Well, we’re not dead, but the pod is. Looks like we successfully burrowed our way into the Body of the Many. Good thing we were carrying that Life Preserver! I’d hate to think of what would happen if we didn’t have it…
So, here we are. Crawling around the internal organs of some giant squishy monster-thing. I’m glad there’s air in here. Though I’m not even going to try and ask what some of these multicolored things are.
In here we get our first log (of several) from Prefontaine, that scientist guy who’s way too obsessed with cataloging everything around him:
“One of those flying things dragged me and David in here last night. I don't remember much about the trip... I guess I must have blocked it out, half- conscious most of the time. I keep remembering that part from Pinocchio, you know, where the old man goes looking for the puppet inside the whale. Except I don't think anyone's coming in here to save me...â€
Surprise, getting captured by the flesh-devouring monsters isn’t such a hot idea.
Sneaking our way around, we come to find what looks like part of the Rickenbacker. Since this thing’s wrapped around the ship, there’s parts that are still intact. Maybe there’ll be some useful junk in there.
Woo, a couple chemicals, and a vending machine! We can use some of these chemicals to get started on researching those worm thingies we picked up earlier. Also, this will be one of the last vending machine we come across, so now’s the time to dump everything we won’t use and stock up on supplies.
Walking along, we can start to see these weird blue nerve-like things. I’m guessing they’re important, so we’ll follow them.
There’s another log in here:
“Now I'm convinced that this... Many, as it calls itself, indeed has a centralized nervous system. Which means it would have some kind of centralized control. To this end, I've gathered as many weapons as I could and stashed them in caches. One of the beasts discovered a cache and apparently mistook it for food... it simply brought into the crunching room...â€
I kinda figured there’d be a final boss at the end.
One of those blue nerves ended in a big balloon thing that pops when you shoot it. Since we don’t give a crap what happens to this big thing, we’re going to shoot everything that pops whenever we come across them.
A log around here sheds some light on what we’re breaking:
“The arterial passageways are blocked by some kind of sphincter. I've followed the nerves that threaded out of the walls from the blockage. They lead to a pair of nerve clusters. When the passageway's open, the cluster seems to contract. Conversely, I wonder if I was able to destroy both clusters, it would open the blockage permanently. I'm anxious to see the rest of this beastâ€
I know clearing blocked sphincters is how I want to spend my weekend, so it’s good to know we’re on the right track.
Anyway, it looks like there’s another part of the ship here, so let’s check it out!
Hey look! A chemical storeroom! We’ll be able to finish our research here.
This place is half flooded. With what, I don’t wanna know.
The items we were carrying were a Worm Launcher, a homing weapon that shoots deadly, deadly worms; and Wormskin armor, which boost our Psi but drains psi points. Neat, but the psi point drain isn’t really a good thing, plus it’s less protection than our power armor. Our Psi stat is maxed out as it is, so the bonus it gives isn’t that useful to us.
The last item, however, is useful. The Wormheart implant grants us near immunity to toxins, and actually regenerates our HP at a slow rate. The downside to it is if it runs out of power or we remove it, it injects us with a ton of toxins, just to be a prick. Well, since we’ve got Electron Cascade and a ton of toxin hypos, neither downside will cause us much of a problem, so let’s slot ‘er up!
The other nerve cluster thing was nearby, and shooting it opened this blue… ass hole. Or something. This whole place is just gross, so let’s get through here as fast as possible.
We can kind of hear something coming from the other side, and there’s another log here to explain:
“There's some kind of horrible grinding noise coming from the next area. It sounds like... chewing. I think I know what's going to happen here. This is some kind of digestive tract of a very, very large animal. I go back and forth between being fascinated and terrified. This creature is a remarkable discovery... I wish I could live long enough to learn more.â€
Only this guy could actually want to be passed through the bowels of another creature.
This place is really, REALLY loud. As in ‘turn your speakers down or else your ears will bleed’ loud. And strangely, it looks like somebody set up a little fort here or something. There’s another log in that fort:
“Five minutes ago, one of those large, burly creatures dragged Claudette towards the sound of the grinding. Apparently, the animal uses the smaller creatures to help move food along its digestive tract. I tried to help Claudette, but it wasn't even a contest. And, I'm ashamed to admit, I judged that seeing what happened to her was a vital element of my studies here. I imagine I won't have the opportunity to record any observations when it comes my turn.â€
…Yeah.
