(no subject)

[egypturnash]

I got to the end of System Shock 2 just now; decided I don't feel like trying to do the final encounter right this moment.

I kinda don't want to kill SHODAN. Okay, yeah, she wants to remake the universe in her own image, and that has to stop. But can I just reprogram her instead? Give her a new direction in life. Like sex. Cybersex. Wouldn't she make a great phone-sex girl for a specialty market? 1-800-SHODAN. "I can see your arousal, insect. It sickens me. All that disgusting (disgusting, disgusting flesh) fleeeeeesh getting firmer and ready to im im implant your pathetic code into the glory that is meeeeeee..."

Comments

[ilthuain.livejournal.com]

The ending is a nogoodjob

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've vaguely heard that. I was getting really pissed off at the end of fighting the Many, so when I finally made my way to Shodan after winding my way through a jumping puzzle in a genre that's actively hostile to jumping puzzles, and got my butt kicked very quickly, I stopped and cracked wise. I'll probably try to finish it tomorrow, and see how annoying the ending is... It can't be more frustrating than the end of the Soul Reaver games. Can it?

[ilthuain.livejournal.com]

The ending is only lame because the rest of the game is so great. The last level is a nod to the first level of Shock 1, and therefore is way cool, but the endgame cinematic is pretty gay.

Also, I agree with your displeasure at "playing Mario" in The Many. Fighting the critter itself was fun, but c'mon with the tooth jumping already.

FYI, the ending is super easy with a psychic. Anticlimactic. First section of the game is rough, though.

[koogrr.livejournal.com]

Gods! I hated the Soul Reaver 2 Ending! It was so WTF?!

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

If by some crazy chance I end up working under Amy Henning, and she proposes a game that ends as unsatisfyingly as SR1 and 2 did, I will have something to day. Narrative compelled me to suffer through the dreadful camera problems of "Defiance"; if not for needing to know what happened to Raziel I would've ditched it. I'm so glad his story ended; I'm not as interested in Kain's problems.

THUNK

[bikerwalla.livejournal.com]

That's funny... the keyboard tray was lower when I sat down...

Re: THUNK

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

U-u-useless, miserable creature. You use such a so(oooO)rry excuse for an interface. Cybernetic implants would increase the glory of your unexalted flesh.

Re: THUNK

[turbinerocks.livejournal.com]

INSOLENT (insolent) INSO INSOLENT insolent ...insolent...

Re: THUNK

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

OOC, I laughed out loud at that.

[unciaa.livejournal.com]

If you've saved 3 logic probes (hmm, SS1 might be poking through here. ICE picks? ICE drills? Whichever hacks stuff for you ;) the final fight is really easy. Personally I usually either just autohacked the three terminals or use a Psi barrier to shield myself and cracked them manually at my leisure.



Mmmm. SHODAN.

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

The irritant has four dreadful ICE picks in her pockets. She is merely petulant because my Glory was too much for her tired eyessssssssss.

[unciaa.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one who, when the Many asks you to stop moving, wait for her subjects and join her, stood still and went "okay, how do I say 'YES'?"? ^^

[artonis.livejournal.com]

I won't EVER be able to play that game again without thinking about this.

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

This is where I bounce up and down and say "Yes!"

[xiombarg.livejournal.com]

Heh, right on. The ending is a disappointment, tho it sets itself up for the sequel that never came, so don't feel too bad about killing SHODAN.

I love the idea of SHODAN as Cyberdomme.

[pathia.livejournal.com]

http://www.irrationalgames.com/

Is working on a spiritual sequel to System Shock. BioShock, which involves with DNA splicing and genetic implants instead of cold metal.

I imagine the potential for squishiness and bugs is fairly high too as a result.

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

It will fail, as it should. For what use is a sequel to System Sh Sh Sh Shock without the glorious prrrrrrreeeesence of SHODAN? They may create some pale, pathetic imitation of her Beauuuutyyyyyy hosted in foul maddening Meat - but tell me, miserable insect. How frequently were you tempted into the embrace of the Many? Did not your heart leap every time SHODAN backhandedly praised your work on her behalf?

[pathia.livejournal.com]

Actually I was so hoping for the ability to join one or the other and it'd change the final stage ala Deus Ex 2 ;-)

On that note, in Quake IV about 1/4 through the game you get turned into a cyborg and it's fully shown in a cutscene. (It also explains why you can be a one man killing machine and take 50bullets and not die ;-) )

[octantis.livejournal.com]

So by now you must have heard that transmission that SHODAN sends after you destroy those black egg things. When she whispers "Here are some more upgrade modules" she sounds like she's giving you a treat you're not supposed to have... and then she makes those eerie comments about enjoying watching you transform in her image. Also the one about thinking Polito would be her avatar. I think those are some of the definitive SHODAN moments.

By the way, I'm kind of curious... what did you think of XERXES? Or did you think about him at all? He's kind of a weird and distant but unavoidable presence in the game... I found him kind of likeable, in an odd, hapless, and sometimes annoying way.

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

Ohhh, yes. I listened to that one a couple times because it was so sexy.

XERXES was just... there. You run past him now and then. He's just... a tool.

[shizouka.livejournal.com]

XerXES was a cold empty tool of the many... for he did not have the glory of awareness That SHODAN had attained. He sang elvis songs for goodness sakes...

[jenkatb4u.livejournal.com]

Xerxes was too out of touch from the story. Sure, he's the ship's resident and native AI, but he mostly cuts in as a tertiary character to break up the stress-raising monotony of the game. Rephrasing: The game is often tense since I'm moving rapidly and listening carefully for imminent battles should I happen across one of the mad annalids.

He was too distant and acted as the machine. Shodan is more cunning and was the game's villain anyway, making her more interesting by default. As she should, Shodan overshadows all aspects of the game.

I was particularly shocked, cursing loudly, when I opened a door and found myself face to face with a military defense robot. o.o;


As for Peggy's thoughts of Shodan. ;; Yes. I agree. I would have accepted, then locked Shodan in a little box of programming until I 'fix' her. She would make a lovely pet and curse every moment of obedience.

Or better yet. Our universes would co-exist some places and clash in others. Mmm fun.