Bioshock InfinOH MY FUCKING GOD. (No spoilers.)
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Did you try shooting them at that point? It was pretty hilarious.The Wykydtron said:
*BANG*
"You missed."
"You know, you're going to have a hard enough time of it without squandering your friends..."
"... or your ammunition."
*BANG*
"Missed again."
*BANG*
"And again."
*BANG*
"Missed."
*BANG*
"Going for best out of nine were we?"
*BANG*
"Oh look, you missed."
*BANG*
"We can keep this up all day."
"Question is, can you?"
"You missed."
"You know, you're going to have a hard enough time of it without squandering your friends..."
"... or your ammunition."
*BANG*
"Missed again."
*BANG*
"And again."
*BANG*
"Missed."
*BANG*
"Going for best out of nine were we?"
*BANG*
"Oh look, you missed."
*BANG*
"We can keep this up all day."
"Question is, can you?"
Also, if you hang around them after the coin flip scene.
"If you keep this up I'm going to have to start repeating myself."
...
I liked the end, the good guy ending that is, of Bioshock more than I think it deserved. The game up to that point was primarily about Rapture, with the little sisters being an element of Rapture. Then at the end it suddenly wrenched the focus onto the little sisters alone. Besides, there's no denying how rushed it was. "Oh shit, the money's running out! Okay, um... giantbossfightthenthishappenedtheend-roll credits!"MiracleOfSound said:
Bioshock 2 was a lot better in that regard, however it didn't make me care about the characters quite as much as it needed to. I liked Subject Delta and Eleanor, but not as much as the game wanted me to.
I loved Booker and Elizabeth though so, for me, Infinite was the biggest success of the three in terms of emotional punch.
Overall, as a whole, yeah definitely. They were far more developed and interesting to watch interact. I meant specificallyZhukov said:
the final few moments and how their relationship was resolved, to me that last few seconds was that little bit more affecting in the previous two games for some reason
Yeah... yeah I can see that.MiracleOfSound said:
Incidentally, I can't wait to see what kind of song you come up with for this one.
There will be a song, right? Please tell me there'll be a song.
Nope.PreviouslyPwned said:
There's a few references and callbacks, but that's all. It's a different story and a different universe. No need to play the other games.
That said, you really should play at least the first Bioshock game at some point because it's damn good.
Hey!Dr.Panties said:
...
Okay, fine. I actually started doing these pseudo-review threads after people started accusing me of being a joyless twat who doesn't like anything at all.
For the record, I also loved Journey [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.358619-Journey-The-kind-of-game-Jesus-would-make] and The Walking Dead [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.394249-You-should-be-playing-The-Walking-Dead].
So there.
Three gripes for me:
The two weapon limit. It's just a pain in the ass, and probably a pain in Irrational's ass to strategically place them everywhere so you have something suitable always at hand.
The saving system. No manual saves and checkpoints are kinda scarce. Often I'd guess "hey, just went through this long cutscene, probably the game has saved" and it hasn't and I have to repeat several encounters, and gather all the money and stuff lying around again. Annoying.
The inconsistent level of detail. The beginning is all crowded and filled with stuff for you and Elizabeth to ogle at and interact with every five steps, then it kinda tapers off towards the middle to the point where it looks a bit empty and static and all the fodder of enemies feels out of place.
But other than that I'm loving it. The combat's fun, moving around in the air is even more fun, I like how much is told through the environment itself and to what elaborate set pieces some detours lead and Elizabeth is a great character to have around. My favorite game from this year so far.
The two weapon limit. It's just a pain in the ass, and probably a pain in Irrational's ass to strategically place them everywhere so you have something suitable always at hand.
The saving system. No manual saves and checkpoints are kinda scarce. Often I'd guess "hey, just went through this long cutscene, probably the game has saved" and it hasn't and I have to repeat several encounters, and gather all the money and stuff lying around again. Annoying.
The inconsistent level of detail. The beginning is all crowded and filled with stuff for you and Elizabeth to ogle at and interact with every five steps, then it kinda tapers off towards the middle to the point where it looks a bit empty and static and all the fodder of enemies feels out of place.
But other than that I'm loving it. The combat's fun, moving around in the air is even more fun, I like how much is told through the environment itself and to what elaborate set pieces some detours lead and Elizabeth is a great character to have around. My favorite game from this year so far.
It is a bit too quiet over there, yes.Zhukov said:
I have wondered whether the lack of replies there is because the viewers mostly agree with the pieces and have nothing to add, or because they think the user reviews are rubbish.
A little more life over there would have been nice.
