Medical
Opening with a kidnapping, a meeting with a shadowy corporation and your first glimpse at the malevolent Shodan AI, System Shock Remake's prologue throws a lot at you very quickly. In this walkthrough, we'll take you through everything you need to know to ace the game's prologue chapter, including the location of key items, tips and tricks, and more.
Opening from the perspective of a drone flying through a futuristic metropolis, it doesn't take long for System Shock Remake to hand the reins over to you and for the game to begin. Looking for a specific section of this walkthrough? Click between each of the main sections using the links below:
Medical
After a short introductory cutscene, we'll officially step into the shoes of our mysterious protagonist: The Hacker. We'll find ourselves in his small apartment, listening to a radio broadcast discussing current news. Feel free to briefly explore as we won't be here long and there are a few fun easter eggs to check out.
When you're ready to move on, head towards the laptop on the table on the right-hand side of the apartment. Interact with it to cue a short sequence where The Hacker begins rifling through the laptop's files and finds out that he's messing with the wrong people. You'll cue a second short cutscene.
During the scene, our mission will become clear. We've been transported to a mysterious space vessel known as The Citadel. As a world-class hacker, a man known as Edward Diego wants our help tinkering with his onboard AI system: Shodan. We're then knocked out and the game officially begins, with The Hacker waking up in the ship's Medical Bay.
A Rude Awakening
After waking up, it's time to get our bearings. You'll now see that The Hacker's health and energy metres are visible in the top right-hand corner of the screen. We'll also see a small inventory bar at the bottom of our HUD and, upon hitting the TAB key, will be able to pull up our inventory.
Once you're on your feet, you'll be able to explore the environment. Most items you'll find in the game can be picked up by pressing the RMB, although you won't want to store everything. Items labelled as junk in parenthesis are mostly used for scrap or credits, so we don't need to grab them. Things that aren't labelled as junk will usually be more useful.
For now, let's head down the ramp north of where we woke up. When you reach the bottom, take a left and open the door ahead of you. Inside, you'll find four key items we'll want to pick up. The first is a map modulator, which will allow us to see our position in the bottom left-hand corner. The second is a key card we'll need to progress further into the med bay. The third is a comms watch, so you can receive and listen to audio logs. And the final one is a trusty lead pipe for taking on the ship's not-so-friendly inhabitants.
When you have all four, leave the room and, using our new key card, open the door directly opposite you. It'll lead into a large room with two robots and a large grey pod. Approach the pod and interact with the green button on the side of it. The Hacker will climb inside and heal up to full health. From now on, we can use these Surgery Beds to heal our health to full, so keep note of where they are going forward.
After you're done with the Surgery Bed, approach the two robots in the room and prepare for a fight. They'll attack you, although they're easy to hit and won't deal too much damage. To hit with the pipe, equip it and then press the LMB to attack. If you hold it, you'll charge a longer strike. Strafe backwards to avoid the robots' strikes and take them both out.
When they're dead, look for the doctor's corpse behind where they came from. Loot his body to find a Sparqbeam Sidearm. This is the first gun you'll get your hands on in the game, and runs off the energy meter you can see in the top right-hand corner of the screen. Equip it and then shoot the security camera in the back left-hand corner of the room. This will lower Medical's "Security Level", making it easier to navigate.
How to Get the Healing Suites Door Code
Push to the opposite side of the room here, take out the second security camera and then look for the electrical pylon to the left of the booth. This is a Power Station. You can interact with it to charge your energy bar, replenishing your energy level. Once you've done that, turn to your right and crouch using CTRL.
There will be a panel in front of you with a green symbol on it. Click the symbol to open the door and then walk through it. On the other side, you'll find a desk to your right. On the desk, you'll see a Data Stick. Pick it up and you'll be able to open the message in the Media tab of your inventory. It'll reveal the code to the door leading out of the room. In our game, it was 451, however, codes in System Shock are randomized, so you'll have to find the email for yourself.
Leave the booth and head over to the door. Punch in the code and it'll open, revealing our second new enemy type. This charming fella is the Humanoid Mutant. Pull out your gun and blast away, aiming for the head to inflict higher damage. Strafe backwards and keep firing, making sure to avoid his attacks. Before long, he should fall.
