Despite having worked on the original sci-fi FPS as a playtester three decades ago, Arcane Studios founder Raphaël Colantonio says he's given up on the 2023 System Shock remake after becoming "frustrated" by its difficult gameplay.
For some context, Colantonio helped out with QA on the original System Shock when he was at EA in the early 90s, and he says that experience was a pivotal moment in his career.
"I was already hooked [on video games] when I had a chance to playtest System Shock back then, and so it was just some sort of destiny that I was so lucky," he tells the Quad Damage Podcast (timestamped here). "Because I could not believe what was happening to me."
Asked if he's played the 2023 System Shock remake from the retro pros at Nightdive Studios, Colantonio confirms: "A little bit, yeah.
"I tried the one that came out a year or two ago — I got stuck in the cyberspace, unfortunately. That gameplay was too hard, so I was frustrated by it. But the rest was really cool until then."
In both the original game and the remake, the cyberspace portions of the game are widely considered notoriously confusing and difficult, and the worst parts of their respective games. In the story, it's a digital realm representing the space where all computers in the world communicate and store data, but gameplay-wise they thrust players into confusing, maze-like 3D maps that you often have to enter to complete main objectives and find valuable loot. Compounding the difficulty are hordes of bullet spongey enemies that will have you booting up your old copy of Descent just to train for.
Anyway, that's all to say I completely understand Colantonio calling it quits when he reached that point in the game, and it's probably time to admit that I did too. You can have my gamer card, I'd prefer to keep my sanity.
In the meantime, here are the best horror games you can play with the lights out tonight.
