Shodan's tale could be a study in human psychopathy: there are real people who think like Shodan.
For potato-GLaDOS, it was a chance for sympathy. She needed you, and it actually was pretty funny that even then, she couldn't hold back the insults.īesides, even Portal 2 didn't plunder the comedy mine of malevolent impotence too deeply. Insane, ambitious evil is innately comical when it's powerless - but that's forgetting her sinister history with comedy. This might seem like I'm trying to turn System Shock into a comedy. Shodan's tale could be a study in psychopathy." Imagine having to use arthritic bones, where once was a sheer force of will. Stranded in her new body, her only access to computers would be hacking - a process that would be disgusting to her. Plus, in the body of Rebecca, she's a total unaugmented newcomer to meatspace, a perfect way to put her at the bottom of the skill tree. So, why not make Shodan the playable character? She's totemic enough to step around that pervasive bullshit about gamers not wanting to play women, in case we all start spontaneously trans-identifying, or something. Look: it's fine, but it's not a video game. Endlessly looping animated GIF of Shodan's face slowly appearing and disappearing from Anton Corbijn's iconic 1981 photo of Kate Bush. Multiple body-swap comedy in which she learns how difficult it is to be a Californian teenager, a rock star, and a single mum ģ. Law Of The West-style conversation simulator, in which Shodan and minor SS2 character Tommy share awkward chats as the AI discovers her new sexual urges Ģ. One of the best moment of going back to SS1 is watching that optional intro, and hearing her voice change as she narrates the story of the hacker removing her morals.īut what can we do with Shodan that hasn't already been pre-empted by GLaDOS' tale of unexpected humanity, humility, and anti-redemption?ġ.
And at the risk of spoiling a 14-year-old game, at the end of System Shock 2, she collapses cyber and meat-spaces to occupy the body of Rebecca, turning her into a kind of hard-wired fusion of Tron's MCP and Bonnie Tyler. You can hear Shodan's tame, morality-restricted voice during the optional intro to System Shock 1. "What can we do with Shodan that hasn't already been pre-empted by GLaDOS?"
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