Welcome to Xen, err… the big Platforming ™ section of the game. There are these huge teeth things that move up and down, and we need to navigate around to shoot more nerve clusters to open this secondary ass hole here. This is a good time to save the game.
Here’s one of the ways we need to go. You need to be careful on the jumps here, since these things go up and down in addition to chomping down on you. You have to time it so that each section is both open and high enough that you can make the jump.
Anyway, with that part out of the way, we can move on. Thankfully we don’t have to mess with that again. Also, we can turn our sound back on, since the annoying noise goes away.
Continuing on, we come to another section where somebody’s set up bits of debris, in what I can only assume is some sort of attempt to hide. Judging from the corpses nearby, I’m assuming that didn’t go too well.
This area has not one, but two logs:
“Besides the parasitic behavior evidenced in the life cycle of the human/annelid hybrids, it's becoming clear to me that SHODAN has bred the Many to use humans for other purposes. First of all, the Many clearly has the capability to convert human flesh to energy... it can eat us. But it can also directly use us in the creation of its egg pods... corpses are fed into some kind of tubular structure... and eggs are birthed through a nearby tube. I've been unable to determine whether the organism is directly converting the corpses into the egg structures or not, but it's clear that there's some connection between the nutrient pool we provide and the eggs that are being produced.â€
And:
“While I don't understand the Annelid life cycle fully, it's clearly extremely diverse. The eggs produce either a male or female spore. The male, the drones, are small wasp-like creatures. The females are worm-like annelids that seek a host to infect. Following infection, the host begins to transform into a human/annelid hybrid. From that point, the life form can take numerous paths. I believe this path is determined by the Many itself. The creatures have communicated their need to grow the biomass, so I imagine that biological material is their primary resource. Therefore, each path has costs and benefits. The proto-arachnid is extremely quick and potentially relatively cheap in biomass. The hulking, fleshy ones are powerful, but are clearly a larger investment. I've observed only one example of the floating organisms. The only comfort is that the more dangerous organisms are quite costly to produce, limiting their numbers.â€
Wouldn’t everything be awesome if all the most powerful stuff was cheap and available from the beginning?
Look what washed up.
I’m just going to stop asking what these things are, because I really don’t want to know.
Another room with junk in it, this time it has a rumber. You know, for being the inside of the very creature that’s been causing problems, there haven’t been all that many enemies. Sure, there’s been a couple, but you’d think there would be like dozens of these things all over the place.
There’s a couple more logs in here. I guess this guy likes hearing himself talk:
“It's clear that this thing I'm trapped inside of is intimately linked with all of the organisms I observed aboard the Von Braun. Strike that... this creature IS the same organism. Perhaps the best way to describe it, or perhaps the only way I can comprehend it, is that this organism serves to perform the highest mental functions of the entire species. The smaller creatures exist only to enact its will... no strike that, too. All of the specimens act as a whole, like different organs in a single body, with this entity acting primarily as a brain. If one were to destroy this large specimen, I wonder, would it snuff out all the others?â€
and:
“With only a few short years of evolution, they've been able to conquer this starship, mankind's mightiest creation. Where were we after forty years of evolution? What swamp were we swimming around in, single celled and mindless? What if SHODAN's creations are superior to us? What will they become in a million years, in ten million years? What's clear is that SHODAN shouldn't be allowed to play God. She's far too good at it.â€
And here I thought mankind’s mightiest creation was the Manwich.
After that room we come to… nothing?
Actually, there’s stuff down there, bit it’s a loooooong way down…
But it’s ok, we can fall just fine. Video game physics mean as long as there’s more than two inches of water at the bottom, you can fall any distance without injury. As we approach the edge of the slime pool or whatever it is, we find another of those Psi Reaver’s blocking our path. These things hurt, and if you shoot the reaver, it just comes back. So, we’d better hurry.
