Normally I wouldn’t pimp the work of other sites like this, but Next Gen has a fantastic article up detailing the creation of System Shock 2, the spiritual precursor to everyone’s favorite interactive study in Ayn Rand’s Objectivism. Of course, back in those halcyon days, developers didn’t need the fascist ramblings of long-dead immigrants to tell a story and SS2’s frightening tale of isolation, cybernetic tampering and psychokinetic zombie monkeys should be required playing for anyone enrolled in Destructoid State University.
The article covers a ton of fascinating information including Ken Levine’s departure from Looking Glass Studios, the influence of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness on the story of SHODAN and why exactly the monkeys were so angry with you.
If you enjoyed BioShock and managed to miss System Shock 2, I highly recommend reading this piece, then tracking down a copy of SS2. It may not have the graphics of Levine’s latest, but none of you can say you aren’t at least a little intrigued by the idea of those pissy simians.
