I've seen many veterans say it isn't necessary to play SS1 first, but if I have it installed as well, would it be worth playing through first, or should I just jump into the SS2 frenzy and play SS1 later if/when it's rereleased? Thanks for the advice! :p

Both games have little in common except for the villain and the general atmosphere. SS1s story will be spoilered in SS2 so if you care about chronological consistency, go with SS1 first. It's not as accessible, though.

Yes, the game makes no sense if you start with 2

And you won't have much fun playing 1 if you play 2 first.

I'd argue that neither of those are true. SS2 recaps SS1 at the beginning, and even without that it pretty much stands on its own. SS1 is definitely harder to get into, but the two games are different enough that it seems worth playing even after 2.

Thanks for the replies!

In that case does anyone know a good kind of guide to the game? In terms of interface nuances and how to go about the puzzles etc...? I don't want to get caught out frustrated and stuck and give up part way through.

SS1 has an excellent manual for starters. There's also the ICE Breaker guide, the officially released walkthrough to SS1. It's on Systemshock.org but you may find other links.

Found it, thank you! :)

If you already have SS1, and you're already interested in playing it, then by all means plays it first. SS2 is perfectly understandable without having played SS1, but there are certain callbacks to the original in SS2 (including one really, REALLY big callback) that will fly completely over your head if you haven't played SS1. So at least give it an honest hour or so of play before diving into SS2.

You'll probably want to play the version of SS1 that's patched with the mouselook mod. Makes the game so much easier to control.

GoG why the hell would you release SS2 instead of SS1... What the hell is wrong with you GoG?

I'm hoping this release might make some SS veteran modder to make a mod that basically converts the SS1 game into SS2 engine or something more modern. :P

Oh I don't know, because it's the most requested game of all time by far? :P

I'd wish they would request more of SS1 than SS2 since I also voted for SS1 to be released.

There is a really cool bit in SS2 that can only be appreciated by anyone who has played the first. Otherwise, it doesn't matter too much which one you start off with.

Who's "GoG"? Are they related to "GOG"?