It is very awesome, and there's no need to play the other games first. It's set chronologically before the others, in a different universe...Ahri said:
Also Bioshock 2 isn't very good(it's ok). You can give that one a complete miss, unlike the original and Infinite, it wasn't made by Irrational or many of the original team.
I'm glad you liked it.Zhukov said:
I'll list my pros and cons as well, and spoiler it just to be sure.
Pros:
1) The setting, I especially loved the sunny areas where you were fighting the cops and stuff and you could hear stuff like ambient noises from other parts of the city, just like in a real city. The lighting was amazing, and not just in that part of the game but in Finkton as well. Also, I'm not sure if anyone else noticed this, but many of the buildings around you were each individually recognized as floating by the physics engine, so they didn't all float around in the same way. I LOVED that, and that some things moved in the air more than others giving me a "woah" feeling at times.
2) The guns were pretty darn good, I particularly liked the handcannon and the repeater. The shotgun was just a blast to use as was the rpg. The sounds were great and I liked how the VOX weapons were colored different and gave them their own personality.. if thats the right word for it.
3) The vigors make them combat amazing. My favorite for now has got to be Murder of Crows, just the sound of using it and watching enemies get pecked at is so satisfying. Devils Kiss and Bucking bronco are pretty good too.
4) Difficulty is pretty well done imo. I found hard mode to be actually hard, and I just started 1999 mode... and I'll just say this.. I don't really know how using some weapons and vigors will work in this mode, they'll just get you killed.
5) I thought the story was amazing for what it was, and while I expected some things, most things I didn't. It gives replay value for sure.
6) The enemies, really they are all fantastic, but the Heavy Hitters were amazing. Each one of them had their own personality and way of moving around in combat. The Crow was creepy though not all that dangerous. First time a fireman overheated the boiler on his back, and I heard that high pitched sound as he ran right at me totally caught me off guard. The motorized patriots were awesome, and I particularly liked how the vox put a Lincoln head on their versions. Finally, the Handyman... oh yes. People who claim this game isn't scary need to fight a Handyman on 1999 mode. You skyline away from him thinking you are safe when in your peripheral you seem him land right next to you. I can say I haven't had many other "OH SHIT!!" moments in videogames.
Cons
1) My biggest gripe is the skylines. They were the most fun I had in the game's combat but there were a lot of things I wish they would have done differently. There should have been way more instances where you could use them in combat, instead of those stupid hooks everywhere. Also, for the instances you did use them there should have been WAY more enemies to fight in that area. I would come to them, get all excited, then dispatch all the enemies and have to leave the area and I wanted to stay there and keep fighting.
This will vary among other players, but I rarely had instances where the enemies actually chased after me on the skylines, and when they did they were so painfully slow I could pick them off with ease. That was a huge disappointment. But I'm curious if others had that experience.
2) The game needed a holster weapon option. For all the instances you could walk around and not engage in combat I felt really irresponsible and downright stupid holding my repeater or shotgun and having the cops just stare at me.
3) Something about the detection of certain objects made the game difficult sometimes, again I'd like to see if other people had these problems. I'd often get stuck on the corners of objects like stairs, crates, and other things. Also, sometimes if I was jumping or running the skyline prompt would not appear... and thats REALLY fucking inconvenient.. esp when you are needing to get away from a Handyman.
4) Reusing some areas, though thats just a nitpick for me personally. I didn't mind all that much.
1) The setting, I especially loved the sunny areas where you were fighting the cops and stuff and you could hear stuff like ambient noises from other parts of the city, just like in a real city. The lighting was amazing, and not just in that part of the game but in Finkton as well. Also, I'm not sure if anyone else noticed this, but many of the buildings around you were each individually recognized as floating by the physics engine, so they didn't all float around in the same way. I LOVED that, and that some things moved in the air more than others giving me a "woah" feeling at times.
2) The guns were pretty darn good, I particularly liked the handcannon and the repeater. The shotgun was just a blast to use as was the rpg. The sounds were great and I liked how the VOX weapons were colored different and gave them their own personality.. if thats the right word for it.
3) The vigors make them combat amazing. My favorite for now has got to be Murder of Crows, just the sound of using it and watching enemies get pecked at is so satisfying. Devils Kiss and Bucking bronco are pretty good too.
4) Difficulty is pretty well done imo. I found hard mode to be actually hard, and I just started 1999 mode... and I'll just say this.. I don't really know how using some weapons and vigors will work in this mode, they'll just get you killed.
5) I thought the story was amazing for what it was, and while I expected some things, most things I didn't. It gives replay value for sure.
