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‘System Shock’ Remake Hits Kickstarter Next Month
Developer Night Dive Studios’ remake of the original System Shock is coming to Kickstarter on June 29, revealed a post on the studio’s Facebook page. We first learned about it in November, before it was given the enormously befuddling label of System Shock Remastered, which doesn’t work since it’s a remake of a game Night Dive already remastered.
Still, it’s happening, and though its title is likely to confuse a great many people, at least you and I can take comfort in knowing its true identity. So long as System Shock 3 doesn’t start going by System Shock 1 + 2: The Not Bundle, or whatever, we should be fine.
But seriously, this industry needs to properly define these two easily and often misused terms before someone gets hurt. A remaster improves the original game while sharing many of the same assets, while a remake is built from scratch using the original game as a blueprint.
The former is connected to the original by the assets it borrows, and a remake is conceptually connected to the original game.
So yes, System Shock Remastered is a remake. The series has been dead long enough that you could also consider it a reboot, a revival, and maybe even a rejuvenation.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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