System Shock and Marathon. Most underrated, groundbreaking games of the 90s
Table of Contents
- Release date: May 21, 1994 / December 21, 1994
- Developer: Looking Glass Studios / Bungie
- Genre: action adventure / shooter
Initially, we only wanted to mention Marathon, but both games have surprisingly many elements in comon and were released in a very short timespan. So, there is no way that one could be inspired by the other, or that one game copied the other's solutions. Some may find it hard to believe that the iconic System Shock, the remake of which will soon be released, was not a great sales success and even brought losses to the creators in the year after its premiere. Marathon , in turn, was a smash hit from Bungie before the Halo era, but as an exclusive title for Apple computers, it didn't have a chance to interest a broader audience. Both of these games, however, took FPP games to a whole new level in 1994. Instead of the simple, brutal carnage known from Doom and its numerous clones, they offered a captivating story with a complex plot and much more extensive gameplay mechanics.
Both Marathon and System Shock were pioneers introducing the mechanics of using the mouse for free looking, and the ability to look up and down, which Doom could only dream of. Marathon added a minimap as an element of the interface and there, a motion detector marking the positions of enemies and allies, which is still a standard in many online shooters. It introduced two weapons in dual wield mode, and the multiplayer allowed for up to eight people to compete. Bungie and Looking Glass productions proposed a similar, science-fiction reality and put a lot of emphasis on the story, instead of just pure action. Learning this history gradually by reading various messages, logs and terminals was closely related to progress and necessary to move forward. Later, other games began to imitate these solutions.
Despite a weaker start, System Shock has finally received due recognition. And in the case of Marathon, it's worth remembering that Bungie studio are not only the creators of Halo and Destiny, but also of this revolutionary title from years ago.