6) The enemies, really they are all fantastic, but the Heavy Hitters were amazing. Each one of them had their own personality and way of moving around in combat. The Crow was creepy though not all that dangerous. First time a fireman overheated the boiler on his back, and I heard that high pitched sound as he ran right at me totally caught me off guard. The motorized patriots were awesome, and I particularly liked how the vox put a Lincoln head on their versions. Finally, the Handyman... oh yes. People who claim this game isn't scary need to fight a Handyman on 1999 mode. You skyline away from him thinking you are safe when in your peripheral you seem him land right next to you. I can say I haven't had many other "OH SHIT!!" moments in videogames.
Cons
1) My biggest gripe is the skylines. They were the most fun I had in the game's combat but there were a lot of things I wish they would have done differently. There should have been way more instances where you could use them in combat, instead of those stupid hooks everywhere. Also, for the instances you did use them there should have been WAY more enemies to fight in that area. I would come to them, get all excited, then dispatch all the enemies and have to leave the area and I wanted to stay there and keep fighting.
This will vary among other players, but I rarely had instances where the enemies actually chased after me on the skylines, and when they did they were so painfully slow I could pick them off with ease. That was a huge disappointment. But I'm curious if others had that experience.
2) The game needed a holster weapon option. For all the instances you could walk around and not engage in combat I felt really irresponsible and downright stupid holding my repeater or shotgun and having the cops just stare at me.
3) Something about the detection of certain objects made the game difficult sometimes, again I'd like to see if other people had these problems. I'd often get stuck on the corners of objects like stairs, crates, and other things. Also, sometimes if I was jumping or running the skyline prompt would not appear... and thats REALLY fucking inconvenient.. esp when you are needing to get away from a Handyman.
4) Reusing some areas, though thats just a nitpick for me personally. I didn't mind all that much.
Argh!
This game is not the best thing since sliced bread
It is not ten otta fukken ten
Its seven out of ten in a world where COD gets a four
This is not the game gaming's Citizen Kane. Please stop acting like it is and that it's flawless
This game is not the best thing since sliced bread
It is not ten otta fukken ten
Its seven out of ten in a world where COD gets a four
This is not the game gaming's Citizen Kane. Please stop acting like it is and that it's flawless
*we* aren't. Reviewers are. We are not saying it's flawless. We're saying that we enjoyed it. There's no 'objectivity' we're bandying around here.The Ubermensch said:
Wow... I've never seen such praise from Zhukov.
Yeah, I'd have to agree. I really like the game. I finished it already but I'm ready to play it again on 1998 mode. Playing through bioshock 1 again first (on ps3... which If I might add is a really shitty port).
If I was to be honest, the game kind of lost me in regards to its plot. Normally I can keep up with whats going on in twisting narratives, but at some point in the late game I just forgot key elements and the new revelations that kept popping up where like "huh?"
I'm hoping a replay will clear things up for me.
Yeah, I'd have to agree. I really like the game. I finished it already but I'm ready to play it again on 1998 mode. Playing through bioshock 1 again first (on ps3... which If I might add is a really shitty port).
If I was to be honest, the game kind of lost me in regards to its plot. Normally I can keep up with whats going on in twisting narratives, but at some point in the late game I just forgot key elements and the new revelations that kept popping up where like "huh?"
I'm hoping a replay will clear things up for me.
According to my Steam stats (which aren't always reliable) it took me about 16 and a half hours to complete on the hard difficulty.grey_space said:
However, I'm a stop-to-smell-the-roses kind of guy. I've seen people claim to have beaten it within ten hours.
It is a great game, but am I alone in thinking that Bioshock is still better overall? Infinite is obviously better looking, and I love the fact that the game is quiet in a lot of places, where you get to watch Elizabeth go all "Booker, look!" I wish more shooters did this. But that's about it... enemies are forgettable, every single one of them. Big Daddies were quite the thing and I felt they had a reason to exist. But here, you're fighting mechanical presidents with miniguns and the Handyman, the Big Daddy equivalent, is just boring. Human enemies all behave like crazed splicers. It lacks a Big Daddy type, a Sander Cohen.
And you're doing all this fighting with weapons that just don't feel that good. Three machinegun types that I can't tell the difference, pistol and carbine might aswell be the same thing, etc. You get a grenade launcher despite being able to throw vigor-grenades at will. So there's a lot of weapons that I only used if I couldn't find anything else.