Delta Quadrant and Central Hub
Once he's dead, head through the door he came from to enter the Delta Quadrant. Here, you'll get an automated message from Shodan. She'll inform you that we are currently in Medical, which is on the bottom floor of The Citadel. She'll tell us that we can access the upper floors from the elevator. Ignoring that for now, we're spoilt for choice regarding which way to go. To start with, let's head through the door directly opposite where we entered.
In here we'll find a Cyborg Surgeon wandering between beds with various corpses. While this guy looks pretty intimidating, he's docile, so walk past him and raid the shelves on the left-hand side of the room. You'll find a blue keycard, an audio log telling us to bring down the area's security level and a soda we can drink to regain some health. Grab them all and then return to the corridor.
Head one door to your left and you'll find a room labelled Storage 5. Using the blue keycard we found in the previous room, we can unlock it and find several crates filled with goodies. Loot them all and then return to the corridor.
How to Get the Pistol
Let's turn our attention to the large blast doors to the right of where we entered. They can be opened using the control panel to the right of them. Hit the switch and open the door and you'll enter a long corridor. Take out the two Humanoid Mutants you meet here, and then begin to look around.
Directly opposite the entrance, you'll find a locked blast door. Walked towards it and look to your right to find a side door. Open it and kill the Humanoid Mutant inside. On the floor of this area is a KE-41 Mini-Pistol. Grab it to get access to our first proper firearm.
Loot the rest of the area and then return to the corridor. While we're still currently in the Delta Quadrant, further up the corridor is the Central Hub. We'll want to make sure it's clear as it connects to several areas of the Medical floor.
Now we have the pistol, let's take on the enemies in the Central Hub. you'll find two Cyborg Drones and a Hopper here. These are our first enemies that can fire projectiles, so make sure to use cover when taking them on. Take out the drones first, and then focus your attention on the Hopper, as it's much stronger and sturdier. Once all three enemies are dead, recharge your energy meter and use the Surgery Machine in the Healing Suites, then return to the Delta Quadrant.
Let's start investigating some of the doors in the area. First up, look for the second doorway on your left when entering through the blast doors we used to reach the upper half of the Delta Quadrant. It's marked on the map above. Take down the Humanoid Mutant you find when entering this room and follow the path until it takes you down a ramp and into a small workshop.
On the shelves to your right, you'll find the Medical Access Card as well as a bunch of junk. Meanwhile, ahead of you, you'll find a Cyberspace Access Point that you can use to plug into cyberspace.
Approach the access point and interact it with by hitting the RMB. You'll be transported into Cyberspace for the first time.
Delta Quadrant Cyberspace Terminal
As this is likely your first time heading into Cyberspace, let's run through how this mini-game works. After accessing a terminal, you'll find yourself in a first-person mini-game where you fly through a series of cybernetic tunnels. Your goal is to find a crystal at the end of this route that will unlock an area outside of cyberspace.
While flying, you're able to shoot at enemies and activate switches by pressing the LMB. If you take damage, you'll be able to heal using the green health packs scattered around each area. You'll also pick up various power-ups throughout your journey. The buttons to use these power-ups can be seen next to their emblems across the bottom of the screen.
For this Cyberspace mini-game, we'll spawn in a room with a purple cube in its centre. Grab the cube to activate your weapons, then shoot the pink switch directly behind the cube. You'll disable the barrier to your left, allowing you to progress down a new tunnel.
As you head through the tunnel, you'll be slingshotted through a series of rooms. Shoot any obstacles that get in your way and you'll eventually wind up in a large pink atrium. Shoot the three pink enemies that spawn here, then head down the path to your left.
Follow the red line on the floor here, taking down any enemies that get in your way. At the end of the line, you'll find a room with six enemies. Take them down and then hit the barrier switch at the end of the red line. This will deactivate the barrier we saw in the pink atrium earlier.
Return there and head through the newly opened doorway. You'll be attacked by two enemies. Defeat them and then head through the tunnel in front of you. After a long sequence where you're slingshotted between rooms, you'll arrive in a large green area. You'll be attacked by seven enemies here, so shoot them down.
When they're all dead, look for the giant green energy crystal on the opposite side of the room from where you entered. Get close to the centre of the crystal and shoot it to detonate it. This will unlock the Medical Armory in the real world. Head through the now-unlocked barriers above the crystal and you'll be able to head through a tunnel that will eject you from Cyberspace.
Once you're out, head up the ramp and through the doors to your right to enter the Medical Armory. In here, you'll find the Mag-Pulse Rifle and the ammo dispenser, which can be used to exchange credits for ammunition.