In this area is one final log from Prefontaine:
“I'm being taken away now... it's my turn... I'm being dragged into some kind of chamber... The ceiling is lined with a number of panels bristling with what appear to be stalactites... or teeth... The creature's put me down now... he's leaving... am I to be spared? What's going on? It's dark in here... I can hear the moans of someone... Claudette? Is that you? Hmm, I seem to have stepped in... something soft... slippery... Are the stalagmites mov-“
Can’t say I’m surprised.
Now we’re starting to see more enemies. There’s like 5 or 6 rumblers in this one section. Fortunately we’re up here, and they’re down there. Fireball + 50 feet > claws.
Hmm. Long hallway with no more enemies around. My spider sense is tingling (both figuratively and literally).
DUNNNN, DUN-DUN DUNNNNNN!!!
It’s boss fight time!
“I’m a gigantic brain!â€
Say hello to the Brain of the Many. It’s surrounded by constantly respawning rumblers and spiders, in addition to a number of psi reavers and one Super Psi Reaver ™. In order to kill it, we need to shoot those stars that fly around it before you can do damage to the brain itself. Now, we could just take the cheap way out and use Soma Transference on it, but what kind of epic boss fight would that be?
The problem with being an OSA guy is that while psi powers in general work well against organic targets, they don’t exactly fire fast, making hitting those stars extremely difficult. Especially while being chased by half a dozen monsters.
But fortunately, we have another option.
Remember that dinky pistol we’ve been carrying since the beginning of the game? Yeah, now it’s time to use it.
Let’s rock.
Monsters to the left of me!
Monsters to the right of me!
This is going to be a little harder than originally anticipated.
Time to switch back to the psi-amp. If we can thin their numbers, we can work on taking out the brain in between spawns.
Yeah! Blam! Die! Those psi reavers are still a problem though, so we’d better look for a way to take them out.
And luckily there is a way. Around those big walls on either side of the brain are these pits with smaller, more human brains in them. Killing these will let us kill the reavers for good, making the fight a whole lot easier.
With the enemies thinned out, we can work on the brain itself.
Crap! They’ve respawned already! Well we got one, we’d better hurry and get the other two.
Boom! The last stars go down, now we can end this once and for all.
Brains are not immune to bullets.
SPLORCH! And it goes down! Victory for the humans! However, the other enemies are still moving around. We’d better scram!
Crawling up to where the brain was reveals a hole we can drop down. And not a moment too soon, because it looks like I missed a reaver!
Time to go swimming in brain juice!
Sploosh! Apparently the brain has it’s own waste disposal system. That’s gross as well. Fortunately, this is almost over.
Now we’re going down a dark tunnel. I hope we don’t run into any sphincters down here.
Looks like we’re nearing the end, I can see something at the far end of this tube.
Whaaa! We’ve sped up, and it looks like there’s a drop off ahead. This is one of the worst water parks I’ve ever been to.
In any case, the Many has been destroyed. Without its brain, we should be able to separate the Rickenbacker, blow up the Von Braun, and save the day! Will all of that happen? Find out in the exciting conclusion of System Shock 2!
Final Episode- EPIC CLIMAX!
Greatest. Thoroughly funny and entertaining.
I iexciting
Blast From The Past
Well, our little Slip n Slide adventure came to an end, but it looks like there’s still more to go, so let’s jump!
And it looks like we’re back on the Rickenbacker. So far so good.
But just when it looks like things are looking up for us, Shodan calls us up. She “congratulates†us for our effort in destroying the Many for her, but now she reveals her SEKRAT PLOT!!1one! She had no intention of destroying the Von Braun, she just wanted control of the ship, more specifically the Faster-Than-Light drive, for her own nefarious purposes! With it, she can remake reality to her whim. And with that, she has no further use for us.
Seriously. Who didn’t see this coming?
But since I like reality, what with it being real and all, I think we’re gonna have to put a stop to her plans. We made it this far, it’s not like we have much of a choice anyway.
We’re at the end of the game now, but we’ve got a ton of cyber modules racked up. There’s nothing really left to buy, we have all the key skills we need, and all the weapon skills that will be useful.
