So I've never played System Shock 2. I'm a huge fan of System Shock 1 though.

My sister likes to watch a lot of the games I play if the plot interests her. This month we played Bioshock Infinite and both of us really enjoyed it. We also played the Burial at Sea expansion packs which lead into the original Bioshock. Infinite is the only one we've completed or even really played (I played a lot of System Shock 1 by myself a long time ago but I didn't get very far because of other distractions).

Our current plan is to play Bioshock 1 and Bioshock 2 over the summer, and if we still have time try and do System Shock 1 and 2. I've heard that multiplayer is an option on System Shock 2, and normally we'd just automatically pick that, but from what I've read it sounds like most people think the game is better as a single-player experience and that the multiplayer was added due to the insistence of the publisher rather than Looking Glass/Irrational.

Most of what I've read say that System Shock 2's multiplayer isn't the way to experience it first because its better to feel alone. But in our case, we're still going to be experiencing it together, whether I'm playing and she's watching or if we're both playing. So in this case, is single-player still the way to go or does it not really matter at that point?

Also, are there any storyline changes to the game when playing multiplayer or do all the characters and plot elements just ignore the second person?

thanks for the help!

Normally I'd recommend single player first, but if your sister would be watching anyway there isn't really much point. Go for co-op. While the game wasn't designed for multiplayer it can still be completed that way and is a lot of fun with friends.

Note that the multiplayer aspect can be buggy. Expect a few crashes and glitches along the way and make sure all players are together when changing levels (via bulkhead, elevator, etc). MAKE REGULAR SAVES IN DIFFERENT SLOTS!

The first couple levels have players separated; you won't be able to see each other in-game until later. Coordinate where you are with each other so you're hopefully entering level-changers at about the same time. If you don't there may be crashes or freezes. Yeah, it's irritating, but with some patience you can get past these oddities.

As Sufyan said, there are no story changes between single and multiplayer.

NEVER play multiplayer first, unless the person you want to play with has 10 hours to live.

I say go with the single player and listen to as many logs & messages found in the game and you're in for a great immersion treat!

If you want to simulate SS2's multiplayer experience without actually playing multiplayer, just have your sister randomly hit the reset button on your computer every half-hour or so.

Thanks for all the info, guys, it sounds like Multiplayer isn't the way to go, mostly for the bugginess. Thanks for all the help! I realized I made this a "mark as solution" type question, unfortunately I couldn't mark all of your posts as the solution so I voted up every post. Thanks again!