Now, let's head back to the Central Hub. Here, we'll find a blast door leading to the Gamma Quadrant, an elevator and a locked door. Head up the elevator and take out the Cyborg Drone patrolling the walkway. You'll find yourself outside two offices.
Inside Nathan Darcy's office, you'll find the Personal - 1 Access Card and a Status Card that lets us monitor the ship's devices. In Althea Grossman's office, you'll find another pistol (which you can empty the ammo from to add to yours if you already have one) and an audio log. When you have everything, head back down to the floor below.
We have one more spot to visit before we've exhausted everything we can currently do in the Delta Quadrant and the Central Hub. Go to the Central Hub and look for an elevator opposite the blast shutter leading to the Gamma Quadrant. The elevator is pictured above.
Use the elevator and you'll be dropped into an underground room with two Cyborg Drones. Destroy them both and then activate the gravity well in the centre of the room by hitting the button next to it. When it turns blue, it's activated, allowing you to launch yourself to the platform above. Here, we'll encounter a Junction Box.
How to Solve the Medical Junction Box Wire Puzzle
After interacting with the box, you'll open a puzzle with several wires running across the top of it and various switches below them. The idea here is to power the metre at the bottom of the puzzle until it sits between the blue bars. They're circled in green on the diagram below.
To achieve this, you'll need to use the cables (circled in red) and plug them into the switches next to them. This will create currents that run through the puzzle. It's worth noting that each current will vary in power depending on the cable you use. Some cables are double power and some are single power, with the power determining how many bars they'll add to the metre.
Once you're currents are running, you'll need to guide them to the metre. You can do that by turning the nodes (circled in pink) to direct them. Once the metre has been filled to the correct level, the puzzle will be complete. It's worth noting now that Junction Box Puzzles are entirely randomized, so we won't be able to guide you to completing them. However, there's more detail on our Junction Box guide. After completing the puzzle, you'll unlock the route to the Alpha Quadrant.
Let's not head in just yet. First, let's explore the Maintenance Tunnels. When you're ready, head to the position on the map above. You'll find a junction box here that we'll need to solve.
How to Complete the Medical Junction Box Tile Puzzle
When you unlock the box, you'll see a Junction Box puzzle with tiles. It may look intimidating, but in truth, it's much simpler than it seems. What you want to do here is connect the two red squares to each other using the tube tiles.
Don't worry about the red circles, just focus on connecting the two red squares. I've circled both squares in the picture above. Once the two are connected, the puzzle will be complete.
Once the tiles are connected, the elevator to your left will activate, allowing you to move to the level below. Head down and you'll find yourself in the Maintenance Tunnels.
The Maintenance Tunnels
Follow the path and you'll come across a Scorpion Repair Bot. Scorpion Repair Bots will shoot fire and electricity at you, so use your Sparqbeam to take it out from afar.
Once it's dead, loot it and then press the switch behind it. You'll illuminate the area, revealing you're on a raised platform above a series of tunnels leading further into the ship.
Before we move on, quickly take note of the nearby Recycle Station. We can throw bits of junk or loot we don't need into the machine to generate credits which we can eventually use to purchase useful new gear and other items. Make sure to return here with anything you don't want to earn some additional cash.
When you're ready to move on, look for a spot where you can drop down opposite the Recycle Station and then crouch walk beneath the nearby gap and begin walking through it. As you do, a Humanoid Mutant will appear ahead. It can't see you just yet, so use the stealth to your advantage. Charge your Sparqbeam to full by pressing T and then shoot the mutant in the head to instantly kill it.
After it's dead, emerge from the hole and continue following the corridor. It'll lead you to a small seating area with several large windows where you can see out into space. Grab the audio log on the seats opposite the windows, then return to the path and continue pushing up the corridor.
You'll run into another Humanoid Mutant. Take it down and then round the corner where it came from. You'll find two dead bodies next to a desk. Grab the pistol rounds off the desk and then return to the path. You'll eventually reach a fork in the road. Take down the Scorpion Repair Bot that attacks here, and then head right.
You'll find a switch here that opens the door to your left but we'll need to be careful. Inside this room, you'll find several red radioactive barrels that will contaminate The Hacker if he stands close to them. In short, when in contact with these barrels, you'll see a contamination level appear in the top right corner of the HUD. While this is active, The Hacker will take gradual damage. Once he leaves a contaminated area, his contamination level will quickly deplete, with the Hacker returning to normal once it hits zero.