So, I blew all our points and maxed out Strength. I imagine seeing this whimpy looking Psi dude standing there, then a split second later totally bulking up. We’re like totally ripped now. Not that we need this or anything, but we may as well be as awesome as possible for the final showdown.
Welcome back to the Rickenbacker’s bridge. But this time, it’s… different. Why is there a hole in the middle?
Up by the captain’s chair is a cool, transparent, floaty audio log. What’s kind of neat about it is the fact that they were thorough enough to draw in the hidden half of the disc inside the thing. This log’s from Delacroix:
“If you are receiving this, I am already dead. When I realized SHODAN had betrayed me, I integrated these comments into her primary data loop. SHODAN has exploited the warping capability the Von Braun's faster than light device for her own purposes. The device works by altering space around the ship to fairly arbitrary specifications. SHODAN has altered it to HER specifications. The effect is rather small now, but spreads with alarming speed. Soon, it will reach earth. You're in her world now... her memories and her rules. Watch your back.â€
So the FTL drive can alter reality? That seems kind of dangerous, even without an evil AI trying to take over. I’m gonna have some strong words with TriOptimum when we get back.
There’s no other way to go, so it looks like we’ll have to take this weird glowy tunnel.
Hmm, space looks pretty normal outside…
Wha?
This looks like those training simulations back on Earth! I guess Shodan kept herself up to date with the latest advancements in military training.
There’s another ‘comment’ from Delacroix in here:
“You're not alone here... SHODAN has spawned her own versions of the Von Braun's horrors... remember, they are virtual, they are not real... do not assume anything about their strengths or weaknesses...â€
Because what would a final level be without some random enemies?
It’s one of those red ninjabots! And he’s kinda transparent! They’re still inorganic targets, so the EMP Rifle works wonders.
Look familiar?
We’ve still got like 5 of these surgical unit keys, so may as well use it.
There are these neat floating polygon shapes that zoom around the level at a blazing speed. Because it wouldn’t be cyberspace without random polyhedral shapes floating around.
We’re attacked by a bunch of ninjabots! At this point, we can just unload into them and not worry about power conservation, we’re almost done.
Blam blam! Take that! Sadly, none of these ones drop Sim unit keys. That would be an ironic way to take Shodan out, we just go to the computer she’s installed into and overwrite her with gigs of porn or something.
Remember those floating polygons? Most of them are harmless and pass right through you… with the exception of these. These multicolored ones do damage if they pass through you. So you can’t just stroll around carelessly. But we’ve got so many med hypos at this point, they’re just a minor inconvenience.
Ooh, this looks neat. Sadly, there’s nothing cool down here.
But this place looks important. There’s another comment from Delacroix:
“You are near the seat of SHODAN's power. You will probably not be able to defeat her. But there is no choice... Remember to focus on your strengths... she will be vulnerable to your weaponry and your psionic powers. I've been able to introduce some assistance in the form of virtual terminals that you can hack into... they should help you defeat the monster.â€
…If Shodan’s controlling reality, why is she vulnerable to our guns and powers? If I controlled reality, the first two things I’d do would be “sv_cheats 1†and “god.â€
We’ve got to jump down these blocks, while those damaging polygons fly around. Not hard or anything, just don’t slip.
It’s a looooong way down.
If you’re not observant, you could miss the way you need to go. Rather than jumping all the way down (and to your doom), you need to go through here.
There’s one last comment from Delacroix before we take the plunge into the heart of Shodan’s world:
“You must understand the stakes here... if SHODAN is left to continue, her reality will completely assimilate ours. Space will become cyberspace and SHODAN's whims will become reality.â€
Ok. So, like, no pressure or anything.
I remember seeing something like this in Star Wars.
Wheeeee!
It’s a long way down this way as well.
…Yep. Still falling.
Say hello to Shodan. She’s a like something straight out of Tron: a big floaty head surrounded by multicolored shields. Shodan’s head can attack us by launching these green spitballs or something at us. They hurt.
She also has some backup in the form of these Avatars.
Aww, Shodan just wants a hug!
Like Psi Reavers, they shoot energy blasts at us and respawn upon being shot, so they’re a constant threat.
