[SPOILER ALERT!] The final boss fight is pathetic

[[ScrN]PooSH]

First, I'm not a fan of Cyberspace. IMHO, it sucked back in the original game and still sucks in the remake. But that's my personal preference, and I must admit that removing Cyberspace from the remake would hurt reference to the original despite potentially making the game less boring.

However, turning Cyberspace from 6DOF into 3DOF just for the last boss fight is miserable. It is like putting a on the cake instead of a cherry. By the way, the original SS1 had 6DOF in the final boss fight (nonetheless, it was bad but less pathetic).

The final boss fight must be reworked. Either remake it in a regular 6DOF Cyberspace or make it in Realspace. Maybe even give the player an option to choose the final fight:

1. Hack SHODAN in Cyberspace (6DOF)
   
2. Physically destroy SHODAN in Realspace by fighting through an army of enemies and bypassing defense systems (puzzles). Solving puzzles under enemy fire of endless enemy waves would be a decent ending for the game.

[Mr. Matt]

Yeah, having just finished the game a few hours ago for the first time, myself, I was really disappointed in that section...then I went "I wonder if the 1994 version did the same thing? If so, I can't blame the folks who did the remake too much if they're trying to faithfully duplicate the final encounter." Then I looked up the 1994 final cyberspace section on YouTube and it seems more exciting and fitting with the rest of the game than the remake's final cyberspace section, if it just had a graphical overhaul.

[JulesWayne]

Not a fan of this game's cyberspace neither, but being Shodan an AI defeating her there made sense.

Absolutely loved the game, but yeah, this on rails ending was a huge let down.

[Mr. Matt]

I 100% agree that defeating her in cyberspace makes sense. The way they did it in this remake, however, didn't feel very fitting, nor was it exciting. The 1994 version's cyberspace seemed much better outside of the graphics.

[mart]

Originally posted by Mr. Matt:

Yeah, having just finished the game a few hours ago for the first time, myself, I was really disappointed in that section...then I went "I wonder if the 1994 version did the same thing? If so, I can't blame the folks who did the remake too much if they're trying to faithfully duplicate the final encounter." Then I looked up the 1994 final cyberspace section on YouTube and it seems more exciting and fitting with the rest of the game than the remake's final cyberspace section, if it just had a graphical overhaul.

The 1994 cyberspace ending is better purely because its over faster. It's not particularly hard (point and click at shodan fast enough so she doesnt kill you), and the leadup to it is just clear a single room.

I do agree that the final boss shouldve been overhauled entirely. I liked what they did in the room prior to Shodan, as clearing out the enemies followed by another showdown with a Cortex Reaver was pretty good compared to just clearing a room of cyber elites with the blare of radiation in the background (which was still okay). The cyberspace thing just felt too disjointed compared to earlier cyberspace - youre given a gun now, with no maneuverability and no consequence to failure, just restart. Blegh.

Cyberspace in this one is more or less better if you ask me, only lacking some little features like the upgradeable software for cyberspace and data logs in some areas.

[ñ·W·Å·þ·§]

I just finished the game and I think the ending sucks too.

I greatly prefer the original cyberspace design, they could have just stuck with that I would have been fine. The simple wire frame design and dark space makes you feel like your genuinely running around inside a machine (though I guess that's not technically what's happening.)

The final level in general is a real drag to play. If we hearken back to the many shooter's of olden days, I think it's much more exciting/rewarding to blast lots of stuff coming at you fast versus blasting single objects 20-30-40 times. And I think the former makes for a better build up to a climax (think the final flood attack in Halo.)

I love love the original idea of the final showdown with Shodan where you must kill her before she overwrites you. That works so much better thematically, visually and with the story as a whole. It's baffling why they decided to cut this. And not replace it with anything really. I'd love to hear the developers thought process here for this decision.

It also feels like the narrative really falls off the rails near/at the end too. I would have been nice to have someone like Lansing guiding you to the very end or to give Shodan some proper final words.

In her own words, she's a God. And so tough talking over comm's. So for her to drop so easily in the end without a fight/fanfare was very anti-climatic. And if the idea is Shodan is a paper tiger/man behind the curtain from OZ, that's fine, but you have to give a proper nod to that in the end. So we're all on the same page.

[HONORÉ DE BALZAC]

The boss fight stinks and so does the ending sequence.

Originally posted by ñ·W·Å·þ·§:

I would have been nice to have someone like Lansing guiding you to the very end or to give Shodan some proper final words.

While this would be awesome, that's what the final fight is in System Shock 2 which is a totally awesome and thrilling final fight