Warren Spector:
System Shock 2 was like seeing an old girlfriend but discovering she's even cooler now than she was when you were dating. Being shown Shock 2 by some of the guys who worked on the original was a little slice of old home week. The gameplay looks rock solid. I can't wait to play the whole thing.

Harvey Smith:
But as far as e3 goes, system shock 2 gets my vote. (i also picked up a beta test copy there.) my reaction so far: SHOCK 2 IS GOING TO CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE PLAY AND DESIGN PC GAMES FOR YEARS AND YEARS TO COME.

Midwife Singin' the Blues Poor Midwife is sad, sad, sad, cuz we iz gonna kill her little baby slugs. Seriously though, someone maxed out on the blue colored lighting in this area. She's Got Them Blues Bad! Different shot of the same area. This must be a (I hope), early model of this enemy. I wonder what's going on in that fuzzy area about the barrel of the gun... Hey! Hey! It's the Monkeys! Someone did not appreciate the mop-top hairstyle of The Monkeys, so they decided to cleave the scalp offa these poor critters. SHODAN is just mean like that. Nerve Center or Spiders' Nest? Seeing the below screenshot before this one, my first thought was that this is some type of spiders nest. However after thinking about it, I figured it may also be some type of nerve center that these spiders (below) are guarding. More Nasty Spiders Time to see SS2's spider critter up close. Too close. Yicky.

I can verify that when Ken Levine was showing me Shock2 at E3, that he said it was a real human. However, that was the only time I saw her. She also screamed by the way.

Irrational Games is looking to fill several programming positions on our upcoming projects. All of these positions are for talented programmers who want to work with one of the most successful and innovative game design teams around. All applicants should be familiar with C++, experience with DirectX is helpful.

Senior Programmer (3D Graphics).
This position is for a senior programmer with at several years experience in 3D graphics programming. You’ll help us build rendering technology for our next generation of 3D role playing and action games. Games experience helpful, but not necessary. Familiarity with DirectX and 3D hardware necessary.

Lead Programmer (Game Systems/Architecture).
This position is for a senior programmer with several years experience in the games industry. You’ll be in charge of architecting one of our upcoming 3D titles and supervising the programming team. You should be ready to step into a technical management role and have demonstrated ability to do so.

Junior Programmers.
Several entry level positions exist for smart programmers who want to enter the games industry. No previous games experience necessary. Passion for games development and technical smarts required. You should be motivated and ready to learn. Evidence of interest and ability to work on games (demos and prototypes) very helpful.

Irrational Games is located in Cambridge, MA. We have a comprehensive health and benefits package available to all employees. Irrational Games is an equal opportunity employer.

All applicants should submit resumes, demos of previous games (where possible) and code samples (required) to:

Irrational Games
Attention: Ken Levine
60 Kirkland Street Suite 2R
Cambridge, MA 02138

or: bizdevelopment@irrational-games.com

The creepiest game at the show had to be Irrational Games' System Shock 2. Equipped with a familiar whacked-out soundtrack, Shock 2 uses a re-engineered version of the Thief: The Dark Project engine and, to our liking, it's the best looking first-person RPG we saw at the show, and one of the smartest, too. Shock 2's artificial intelligence model can communicate with itself and makes excellent use of its environment, such as utilizing security cameras to track and surround the player. Picture a futuristic RPG similar to the original with scripting akin to Half-Life, but completely open-ended. Its depth, powerful but easy-to-use interface and non-linear gameplay were very impressive, and made it one of the ten best games at the E3.

Furthermore, I received this Email with some very... interesting... information.

"Oh my god" was the first thought when I saw the fresh cover of a pc games magazine at the news stand this morning. SS2 made the headline but that is not the reason for my outburst. The reason is the cover photography.

You have to know that this special magazine tries to gather a higher market share off from its two biggest competitors by printing more or less scantily clad models on top of its cover. Those models wear accessories associated with computer games, for example camouflage (C&C) or leather (Drakan) etc.

Associated with SS2 we see the upper half of a nude lady in silver bodypaint and a hairdo resembling SHODAN in the SHODAN Again JPEG. Well, I'm not sure what to think about it. But perhaps one of those hackers portrayed in the SS1 manual would be disgusted by a flesh person impersonating a nearly perfect AI 8-).

