System Shock 2 Redux helps to sharpen-up SHODAN

It's regarded as one of the best games ever made, but even its most ardent fan would agree that System Shock 2 was never a looker. Way back on release, its flat textures and lumpen character models lagged behind the Unreals and Quake IIIs, and these days its face is one that only a psychotic AI mother could love. Fortunately, rushing into the Von Braun with a syringe full of Botulinum is System Shock 2 Redux, a collection of the best cosmetic mods for Looking Glass' iconic immersive sim.

System Shock 2 Redux leaves virtually no surface of the game untouched. Mods in the bundle include Vurt's Flora Overhaul, which adds extra fronds and flowers to the game's plant-life, while Tacticool Complete adds hi-res weapon models into the game. One of the biggest mods on there is Four Hundred, which completely overhauls the game's world textures, adding microscopic details such as ensuring the ceiling pipes on the Engineering deck have realistic directional flow.

Other cosmetic mods in the bundle update enemies, your psi-arm, and all the gross biological matter spread around the ship by the squidgy Hivemind known as the Many. It doesn't just provide a visual makeover either. Vintage Song Remake brings higher quality music (and System Shock 2's music was already pretty rad), while DeepFriedBeer's Sound Upgrade improves the audio effects on weapons and in-game objects like keypads.

The reason for this mod collection, according to its collator Gorth84, is twofold. First, it is "easier to load one mod file." In addition, the mod is intended to reflect Nightdive Studios' planned Enhanced Edition of System Shock, which, according to Gorth84, will use all the mods in the Redux collection.

You can download System Shock 2 Redux here. Installation instructions can be found underneath the download button. If you want to wait for Nightdive's official Enhanced Editon of System Shock 2, then the System Shock remake that it'll be bundled with is "pretty much complete" and should launch soon.

Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.