Six years after its first reveal, SystemChock 2: 25 -year anniversary Remaster Finally let go of consoles and PC later in the year, after the first System shock‘S Remaster in 2023.
After a name change (it was originally called SystemChock 2: Improved edition) and six years of careful but challenging development, the highly expected Remaster finally comes to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X | S and PC on June 26, 2025.
A prolonged PlayStation blog, written by Nightdive Studios Communications Manager Morgan Shaver, goes into detail about why the remaster has taken so long to develop. In summary, it is a combination of incomplete source code and develops Nightdive’s Penchant for attention to details.
Nightdive’s Alex Lima blades in here and said that “Extensive Reverse Engineering” was required to have SystemChock 2 Playable on modern hardware.
“The game engine that System Shock 2 uses is big and complicated,” adds Nightdive’s Lexi Mayfield. “It was originally designed for PCs from the late 1990s with a mouse and keyboard and was only used for three games. As a result, it was to have a long and difficult process from both a coding and interface perspective as a result.”
Before SystemChock 2: 25 -year anniversary Remaster, Players can expect improved visuals as well as support for advanced shadows and much higher update speeds, leading to much better presentation and performance in general.
Originally a PC exclusive, the game has also received the Controller Support for the first time ever now that it is coming to consoles. Actions like leaning around in corners, quick-swapping objects, weapons and psi forces have been “streamlined” for controllers. A new Quickbar and context menu should also mean that players will spend less time fucking around their busy inventories.
Personally I am a big fan of the original SystemChock 2. I love almost everything about it, from its frighteningly mutated human enemies, awful atmosphere and an incredible soundtrack that jumps between moody horror and fast pace, pulsating techno.
The show’s star is undoubtedly shodan, a junk AI that serves as SystemChock 2’s Primary villain. Shodan is wonderfully evil, her crooked speech patterns are constantly whistling between creepy and silly without ever going overboard in any department. She is so good at both spotted and mocks the player and creates a constantly entertaining and scary threat.