I checked the magazine's hompage this early afternoon, but they haven't changed the older version (Diablo2 warrior girl) yet. Just a matter of short time I suppose. So here is the URL:

www.pcaction.de

[The game is DONE-- it is now just starting testing, which will take a couple of months.]

Nope. The game is very close to done though. We are just putting in some final artwork and effects, tuning the gameplay, and fixing bugs. Also it’s already been in testing for quite a while now (a few months).

[The producer exclusively used the "psionic enhancer" piece of equipment when he was playing as a weapon... in other words, he used psionics instead of guns. What that means to you and me is that psionics ARE more than just a gimmick!]

Your going to love this- EA is forbidding the use of the conventional weapons in the game demo during E3. Their panties are in a bind over the Colorado incident, so don’t want to play up the violence. This leaves us to only be able to demo the non-violent aspects of the game. It is possible to play the entire game "old school FPS" and not use a single Psi power (and vice versa). You really can play SS2 the way YOU want to.

[The interface is SLICK. I mean, REALLY slick... it makes so much sense that I wonder why other first-person RPG's don't use it. It just plain makes sense. Hard to explain though... basically, you're using mouselook and the crosshair is the activation point, you can press different buttons to activate whatever is at the crosshair in different ways. It combines the intuitive movement style of Quake with the interaction of Ultima Underworld. Very nice.]

I agree. I think the interface is great and shows all the thought that was put into it. It’s kind of like EverQuest, but a lot more refined and powerful.

[The intro is BADASS. So badass that I wish I didn't see it.... it might spoil my enjoyment of the full game. ]

I think it looks cool. This is one people will have to judge for themselves.

I interviewed Ken Levine from Irrational Games about System Shock 2. The booth they were given by EA was small. They were running SS2 on one computer and when I was there you couldn't play around with it. The graphics and the features I saw were very impressive.

Some of the neat features were the ability to hack into computer systems and weapon systems with your skills and turn off defensive systems and do other things. Also with the skills of your character you can repair, modify, and improve your weapons. You can also query an item to get additional information about the items you have. To earn the skills to modify or upgrade your weapons you have to research or learns skills to do so. Some of the modifications you could do to your weapons were improve there fire rate and targeting. The questions I directly asked Ken were:

Q: Will SS2 support 3D surround yes?
A: Yes, with emphasis on the Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live using the environmental audio.

Q: What will be included in the box with SS2, will there be anything special like maps, trinkets etc,.?
A: I cant really say. That will be left up to EA and it is something we haven't discussed yet.

Q: There has been alot said about SS2 and Half-Life, what is going to separate SS2 from Half-Life?
A: With SS2 you build the story as you go, there is no set path. With Half-life that is not true, you have to follow it's story line.

One of the questions received from the TTLG's message boards about SS2 was about the transparent displays. I asked Ken about this and he showed me how some of the displays are still transparent but the main interface was not. From looking at the interface which I thought was very impressive, not being transparent did not take away from the game at all.

Over all I was very impressed with SS2. I have never played the first version of the game and this was the first time I saw the second. It is now a game I plan on buying or at least looking more deeply into. The graphics looked awesome and everything seemed to work and run smoothly. Add in the rpg factor of character skills and researching them with the ability to modify weapons and hack systems along with many other possibilities makes this look like a very promising game.

The game is DONE-- it is now just starting testing, which will take a couple of months.

The producer exclusively used the "psionic enhancer" piece of equipment when he was playing as a weapon... in other words, he used psionics instead of guns. What that means to you and me is that psionics ARE more than just a gimmick!

The interface is SLICK. I mean, REALLY slick... it makes so much sense that I wonder why other first-person RPG's don't use it. It just plain makes sense. Hard to explain though... basically, you're using mouselook and the crosshair is the activation point, you can press different buttons to activate whatever is at the crosshair in different ways. It combines the intuitive movement style of Quake with the interaction of Ultima Underworld. Very nice.

The intro is BADASS. So badass that I wish I didn't see it.... it might spoil my enjoyment of the full game.

All-in-all, System Shock 2 is everything we hoped it would be-- a true successor to System Shock. You can't get much more praise than that!

