SHODAN - Reception

Reception

The character was very well received by the media. GameSpot named SHODAN one of the ten best computer game villains and one of the best female characters in gaming, compared her to HAL 9000, though noting that unlike Hal, SHODAN was unquestionably aware of her actions and the consequences of them, describing her as an unforgettable villain due to her personality and adding " more believable than most game characters are, and in many ways, she actually seems more human." Later, GameSpot also chose her as one of the 64 characters competing for the title of All-Time Greatest Game Villain. On IGN's top 100 Video Game Villains countdown, SHODAN was ranked the 47th, described as "the one thing you don't want to hear when you're running through a sci-fi horrorscape is a distorted female voice that refers to you as an insect." GameDaily ranked SHODAN at number eleven on the list of top evil masterminds of all time, stating "343 Guilty Spark is a real menace, but it's got nothing on the diabolical Shodan", and adding hope for the character's return in a possible later title, and additionally naming her one of the most horrific video game bosses of all time, noting her constant assault upon the player and humanity despite being unable to harm him directly.

In 2006, IGN listed SHODAN at number four in their list of top most memorable video game villains, praising her for her constant physical and mental assaults against the player throughout the games. In 2007, Tom's Games listed her as one of the "Top 50 Greatest Female Characters in Video Game History", stating "There have been memorable villains in video game history, but none quite like SHODAN". In 2008, she was featured in play magazine's "Girls of Gaming" as one of the staff's top girls of PC gaming, placing tenth on their list, The Boston Phoenix ranked the number one greatest boss in video game history, while GamePro ranked her as the 12th "most diabolical" video game villain of all time, calling her "far more crafty than Skynet or the machines of the Matrix, simply because she's omnipresent and constantly taunting" and adding, "Simply put: you'll want to kill SHODAN more than you've ever wanted to kill any videogame enemy. Ever." In 2009, GamesRadar listed SHODAN as one of the scariest video game characters ever, describing her as the precursor to the Portal character GLaDOS. In 2010, she was ranked as the third greatest video game character of all time by Empire stating that "SHODAN's constant, threatening presence is a masterstroke of game design." Complex ranked her as the fifth most scary video game enemies at number five in 2011, stating that "though this malevolent AI is hard to quantify in terms of toughness, her constant presence, and the subsequent psychological damage she causes through her previous actions, is enough to land her on the list," as well as fourth on the list of the most evil women in video games in 2012, adding, "Old school but she still makes the cut." Also in 2012, Cheat Code Central ranked SHODAN in System Shock 2 as the third most terryfying video game character.