Nightdive's remaster of System Shock 2, the peak of immersive sims, finally has a release date

System Shock 2 Remaster Release Date Trailer - Future Games Show Spring Showcase 2025 - YouTube

Here's my confession: I think I prefer System Shock 2 to Deus Ex. Not that I don't love JC Denton like a son, mind you, it's just that SS2's creepy hallways and pitch-perfect antagonists have taken root in my heart forever.

So I gotta be honest, of all the whizzbang announcements spilling out of the Future Games Show, the one I'm most excited about is Nightdive's KEX Engine redo—the System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster, which just got shown off during the show. It's coming out on June 26 this year on Steam and GOG, a brisk six years after it was originally announced.

If you're not familiar, SS2 is on the Mt Rushmore of immersive sims, and is a direct antecedent of the BioShock games (but it's better). You're a hapless schmuck trapped on a spaceship filled with mutated horrors and have to get the hell off of it through the judicious application of implants and skill points. Also, hitting psychic monkeys with a wrench.

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The SS2 remaster has touched "every aspect of the game," says Nightdive, and will feature "unknowable horrors, in high definition," which is a very good press release bullet point, fair play. On PC, that means 4K resolutions and 144 fps, plus ultra-widescreen support for those of you playing on a kitchen door you've turned sideways.

We've also got achievements, gamepad support (blasphemy to some, incredibly great news for me personally), and full mod support, with "the ability to implement community-made missions at launch."

Which is all I need as someone who really just wants a pretty, easy-to-run version of SS2 I can fire up and play on my TV, but the mad lads at Nightdive have also gone and resurrected the original game's co-op mode, meaning you can play through the game with a pal on any other platform. Unfortunately, I don't have friends, so you'll have to figure out how that all works for yourself.

I'm eager to get my hands on this one. Nightdive did a great job with the remake of System Shock 1, even if I found it a little too conservative, but that same conservatism is exactly what I want from a remaster. If I get an SS2 that looks how I remember it (ie. better than it actually did in the '90s) and plays easily, I'll be a very happy man.

Now, all rise for the national anthem.

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.