Originally published on Trevor Trove on June 29, 2016
Today was a pretty solid day if you’re a fan of the System Shock or Bioshock franchises of games.
Nightdive Studios launched a Kickstarter campaign to remake the 1994 PC classic System Shock in the Unity engine. As of this writing, the campaign has amassed over 9,000 backers and has earned $565,000 toward it’s $900,000 goal (63%), with 28 days in the campaign to go. Growing up, System Shock and System Shock 2 were a regular entry to play whenever I visited my best friend Vinnie for weekend sleepovers. And as a big scaredy-cat, playing those games in the middle of the night, as you explore a derelict space station was a horrible idea. But in my later years, I have come to recognize that their contributions to atmospheric suspense and storytelling in video games are undeniable.
The DNA and some of the creative talent behind those games continued honing their craft with the excellent 2007 suspense title BioShock. A rumored BioShock collection remaster for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One has been floating around for months now. And today teased the most concrete evidence yet, as a page for the game briefly went live on 2K’s official website today, alongside some official images (seen below). It would appear returns to Rapture and Columbia are imminent in BioShock: The Collection. The game would presumably include the original title, BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite and all accompanying DLC.
The proximity of these two news stories might be the most interesting aspect for me, considering how closely linked the franchises are in the grand scheme of gaming. I’m sure the System Shock crowdfunding campaign will wind up funded in the next week or so, and we’ll probably get the official details of this BioShock collection in the same time frame.
But seriously, it’s time to bring back Static Shock, too. Get on that Netflix.
