In this essay, we take a deeper look at the complete list of all known weapons and information on each weapon in the all new System Shock (Remake). As on the date of writing this article and gathering data from the closed beta and the demo, it seems like there are four main categories (types) of weapons in the game – melee, firearms, grenades, and energy weapons.
Types / List of Weapons
- MELEE
- FIREARMS
- GRENADES
- ENERGY WEAPONS
Btw – you can also spot lots of these weapons in this new trailer
How to get Weapons?
By design, weapons and ammo are scarce in the System Shock Remake. Don’t expect to get your hands on something heavy duty like an assault rifle in the beginning stages of the game. Having said that, there are plenty of ways around Citadel Station where and how you can get weapons.
Credits for Weapon Upgrades: Defeated enemies often leave behind damaged weapons. You can break these weapons down into scrap materials which can be turned into credits (the game’s currency). Use these credits to buy ammo, health patches, and weapon upgrades from vending machines scattered throughout the space station.
Weapon Hierarchy: Most weapons you find should stay useful up to the end of the game. However, some weapons do get outclassed. For example, the Minipistol becomes pretty useless after you get the Skorpion. This is because the Skorpion is a stronger weapon that dishes out damage faster and uses the same ammo as the Minipistol.
Energy Weapons: Energy weapons, on the other hand, kind of replace each other as you progress through the game. You start with the SparQ, then move onto the Ion Rifle, and finally get the Plasma Rifle. But the SparQ stays useful for a long time, largely due to the upgrades you can apply to it.
Lead Pipe
Typically used by TriOptimum security personnel, who are all trained to use such simple weapons like clubs and pipes. The Lead Pipe is the first weapon you’ll come across. However, as you progress further in System Shock Remake, you’ll find more advanced and powerful weapons, making the Lead Pipe less necessary over time.
Laser Rapier
The Laser Rapier is an advanced weapon in the System Shock. It works by projecting a mono-filament thread, a thin, possibly extremely sharp, strand that’s charged and held in place by an energy field. When this thread comes into contact with something, whether organic or synthetic, it slices through it. The impact of this slicing is so potent that it permanently disables most enemies in the game.
Monkey Wrench
The Monkey Wrench is a common maintenance tool, but in this case, it’s stained with either blood or rust on its silver pegs. This implies that it’s been used not just for fixing things but also as a weapon, likely in self-defense or in combat situations.
As it’s a melee weapon, which means it’s used for close-quarters combat, it doesn’t need any ammo to function. This could be an advantage in System Shock Remake as you won’t have to worry about running out of bullets or whatever other forms of ammo other weapons might require.
In addition, this weapon doesn’t decay or wear down with use, so you can rely on it for as long as needed.
Skorpion Machine Gun
This is a sub-machine gun, a type of gun known for its high rate of fire, that uses 9 mm ammunition, a common type of bullet size.
When you fire the Skorpion in long bursts, it has a strong recoil – this means that the force of firing the gun can cause you to lean backwards. This recoil can make it difficult to aim accurately if you’re targeting enemies at longer distances.
However, the Skorpion has big advantages too. It has a large ammo capacity, so you can fire a lot of bullets before having to reload. This, combined with the decent amount of damage each bullet can do, makes it an excellent choice when you need to quickly take down a lot of enemies, especially at closer ranges.
Another advantage of the Skorpion is that it doesn’t rely on battery power.
ML-41 Minipistol
The Minipistol is suitable for dealing with many common threats you’ll encounter in the game, and you can also use it to shoot out cameras.
Unlike other energy-based weapons in System Shock Remake, the Minipistol is straightforward to use. You don’t have to adjust any energy settings or wait for it to cool down after use. As long as you have ammo, you can use it by simply aiming at your target and firing: ‘point and click’.
The Minipistol can use two types of ammunition. The first type is Standard Rounds. These bullets have m – this is what the term ‘poor stopping power’ refers to. The second type of ammo is Teflon-Coated Rounds. These rounds are special because they have enhanced armor penetration.
Magnum Pistol
Magnum is a standard issue firearm for TriOptimum security officers. The Magnum works well in confined spaces, and it’s designed to cause high damage, making it a powerful tool. Compared to the Minipistol, the Magnum is a significant upgrade in terms of firepower and can adequately handle most enemies you’ll come across.
The game provides two types of ammunition for the Magnum: Hollow-Tip Rounds: These rounds are designed to fragment, or break apart, once they hit soft targets. Heavy Slug Rounds contain high-density osmium slugs. Osmium’s density makes them potentially more impactful and likely effective against heavily armored targets.
