Developer Nightdive Studios has just unveiled a brand-new alpha gameplay video of the upcoming System Shock. Two videos titled “Cyberspace” and “The Art of Gore” delve deeper into details as to how Nightdive is creating System Shock's damage effects, and more specifically, dismemberment.
For those who are too young to remember, System Shock is a first-person action adventure game originally released in 1994. Set in the cyberpunk future of the year 2072, players assume the role of an unnamed hacker that is attempting to take down an AI gone rogue only known as SHODAN. System Shock has been critically acclaimed since its release and is widely credited for introducing innovative and influential mechanics in video game world building, such as puzzle-solving sections and unprecedented interactivity between the player and the environment.
The gameplay trailer “Cyberspace” showcased players wandering through the halls of Citadel and getting to the iconic cyberspace level, which was last seen in System Shock 2. The video starts off with the player navigating the empty corridors of the Citadel, encountering hostile mutants and dispatching them with both a melee weapon and a firearm. Certain elements of System Shock's dismemberment mechanic have also been displayed. Afterwards, the player enters the Cyberspace, which is basically System Shock’s hacking mini-game except that in this preview, it does not look like a mini-game at all. Players are navigating through the wire-frame 3D environment, accessing certain locations, locating tunnels and loopholes, and combating representations of SHODAN’s security programs, all the while being bombarded by bass and synth-heavy music in the background.
As for the “Art Of Gore'', we are toured through the game’s gory and gritty hallways by Benjamin Swinbanks, Lead FX Artist of Nightdive Studios. Basically, Nightdive Studios has implemented a custom-built dismemberment system that allows players to maim mutants and tear apart robots by shooting or hitting each character’s multiple breakpoints. One notable tool that the devs used is accurately named SPLAT (or Shock Pipeline Limb Amputation Tool), which simply creates different sets of particles and effects for different types of enemies.
System Shock is currently in development for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
