No one expected this: Otherside Entertainment announces the continuation of a cult RPG series with System Shock 3.
System Shock will certainly be familiar to older generations, as it combined horror with science fiction and role-playing elements upon its release in 1994. From a first-person perspective, players explored a space station where strange things were happening. Mutants and insane robots lurked everywhere, eager to attack. The supercomputer Shodan had taken control of the station and planned to eradicate humanity. As the only survivor on the station, players set out to destroy Shodan.
In 1999, System Shock 2 followed as a sequel, set on a spaceship whose crew had been wiped out and replaced by cyborgs and mutants. Although players believed they had defeated Shodan in the first game, the AI was once again behind the events. System Shock 2 highlighted the horror elements more prominently but still excelled in providing gameplay freedom and complex RPG mechanics.
System Shock 2 even offered a multiplayer mode, allowing up to four players to explore the abandoned spaceship together.
Two new System Shock games!
There was silence around the series for a long time. But a few weeks ago, Night Dive Studios announced that they had acquired the brand rights to System Shock from Electronic Arts. The studio is currently working on a remake of the first game. Now they seem to have teamed up with Otherside Studios to realize System Shock 3 as well. And they couldn’t have found a better partner. Otherside Entertainment was founded by former Looking-Glass developers who designed the two System Shock games.
So at least part of the old team is involved in developing System Shock 3. However, not much is currently known about the game, except that it will be released. Whether there will be a multiplayer mode this time remains uncertain – but since this mode was extremely popular in its predecessor, it can be assumed that the developers are at least considering integrating something similar.
In the coming weeks, more details about System Shock 3 are expected to be released. We hope to find out if Shodan will be part of it again, when it will be released, and if there will be a multiplayer mode. Otherside Entertainment is also currently working on the role-playing game Underworld Ascendant, which will be an unofficial successor to the Ultima Underworld series from 1992/1993.