My understanding is one CD per player. I don't know if mixing English and German will be specifically supported, but I wouldn't be surprised if it worked. QA was using Roger Wilco for a while, and I believe the plan is to have support.

From the glowing look in his eyes and the giddy tone in his voice, it was easy to tell Ken was extremely excited about the progress of System Shock 2. He started off the demo with a look at how psi-powers are going to work. Using an interface similar to a computer golf game, a sliding meter will shoot across your screen. If you hit your mouse button while the meter is in the 'sweet spot,' then your psi-power will be most effective. Stop the meter before that point and your psi-power will be weaker, stop it after the spot and you risk damaging yourself. Right now there are about 35 psi-powers in the game, but Ken said that the design team would possibly be adding more before the game ships.

This tasty bit was taken from UGO's E3.net. It's a very tongue-in-cheak post, that talks about mainly level design, among other things.

"Half Life was all about presentation," says Ken Levine, "It walked you through an interesting story and a great environment. But System Shock 2 is all about improvisation. We want to give the player a ton of tools and let him decide how to approach everything."

He demonstrates by showing me a panel that opens a door. The panel is covered by cameras that trigger automated turrets. He can shoot out the cameras and turrets, disable security on the level, or find another path around the door. But he’s got something else in mind. He sets up a psionic barrier in front of the panel, ducks behind it, and starts hacking it while the turret shots bounce off the barrier. As with the first System Shock, a small puzzle diagram pops up. Levine boogers it up and sets off alarms everywhere.

Levine works at Irrational Games, the company that’s co-developing the game with Looking Glass. He’s not very good at System Shock 2. He keeps dying and having to reload. I must have seen the death sequence, in which the first person perspective tilts sickly to one side and slides to the floor, about a dozen times. When I play through System Shock 2 in the co-operative multiplayer mode, Levine can’t be on my team.

System Shock 2 will use the Dark Engine that powered Thief, not to be confused with Activision’s Dark Side engine, which hasn’t powered much of anything just yet. But for those naysayers (myself included) who were worried that System Shock 2 would take place in another sparsely detailed environment, this latest build of System Shock 2 is a nice surprise. The interior of the Von Braun, the first faster-than-light ship, looks sharp and convincing. It’s hardware only, so the developers have plenty of polygons to play with. There’s new 16-bit color, colored lighting, and a great steam effect that recalls the ducts in Unreal’s prison ship.

Unlike the first System Shock, there will be a number of different environments. The Von Braun has a hydroponics bay and several different decks. But it’s also got a military destroyer riding piggyback, which will have a completely different interior design. The game opens with a training session on a space station orbiting Earth. The final level will be a climactic battle in cyberspace with SHODAN, the AI-gone-bad from the first game. But SHODAN isn’t alone this time. Now she (he? it?) is somehow connected to “The Many”, a huge mass of biomatter with a collective conscious. The Many spawns little worms that dig into their hosts and take over their minds. Just imagine Microsoft, but with worms. Part of the game will be set inside The Many.

The inventory interface resembles Diablo. As with X-Com, you have to research new weapons before you can use them. There are several character skills in four categories (basic, combat, psi, and technical) that you can upgrade by trading in cybernetic modules. Psi skills are like spells, protecting you from damage, replicating ammo, turning off alarms, pacifying aggressive enemies, levitating you, and getting you dates on Friday nights. Okay, I lied about the levitating. Weapons can be modified and upgraded. You collect Nanite Pods to make inventory items in replicators. The whole thing feels like it has a very tight internal logic.

Finally, I asked Levine to tell me about the end of the game. He gave it up for me. Although you will interact with neutral characters (not only through email and computer logs, as in the first System Shock, but also in person), your character has only one line, spoken at the end of the game. Levine spoke that one line for me, which is actually a single syllable, by wrinkling his nose and saying: “Nah.” Now I have to play through the game to figure out what the hell it’s supposed to mean.

I hope you like it! Click here to view the new and Improved SS2mmdb!

(I admit, I get the screenshots to print and hang at my other job at your site, rather than poking around at Looking Glass for them! )

Anyway, with respect to "running in the mist", that's actually a translucent window (you can see the frame in the lower left corner), rather than fog. But yes, that's a live human (at least at that moment...). There is mist, but it's particle-effect stuff rather than filling whole rooms.