Playing cyberculture. The case of System Shock 2
Abstract
This article presents System Shock 2 as an under-examined cyberpunk videogame from the late Nineties that inherits key traits of cyberculture to understand its place within this form of digital culture that shaped the technological imaginary of the past millennium's last decade. The first part of the study introduces cyberpunk aesthetic as the most recognisable form of the nineties cyberculture and places System Shock 2 as a matured version of this science fiction genre. Then the scope focuses on this game to determine how it presents cyberpunk tropes and topics like hackers, godlike Artificial Intelligence and especially cyberspace. Cyberspace is treated as a particularly relevant case insofar this videogame displays an interactive version of this notion, providing a complementary experience to those offered by novels and movies.
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Additional Files
- Figure 1. Gameplay screen of System Shock 2
- Figure 2. Meeting SHODAN in System Shock 2 (Irrational Games/Looking Glass, 1999)
- Figure 3. The hybrid cyberspace of System Shock 2 (Irrational Games/Looking Glass, 1999)
- Figure 4. Human impersonation of SHODAN in the hybrid space (Irrational Games/Looking Glass, 1999)
- Cover Letter
