Can I Still Be Your Avatar?

Yes kids, Shodan is still out there and she's still pissed off...

Working out this morning, I was briefly reflecting on the recent games I've played since acquiring an XBox 360. I thought about BioShock, one of 2007's most highly awarded and successful games, and so it should be. However, we the gaming public, I don't believe has fairly been exposed to the roots of this gaming marvel.

BioShock is based heavily (I don't care what LookingGlass studios says) off a game called System Shock 2, or SS2 for the huge fans such as myself. Although Wikipedia does a much better job explaining it, I'll see if I can sum it up briefly:

You're a cybernetically enhanced soldier (marine, navy, or special op) that's been assigned on a starship called the Von Braun. You awake in your stasis pod to parts of the ship falling apart. Through your travels throughout the ship, you've come to realize that the crew has been taken over by a hostile alien lifeform and a rogue AI called "Shodan". You're attempting to locate and link up with the only other human survivor of the incident. However, been you and them lies an army of infected humans, rogue droids, and all sorts of crazy ship defense mechanisms (which you can actually hack to work for you). Hell, there are even telekinetic wielding monkeys.

There is NO other first person shooter (except for Deus Ex) that holds a candle to this game in terms of environment, customizable weapons & implants, and missions. Now, given this game came out waaaay back when (90's), there are some obvious upgrades I would offer up if this was ever to be re-released for say, XBox.

First and obviously, the graphics. The poly's in this are really bad seeing as how your character's head is almost cubical.

Secondly, SS2 didn't utilize the quadrent based damage that almost all first person shooters use today. While playing SS2, you could shoot the enemy in the head or the crotch, and it still took the same amount of rounds to drop them, this should be fixed.

Thirdly, keep the ambient sounds, and maybe add some. Using Doom 3 as an example (excellent sounds), include sounds of the ship, distant enemies, and even the sounds of the ship falling apart.

Lastly, upgrade the PSI weapons. If you elect to be a PSI (psychological powers) operative, you'll find your weapons are significantly less compared to...oh I don't know, the shotgun? Make these weapons better, or allow this character to have more skill points to spend. But definately keep the factor that weapons degrade and break over time, definately makes the game more exciting.

As an avid gamer that's been playing them almost since their advent, I'm a huge advocate of current gamers to play the old school games and the predacessors to the currently enjoyed games. Well, all except Marathon Man....seriously Bungie, that was not only a blatent Doom original rip-off, but holy crap does it suck, even for yesterday standards.