Inside this specific room you'll find two crates with some goodies to grab, so it's up to you whether you're willing to risk the health needed to get inside, loot both and retreat. Regardless of your decision, we'll then want to return to the fork in the road and take a left. As you follow the path, you'll find a small side area on your right that leads to a dead worker and the Monkey Wrench weapon. Grab it to earn the Gut-Wrenching achievement, then return to the path.
Take a left and follow the route upwards until you reach a locked door. Opposite the door is a body with a broken pistol. When you're ready, backtrack to the area with Recycle Station. Be warned that two Humanoid Mutants will attack when your return to the seating area. Once you're back, you'll have explored as much of the Maintenance Tunnels as possible for now.
Beta Quadrant
Let's now head into the Gamma Quadrant through the door to the left of the Recycle Station. It's shown on the map below.
When you arrive, head through the second door to your right. Inside, you'll find two Humanoid Mutants chowing down on some dead corpses. Take them both out and loot the area. You'll find an audio log, a few health kits and a vending machine that dispenses healing items for credits.
Push up to the back of the room and you'll find a locked door requiring a keycard. If you've been following this guide, we found the keycard earlier. It's the Group - 1 Access Card we found in the room with the Cyborg Surgeon in the Delta Quadrant. If you missed it, don't worry. There's an office inside the room you're currently in that has a spare, although it's guarded by a Humanoid Mutant. Regardless of how you get it, use the keycard on the door to open a new tunnel. You're now in Beta Quadrant.
Inside, you'll be confronted by a Humanoid Mutant. Defeat it and then keep following the path. Up ahead, you'll find a large recreational area. However, be warned, it's swarming with enemies.
You'll have to take out three Humanoid Mutants and a Cyborg Mantis. If you're struggling, guide the mutants away from the room and take them down, then return to put down the Cyborg Mantis. When they're all dead, loot the room and head up the stairs.
At the top, you'll find a doorway leading to an elevated platform. On the floor below the platform are a series of radioactive tiles that will inflict radiation poisoning if touched.
How to Complete the Beta Quadrant Junction Box
Kill the mutant up here then turn your attention to the Junction Box to your right. It's a wire Junction Box. After it's complete, a laser bridge will form across the gap ahead.
Cross over and then take a left up the stairs. You'll find a locked door with a switch next to it. Crank the switch to open a shortcut back to the Central Hub from earlier. Feel free to get an energy or health recharge before we continue on with our journey. When you're ready, continue following the path ahead.
You'll find another gap that can't currently be crossed, so take a right and follow the route upwards. You'll eventually hit a fork in the road. Take a right and investigate the office you find for an audio log and some useful loot. Then return to where the road split and head left. You'll find a switch that creates a bridge over the gap we found earlier.
Return to the bridge and take down the Cyborg Mantis and Drone that appear. The drone has an assault rifle so be careful as you approach. When they're dead, cross the bridge and take a left. You'll find yourself back at the gate into Alpha Quadrant that we opened earlier.
Gamma Quadrant
With Beta clear, let's quickly head through the Gamma Quadrant before we move on. Return to the Central Hub and open the Blast Doors to the Gamma Quadrant. Their location is shown on the map below. Be warned that a bunch of Humanoid Mutants will spawn in the Central Hub, so be cautious as you head to Gamma.
Head inside and you'll immediately come face to face with a Cyborg Drone. Take it down as well as any Humanoid Mutants you encounter. There are only a few rooms to investigate here as Gamma Quadrant is pretty small. If you have the Group - 1 Access Card, you'll be able to enter the locked Storage Room on your left. Head inside, be careful not to get stealth attacked by the mutant hiding behind the crate and loot to your heart's content.
Once you exit, two more mutants will spawn. Take them out and you're pretty much done here. There is another room, but all that's inside is a Cyborg Drone and several radioactive barrels. There's nothing worth looting, so leave it well alone. You can also loot the bronze tunnel if you're looking for some additional pieces to throw into the Recycle Station. After that, we're all done with Gamma Quadrant.
How to Unlock the Medical Armoury
Before we move on though, you might want to quickly head into the corridor connecting the maintenance tunnels with the Gamma Quadrant. There, you'll find a locked door. If you've picked up the Many Paths audio log from the Beta Quadrant, you'll find the passcode. Inside is a vending machine where you can buy an ammo capacity upgrade for your pistol alongside several crates filled with items.
