I'm not playing SS1 for the firs time now, but I still remember when I have. It was 2006 or so and I have been craving more System Shock 2, so I thought "Why not give the first game a proper shot?" and got my hands on a copy. So I got it installed, took some time to get properly used to the control scheme, and ... Suddenly could not stop playing. It quickly became my favourite of the two System Shock games, especially due to its ingenious level design and sheer amount of options and little details like drugs having side effects after they expire. During the next month, I have managed to finish the game twice!

How about you people? Anyone playing the original System Shock for the first time now, with the Enhanced edition? How do you feel about the game in 2015?

I played SS2 years ago and quite enjoyed the experience. I remember giving the first game a shot, but I couldn't get past the (awkward as hell) control scheme. So I put it on the back burner (read: probably never play it again). This new release of the game seems tempting, but I haven't quite decided if I want to spend the ten bucks on it yet. I love the story, the soundtrack and everything else about the presentation, but I'm not sure I should spend any more money on games I'll play for maybe an hour and then uninstall.

I'm curious to hear other peoples opinions on this as well; should I spend more time/effort (and cash) on this game, before again tossing it onto the "trash pile", so to speak? E.g.: does the new version make it more playable for lazy people? I only ever tried the original (no SSP).

(Sorry if this is the wrong thread for this. Don't mean to go off-topic.)

I'm still on my first playthrough with the DOS version, actually. I'm hoping to upgrade to Enhanced Edition soon.

I only played SS2 half way through years ago (it was a rental - when such things still existed).

Started playing SS1 now as the mouselook and other extended options infinitely made this more appealing.

Enjoying it greatly. If you've been curious of the series but been deterred by it's age and ancient control scheme, this is the way to go at it now.

It's still somewhat clunky, but you quickly get used to it.

Played it when it came out but it was too finicky for me. Loving this new version however; mouselook changes everything.

At first it was a bit overwhelming. There is so much stuff to interact with; items, puzzles, cyberspace and not really any guidance. I thought it might be too much for me, but I'm gradually figuring out how everything works and I'm loving it. Very addictive, immersive game with fun action and a great story.

I guess I should still read the manual as there are a few things I'm still clear about regarding cyberspace navigation.

Yep, playing for the first time
Music sounds off and a bit off, though

Played SS2 years ago. I never played the first one so this is my first time through. Must say it's quite enjoyable.

I never played either System Shock when they were released. My first exposure to that style of gameplay was with Deus Ex. I snagged System Shock 2 several years ago and played a little, but I think I stopped when the robots kept giving me explosive hugs. Then I decided I'd go and play System Shock 1 first, using the portable release. And, like you, I got super into it once I got past Deck 1 and had a sense of how to control myself and get through the world. I loved the atmosphere of the game and the way it felt like I was naturally discovering my objectives; you read one log about how there's a mining laser about to fire, then another one about how if the shield is up it'll fail catastrophically.

When I played System Shock 2 fully I ended up being a bit disappointed, because now you had mission control telling you what to do. Also, those stupid hugbots. It was still a good game, but I find I prefer System Shock 1.

Yep, I guess you can count this as my first time. Well, sort of. I tried the vanilla game via the command prompt in Win98 (where it did run within the Windows environment) but the control scheme stopped me playing beyond the first few rooms as I had other games with better controls to play with. Then I tried it again with SSP but again I got distracted by other games. So now I have SSEE here on GOG and I've finally played through all of the first floor and started the second. This I consider my first real attempt. :)

I have played through SS2, though, some years ago, and I played it before I first tried to play SS1.

Played it back in the day. The controls were a bit much for me. This however is great. Suppose I might aswell be a new start.

Never properly played the original until now. I'm liking it (jank aside, as it's easier to handle) but I swear I'm going completely the wrong way and will have to backtrack, hugely! Still, this isn't really a complaint. The music sounds pretty horrendous, though, which is more the fault of the default settings. I know I can fix it myself, but I hope the team make it sound prettier by default when they come to patching this sucker up.

i have played system 2 @ release and its still one of my favorite games ever

but i have never played system 1 because of the clunky controls
(i like retro games but vanilla is too much retro for me)

iam really happy that the enhanced edition is available now :) ... its a blast to play and i REALLY like the game with more modern controlls

the lvl design is awesome + the hud is freaking future ... even nowadays there are games that got a much more worse hud design... those guys were really ahead of there time ... freaking unbelievable

i wouldnt play it without mouselook though

but yeah i am totally enjoying the enhanced edition :) ... ( i finished lvl 7 now btw ... still a little bit to go for :3)

Backtracking is normal for System Shock. Well, it was in the second game, so I imagine it will be the same for the first. I've only cleared the Level 1, done a fair bit of Level 2 (at least I think I have) and just got on to Level R, though.

As for the music, I find it okay at times, and then really awful at others. I don't know if it is caused by a bug though as when hoppers or repair bots or similar a nearby I get an awful crackling repeating sound instead of the music. Now this could be normal, in which case it is very bad, but it could be a bug, I just don't know. Also, in cyberspace, after a couple of minutes the music cuts out.

Yeah, you'll be backtracking a lot, more than SS2 even (in SS2, you rarely had to go back entire floors). I suggest making a map note whenever you find something that looks potentially interesting, because chances are you'll be asked to eventually go there again in the future, and enemies will respawn stronger than before, so it's best if you know exactly where to go without dilly-dallying around too much.

Without spoiling anything, I will say there are some interesting places in levels 3 and 4, so you'll want to take a few notes there.

I definitely don't mind backtracking, especially on my first playthrough. I've found I can snipe enemies easily by 'nudging' myself around the corner(s) and shooting the enemies in the arm or leg; they don't see me or react.

The music.... ick. Well, it started okay, but I got to one section (I can't remember where. Early on. It was all very red, there were lots of bridges to activate and the floor was radioactive, I believe?) and... I'm not sure if it was meant to be cymbals or drums or what, but there was an awful, repetitive broken loop of one of those two instruments until I got through that section.