System Shock 2 Concept Art

Irrational Games has once again cracked open their vault to reveal nine new concept art images created during the development of System Shock 2. The images are all scanned from the original paper sketches, complete with coffee stains:

It is common for studios of Irrational’s longevity to lose or misplace assets, due to hardware failures, moves across town, and the inevitable ravages of entropy. Finding these assets years later is like stumbling upon buried treasure on an island you discovered by accident.

We just dug up a particularly precious artifact: a sketchbook from System Shock 2. We’re talking original artwork on honest-to-goodness paper no Wacom tablets or Cintiq monitors, but paper with the original coffee stains still intact.

We are pleased to share with you some of the contents of this archaeological find. Enjoy the art in this installment of From the Vault, while we look for more treasures in long-abandoned boxes and dusty storage closets.