Columbia. Beautiful setting and, just like Rapture, it made me want to explore every little thing. The city feels alive (there are people living in it) but at the same time it doesn't (they all have the same face and aren't bothered by the man with the huge gun). To make it worse, the whole flying city sort of gets left behind, doesn't it? I expected a lot more fights where I'd fly from one island to another, making it sort of open world-ish, but they're very well put together battle arenas, I'll admit. I enjoyed the verticality of some of these fights, but for the most part, it was just like being anywhere in the world, buildings everywhere. I kind of forgot that I was on a flying city. I never felt that way in Rapture.
And of course, that ending... it's as if they wanted to out twist Bioshock.
To be clear, I think this is a great game, but to see some describing it as genius? I just can't see it. It is, however, way better than any of these modern shooters, and that's kind of obvious. Since it's a lot easier to ***** about things than it is to actually be nice, here's a list of things that I loved about this game:
And you're doing all this fighting with weapons that just don't feel that good. Three machinegun types that I can't tell the difference, pistol and carbine might aswell be the same thing, etc. You get a grenade launcher despite being able to throw vigor-grenades at will. So there's a lot of weapons that I only used if I couldn't find anything else.
Columbia. Beautiful setting and, just like Rapture, it made me want to explore every little thing. The city feels alive (there are people living in it) but at the same time it doesn't (they all have the same face and aren't bothered by the man with the huge gun). To make it worse, the whole flying city sort of gets left behind, doesn't it? I expected a lot more fights where I'd fly from one island to another, making it sort of open world-ish, but they're very well put together battle arenas, I'll admit. I enjoyed the verticality of some of these fights, but for the most part, it was just like being anywhere in the world, buildings everywhere. I kind of forgot that I was on a flying city. I never felt that way in Rapture.
And of course, that ending... it's as if they wanted to out twist Bioshock.
You think you know? HERE'S ANOTHER DOOR!
But who cares. The way I see it, none of the ending matters because there are millions of parallel worlds (Elizabeth says so herself), and in some of them, Booker chooses to be baptized, becoming Comstock. In another reality, Booker is the leader of the revolution in Columbia. By that logic, you can pretty much assume that somewhere, Booker was never a gambler, he never had any debts, he never sold his daughter.
We just happen to play as one version of Booker who did gamble, who did sell his daughter.
I can't say thay I LIKE it, but I don't HATE it either. It's an acceptable ending. At least "there's always a lighthouse, there's always a man, there's always a city" so if this also means we'll get more Shock games, I'm cool with it.
But who cares. The way I see it, none of the ending matters because there are millions of parallel worlds (Elizabeth says so herself), and in some of them, Booker chooses to be baptized, becoming Comstock. In another reality, Booker is the leader of the revolution in Columbia. By that logic, you can pretty much assume that somewhere, Booker was never a gambler, he never had any debts, he never sold his daughter.
We just happen to play as one version of Booker who did gamble, who did sell his daughter.
I can't say thay I LIKE it, but I don't HATE it either. It's an acceptable ending. At least "there's always a lighthouse, there's always a man, there's always a city" so if this also means we'll get more Shock games, I'm cool with it.
To be clear, I think this is a great game, but to see some describing it as genius? I just can't see it. It is, however, way better than any of these modern shooters, and that's kind of obvious. Since it's a lot easier to ***** about things than it is to actually be nice, here's a list of things that I loved about this game:
1. Elizabeth. For quite some time, I couldn't see all the hype, but I found myself caring for her eventually. She's great.
2. The vertical fights, they were fairly large battle arenas, going around them riding those skylines is great fun.
3. The songs. Specially that "by and by" song, never heard it, I don't know who sings the original, but it's beautiful in this game. The actors recording it during the credits was cool.
4. The quiet moments in the city, and the city itself, when I can see that I'm in a flying city.
5. The asylum level towards the end was the creepiest place in Columbia and I loved it.
6. The way Songbird was used and the way he died. The most emotional moment in the game for me.
2. The vertical fights, they were fairly large battle arenas, going around them riding those skylines is great fun.
3. The songs. Specially that "by and by" song, never heard it, I don't know who sings the original, but it's beautiful in this game. The actors recording it during the credits was cool.
4. The quiet moments in the city, and the city itself, when I can see that I'm in a flying city.
5. The asylum level towards the end was the creepiest place in Columbia and I loved it.
6. The way Songbird was used and the way he died. The most emotional moment in the game for me.
I know this is going to sound like I'm lying, but I called the ending. I called EVERYTHING about the ending, including all the twists by the time DeWitt first meets Elizabeth.
That said, it's a brilliant game. The combat ranges between average and decent and the Vigors, while a nice change, felt decidedly underwhelming, but everything else was absolutely outstanding. The story was brilliant, the characterization of Booker and Elizabeth were both top-notch, the voice-acting was astounding and the game even had some really funny and creepy moment every now and then.
