System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster feels perfect on Steam Deck
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster from Nightdive Studios is finally available worldwide on PC platforms after a long wait. I recently spoke to Nightdive Studios' Stephen Kick about how this release was like a full circle moment for them. Read my interview here. Ahead of today's launch, I've been playing System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster on Steam Deck to see how the PC port scales, how it compares to the classic version, and more. I originally was going to do a full handheld feature comparing the game on Nintendo Switch systems as well, but the console versions have been delayed.
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster PC port features and bonus content
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster ships with an incredible Vault mode featuring concept art, the original pitch document, trailers, CD scans, scans of the official Prima Guide, interface assets, enemy art, pre-release screenshot sets across multiple months and years, the soundtrack, a Ken Levine interview, and more. Nightdive Studios continues to go above and beyond with the bonus content in these releases, but what about the PC port itself? Since System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster isn't available on consoles yet, I don't know what will be present only on PC, but it ships with multiple network options for multiplayer for voice chat and various stats (packets/second, ping, etc), dedicated keyboard + mouse and controller bindings with their own sensitivity options, and a few video options.
System Shock 2 25th Anniversary Remaster graphics options
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster's video options let you adjust window mode (fullscreen borderless, windowed, borderless, exclusive fullscreen), video mode (resolution and refresh rate including 144hz support on my monitor), toggle v-sync, select display, choose video driver (DX11 or Vulkan), frame rate limit (30, 60, 90, 120, 165, 240, 500, unlimited), toggle anti-aliasing, toggle ambient occlusion, toggle bloom, and adjust the gamma. The Steam version also has an in-game achievements menu in addition to Steam Achievements.
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster Steam Deck impressions
Out of the box, System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster runs perfectly on Steam Deck. LCD and OLED. It has 16:10 support and looks great. When it comes to performance, I aimed for 90fps at 90hz on Steam Deck OLED and 60fps at 60hz on the Steam Deck LCD. The only time I noticed major performance issues or slowdown was when scrolling through the Vault quickly. I assume it couldn't handle loading so many things one after the other for the preview on the right. Beyond that, System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster plays very well with a controller, but I recommend making a few changes if you play on Steam Deck at least.
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster Steam Deck recommended settings
Enabling the right trackpad on Steam Deck as a mouse in System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster dramatically elevates the experience. Given the precision aiming required in the game, I found myself enjoying the trackpad (tweak the sensitivity as per your liking) as opposed to the right stick for camera movement. You can do this by going into the Controller Settings for the game after pressing the Steam button while in-game. Select Edit Layout and use "As Mouse" for Right Trackpad Behavior. You can click the gear symbol next to this to adjust the sensitivity and scale. I set it to 250% and it felt perfect while playing online and offline. If you aren't sure, I recommend testing out different sensitivity options here while in the tutorial section.
If you don't want to use the trackpad, I recommend tweaking the controller sensitivity and deadzones since you might find the game feels more responsive with some tweaking. None of these settings are really essential since System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster is one of the rare games that feels right at home on Steam Deck from the start, but these could elevate your experience.
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster vs classic on Steam Deck
Aside from the full 16:10 aspect ratio, visual improvements, and all the other additions Nightdive Studios has done, the major reason to play System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster over the classic version on Steam Deck is full controller support and an interface that suits controller input better. While there are loads of community layouts that make System Shock 2 (Classic) more playable on Steam Deck, I don't see myself going back to it after how System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster feels perfect on Steam Deck.
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster multiplayer on Steam Deck
I initially had some trouble getting the multiplayer to work with a friend on Steam Deck and I thought it might be an issue with playing on Steam Deck. I had the same issue on ROG Ally, Thankfully, I was able to properly try getting in and out of a multiplayer session with Adam who was playing on his PC. Both of us are continents apart and the online still worked great. There are some quirks with how the online handles saving and pausing and I'm not sure how it is balanced yet, but the online mode itself works fine even on Steam Deck. The Steam Deck even brings up the on-screen keyboard for text input correctly and load times are fast. I will have more definitive thoughts on the multiplayer when I play it with a full room of four people once the game releases for everyone.
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster on ROG Ally
There isn't much to say about System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster on ROG Ally. It runs well and can hit 120fps out of the box. The only issue you will run into relates to text entry since there is no automated way for the keyboard to appear like it does on Steam Deck. I'll be doing more ROG Ally testing when I get access to the Nintendo Switch version and work on a full handheld comparison feature.
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster is now available for PC (Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store). It is targeting the first two weeks of July for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.