Alpha Quadrant
With all the other quadrants accounted for, let's return to the Alpha Quadrant and press on. Make your way to the area of the map shown below. Prepare your weapons before heading out, as there's a fight ahead.
Look to your left and you'll see a gravity lift that you can operate by hitting the button above it. Activate it and float up.
Four Cyborg Drones will be waiting to attack, so as soon as you've got their attention, retreat and open fire from cover. When they're all dead, return to the gravity lift, fly up and step on the bridge. It'll immediately disappear, causing you to fall to the ground below. Shodan will taunt you after you fall, warning you to leave.
Head through the doorway in front of you and then hit the switch on the wall. It'll cause the red barrier to your right to disappear. Step past it, turn around and hit the switch again to make the former barrier appear and the barrier behind it disappear. You can now access a control room. Kill the mutant inside and activate the lever on the control panel to reactivate the gravity lift opposite the barriers.
Leave the control room and hop into the gravity lift to boost yourself onto the opposite side of the bridge. If you want to return to the Central Hub, you can reactivate it from the control room to the right of it.
Turn around and you'll have access to a ton of new rooms. The first door on your left is the most important, however. Not only will you be able to activate a set of blast doors that act as a shortcut back to the Delta Quadrant, but you can also use the Medical elevator, giving you access to the next floor. Before we officially move on though, let's journey through the remainder of Alpha Quadrant.
Return to the corridor and investigate the rooms one by one, keeping a gun close at hand to battle back the various Cyborg enemies patrolling the area. The second door on the left will provide access to the Cargo Lift, where you can store items and retrieve them on each floor.
The same room also contains the Cyborg Restoration Pod, which, when activated, will act as a respawn point if you're killed. You can turn it on by hitting the lever on the panel next to the laser barrier. It's shown above. These are both key to surviving System Shock's horrors, so get acquainted with them early.
Through the door opposite the entrance to the Cargo Lift room is an area with a Cyborg Surgeon. You can find an audio log in here. Similarly, the third door on the left in the corridor contains an audio log and a button that unlocks the locked door at the end of the Maintenance Tunnels.
Finally, at the end of the corridor, you'll find a doorway leading to a room filled with Cyborg Drones. Kill them all and any stragglers that emerge from the doorways throughout the corridor. After they're all dead, head through the door to your left to find a Cyberspace Panel.
Alpha Quadrant Cyberspace Terminal
Jack into the Cyberspace Terminal. You'll fly through a series of colourful tunnels and then emerge in a rectangular room. Defeat the small offering of enemies that appear and then push through the tunnel ahead of you.
You'll soar through another series of tunnels and enter a long yellow pipe. Defeat the enemies that spawn here. There are a lot, so make sure to hide behind pillars and use cover as much as possible. Like last time, once they're dead, continue following the path.
You'll be slingshot through a series of tunnels filled with obstacles. Shoot the obstacles as you progress until you wind up in a giant white room. This will be flooded with enemies quickly, so find a defensive spot and use it for cover. Make sure to conserve the two health packs on either side of the room here, as you're bound to take some damage from the onslaught.
When the coast is clear, keep moving and you'll enter a giant room with a purple crystal at the centre. Take out the crystal to dispel the Medical Shield barrier. After it's gone, avoid the enemies and make a beeline for the giant green portal ahead. It'll take you back to the real world.
Destroying the CPU Nodes
After you've returned, get ready for a fight. We're going to be battling a bulky Security Bot which will put up some offense.
Equip your best weapons, walk out the door and immediately begin firing. This thing will take a lot of ammo to put down, so find cover, endure its ranged projectiles and heal yourself if needed. Use your strongest weapons and you'll eventually take it down.
After it's dead, safely lower yourself to the ground below using the gravity lift to your left. You'll be taunted by Shodan here, who clearly doesn't want you to investigate for a reason. When on the floor, quickly head down the passage to your left and loot everything possible before returning to the main room and pressing forward.
You'll enter a room with a Cyborg Drone and four large cylindrical CPU units. Our job is to blow these up. Switch to the Sparqbeam and shoot each of them until they detonate. After they do, Shodan will message you asking for information about who you are. She'll also send two Cyborg Drones to eliminate you, so kill them and then leave the area.
Now, return to the elevator we found earlier. It's shown on the map above. On the way, you'll get a message from Rebecca Lansing. Listen to it, then enter the elevator and hit the Research button. It's time to head to our next floor.