The ending was also a real joy, even though, as I said, it wasn't all that surprising for me, but on the other hand it was beautifully foreshadowed with meticulous detail. And if we are at the ending, I both loved it and hated it at the same time, as it appeared to be an optimistic one (don't forget to watch the stinger after the credits), but at the same time it turns really, really sad when you think about one specific aspect of it.
Namely, that Elizabeth is removed from existence alongside with Comstock, so even if Anna grows up, she would never become the girl we grew attached to...
That said, it's a great game, I would give it a ten out of ten without a second thought.
That said, it's a brilliant game. The combat ranges between average and decent and the Vigors, while a nice change, felt decidedly underwhelming, but everything else was absolutely outstanding. The story was brilliant, the characterization of Booker and Elizabeth were both top-notch, the voice-acting was astounding and the game even had some really funny and creepy moment every now and then.
The ending was also a real joy, even though, as I said, it wasn't all that surprising for me, but on the other hand it was beautifully foreshadowed with meticulous detail. And if we are at the ending, I both loved it and hated it at the same time, as it appeared to be an optimistic one (don't forget to watch the stinger after the credits), but at the same time it turns really, really sad when you think about one specific aspect of it.
Namely, that Elizabeth is removed from existence alongside with Comstock, so even if Anna grows up, she would never become the girl we grew attached to...
That said, it's a great game, I would give it a ten out of ten without a second thought.
Fair pointPink Gregory said:
But all this praise is really starting to piss me off. It's good, I'm not saying it's not good; But we can do so much better.
KayFargoDog said:
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lbhwzeVUwa1qechszo1_500.jpg
http://wallpaperscraft.com/image/deus_ex_adam_jensen_cigarette_armchair_smoke_hands_19831_1680x1050.jpg
There we go; I know, dirty cyberpunk Untermensch, off too the camps with me.
Okay, first of TLDRers, this review isn't for you. I don't know if you'll like the game or not. The shooting bits are fun but actual challenge is few and far between. But it is pretty, so if you like shooty fun with pretty vistas and stuff, buy it.
If you're like me and need a bit of meat; it's there, but not in the places all the reviews are saying. Still it's got my recommendation, if only so you can add your voice to mine.
From here on in, anything with a spoiler tag is heavy spoilers, like ridiculously so. Don't click them if you haven't played the game.
Alright, so its a good game; but is it ten outta fukken ten? Hell no. The amount of praise that this has gotten around the industry feels more like the quality starved pleas rather than legitimate praise.
I have played it, before we start. I've pretty much denied myself the hype so I went into it blind.
From a mechanical stand point I know that we all hate escort missions; but the fact that Elizabeth is completely ignored by the enemy is a bit off putting. It's a bit like she wasn't there. we could attribute to her abilities but still; it felt off. I'd rather not have one long escort mission but it would be nice if the enemy NPCs would at least acknowledge her existence and give one or two shots in her direction once in a while; Then I could at least pretend that I was protecting her. But, as it was, Elizabeth's existence in the world felt a little disjointed.
The problem escort missions isn't that you have to worry about someone; its more that that someone has poor AI, is unhelpful, or we don't care about them at all and the escort mission has no emotional weight. Or some combination of the three. Now I didn't care about Elizabeth, that's another issue entirely, but the fact that the combat AI ignored her broke the immersion. This is a shame as the game play has some really solid, unique ideas in it too.
This took most of the tension out of the game, and created a disjoint between game play and narrative, which, again, is such a shame as they nailed it in other places. I know, "shitty escort mission", but it would have been a lot more tense if you had to keep her in your peripheral vision. The way you do a good escort mission is make us care about the character we're protecting and don't make them stupid. If Tell Tail's The Walking Dead had been in a similar format I don't think any of us would mind escorting Clementine around; 'specially if she chucked us ammo when we needed it.
This took most of the tension out of the game, and created a disjoint between game play and narrative, which, again, is such a shame as they nailed it in other places. I know, "shitty escort mission", but it would have been a lot more tense if you had to keep her in your peripheral vision. The way you do a good escort mission is make us care about the character we're protecting and don't make them stupid. If Tell Tail's The Walking Dead had been in a similar format I don't think any of us would mind escorting Clementine around; 'specially if she chucked us ammo when we needed it.
I felt there was a bit of a peculiar pacing when it came to Character Arcs that really dropped me out of the game.
