So as the whole world knows, Bioshock Infinate has released to critical and commercial acclaim. I am seeing advertisements for Game of the Year already, let alone MovieBob made a post today in regards to Bioshock Infinate (I haven't watched it but my assumption is he LOVED it), Jim Sterling claims it to be a great game and even Yahtzee, FREAKIN YAHTZEE, thought it was a great game! So some of you might be wondering why I haven't purchased this game yet.
My reservations are because of my feelings towards the first Bioshock game. Better call out a witch hunt: I didn't really like Bioshock. I never finished it, and in fact returned the game to Gamestop a few weeks after purchase.
The irony of it all, I LOVE story driven games and unique characters. As a first person shooter, Bioshock took the world by storm with it's original tale. However, for me it was the gameplay that ruined the game. Being a completionist, there were moments in the game where I felt like I missed important details or gameplay elements that compelled me to restart from earlier points in the game. There were also gameplay moments where I felt entirely forced to restart the game. For a first person shooter, I felt that this particular game lacked in gameplay elements (the shooting part) that are engaging in, well, first person shooters. Granted, I fucking HATE games like Call of Duty, but enjoy shooters more akin to Halo (in fact, this is the only shooter I still play, and mainly due to my appeal to the Halo Universe). I liked the concept of ADAM as a secondary tool to be used against enemies, but at the time I struggled with balancing my newly acquired powers alongside my weaponry. Perhaps this portion was due to my lack of expertise in games that required the balance of two types of weaponry, seeing as though I absolutely adore Dishonored and the balance of weaponry and Outsider powers in that game. Finally, I didn't find the atmosphere of Rapture too appealing, and found it to be quite dark. To better explain myself, I can handle dark games (look to the world of Dishonored), but that combination combined with being trapped within a submerged city that is slowly tearing itself apart, all the while confined to narrow corridors and enclosed, dark spaces, left me feeling oftentimes claustrophobic, restricted, and trapped. Perhaps this was my downfall with this game.
I grant that if I had muscled my way further into the story I probably would of been captured by the amazing story and characters that litter the world ( I seriously didn't make it far into this game at all), and now that I am more comfortable with balancing different tools to dispatch my enemies through practice in other games, perhaps I wouldn't of missed so much in my initial run of Bioshock, therefore allowing me to dispose of my enemies easier, utilizing the world around me and thus not force myself to restart as much as I did.
Back to Bioshock Infinate: this game, on the other hand, seems to take what scared me away from the first game and twist it into something more appealing. From what I hear, this game seems to capture the darkness of the characters and story while disposing of the claustrophobic Rapture, opting instead for the open world of Columbia. It is the freedom that this game advertises itself as that has sparked my renewed interest in the franchise. Now that I feel as though I can master the balance of weaponry and utilize it properly, coupled with the open-world gameplay that commercials and critics portray it as, this game indeed seems to be damn well near perfect for someone like me.
To my fellow community of like-minded gamers: from your experience with this game, coupled with my fears of the previous game (and steps I have made since then to balance those fears), should I purchase this game? If so, why? If not, why not? I want to either dismiss my reluctance and go ahead and make the purchase, or confirm my fears and steer clear of this game. Thank you for any and all advice given!
My reservations are because of my feelings towards the first Bioshock game. Better call out a witch hunt: I didn't really like Bioshock. I never finished it, and in fact returned the game to Gamestop a few weeks after purchase.
The irony of it all, I LOVE story driven games and unique characters. As a first person shooter, Bioshock took the world by storm with it's original tale. However, for me it was the gameplay that ruined the game. Being a completionist, there were moments in the game where I felt like I missed important details or gameplay elements that compelled me to restart from earlier points in the game. There were also gameplay moments where I felt entirely forced to restart the game. For a first person shooter, I felt that this particular game lacked in gameplay elements (the shooting part) that are engaging in, well, first person shooters. Granted, I fucking HATE games like Call of Duty, but enjoy shooters more akin to Halo (in fact, this is the only shooter I still play, and mainly due to my appeal to the Halo Universe). I liked the concept of ADAM as a secondary tool to be used against enemies, but at the time I struggled with balancing my newly acquired powers alongside my weaponry. Perhaps this portion was due to my lack of expertise in games that required the balance of two types of weaponry, seeing as though I absolutely adore Dishonored and the balance of weaponry and Outsider powers in that game. Finally, I didn't find the atmosphere of Rapture too appealing, and found it to be quite dark. To better explain myself, I can handle dark games (look to the world of Dishonored), but that combination combined with being trapped within a submerged city that is slowly tearing itself apart, all the while confined to narrow corridors and enclosed, dark spaces, left me feeling oftentimes claustrophobic, restricted, and trapped. Perhaps this was my downfall with this game.
I grant that if I had muscled my way further into the story I probably would of been captured by the amazing story and characters that litter the world ( I seriously didn't make it far into this game at all), and now that I am more comfortable with balancing different tools to dispatch my enemies through practice in other games, perhaps I wouldn't of missed so much in my initial run of Bioshock, therefore allowing me to dispose of my enemies easier, utilizing the world around me and thus not force myself to restart as much as I did.
Back to Bioshock Infinate: this game, on the other hand, seems to take what scared me away from the first game and twist it into something more appealing. From what I hear, this game seems to capture the darkness of the characters and story while disposing of the claustrophobic Rapture, opting instead for the open world of Columbia. It is the freedom that this game advertises itself as that has sparked my renewed interest in the franchise. Now that I feel as though I can master the balance of weaponry and utilize it properly, coupled with the open-world gameplay that commercials and critics portray it as, this game indeed seems to be damn well near perfect for someone like me.
To my fellow community of like-minded gamers: from your experience with this game, coupled with my fears of the previous game (and steps I have made since then to balance those fears), should I purchase this game? If so, why? If not, why not? I want to either dismiss my reluctance and go ahead and make the purchase, or confirm my fears and steer clear of this game. Thank you for any and all advice given!