Dusk III Assault Rifle
The Assault Rifle is a powerful weapon. It’s especially strong when you use Penetrator rounds. However, the downside of this gun is that its magazines, which hold the ammunition, are quite small and therefore requires frequent reloads. However, it’s great for taking out the stronger enemies, like Cyborgs and Robots, so it’s useful to use one for the tougher battles.
Rail Gun
The Rail Gun shoots projectiles similar to grenades, which explode when they hit something. This makes it highly effective against enemies with heavy armor because the explosion can pierce through it.
However, the Rail Gun isn’t easy to use. You need to understand well how the game detects when a projectile hits something. Therefore if the explosion is too close, you’ll be damaged too. It’s a weapon that can backfire if not handled correctly.
On the positive side, the Rail Gun can be fired quite rapidly, which makes it very powerful if you know how to use it properly.
SK-27 Shotgun
Frag Grenade
Frags are designed to be highly effective mainly due to their metal fragments which scatter upon explosion, causing damage to those in the vicinity. With the help of its percussion trigger, once you’ve armed or activated the grenade, it explodes only when it hits something. Be cautious with frags, you don’t want to accidentally set one off too close to yourself!
EMP Grenade
When it explodes, the EMP Grenade releases a localized, high-energy electromagnetic pulse. This pulse is very good at disabling electrical systems, and is particularly effective against robot enemies or heavily mechanized cyborgs.
Gas Grenade
The Gas Grenade is loaded with diuranium oxide, which is bad news for anything with a biological nervous system, including some cyborgs (and you?). Basically, it’s a quick and nasty way to take out any living targets, since the gas will melt their nervous system in no time.
But here’s the kicker: this grenade is like the flip side to the EMP Grenade. While the EMP is your best bet for messing up anything electronic, this gas grenade is all about tearing through the organics. It’s a beast against mutants, can mess up some cyborgs, but won’t do squat against pure machines. So, pick your poison depending on what you’re up against. Keep this in your back pocket for when you’re dealing with the flesh-and-blood types, and switch over to the EMP when it’s time to fry some circuits.
Proximity Mine
Smoke Grenade
Grenade Launcher
Plasma Rifle
The LG-XX is a powerful, experimental energy weapon. It’s got two big drawbacks though. First, it eats through your battery life like crazy. You can only fire it three times before your battery’s toast. Second, this thing is dangerous to everyone around, including you. Its plasma shots bounce around like a supercharged ping-pong ball, causing serious damage to anything they hit, and that could be you if you’re not careful.
Because of these drawbacks, the LG-XX is not the best choice for just any situation. You’ll want to save it for when you’re dealing with really tough enemies or big groups. The Cortex Reavers or Edward Diego are prime examples of when you might want to bust out this big gun.
Just remember, if you’re going to use the LG-XX, make sure you’ve got some spare batteries on hand. You should also know where the nearest Energy Charge Station is so you can recharge when you’re done
SparQ Beam
The SparQ Beam is likely the first energy weapon you’ll come across in the game. Its great feature is that you can recharge it as many times as you want, which is super handy early on. When you first grab it, make sure you get to know all its options in the MFD (that’s the Multi-Function Display), so you’re ready for when the action heats up.
Like all energy weapons, the SparQ Beam has different power settings. At low power, it doesn’t do much damage but also doesn’t build up much heat. Crank up the power and you’ll do more damage but generate more heat too. If your weapon gets too hot, it’ll shut down to cool off, which could leave you in a tight spot.
There’s also an “Overload” setting. This fires a super powerful blast but also maxes out the heat meter instantly. You have to manually re-enable Overload each time you use it, and you’ll see “OVER” in your weapon list when it’s set.
One neat trick you can do with the SparQ Beam is to set it to the lowest level to clear out dead bodies and robot parts. It doesn’t use much battery power, so it’s a cost-effective way of cleaning up the battlefield.
Ion Rifle
The Ion Rifle is a powerful weapon you can find in Alpha Grove, hidden in a corporate briefcase. It does considerable damage, but it also hogs twice as much energy. So if you’re planning to use this beast frequently, you better stock up on Batteries or make sure you’re close to Power Stations where you can recharge. This isn’t your everyday weapon – it’s like bringing a muscle car to a city race, sure it’s powerful but you’ll be making pit stops for fuel more often.
MagPulse
The MagPulse shoots powerful electromagnetic bursts which are killer against shielded circuits, so if you’re up against a robot that’s gone haywire, this is your go-to weapon. It’s also top-notch if you have to take on invaders wearing heavy-duty battle armor.
The weird thing about this weapon is the way its shots travel – they’re slow, and they drop off over longer distances due to gravity. So if you’re shooting at a target that’s far away, you might have to aim a bit higher than your target to hit it.
