System Shock 3 development will be led by original producer Warren Spector
Otherside Entertainment is continuing to add to the team behind the upcoming System Shock 3. Its latest addition may look familiar to those that have played the first game.
When System Shock 3 was revealed back in December, the folks at Otherside Entertainment wasted no time in revealing some of the talent both in-game and behind the scenes. But the studio isn't done adding to its ranks yet, revealing that original System Shock producer Warren Spector would be joining the System Shock 3 team.
In addition to his role on the first System Shock, Spector is remembered for his work on the early days of the Deux Ex series, the Ultima series, and Thief: Deadly Shadows. His last work was with the defunct Junction Point Studios on the Epic Mickey series. Spector will be acting as Studio Director and leading the charge on System Shock 3, while continuing his current duties as creative consultant for the upcoming Ultima Underworld spiritual successor, Underworld Ascendant.
"I've loved working with students as Director of the Denius-Sams Gaming Academy in the University of Texas' Moody College of Communication," Spector said via press release. "But when the opportunity to have a bigger role in bringing Underworld Ascendant to life, as well as playing in the System Shock universe once again, helping to bring these games to a 21st century audience, I just couldn’t say no. Working on System Shock was one of the most fulfilling things I’ve done in my career and it’s hard to describe how much I'm looking forward to sharing with players what SHODAN has been up to since the last game was released."
No release window has been given for System Shock 3, but Otherside notes that development efforts are expected to accelerate with Spector at the helm.
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Shacknews
replyOzzie Mejia posted a new article, System Shock 3 development will be led by original producer Warren Spector
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YES SIR!!!!
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Huh. That's cool.
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Keep him and Harvey together so it turns into Deus Ex.
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I seem to remember Warren not having much to do with what became of Invisible War.
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They should hire most of the original Dead Space team, best SS-style game since SS2
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O FUCK ME
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The System Shock method of gameplay design has been strongly continued in Dishonoured and Deus Ex, there's no reason why it can't be continued today.
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That reply was aimed at Tawler. No idea how I buggered that up.
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beholden? They gave him keys to their vault, he was in high heaven, and terribly mismanaged the studio as a result.
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WUT!!!
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System Sh3ck.
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The SHODAN reveal in System Shock 2 I never played the first is still probably the single-most panic-inducing gaming thing I've ever experienced. I have a severe fear-of-edges version of acrophobia (window seats on airplanes? fucking awesome!; balconies on tall buildings? NO FUCKING WAY) and that shit freaked me out.
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BOOM!!! Wow! Holy fucking shit!
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Holy. Fucking. Shit.
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His beef tends to be with the focus on violence as essential to gameplay. I think this is fine.
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Good because those games weren't about violence.
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Nailed it.
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Imagine how different Bioshock 1 would be if you could non-violently pass by / incapacitate the splicers and try to find a way to cure them!
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That's a positive in my book!
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Omg. When I heard about this a few weeks ago, I thought here was no way Warren would come back.
System Shock 1 was amazing. (I still think its better than 2, just harder to play)
http://www.shacknews.com/search?chatty=1&type=4&chatty_term=system+shock&chatty_user=Sgt_Boomstick&chatty_author=&chatty_filter=all&result_sort=postdate_desc-
This music plays in a server room in SS1...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz1wlcZnhv8#t=19m41s
...and I am now of the opinion that ever server room should have this playing in the background.
On the point of it being harder to play, the Enhanced Edition brings the control scheme more in line with SS2. I was able to play through the entire game on a Steam controller without any problems. But the UI is still a glorious mess from the 90s.
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Nah man, bring in the original creator.
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YESSSSSS
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yeah and? Why does everyone think Spector will make this great? Doug Church and Ken Levine aren't involved..
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Whoah. Warren was fucking awesome back in the day. I hope pulls a George Miller and totally exceeds expectations with this comeback!
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Chris Siegel (Looking Glass alumni and producer at Otherside):
"Selling Warren short is kind of silly. The guy has a string of hits and a track record better than most in the game industry going back almost 30 years. Saying he wasn't involved as much as Doug in SS is crazy talk. It just doesn't work that way in a LGS type company. The producer, designer, eng exc all have massive input. Trust me, been working with these guys for years, a person's title doesn't really matter in this environment.
I do love this storyline about how old game designers lose their mojo. Seems to me the ones still doing interesting stuff is not old or young, but smart and talented. Ken Rolston did Oblivion in his 50's for example. Did he lose a step? No, that is arguably his best work ever. The beauty about having a very veteran core is gasp--we have all done it before. So many mistakes learned over years. The what if's and what could have beens are still fresh in our heads. We do remember feature 332 that we didn't get to do in Thief. Or the missteps made in the Shock games. Those are not armchair experiences for us, that is personal history. That is just as much a memory for us as our kids being born or our wedding. I haven't talked to Warren about Shock yet, but I bet he has a laundry list of stuff he disliked about any number of his games, and ideas on how to address them.
As for Epic Mickey--it's flawed, but if there is a console game out there that has the DNA of Looking Glass--it's that game. All the tenets of player agency and whatnot are in there. Why did he do that project? My guess is he loves cartoons--his first game was Toon after all. Love it or hate it, if Disney walks up with a big check, let you do the game your way, hell they redesigned Mickey for it, you take the chance. It's not like it was a failure, it just wasn't 'hardcore'."
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