System Shock 2 Released on GOG

As per yesterday’s announcement, today System Shock 2 has been released on GOG for $9.99, with plenty of extras (concept art, design docs and more).

For the few of our readers who don’t quite understand why everyone is so excited, here’s the overview blurb from GOG:

TriOptimum wishes you a safe journey aboard the Von Braun, the first craft in the history of mankind capable of faster-than-light travel. TriOptimum Corporation: we give you the stars!

The second–and best!–game in the series stands all on its own as a masterpiece of gaming history. The starship Von Braun took a giant leap for mankind as it made its first interstellar journey. The mission was going as planned until a lone distress call from the Tau Ceti V sector was picked up. An away team was sent on a rescue mission, but once it arrived at its destination, there was no sign of any humans and the source of the signal remained unclear. They didn’t realize something crucial, though: they brought something back with them when they returned. Now, you–a member of the ship’s security team–awake from cryostasis to the sounds of screams of pain and horror as everything falls apart. The state-of-the-art spaceship becomes a deathtrap, and the only hope you have is the contemptuous whisper of a voice guiding you through the dark corridors, leading you towards the ominous secrets that lurk in the shadows.

A game like this is a masterpiece; you must experience it firsthand. System Shockâ„¢ 2 arguably offers the most intense storytelling in the history of computer games. It perfectly splices Sci-Fi with survival horror, FPS gameplay with character stats, upgrades, and inventory system of the role-playing genre, fast paced action with chilling terror. As you slowly and carefully explore your surroundings, the game begins to swallow you whole, and soon enough you feel completely immersed in the terrifying reality of an interstellar ghost-ship. Then, even years after your first contact with the game, just hearing the words “System Shockâ„¢ 2” will make your heart race. This is going to be a hell of a journey, for a pathetic creature of meat and bone such as yourself.