Others say...

"Good game but cost unrealistic"
SS2 is a good quality game. Like others, I find the atmosphere creepy and the elements of gameplay innovative, but the same elements of gameplay are just too difficult to adjust to. I made the first mistake of assuming that if I brought up the items screen, the game would pause (thanks to conditioning from Deus Ex and Morrowind). It didn't, and I got the snot slapped out of me by a hybrid. Lesson learned: I made damn sure to clear an area out first before I did anything with inventory. That quip aside, this is a fairly decent game. The only other problem is that as you progress, the ability to travel between areas perviously explored becomes less and less, and you have less freedom to explore whole areas since many places are closed off (it feels like being herded down a ramp to the ending, like when on the Rickenbauker). As a note, I borrowed this game from a friend, since I refuse to purchase a game that is older than Deus Ex, but cost more than Deus Ex. If the graphics were stellar and on par with Half-Life, I could understand. But seriously, charging 30 plus dollars for an older game such as this, when I got the GOTY edition of Deus Ex for 9.99 just sort of kills the initiative to buy it; not to mention it is a gross rip-off of customers. I would consider purchasing it if the price went down to say...8.99 at the least, 12 flat at the most. Again, great game (when a few flaws) but not worth the cost when all you get is a jewel case and a cd. Do you really think someone is going to fork out 35.00 for just a cd case and no manual? Didn't think so.

"A Classic worth revisiting Countless times? Oh yes."
To classify System Shock 2 as a FPS (First-Person Shooter) would not do it the justice it deserves. Likewise, it would be inappropriate to refer to this game an RPG (Role Playing Game,) for it does not operate like traditional RPGs. What then, is System Shock 2? It is a result of a beautiful marriage of these two genres and happens to be one of the most involved and unique games of it's kind. While it carries a quasi-experience system, weapons and items that degrade with use and an impressive storyline that casts you as an unnamed member of the military and one of the few survivors aboard the alien-hijacked, experimental starship Von Braun, it's FPS elements still have a very large effect on gameplay. The most notable and obvious of these elements is the perspective through which the game is played -First person, much as the name suggests. Other such elements include a wide variety of weapons, all with significantly different uses, specifically defined bosses surrounded by lesser enemies and ammunition that must be defeated to pass onto the next level as well as intricate puzzles that could never be worked into a side-scroller, 3rd person, or overhead perspective game.
Research is the key to success in System Shock 2, failing to realize this makes the earlier stretches of the game rough and the later bits extremely difficult, if not impossible to get through. Utilizing chemicals found in specifically marked rooms throughout the ship, your "Cybernetic Rig" as your guide, Doctor Janice Polito refers to it, researches tools, alien organs, and even the occasional vial of anti-annelid toxin to provide you with enhanced damage on specific creatures, new medical miracles, or even new ways to destroy the minions and growths of the cancerous biomass that is slowly consuming your ship.
Most of the System Shock 2's story is told VIA scattered crew logs and voice E-mails from Polito, though apparitions, which the good doctor refers to as "defects in the R-grade [military grade] Cyber implants" occasionally cross your path, replaying events that are often horrific in nature. These add to the overall feeling of suspense in this very dark and at times, gothic game, especially when, upon emerging from a dark elevator into a seemingly uninhabited area of the Von Braun, you are confronted by an apparition which promptly blows his own brains out, then fades away. If this doesn't at least slightly unnerve you the first time around, I recommend that you check your pulse. In even rarer circumstances, you are contacted by the force which is now in near-full control of the ship, a massive communal mass of entities manifested in a steadily expanding boil of neural tissues that refers to itself as "The Many."
Consisting of two separate starships connected by a massive airlock passage, there is plenty of room to explore on System Shock 2. The Von Braun itself consists of six expansive decks and the bridge (which is more of a subset of deck six,) while the Rickenbacker, a military transport resting on the back of the Von Braun, consists of two or three undefined decks and two more separate subsets. Consisting of the body of "The Many" and an unknown area somewhere between the two ships where the final showdown with the intensely vindictive A.I. known as Shodan, (reappearing from the original System Shock) occurs, these subsets are totally separate from the rest of either ship and no crossing-back into other areas can occur once you've traveled this far into the game.
In all, System Shock 2 is an excellent title; it is one of the few that has successfully combined the elements of an RPG with a FPS, while also carrying a considerable amount of substance and mild horror in the storyline.

"Probably one of the best games ever made"
Title says it all really. This was a total immersion experience combining RPG elements, FPS, creepy environment and effects, engaging sci fi story line, puzzles, horror, mystery, long game play. Outstanding.

"More Than Words Can Express..."
Where to begin? This game is just pure AWESOME. The story-line may seem kind of like the plot of many others. You know, that "aliens have taken over the base" or "zombies resident evil style" and so on. Sure, it may seem that way, but the further and further you get in this game, the more the plots twists and turns. Halfway through the game, I felt as if I was actually the character, I knew so much.

No other FPS I know is like this, with so much story, not even the famous Half-Life. That is why I call it a "FPRPG" or First Person Role Playing Game, because that is what is resembles. You see the game through the eyes of a Soldier, placed upon the first faster-than-lightspeed ship named the Von Braun, in the history of the human race. There is action, tactics, and an AWESOME, deepening plot like no other game I have ever played. At the end, you'll be awed and strucken, for the largest, oddest, most unpredictable plot change ever, in the history of any game.

So I won't waste your time anymore. Order this game NOW!

"Great game"
This was one of the best first person type games I've played. The plot, although derivative of so many in the genre, was interesting and creepy. The skill advancement system was one of the first to allow you to develop your character in a first person game with the skills YOU wanted to use most including those in technical, hacking, and repair fields. The sound effects were quite good and added immensely to the environment. This was the first game I played that regularly startled me when I'd hear a noise from somewhere off to the side of or behind me, or open a door to be immediately face to face with an enemy. The game does suck you into its world. As much as I truly enjoyed the story, the gameplay, the graphics (good for its time), and the sound, about two-thirds of the way through I kept thinking I was near the end only to find the game would continue on. It got a bit tedious, which I find common with most first perons shooters I've played. With the difficulty towards the latter part of the game, I finally looked up some cheats on the web to make it through the final segments. A little shorter would have been better in my opinion, but this game set a new standard for me.