System Shock's first patch fixed every glitch I ran into, including a few things I didn't even realize were bugs

I remember interacting with the ATMs at first and thinking, "Wait, is that it?"

I've been having a great time in Nightdive's System Shock⁠—it's been one of those "actually having trouble putting it down" games for me. It's technically impressive too, with great performance and a lightweight install for an Unreal Engine 4 game, but I've definitely encountered a few glitches in my playtime.

And every single one I can remember has been taken care of in the game's first patch since launching on May 30. The biggest was a nearly progress-blocking bug in the Maintenance level's cyberspace section: it would slow to a crawl and eventually crash toward the end, and just last night I managed to muddle through by rushing past its final enemies. The game still crashed shortly after exiting, but I got that sweet autosave meaning I didn't have to run it a fourth time.

Now, no more: "Fixed a crash that could occur when exiting Maintenance cyberspace," today's patch notes state. There are a few other crash fixes as well, but I was really taken aback by all the small fixes and tweaks. For example, since launch enemy corpses have been persistent throughout an entire playthrough⁠—come back to Medical hours later, and the guys you fought at the beginning of the game will still be lying about.

That rules, but on loading into an area they'd always do this Skyrim-style ragdoll flop around silliness before settling into a new position⁠—the restless dead, dancing a little jig whenever I'm backtracking to grab a weapon upgrade or something. I took it as a permanent quirk of the game, but nope, it's been fixed.

Ditto for the Magnum's laser sight upgrade. Previously you'd get a little laser pointer VFX by the gun, but no dot at the end. I figured this was just a visual cue representing a behind-the-scenes accuracy upgrade, but this latest patch adds in that oh-so-satisfying RE4 red dot in the middle of your crosshair.

Citadel's ATMs would always tell you they're offline, even if you'd picked up a dead employee's debit card. It's another little interaction I figured just wasn't in the cards, but now you can just help yourself to a dead man's cash. More than anything, I'm impressed with how quickly Nightdive has addressed so many issues⁠—it's the sort of work you'd usually expect to get done piecemeal in the months after a release, but the full list (shared below) is just one "wait, they fixed that too?" after another.

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch.

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