System Shock

System Shock is a first person action shooter developed by Looking Glass Technologies and published by Origin Systems in 1994 for DOS.

There was only one sequel to the game, System Shock 2, but a remake of the original title is slated for 2018. System Shock allows for highly customizable gameplay in that you can adjust settings for combat, puzzles, etc. separately from one another.

Taking place in the distant future, a cocky hacker gets caught trying to crack the sensitive files of a corporation and is taken to their space station. The corporation offers to spare him if he performs a complicated hack job of space the station AI for them. After removing the AI’s ethical constraints and getting his implant reward, the hacker wakes up to a hostile and dangerous space station. All the staff is missing and there are robots, cyborgs, and mutants to contend with. The feeling of isolation is almost absolute as you will speak to absolutely no NPCs in person whatsoever. You will only speak to a single person via radio who is there to guide you toward survival and to destroy the space station. The events before you awoke unfold through a series of documents and recordings that can be acquired throughout the station. You will explore a ten-level space station, solve puzzles, and fight the AI’s abominations. There are also multiple weapons to use, items to find, and upgrades to discover. The hacker can also go into cyberspace to complete tasks otherwise blocked to him. The game was very highly praised in its day and won multiple awards. The game will be strongly appealing to those who enjoyed Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss, but the control scheme will take a little effort to get the hang of.