System Shock

DOSGames.com Review:  Rating: 4.5
System Shock was a revolutionary and memorable game that is hard to place in a single genre. It does use a 3D FPS engine similar to other games like DOOM, but it also includes puzzle and RPG elements. The documentation included with the game states: "System Shock is not meant to be DOOM. System Shock is a RPG game for one player only, just like Ultima Underworld, not a multiplayer action game like DOOM." So there you have it, straight from the developers, or perhaps some marketing person, we don't really know. In any case, in System Shock you play a hacker who is trying to stop SHODAN, a futuristic AI gone berserk, from destroying the Earth. The game is immersive as it draws players into its creepy atmosphere. Definitely an influential game that inspired later story-intensive first-person games such as Deux Ex. (This demo version contains the first level of the game.)