Dewitt get's Liz to follow him by finding out she has "Dreams of seeing Paris", bit cliche, but okay, its 1912 and all naive educated young girls from 1912 want to run away to Paris. Then over the course of a few chapters Dewitt does actually explain that he's in debt with some people, he explains that these people have hired him to get her out. Now, Elizabeth is not stupid; in fact they go out of their way to make this quite clear. She's naive but she's a fast learner. Was she really surprised when Dewitt set a course for New York?
I did like the crocodile tear bit; "wow, stellar voice acting!" I said as Dewitt moved over to comfort Elizabeth... and then she smacks Dewitt with a wrench, "huh, so it was meant to sound fake, there you go!".
Now we could write it off as she did know and was playing Dewitt the whole time, but the issue that you have there is that you've characterised this person as naive and for good reason, she's had little contact with any other human being. There should have been little signs if nothing else that she was doubting Dewitt's intentions because she'd be a poor liar, you've got the VA talent to pull it off, you've put half your animation budget into Elizabeth's eyes... you know? Considering how subtle you are (that's sarcasm) with the themes of the game, you could of helped us out any more if that was you intent.
Whatever the reason the character shift seemed so jarring, be it failure to show it in the animations and voice over or because the writers can't write a rational character arc it seemed it was contrived all for one cliche line of dialogue.
"You are a thug Mr Dewitt"
At that moment my immersion was irrevocably dropped, and because Elizabeth was now a tool for cliche set pieces and combat I just stopped caring about her as a person and started thinking of her as something akin to the motion tracker in Halo.
I did like the crocodile tear bit; "wow, stellar voice acting!" I said as Dewitt moved over to comfort Elizabeth... and then she smacks Dewitt with a wrench, "huh, so it was meant to sound fake, there you go!".
Now we could write it off as she did know and was playing Dewitt the whole time, but the issue that you have there is that you've characterised this person as naive and for good reason, she's had little contact with any other human being. There should have been little signs if nothing else that she was doubting Dewitt's intentions because she'd be a poor liar, you've got the VA talent to pull it off, you've put half your animation budget into Elizabeth's eyes... you know? Considering how subtle you are (that's sarcasm) with the themes of the game, you could of helped us out any more if that was you intent.
Whatever the reason the character shift seemed so jarring, be it failure to show it in the animations and voice over or because the writers can't write a rational character arc it seemed it was contrived all for one cliche line of dialogue.
"You are a thug Mr Dewitt"
At that moment my immersion was irrevocably dropped, and because Elizabeth was now a tool for cliche set pieces and combat I just stopped caring about her as a person and started thinking of her as something akin to the motion tracker in Halo.
What initially seemed like "subtle"(I use the word losely) symbolism, like in the original Bio Shock, became insultingly overt. I'll admit that the Objectivist Libertarian Dystopia of the original Bio Shock went over my head because I was doing Lit and was sick of plot analysis at the time, but who's the target audience of this? A lot of the exposition about the symbolism happens when you hang around an area as well, so its like the designers of these exposition pieces were like.
Focus Tester: "Hey rather than let the player come to his own conclusion about what we're alluding to, lets just tell them!"
World Builder: "Well, what if they just move on? I mean we can't break gameplay for my metaphorical self gratification."
FT: "Then he's probably just into the gameplay and not into the themes we're trying to explain."
WB: "But the guy who's hanging around gets exposition, the guy who's trying to take this world I've created, and soak it all up?"
FT: "Well we have to make sure they all get your message!"
WB: "By telling them what to think about what we're showing them? Do you get the subtext? Are you being meta or something?"
Character Writer: "Hey, we could make Elizabeth make the observations! It would re-enforce that she's educated hey!"
The Ubermensch: "You get out, I've already explained why you're a failure. Just go"
WB: "Do what you think, you have my notes, just give me my money."
My example is the Battle Bay chapter. First warning sign was when tweedledee and tweedledum offer you the choice of broach Elizabeth puts on her collar, "The bird or the cage?". Why I do say chaps; how subtle and deep! Elizabeth then says "Which one Mr Dewitt? I like the bird but there's something about the cage I really like!". Elizabeth's dialogue wasn't that bad; it showed that while she was glad to get out, she was already nostalgic for that gilded cage. I do like the couple lost in space time too, they were one of the highlights of the game. And by it's self it wasn't that bad, it was quite overt but it wasn't spelt out.
I chose bird, and granted given there could be an in game metaphor about caging the metal bird, but at that stage the robot bird hadn't been established enough, and while I haven't seen what happens if you pick "Cage" if the argument is that some dialogue changes and Elizabeth doesn't ask you to kill her if she's about to be taken again... well that's a bit of a poor position.
But you know what would be good; if the dialogue during that scene changes depending on whether or not you kill the captain guy. If you killed him; Dewitt says "yes" with out any hesitation, if you spared him Dewitt avoids giving a solid answer.
