I really enjoyed Planescape: Torment. But the Sci-Fi aspect is a bit suspect. It doesn''t include the generic elves, archers, evil wizards, etc. It really doesn''t fit the fantasy typecast. Actually, it fits Fantasy as well as Star Wars does. It is really a very unique experience. You will be blown away. The interface is almost perfect. The graphics are great. The story is amazing. The game takes place in this plane of existence that exists outside all others. It is a city of doors, in which each doorway can lead to another dimension if you know the right key. You play an immortal man with no memory. It is really interesting watching your character remember the horrible things he has done in the past. It is by Interplay/Black Isle Studios.

Also, I''ve played the first Fallout, and thought it was very interesting. It is sort of a sequel to Wastelands, that old old C64 rpg. Also by Interplay. System Shock 2 has its moments, but it does rely heavily on the First Person Shooter aspect to push the game along. I didn''t finish it, so this might change. But I would classify it as a FPS before I would call it an RPG. Does have an interesting story. By Looking Glass Software. I''d say System Shock is about as much an RPG as Half-Life.

techrecruiter,

Information on System Shock 2 (demo etc..) can be found at www.lglass.com. You can get the demo there.

Why is the game so good?

It has a lot of atmosphere. You hardly need to save your game (though I recommend once every load just in case...well you''ll find out) and this creates an incredible tension in the game. The halls of the Von Braun (the ship you are on) are deserted and you never know (unless you find a way) when something is going to creep up and clobber you. On top of that your weapons degrade so just when you thought your next shot would finish off one of the crazed crew members, your pistol breaks and you have to switch to a different weapon. Then when your are alone you start repairing the weapons (if you have the skills) and hope that something doesn''t "interupt" you while you are doing so.

I disagree with Squidi''s statement that it is as much an RPG as Half-Life. For a start, Half-life lets you play one character (Gordon Freeman) whereas System Shock 2 gives you the choice of three classes. Marine (see standard FPS game), Navy (Technical hacker type character), and OSA (spooky psychic guy). Although the story is not going to change based on what character you play, it does mean you have to choose what upgrades to buy when you choose your characters skills like Repair, Maintenance, Research, Psi, and Hack. You need these to survive, they are not just there to make the game sound more complex. You definitely get to customise your character in the game and you will find that the character choice greatly affects the items (guns, locked crates) you can interact with as you progress.

If you don''t like FPS games then I can''t guarantee you will like this one, but it has so much more gameplay in it than other games of the genre. I would say to anyone who doesn''t agree - look at the world size. Compared to Unreal, Half-life or Quake 2 the whole of the game world is so small, and yet there is so much to do in that small space it takes you the same amount of time to finish - in some parts of the game, one hallway or room is a challenge.

Anyway, I think you should at least check out the demo.
Paulcoz.

BTW, don''t let the controls (inventory system etc..) put you off - they become more intuitive as you progress.