System Shock's first patch fixed every glitch I ran into, including a few things I didn't even realize were bugs

I've been having a great time in Nightdive's System Shock⁠—it's been one of those "actually having trouble putting it down" games for me. It's technically impressive too, with great performance and a lightweight install for an Unreal Engine 4 game, but I've definitely encountered a few glitches in my playtime.

And every single one I can remember has been taken care of in the game's first patch since launching on May 30. The biggest was a nearly progress-blocking bug in the Maintenance level's cyberspace section: it would slow to a crawl and eventually crash toward the end, and just last night I managed to muddle through by rushing past its final enemies. The game still crashed shortly after exiting, but I got that sweet autosave meaning I didn't have to run it a fourth time.

Now, no more: "Fixed a crash that could occur when exiting Maintenance cyberspace," today's patch notes state. There are a few other crash fixes as well, but I was really taken aback by all the small fixes and tweaks. For example, since launch enemy corpses have been persistent throughout an entire playthrough⁠—come back to Medical hours later, and the guys you fought at the beginning of the game will still be lying about.

That rules, but on loading into an area they'd always do this Skyrim-style ragdoll flop around silliness before settling into a new position⁠—the restless dead, dancing a little jig whenever I'm backtracking to grab a weapon upgrade or something. I took it as a permanent quirk of the game, but nope, it's been fixed.

Ditto for the Magnum's laser sight upgrade. Previously you'd get a little laser pointer VFX by the gun, but no dot at the end. I figured this was just a visual cue representing a behind-the-scenes accuracy upgrade, but this latest patch adds in that oh-so-satisfying RE4 red dot in the middle of your crosshair.

Citadel's ATMs would always tell you they're offline, even if you'd picked up a dead employee's debit card. It's another little interaction I figured just wasn't in the cards, but now you can just help yourself to a dead man's cash. More than anything, I'm impressed with how quickly Nightdive has addressed so many issues⁠—it's the sort of work you'd usually expect to get done piecemeal in the months after a release, but the full list (shared below) is just one "wait, they fixed that too?" after another.

Full Patch Notes

• Fixed a crash that could occur when entering Flight Deck with older DX11 versions.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when exiting Maintenance Cyberspace.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when playing Grove Chess.
• Fixed Ragdolls to not fall into place when loading into levels or saves [Players will have to save at least once to see it take effect after downloading this patch]
• Improved grenade rolling behavior when thrown.
• Improved ragdoll behavior on Human Corpse attached to Cortex Reaver.
• Fix for weapons with installed Modkits not always showing their attachments properly.
• Fix Magnum laser sight FX not working properly when loading a save with it enabled.
• Fix elevator music not stopping when the player dies in an elevator and respawns on another level.
• Fix for Audio Log Portrait disappearing in certain cases.
• Fix for game pausing unexpectedly after loading a game.
• Fix equipment soft-lock that could occur when dying while arming an explosive.
• Fix equipment soft-lock when saving and loading while focusing on a puzzle.
• Credit Machines will dispense Tri-Credits when a Finance Chip is used on them.
• Broadcast Monitors can now be shattered when attacked.
• Minipistol Burst-Fire Modkit shoots three rounds instead of two, and can be toggled on/off.
• Bio-Tanks that are destroyed will stop generating hazards after a short duration.
• Items can be bound to the hotbar by pressing a hotbar hotkey while mousing over the item.
• Balance tweaks to Maintenance Cyberspace Level
• Removed duplicate Audio Log from Flight Deck
• Fixed Softlock in Research Level by making Elevator Lobby doors and Circuit Breaker Room door always open if that Quadrant has power disabled.
• Fixed Softlock in Reactor when pulling the Reactor Self-Destruct Lever and reloading a save
• Improved Realspace Enemy AI
• Improved Cyberspace Enemy AI
• Improved Magnum Weapon laser dot FX
• Improved Mag-Pulse Weapon impact vortex FX
• Add Headbob Option to Accessibility Settings
• Added Autosave after using Surgery Machine on every Difficulty
• Fix for Surgery Machine getting stuck in a permanent busy state
• Fix for Energy Shield screen FX not restoring after loading a save
• Fix for pressing Back in the Media Reader to not close entire MFD
• Corrected the Escape Pod Status in MFD Status Screen when triggering Self Destruct sequence