System Shock 2 - Old is Nanites

So I started playing System Shock 2... and boy, does it rock!

The intro was enough to get me hooked. Check it out:

Watch this, insect.

The game takes place aboard a spaceship 67 trillion miles away from Earth that has been taken over by strange forces - the central computer has been hacked and gone rogue, and the inhabitants are either dead or in hiding, or have (obviously) become zombies who hiss a sardonic 'sorry' before charging at you with whatever they are armed with.

Unlike games like Halo, SS2 isn't about running and firing incessantly. It is more like Thief or Hitman in that it is always better to catch your enemy off-guard. Even the normal, low-level enemies can knock you out easily in head-on combat, which makes the game very challenging and rewarding.

"Your fleshh betrayss yoou..."

The hybrid FPS/RPG engine makes it possible to micro-manage your resources which really puts you into the skin of your character. The atmosphere is very immersive and does a fantastic job of sucking you out of this world and into this other, twisted one - just the sound of a zombie dragging its feet somewhere in the distance can send adrenaline rushing through your system.

Also, you're on free-roam all the time! You get to know the plot by collecting flight logs and such, and advance the game by unlocking different areas, but once a new area has been unlocked, you can go back to it anytime you want. This makes the feeling of being trapped in a doomed ship even stronger. You get to know the ship, and really feel like you're part of its dying crew.

Now, I might get a bashing for this, but I think I would have been able to enjoy Knights of the Old Repblic more if it had a similar FPS-like gameplay (I don't really dig the turn-based format). I'm done ranting, time to go back on-board.