System Shock: Classic cyberpunk adventure game that spawned Bioshock to be remade

Calling all cyberpunk adventurers and especially those who are hooked to Bioshock II! Take a trip back down memory lane, turn retro and look forward to a remade, upgraded version of your favourite game of yesteryear - System Shock!

The game was created by Looking Glass Technologies in 1994 ( were you born then?) as a first-person role playing game (RPG) and published by Origin Systems. Set aboard a space station in a cyberpunk vision of the year 2072, you had to be a hacker seeking to put a spanner in the works of a malevolent AI called SHODAN. Though System Shock was hugely acclaimed because it ran on a new engine and had innovative emergent game play in 3D space, Looking Glass lost money on it, even when it brought out a sequel System Shock 2.

System Shock was the inspiration behind games like Citadel (a faithful open source remake of the game using the Unity 5 engine), Deus Ex and Bioshock.

More recently, System Shock: Enhanced Edition was launched in September by developer Night Dive Studios. The game was given a high-definition makeover but Night Dive Studios' CEO Stephen Kick told Fast Company earlier this month, the company's next big project is to take the original game and completely re-imagine it, polygon.com reports.

Night Dive Studios acquired the rights to the System Shock franchise IP from Star Insurance Company, which picked them up after Looking Glass Studios was forced to relinquish the assets following its closure, polygon.com added.

The studio is now working on a full remake. "We have been in contact with members of the original System Shock team and any future iterations of the System Shock games, and by this I mean both new titles in the series as well as major updates to the existing games, will be very true to the spirit of the originals," Kick told polygon. com

Night Dive Studios seems committed to preserve the spirit and essence of the original System Shock but it has also roped in concept artist Robb Waters who is already doing interesting work in terms of the game's visuals. The game will be powered by the Unity engine.

You can look at some of the first bits of visual art emerging for the System Shock remake here.

You can also take a look at some of the original System Shock history and gameplay in the following videos.