When Otherside Entertainment, creators of upcoming Ultima Underworld successor, Underworld Ascendant, slipped us a teaser for System Shock 3 in early December, that was cause for the hype train to roll out—founder Paul Neurath worked on the original System Shock, after all. Now the train is in danger of becoming a runaway as Warren Spector joins the company.

Spector was producer, designer and director on the likes of the first System Shock, Deus Ex and the Ultima series. He's been advising Otherside on Underworld Ascendant since it was founded, but now (or rather, when he finishes teaching this semester at The University of Texas) he'll be inducted to the ranks of Otherside's studio directors.

In addition to helping out on Underworld Ascendant, Spector will be taking the helm of System Shock 3, making this as authentic an entry in the System Shock series as anyone could have hoped for.

"When the opportunity to have a bigger role in bringing Underworld Ascendant to life, as well as playing in the System Shock universe once again, helping to bring these games to a 21 st century audience, I just couldn’t say no," Spector said in a statement. "Working on System Shock was one of the most fulfilling things I’ve done in my career and it’s hard to describe how much I’m looking forward to sharing with players what SHODAN has been up to since the last game was released.”