While those problems are indeed true at the beginning of the game, the OSA character tends to grow really powerful and versatile as he advances through the game. The first problems new players will probably detect with OSA characters are that they don't use to be good with weapons, that Psionic offensive powers tend to be weak and unpractical, and that the character runs out of PSI points at a very fast pace. Compared to the Marine and Navy characters, the OSA relies a lot on his Psionic Abilities, which are not always the easiest to use skills.

OSA is generally considered to be the hardest class to play in System Shock 2. There are three available classes, Marine, Navy, and OSA, and plenty of alternative ways for developing their skills. One of the strongest points of System Shock 2 is that it allows you to be very creative on your character builds. The game also has remarkable flaws, such as obvious imbalances in certain gameplay mechanics, but its virtues far outweight its flaws. System Shock 2's deep gameplay mechanics, combined with its smartly designed maps, interesting plot and great atmosphere, turned it into an instant classic.

That way of thinking made possible deep games such as System Shock 1, its sequel, or Thief: the Dark Project.

Looking Glass Studios took players seriously, in the sense that they assumed they weren't a bunch of idiots, as most of modern videogames developers do assume. It's a shame that Looking Glass Studios no longer exists. I've been playing System Shock 1 and System Shock 2 for years, and since the second one was recently released on Steam, I thought that it was a good idea to make an extensive guide for this great game, which is in fact one of my favourites, along with the first one.

Navy marines osa system shock 2