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Recommended reading System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remastered is a light touch remaster, but it's the best way to play the imsim classic The best Cyberpunk 2077 mods XWVM, the X-Wing mod that lets you play the Star Wars classic remade in Unity, is finally available to download GOG takes on the Steam Workshop with the official launch of one-click modding, and Skyblivion is headed to the store later this year I wouldn't have thought I'd be playing Starfield again in 2025, but this Star Wars total conversion mod is a real blast(er) Stalker Trilogy fixes the issue that made me melt my PC with infinite quicksaves and repairs the blurry textures that have blighted players for months Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition is an excellent, subtle remaster and my new Steam Deck game of the summer System Shock 2 Nightdive's System Shock 2 remaster now supports 26 years of mods and fan missions Ted Litchfield 21 August 2025 So far, compatibility seems good for old mods in the new remaster. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Nightdive) Tucked at the bottom of System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Edition's 1.2 patch notes is the whammy I'd been waiting for: "Added support for custom campaigns (fan missions)." Balance mods were good to go from launch, but now 'Shock 2's extensive back catalogue of modded missions and campaigns is fair game too. The new "FMs" folder in the game's directory has cryptic instructions on how to install them, but the process is largely identical to installing other mods (like balance or QoL changes). Thanks to a brilliant help thread on the SystemShock.org forums from voodoo47 about installing non-FM mods, I was able to suss out my issues and get the well-liked Ponterbee Station FM working in the remaster. How to install System Shock 2 remaster mods and fan missions Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Christine Schneider) (Image credit: 7zip) Mods and fan missions both have to be in a ".kpf" file format unique to the SS2 AE. Mod authors can just release their new projects in .kpf format, but thankfully it's very easy to convert older projects to the new format. These instructions work for both mods and FMs, with the only differences being which folder you put them in, and how you activate them in-game. To convert the files to an uncompressed .zip format, I used the free, open-source 7-zip. Related Articles System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remastered is a light touch remaster, but it's the best way to play the imsim classic The best Cyberpunk 2077 mods XWVM, the X-Wing mod that lets you play the Star Wars classic remade in Unity, is finally available to download Download the mod or FM you want to install. For example, I'm using the Ponterbee Station fan mission in the screenshots above. Extract the files for the mod to a placeholder folder on your PC. Highlight all the files in the mod⁠—IMPORTANT: don't try to do this with a containing folder over those files⁠—right click on them, select "7zip" then "add to archive" From the 7-zip menu, I selected "zip" as the archive format, and "0 - Store" as the compression level⁠—Nightdive's limited readme for FMs specifies an "uncompressed zip file." Place the zip file in the corresponding mod or FM folder under your Steam/Steamapps/common/System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Edition (by default) folder. Change the zip file's extension from ".zip" to ".kpf." After this, you can launch the game. For a normal mod, you can go to "New Game" then "Mods" to activate the mod and change its position in your load order⁠—you have to start a new game for a newly-installed mod to take effect. For FMs, select "Campaign," then the mission you would like to play, then select your difficulty and start the game. The remaster seems to automatically separate save files between campaigns. To access your base game saves, just select "New Game > Campaign > System Shock 2," then back out into the main menu. You can perform the opposite procedure to access FM save games. How compatible is the System Shock 2 remaster with old mods and FMs? So far, so good: Players in the SystemShock.org thread have been sharing tips back and forth on getting old balance mods working, and they seem largely pick up and play after following the steps above. Ponterbee Station loaded fine for me, but I haven't played too deeply into it. I have also noticed two annoying but not game-breaking hiccups. The first is that Ponterbee Station's pre-recorded intro movie doesn't play, instead showing the remaster's own intro cutscene. The second is that the game starts displaying dialogue subtitles for the base game tutorial and endgame as I explore the mod. The only solution I've found for the latter issue is disabling subtitles altogether⁠—not any new accessibility loss, as the mod did not seem to offer its own subtitles in the first place. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. As for the movie, I can only assume this is a hitch from loading the FM from within the same System Shock 2 launcher, as opposed to a separate FM selector executable like you would with the original game or its New Dark engine upgrade. My hope here is that either Nightdive or the mod/FM community will find a solution. But with Ponterbee Station at least, you're not missing too much without the custom intro. 2025 games: This year's upcoming releases Best PC games: Our all-time favorites Free PC games: Freebie fest Best FPS games: Finest gunplay Best RPGs: Grand adventures Best co-op games: Better together Ted Litchfield Social Links Navigation Associate Editor Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch. You can follow Ted on Bluesky. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remastered is a light touch remaster, but it's the best way to play the imsim classic The best Cyberpunk 2077 mods XWVM, the X-Wing mod that lets you play the Star Wars classic remade in Unity, is finally available to download GOG takes on the Steam Workshop with the official launch of one-click modding, and Skyblivion is headed to the store later this year I wouldn't have thought I'd be playing Starfield again in 2025, but this Star Wars total conversion mod is a real blast(er) Stalker Trilogy fixes the issue that made me melt my PC with infinite quicksaves and repairs the blurry textures that have blighted players for months Latest in FPS To the dismay of sweaty 'movement kids,' Battlefield 6 is nerfing Call of Duty sliding and jumping to maintain a 'traditional Battlefield experience' EA just confirmed the most popular class in the Battlefield 6 beta, and it shines a spotlight on a major balance problem Splitgate fans, rejoice: Peer-to-peer multiplayer is coming next week, so you can keep on playing after the servers shut down After 20 hours with the Battlefield 6 beta, I believe EA has a ticking time bomb on its hands, though it's not too late to defuse it A boundless excitement for Battlefield 6 loomed large over Call of Duty's deflating Black Ops 7 reveal Randy Pitchford says Borderlands 4 is worth $200, but he wishes 'they'd give it away' Latest in News 'Eat s***, Pete': In a rare moment of unity, Destiny players bid good riddance to departing Bungie CEO Pete Parsons I wouldn't have thought I'd be playing Starfield again in 2025, but this Star Wars total conversion mod is a real blast(er) Bungie CEO Pete Parsons retires: With Destiny 2 sentiment at an all-time low and pressure from Sony growing, Parsons has decided it's time to 'pass the torch' and head for an exit Cheese Rolling is the best free Steam game about the age-old English tradition of hurling yourself down a hillside in pursuit of tumbling dairy One of Elden Ring's upcoming new starter classes is a freakishly strong jock with an intelligence score so low, they probably can't read, but the hardcore PvP kiddies are going ga-ga for them Eric Barone says he doesn't get paid for Stardew Valley collabs, and that's the way he likes it: 'I wouldn't want to make money from a collaboration' HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I will allow in my PC Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards Best gaming laptop in 2025: I've put the best of this new generation head-to-head and we have a winner Best gaming chair in 2025: I've tested a ton of gaming chairs and these are the seats I'd suggest for any PC gamer Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads Elgato 4K S review MSI Stealth 18 HX AI review MSI MPG CoreLiquid P13 360 review Asus ROG Falcata Alienware 18 Area-51 (2025) review PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. 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