Later, when Fink power orb fails just after the lock picking tutorial, you're wandering around an exhibit and there is a little mock up display of Columbia. Elizabeth says something along the lines of "Teach the children war and duty and even in their old age they will fight for you". It felt like the writers were going "LOOK, LOOK AT THIS! THIS IS FASCISM! FUKKEN 'MURICA! LOOK HOW DEEP WE'RE BEING!"
Oh, but the really bit problem was it messed up the immersion set up by the tutorial level; which was amazing and I'll get to that. But one part in particular, just after you get out of the monastery theirs a large statue of the antagonist. In it's shade a mother was sitting with her boy and she says "It's not about whether or not you like it, it's your duty to go". It keeps building; you get a sense that these people are being dehumanised, living in a Steampunk Orwellian Dystopia. The fact that they outright had to say it I felt was an insult to my intelligence and I stopped paying attention to a lot of the world building. If they were just going to spell everything out for me why should I waste the effort?
Which was a real shame considering the world building was one of the best parts.
And I was right too.
The part at Fink industries? I called the ghetto the instant I saw that the animations on the men scrubbing the deck were in unison, and almost called word for word what one of Finks announcements were.
"If anyone tells you 'You're being taken for a ride' you turn around and you tell him; I ain't no fool! I'm a Fink man!"
Yes, I get it, this society is dehumanising people, thank you! You know what would work better? Like if everyone felt a little off, like they were all just a bit robotic, but not quite, firmly in the uncanny valley. You know, like you did in the TUTORIAL LEVEL. Who ever was in charge of that level, PUT THAT ON YOUR RESUME. You put the rest of the game to shame
I chose bird, and granted given there could be an in game metaphor about caging the metal bird, but at that stage the robot bird hadn't been established enough, and while I haven't seen what happens if you pick "Cage" if the argument is that some dialogue changes and Elizabeth doesn't ask you to kill her if she's about to be taken again... well that's a bit of a poor position.
But you know what would be good; if the dialogue during that scene changes depending on whether or not you kill the captain guy. If you killed him; Dewitt says "yes" with out any hesitation, if you spared him Dewitt avoids giving a solid answer.
Later, when Fink power orb fails just after the lock picking tutorial, you're wandering around an exhibit and there is a little mock up display of Columbia. Elizabeth says something along the lines of "Teach the children war and duty and even in their old age they will fight for you". It felt like the writers were going "LOOK, LOOK AT THIS! THIS IS FASCISM! FUKKEN 'MURICA! LOOK HOW DEEP WE'RE BEING!"
Oh, but the really bit problem was it messed up the immersion set up by the tutorial level; which was amazing and I'll get to that. But one part in particular, just after you get out of the monastery theirs a large statue of the antagonist. In it's shade a mother was sitting with her boy and she says "It's not about whether or not you like it, it's your duty to go". It keeps building; you get a sense that these people are being dehumanised, living in a Steampunk Orwellian Dystopia. The fact that they outright had to say it I felt was an insult to my intelligence and I stopped paying attention to a lot of the world building. If they were just going to spell everything out for me why should I waste the effort?
Which was a real shame considering the world building was one of the best parts.
And I was right too.
The part at Fink industries? I called the ghetto the instant I saw that the animations on the men scrubbing the deck were in unison, and almost called word for word what one of Finks announcements were.
"If anyone tells you 'You're being taken for a ride' you turn around and you tell him; I ain't no fool! I'm a Fink man!"
Yes, I get it, this society is dehumanising people, thank you! You know what would work better? Like if everyone felt a little off, like they were all just a bit robotic, but not quite, firmly in the uncanny valley. You know, like you did in the TUTORIAL LEVEL. Who ever was in charge of that level, PUT THAT ON YOUR RESUME. You put the rest of the game to shame
Now on to the ending. Yes it was a Gainax ending, but Evangelion is my second favourite anime. Yes; the time shenanigans were a bit messy and it is my belief that Andrew Hussie should be the only one allowed to use aforementioned time shenanigans but they weren't that bad; I was a little peeved about how the time loop wasn't completed properly and the entire game's events became meaningless, but I'm to used to Hussie. There was also a bit of postmodernist meta philosophy there to, so I'd appreciate it if the writers had proved they had the right to wield it, like Hussie.
Have I told you about Homestuck?
