SHODAN herself recognises that anticipation, stating in Terri Brosius' stuttering, electrifying tones. We expect it with a mixture of trepidation and masochistic glee. This is after all a sequel, one in which SHODAN's zero-Kelvin smile features on the box-art. SHODAN's appearance in the game can only be so surprising. Unlike BioShock, it's what happens next where things get truly interesting. System Shock 2's introduction blends tutorial and character creation in a way that is surprisingly accessible, morseo than many modern games.ĭespite the fact that you've been completely used, and your entire relationship with the one other surviving human on the ship is a lie, ultimately, it's not that big a deal.
By comparison, System Shock 2's revelation is basically SHODAN's way of saying hello. BioShock saves all of its narrative impact for a single moment, a spectacular power-fantasy that pulls the rug from beneath the player's feet two-thirds of the way through. Both are games dedicated to the exploration of player agency, or more specifically the lack of it. It's only when you examine the two side by see that it becomes clear why this is. On deck four of the ill-fated spaceship Von Braun, the character you've been working with for the first half of the game turns out to be the dead puppet of SHODAN, the malevolent AI introduced in the original System Shock. It's also surprising that, at the time, more people didn't see it coming, as the setup and delivery echo an equivalent reveal penned by Ken Levine in System Shock 2, the game to which BioShock was marketed as a spiritual successor. The flurry of half-baked ideas that follow - your plasmids don't work, you're sort of a Big Daddy - fail to rebuild the momentum which leads up to that clarifying moment. In fact, so successful is this scene that it ends up hurting the remainder of the game. The scene in which you finally encounter Andrew Ryan, your body buzzing with adrenaline after the rigmarole you've gone through to find this megalomaniac, only to be delivered the debilitating narrative gut-punch that you've been guided like a puppet the entire time, is often considered one of gaming's greatest feats of storytelling. 2007's BioShock blew everyone away with its momentous second-act twist.
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