I recently got a chance to listen to the official soundtrack of Irrational’s cult-classic, System Shock 2, which was released for PC’s back in 1999. I’ve never play the game before, but after going through the entire soundtrack multiple times, I’m dying to experience all that is Von Braun.
The game is an RPG/FPS hybrid that takes place on an experimental space ship, the Von Braun, the very first space ship that is capable of traveling faster than the speed of light. But of course, with something this amazing in terms of technology, something has to go wrong. And it does. I won’t spoil the rest though, as it’s possibly the coolest plot-line I’ve heard in quite awhile.
As for the OST, it’s filled with a lot of ambient and moody tracks. The game is said to be quite scary, and the music conveys that pretty well. It’s got a space-traveling/futuristic vibe to it, but it’s also quite foreboding and spooky.You’ll get sucked into its universe very quickly when listening to the OST.
There are a few fast-paced/techno songs thrown in for the action sequences, and they all sound great. If you’re a fan of the types of songs in Half-Life 2, the SS2 OST will quench your thirst.
One cool thing that reminds me of the God of War OST was that they included a few cut-scene audio clips from the game. They have the first two intro scenes, and the ending one, which basically spoiled the game for me. Hearing the main villain talk, though, was really freaky, fully making me understand why “it” is rated as one of the greatest villains of all time.
If you can get your hands on the OST, be legally or not, I suggest checking it out. You may pee your pants after listening, but just know it will all be worth it.
SS2 develops the most atmosphere of any game I’ve played. I can assure you that however scary the OST, the game will scare you even more the when you hear the PDA recordings of the crew members. I didn’t play SS2 myself until a couple years ago, but it still scares me far more than the Resident Evil series ever did. It has a cool leveling / development system too, which makes co-op a good deal of fun (as long as it doesn’t bug out), while keeping down the outright scare factor.
Seriously matt, you gotta play Shock 2. Fantastic game all around.
I just setup the demo for the game, but I’m having trouble with the sound. I can’t hear the guide in the training session. Hopefully I will get it to work properly soon, as the PDA clips are also very low, and those seem pretty integral to the game’s atmosphere. I checked ebay, and copies are running at $20, which isn’t too bad. I may pick it up at some point, but hopefully the demo will sedate me for a little while.
Having now read half of The Elegant Universe, I am equipped to declare nothing can travel faster than the speed of light.
This is easily in my top five games of all time. I haven’t played it in at least six years but I would imagine it’s still just as good. The soundtrack is quite creepy, but the regular sound effects from the game are what really make it a lasting experience. Just hearing the small far off (and sometimes not so far off) noises on a desolate spaceship … it really gives you a sense of orientation that I think a lot of FPS/RPGs lack. The ship was large but you knew exactly how large, and if you could hear something moving about you knew it could hear you, too … and then you started thinking about what could be around that you couldn’t hear. Extremely freaky.
I just finished the demo, which was criminally short, and it looks to be a really good game. I thought it might look a little too dated, but I can still play Half-Life, and they look about the same. The atmosphere in the game is really good. It almost makes you think the ship is alive, continually changing and adapting. And when the enemies say that creepy shit, zomg freaky. Definitely gonna pick it up.