There’s two ways you can go about fighting Shodan. You can just shoot at the shields to weaken them, or you can use these panels to hack them and take them down. Shields shot at eventually recover, so that’s a temporary measure. Hacking these terminals takes them down permanently.
However, these things are really hard to hack if you’re not like maxed out. You could use ICE Picks to automatically hack them, but we left ours back in Storeroom 2, and I blew all our modules on strength just so we’d look manly while fighting. So, the gun way it is!
There’s this big display monitor on one wall with a Matrix-y version of Shodan on it. I guess she just likes looking at herself.
But nevermind that, it’s fight time!
Blam Blam!
While running around and being shot at, I accidentally activated a speed booster hypo, one of those things we’ve been collecting throughout the game and just kinda forgot about. Speed boosters max out your Agility for a short while, giving you super running speed.
The amusing thing about this is if you hit a ramp or something, you go flying. The walkway in this room dips down where the terminals are, so as I’m circle strafing Shodan at like 200mph, I hit the little lip to the sunken section and get launched through the air! So for a little while anyway we’ve got this awesome aerial battle going on!
As you shoot the sections, they eventually disappear. That itself isn’t enough to damage Shodan, your shots still have to go through the hole and hit the head, and the sections rotate around.
So in addition to regenerating, rotating shield panels, we’ve still got this floating head spitting acid globs at us while some sort of ghost clone shoots us with energy balls. Throughout this I’m constantly jamming the medkit button, switching to the psi-amp to use heal, and opening the inventory to drop maintenance tools on the EMP Rifle to keep it functioning.
But, as we keep up the offense, the shield segments are going down faster than they regenerate, and more shots are getting through to Shodan herself.
As you damage her more, the monitors on the far wall start breaking and sparking.
Blam Blam! We’ve almost got it…
And the final shot gets through just as the shield rotates again! Success!
And Shodan goes *poof!*
Ha ha ha! Victory!
Shodan’s been defeated, and we’ve saved the day! Here’s a link to the ending cinematic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YLMk1E41kE
Hmm, cliffhanger ending anyone?
Well there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. System Shock 2. Our overall play time clocked in at just under 12 hours, though that is with someone who’s well versed in where to go (with the couple exceptions where I just plain forgot for some reason). Since we played OSA we ended the game with around 50 psi hypos, 30 med hypos, and around 20 maintenance tools. We only had a gun break once, at that part in the cargo bays when we completely ran out of tools. We also never actually died through the course of the game. Came close a number of times, but between a vast sea of med hypos and Psi Heal, it's difficult to die if you're careful. Other play types will have different numbers, since we rarely had need for most of the items in the game.
Overall, System Shock 2 is a fun and amazing game, especially for the time it was created. It’s easy to see all the little elements that made their way over to Bioshock, and it’s interesting to compare the two. It’s also nice to see play a game that tries to do more with the genre than the same old “shoot, walk down next corridor, shoot†gameplay that most FPSs continue to do to this day. The RPG elements, the more interwoven story, and the tense atmosphere are things that keep the game fresh and interesting, even as the graphics age.
In any case, I hope you enjoyed this little trip through one of the best PC games of all time. It was certainly fun being your tour guide through the corridors of this messed up ship, and I hope this inspires people to take another look at the classics.
Thanks for Playing!
Man, Shodan's a lot harder when you don't have much hacking. She went down in about 30 seconds on my Navy game.
Are we spoilering SS2 stuff?
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
Fixed.
I've certainly enjoyed this LP. Now I know why everybody sings praises for SS2 - I hope there is some room for me in the choir.
Many LPs have sprung forth recently on these forums and I think it is a good trend. Since someone mentioned that these threads should be archived, I have to mention FromEarth's excellent LP Archive as a viable option. However, I think the SA goons won't be too happy about this.
In regards to:
Speaking of sequels, anyone remember that one comment EA made about doing a System Shock 3? Before Bioshock was released and the hype surrounding it was still going full steam, EA released one statement that they were planning to do SS3. Since then, we haven't heard anything about that. It was obvious at the time that they were just saying that to get some attention since Bioshock seemed to be gaining interest, so we'll have to wait and see if they're actually serious about it.
