For me, those are changes that makes SS2 worse.
I HATE BIG games that gives me TOO MANY DIFFERENT PATHS... it just makes me feel "Damn, I am missing something.."
And then I have to play the game over again to see what I was missing. But then I am probably missing something again.
System Shock is DAMN good. I recommend everyone to try it out. And if you don't like FPSs, try it too, because that's not your average FPS. (I personally don't even call it an FPS). It puts Half-Life to shame