Despite very obvious difference, underwater facilities have some key commonalities with outer space locations.
However, I argue that there's more to it. The setting, an underwater installation populated by crazed killer mutants, practically begs for a BioShock comparison, with themes of free will and Objectivism replaced with trans-human Existentialism. It features a man named Simon who awakens inside an abandoned installation with no clue how he got there. Then the independently developed horror survival game Soma released last week, and even though it doesn't have the moniker, it might actually be a worthier successor to System Shock than BioShock.
But considering how well BioShock was received, most fans seemed relatively content with what they got. Apart from superficial elements like being a sci-fi first-person horror game with the word "shock" in the title, characterized by conveniently placed audio logs (and one or two ghosts) to provide background information, and a disembodied voice telling you what to do (leading to a sudden yet inevitable betrayal), the BioShock and System Shock series are completely different. Although BioShock has some fantastic themes, incredible visuals, and excellent gameplay, it actually bears very little resemblance to its spiritual predecessor. That is until BioShock, the famed spiritual successor to the series, released in 2007. The game's cliffhanger ending left plenty of room for a sequel, but a number of factors made it impossible, relegating the game to the status of a cult classic. So, it was up the player to figure out what was going on, then stop the threat from reaching Earth.
Beyond it was a malevolent super-intelligent AI named SHODAN, who didn't have a very flattering opinions about humanity. By then, the crew of the space vessel had been either killed off or mutated into violent creatures. Like its predecessor, it was a sci-fi horror game where a player awakens from cryo-sleep with amnesia. System Shock 2 video game storytelling to a new level when it released in 1999. WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for Soma and the System Shock series.
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