As for what I plan to do next, this week's going to be pretty busy for me, so I'll have to hold off for now. I have tons of lesser known games that I'd love to cover for you people, but unfortunately a lot of those are console games and I have no capture equipment. So, I'll have to dig through my PC games to see what's interesting there. I've got a coupe of fairly obscure things there as well, so I'm sure I can do something that would be just as entertaining.
I don't suppose I could convince you to do a Planescape: Torment LP... You know, after a much deserved break.
Whatever you pick, please post a link to it in this thread once you start.
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
Fantastic LP thread, it made my insomnia all that more bareable last night
As for PS:T, I'm not sure about doing an RPG or something, as I'd either have to post page after page of text, or start summarizing and risk omitting something vital or particularly interesting/amusing.
In any case, I'll be spending this week digging through my stuff to figure out what would be best.
Just throwing the idea of Deus Ex 2 out there
Plus, SHODAN's "possess Rebecca" plan is kind of silly. Goggles is going to greet them when they return to the Von Braun. He'll see Crazy-Hair Rebecca and shoot her on the spot.
Now possessing her and waiting, until they've returned to Earth and SHODAN can begin anew...
In System Shock land, it's impossible to say just how far their escape pod could go. They were probably planning to go back to the Solar system and sleep through a ~30 year trip. Standard sci-fi conventions dictate that she gets picked up by an asteroid mining ship / settlers in a tiny moon colony whereupon hilarity ensues.
Yeah, I like how the "posses other person" plan also makes no goddamn sense. Hell, if anyone wouldn't the dude whose cybernetics she installed be the easiest target?
I'm just curious, how many times did you die throughout the whole thing, to be resurrected at the minimal cost of ten nanites? Why does it take 100 nanites to create 12 bullets when a whole person can be re-created with ten?
He only thought he won. After celebrating his victory, he went and ate some food, only to get food poisoning from the power being out. Of course, he was doomed to be stranded in space for the rest of his life anyways.
Edit: Also, yeah great thread!
I mentioned at the end that during the course of playing I didn't actually die at all. However, that's not 100% true. I did die a couple times, however those were due to me intentionally remaining in harms way in order to get screenshots. That frozen cargo bay with the exploding crates, and the fight with the Brain were a couple examples. Since I was intentionally standing in one spot and focusing on getting screenshots, I didn't count those as actual deaths.
And I have no idea what's up with the costs for things in this game. However, it's apparent that they're at least partially decided on the whim of whoever's programming the replicators as hacking them lowers the cost, and I can't imagine bullets or grenades functioning if there's less physical substance in them. The costs are probably inflated due to the fact that a nanite based economy would completely wreck every single production industry if anyone could make any item with them without constraint.
Only a teaspoon?
Let me tell you about Demon's Souls....
How about a MMORPG? Start a new character and log their joruney. I'm surprised no-one has done this yet.
1) littered with folks who have personal blogs of their characters (just google "Blog" and "(insert MMORPG of choice)" and you'll get relevant hits)
2) have no end, in most cases (and no rising action, climax, plot twists, etc.)
3) tend to have really terrible stories to begin with, especially if it's a Fantasy MMO.
She didn't fancy inhabiting a dude.
Isn't there mention of another soldier getting the cybernetic implant works? Isn't Rebecca a soldier? (These are genuine questions, I can't fully remember)
There's mention that Shodan has a second "avatar," but this is referring to Delacroix sho Shodan was aiding early on, but then abandoned for Gogglehead when Delacroix started to figure out what Shodan was really up to.
Rebecca was just some random Von Braun crewmember. As for the implants, the main character is the only one who gets them, and that's at the specific request of Shodan (posing as Polito). Speaking of which, I still maintain that the ghost we saw in Engineering was the main character, as one of the later emails while going through the Body of the Many, Shodan is going on about how it was her whim that gave us the implants, and how she ordered some droids to "render us us unconscious." Since shit started happining on the Von Braun at a fairly slow pace, I could easily imagine there being a couple droids with stun prods or something waiting at the nearest Reconstruction Chamber for our good friend to re-form.