System Shock

System Shock is a first-person action role-playing game developed by Looking Glass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. Released in 1994, the game is set aboard the fictional Citadel Station in a cyberpunk vision of 2072. Assuming the role of a nameless hacker, the player attempts to hinder the plans of a malevolent artificial intelligence.

Unlike other first-person games of the time, System Shock features true 3D environments, and allows the player to look up and down, duck, jump, and lean to the side. Critics praised System Shock and hailed it as a major innovation in its genre. It was later placed on multiple hall of fame lists. The game was a moderate commercial success, with sales exceeding 170,000 copies. A sequel, System Shock 2, was released by Looking Glass Studios and off-shoot developer Irrational Games in 1999; the 2000 game Deus Ex and the 2007 game BioShock are spiritual successors to the two games.