Shodan Reveal (OMG!) [Spoiler Alert!]

[Retro Gaming Boss]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJCCLNeyxvg

I remember the first time I played this and came upon this part in the game. With the lights off, OMG it was freaky and scared the ♥♥♥♥ out of me at the time! Enjoy, ...Insect ;-)

[Vepar]

Aaahh, best reveal ever! At least for me!

I had the added benefit of not knowing who Shodan was because i never played the first game.
So when the intro cinematic was rolling i just assumed it's some backstory of the previous villain that won't affect tis game because she's just briefly mentioned and then it's all Von Braun, Rickenbacker etc...

I also didn't have the original CD at the time so the artwork didn't spoil anything for me haha!
Yeah, i pirated it long ago, but there were no ways of getting games at the time, my country was a little backwards then. So rich kids whose parents were working abroad were buying games for them, and they got the first CD burners and charged like 5 bucks per burned CD lol. So when i saw it on Steam i just had to finally buy it so i can have it properly.

Anyway...

By the time i was to OPS i totally forgot about the intro. She is never mentioned, the enemies you fight are some zombie hybrid things, Xerxes is constantly a presence and you get an early glimpse of The Many.

And then the reveal! Polito is dead, Shodan is the one that was guiding you all the time, etc., etc.
So good!

Also, one of the rare games that have 2 villains and pulls it off effortlessly!

Lastly, please change the thread name to "The Reveal [SPOILERS]" or "Spoiler discussion" or something like that in case someone still doesn't know. That way people won't glance at the forum and have the reveal spoiled.

[Thermal Lance]

I always felt SHODAN was more intimidating in the first game...

The reveal was good nonetheless.

[Retro Gaming Boss]

Originally posted by Vepar:

Aaahh, best reveal ever! At least for me!

I had the added benefit of not knowing who Shodan was because i never played the first game.
So when the intro cinematic was rolling i just assumed it's some backstory of the previous villain that won't affect tis game because she's just briefly mentioned and then it's all Von Braun, Rickenbacker etc...

I also didn't have the original CD at the time so the artwork didn't spoil anything for me haha!
Yeah, i pirated it long ago, but there were no ways of getting games at the time, my country was a little backwards then. So rich kids whose parents were working abroad were buying games for them, and they got the first CD burners and charged like 5 bucks per burned CD lol. So when i saw it on Steam i just had to finally buy it so i can have it properly.

Anyway...

By the time i was to OPS i totally forgot about the intro. She is never mentioned, the enemies you fight are some zombie hybrid things, Xerxes is constantly a presence and you get an early glimpse of The Many.

And then the reveal! Polito is dead, Shodan is the one that was guiding you all the time, etc., etc.
So good!

Also, one of the rare games that have 2 villains and pulls it off effortlessly!

Lastly, please change the thread name to "The Reveal [SPOILERS]" or "Spoiler discussion" or something like that in case someone still doesn't know. That way people won't glance at the forum and have the reveal spoiled.

Thanks, I also did not play SS1, but it made no difference in my enjoyment of this masterpiece of a game - or the impact the SHODAN reveal had in it.

Also, appreciate the tip, and have renamed the thread / video (spoilers)

[Retro Gaming Boss]

Originally posted by Thermal Lance:

I always felt SHODAN was more intimidating in the first game...

The reveal was good nonetheless.

Thanks, based on your recommendation I'll have to play through SS1 now, thanks ;-)

[Thermal Lance]

Originally posted by Veinslicer:

Originally posted by Thermal Lance:

I always felt SHODAN was more intimidating in the first game...

The reveal was good nonetheless.

Thanks, based on your recommendation I'll have to play through SS1 now, thanks ;-)

I'm biased since I prefer SS1 to SS2. But, if you like SHODAN as a villain, you cannot afford not to play SS1. No matter how good the reveal is... SS1 still got the best performance out of the character.

[Thermal Lance]

If you do decide to play SS1. I highly recommend to install THIS mod.
https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=802.0

Since the voicelines were recorded AFTER the game original release on floppy disc. The voice overs and the texts does not match. This mod fixes that.

About the only mod I really recommend.

[Retro Gaming Boss]

Originally posted by Thermal Lance:

If you do decide to play SS1. I highly recommend to install THIS mod.
https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=802.0

Since the voicelines were recorded AFTER the game original release on floppy disc. The voice overs and the texts does not match. This mod fixes that.

About the only mod I really recommend.

Awesome, thanks for the tips and will definitely give it a go! 👍

[Jack left town]

If you're paying attention you'll know something is up before you get to this point.
It's a character building moment because SHODAN goes out of her way to clean up her interface for communicating with pathetic insects (her voice), but doesn't try very hard to impersonate another insect because she has absolute contempt for the soldier's intelligence.

[Retro Gaming Boss]

Originally posted by Jack left town:

If you're paying attention you'll know something is up before you get to this point.
It's a character building moment because SHODAN goes out of her way to clean up her interface for communicating with pathetic insects (her voice), but doesn't try very hard to impersonate another insect because she has absolute contempt for the soldier's intelligence.

Extremely well said, now that you mention it, you are 100% right. Another reason his game is a masterpiece!

[ZylonBane]

Originally posted by Jack left town:

It's a character building moment because SHODAN goes out of her way to clean up her interface for communicating with pathetic insects (her voice), but doesn't try very hard to impersonate another insect because she has absolute contempt for the soldier's intelligence.

Uh, this is exactly backwards. SHODAN's voice is full of glitches when talking in her own voice, but nearly indistinguishable from a human when speaking as Polito.

[Jack left town]

She sounds nothing like the actual Polito, and doesn't hide her disdain for XERXES, an AI the real Polito made.
If you listen closely her messages also have the same background hum SHODAN messages do.

[ZylonBane]

Of course she sounds like Polito, they're the same voice actress.

Disdain for XERXES is irrelevant, because it has nothing to do with the sound of her voice, which is what we're discussing.

And no, the Sholito emails do not have the SHODAN warble in the background. They have heavy static and various non-SHODAN computer noises.

[Jack left town]

It's the same voice, but an octave lower and you can almost hear her sneering throughout.

[ZylonBane]

I gotta say it's impressive the way you've managed over the last few replies to strap rocket skates to that goalpost.

[Jack left town]

I'm good at that. You don't seem to be good at reading people if you think shodan/polito and polito/polito sound like the same person.