Yeah. As you probably read in the wiki, post-SS2 got lost in licensing and development hell. Kevin Levine really really wanted to make another 'Shock game and Bioshock just ended up being the best option. Having played all the 'shock games, I'd still have to say SS2 was probably the most frightening action-horror game I've ever played up to that point even if Bioshock is a near clone.
Both games:
- Use scattered recording devices to slowly weave disparate plot threads together and tell the stories of multiple people
- Include FPS gameplay that strongly features some kind of hacking and sneaking mechanic (cameras and alerting systems in the hallways)
- Deformed and mentally deranged people (not zombies; they still have independent thought)
- Limit access to resources, especially ammunition
- Have some kind of magic system based in pseudo-science
- Have hackable vending machines that dispense weaponry
- Have major plot twists
So the gameplay's almost exactly the same. It fits into the classic Sci-fi aesthetic of System Shock 2. A lot of what people find distasteful about Bioshock is that it *feels* bolted on. I think they're right, but it fits in well enough in Bioshock that I was willing to suspend disbelief for the game.
Where SS2 really outshone Bioshock was in a combination of sound and threat. Playing with headphones and the lights out were known to reduce people to quivering masses. Yeah people have equalled and surpassed that with the Silent Hill series, Amnesia, and others but this was the first time designers really started using sound as almost its own character in the game. Combined with the resource shortages and dribbles of plot information, the game was exquisitely balanced.
Big Daddies and certain other enemies from Bioshock pose similar threats, but the horror of having hybrid humans sneaking up behind you and hitting you with a pipe as they groan "IIIII'm Sooooorrrry" and "Kiiiiilll meeeee" while you're hearing certain crewmembers comment on their biological changes as they praise the hive mind of "The Many" just hits you right in the disgust button. Selfish individuals who drugged themselves to oblivion don't quite have the same punch.
Think of a hybrid between Star Trek's Borg and Alien and you'll get the feel of SS2.
