System Shock by Nightdive Studios sets the pace for hardcore gaming at 2022 PAX West. 2022 PAX West is a 4-day event held in Seattle Washington, celebrating all things gaming and showcasing the latest gaming titles that are yet to be on the market. Esports Heaven travelled to 2022 PAX West to search for the next title in gaming which could spawn the next esport. System Shock has the potential to do what Bioshock never did, add multiplayer, and that already has us watering at the mouth. System Shock was first released in 1994 and was one of the first truly 3D games. At PAX West 2022, Esports Heaven discovered that, just like the old game, the new version is for the hardcore gamer. Set in a cyberpunk world, the hero is a rogue hacker poised to take down an AI system gone haywire. This game has had one of the most successful Kickstarters in history, and we can see why. But could this game be fit as an esport? The graphics of this game have a smooth polish to most of the POV, although there are stylized cues which show pixelated items or surfaces, done tactfully and not overbearing; a nice nod to the game’s 90s origins. This game has several Bioshock-esque qualities, along with notes from Fallout. From the vast inventory system and item loot mechanics, we can see just how much knowledge the dev team took from their time constructing the Fallout series. We spoke with one of the devs about this and he said, “you know, many people that have demoed this game have said that this game was clearly inspired by Bioshock and Fallout, and I correct them by saying, no, Bioshock was inspired by System Shock. You have it all backwards”. Indeed, System Shock is the original in this genre and they’re definitely going back to their roots in this game. We could pick up virtually everything we came across through our demo session. When speaking to the developers, they said "there will be no hand holding. This is not a linear game. The two audiences that we want to hit are classic enthusiasts and new gamers that say 'I never got to play the original". The worst part about the game, at least to us at Esports Heaven, is the developer said they have no plans to make multiplayer available. The game’s lack of beginner friendliness should have given cues that the developers are hardcore gamers, so it’s a bit confusing that they chose not to support multiplayer. A couple of changes to the movement system to be more fast-paced and allow for outplays would be the only thing necessary, as we felt the strafing and lack of dashing or speed would make for boring multiplayer. We’re hoping they change their mind somewhere down the line about adding multiplayer, because who doesn’t want to chop their friends with a laser rapier? The developers did give us a hint and said, "multiplayer would in any remake of System Shock 2, which we can neither confirm nor deny". System Shock's release date is TBD. Do you think System Shock by Nightdive Studios will be the next esports?

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Izento has been an avid esports fan since about 2005. Follow him on Twitter at @ggIzento for more Esports content. Check out Esports Heaven too.