![]() There are much better and more interesting ways nowadays to approach the same ideas. Maybe some people are happy about that, but I think progress in any creative medium is important and should always be reflected upon.įor example, even though the new Doom games aren't exactly remakes, the developers knew better than to follow the old map design philosophies, having players navigating through endless mazes and mashing buttons against walls to discover secrets. I don't want to berate the developers too harshly until I see the full game, but it's a bit disappointing they're going for a 1:1 remake instead of reimagining. I can't say I'm ecstatic over what I played, but a big part of that is how the map design soured my experience. After the long hiatus and development troubles though, I sort of tuned out in disappointment until recently when I learned a demo was out. It felt very System Shock 2, and seeing how so few developers make immersive sims anymore (bless you Arkane, keep doing what you do), I was pretty excited. I'm actually a backer from when the game was originally kickstarted, and I recall really liking the vibes from the old trailer footage. However, when it came to this demo, I just felt like I was wandering hallways and rooms that could have been randomly generated in any order and I likely wouldn't have noticed a difference.Īnyone else feel this way, or was I just a fool to expect a more updated design of the old foundation? The environments tell stories without even a single word. Games like Bioshock or Prey 2017 absolutely nail this kind of atmosphere and world building. I would have much rather seen a logical layout, to feel like I'm in an environment that could exist, that had people working day in and day out, and whose lives have been affected by what's happening. For some, perhaps that's a good thing, but game design has come a long, long way - and for good reason. It seems like the developers are emulating the old map layouts just for the sake of being faithful. I'm all for old fashion design but it needs to serve a purpose, and in this case I really don't see it. Worse more is that the visual palette is so similar between each of the four quadrants (and every room in general) that it was difficult to make out where I was and where my objective could be. A tiny compartment hidden in a wall that seemingly has no in-world use. Random balconies that have no purpose (and don't even have a proper entry/exit point) except to have a Cyborg Assassin posted up to shoot you. If this was just an odd occurrence, it probably wouldn't have stood out so much, but the map is filled with this nonsensical design. What's the point of this? There's no visual or environmental storytelling, no items to collect, it's just a dead end room. Why? There was another room at the end of a hallway in the Beta quadrant, filled with toxic barrels, a dead body. I climbed up a tall ladder in the maintenance pipes just to get to a dead-end platform that had one dead body and a medical patch lying on the floor. The entire floor is a gigantic maze just for the sake of being one. The design of the hallways and rooms is completely illogical and lacks any kind of motivation. ![]() Navigating through the environments felt headache inducing, and it would be an absolute slog if the rest of the ship was laid out this way. I suppose some of it falls into nostalgia of the original title (I played System Shock 2, but not the original), but to me it seems incredibly antiquated - and I don't mean that in a good way. ![]() However, the most concerning issue for me was map design. It is an Alpha, so of course I expected rough edges. There's some things about it that I thoroughly enjoyed, and other things that definitely need some work. I recently played the System Shock Remake Demo that is up on GOG.
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