Let me tell you about Homestuck;
BACK WHEN I PLAYED SGRUB, I SMOKED WEED ERRY DAY
I CHEATED EVERY QUEST
AND SNORTED ALL THE YAY
http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/517/604/377.gif
Thing is I had called what was going on, I knew Dewitt and Comstock were the same. After Dewitt smashed Comstocks head against the bird feeder, you know what the first thing I did after I got control back? Checked his hands for the AD scar. Now you could say that he had a robot hand or time shenanigans fixed it, but we're not told that and there is no precedence for realistic looking mechanical limbs so that really messed up the ending for me.
If I'm looking for these details and all you had to do was make it so Comstock wore gloves, you sir, are a strange man who doesn't want to be taken seriously. It is again, a shame because the game does a lot to put you in to Dewitt's head, and Dewitt is a man who looks for the truth in things. They could of had a moment where he's about to take off the glove but turns to cowardice; not wanting to know. It would have been obvious but its better than omitting that detail, and I have to think it was an on purpose omission, because as I said the world building has phenomenal detail, something like this would not be missed.
Perhaps it was a metaphor thing? Dewitt is responsible for Comstock's existence and they are connected ala Cloud Atlas/butterfly effect? If so murdering Comstock as a child would still end everything; Yes it's a bit morbid but you can't make the argument "There will be another!". Comstock was a special kind of lunatic.
Unfortunately that kind of lunatic has the seat of power in the western world, so again, Dewitts death in either case is futile.
Also the fact that your memories aren't actually your memories trope in Bioshock... It was good the first time; don't get me started on how much I love the scene where kill Ryan "A Man Chooses, A Slave Obeys!"... But it's over done now.
Have I told you about Homestuck?
Let me tell you about Homestuck;
BACK WHEN I PLAYED SGRUB, I SMOKED WEED ERRY DAY
I CHEATED EVERY QUEST
AND SNORTED ALL THE YAY
http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/517/604/377.gif
Thing is I had called what was going on, I knew Dewitt and Comstock were the same. After Dewitt smashed Comstocks head against the bird feeder, you know what the first thing I did after I got control back? Checked his hands for the AD scar. Now you could say that he had a robot hand or time shenanigans fixed it, but we're not told that and there is no precedence for realistic looking mechanical limbs so that really messed up the ending for me.
If I'm looking for these details and all you had to do was make it so Comstock wore gloves, you sir, are a strange man who doesn't want to be taken seriously. It is again, a shame because the game does a lot to put you in to Dewitt's head, and Dewitt is a man who looks for the truth in things. They could of had a moment where he's about to take off the glove but turns to cowardice; not wanting to know. It would have been obvious but its better than omitting that detail, and I have to think it was an on purpose omission, because as I said the world building has phenomenal detail, something like this would not be missed.
Perhaps it was a metaphor thing? Dewitt is responsible for Comstock's existence and they are connected ala Cloud Atlas/butterfly effect? If so murdering Comstock as a child would still end everything; Yes it's a bit morbid but you can't make the argument "There will be another!". Comstock was a special kind of lunatic.
Unfortunately that kind of lunatic has the seat of power in the western world, so again, Dewitts death in either case is futile.
Also the fact that your memories aren't actually your memories trope in Bioshock... It was good the first time; don't get me started on how much I love the scene where kill Ryan "A Man Chooses, A Slave Obeys!"... But it's over done now.
Now thats out of the way... the good things:
The gameplay is fun, AI's pretty smart, it's not as difficult as the escapist reviewer say's it is and the tension is dropped away because of the Bioshocks trademarked revive system.
Infact most tension I had was the fear of being dropped out of the game and having to sit through the symbolic exposition again! Yes, say what you want about my rig; 20 AI on the screen with DX 11 effects, running at ultra settings and getting 100 FPS, while walking down an empty corridor with about 20 assets on the screen it drops down to about 3 FPS? Yes, my rig, okay.
Wait, this was supposed to be the good part!
Gameplay's good! It's accessible! Even though it would still be accessible if people played it on easy but hey!
World building is phenomenal; you can tell the team that did it loved what they were doing.
As I've said, the tutorial is perfect. So well designed I didn't even realise I was in a tutorial until I was just about done and said "Hang on, I just learnt the basics of combat and how Plasmids work in this game, good thing; it's been a while since I played Bioshock" (didn't know they were called vigors yet, well I did from the snake oil man, but hadn't made the connection).
Forgetting the light house, that wasn't all that special, aside from the notes probably being written by Tweeledee and Tweedledum. No the part is when you enter the monastery, the fact that the water covered steps were a bit unsafe looking did little... Basically, due to the themes of the game they used the fact that NPCs haven't left the uncanny valley quite well; it was all off putting and had a very Orwellian feel to it. Then you exit the river and after your baptismal, everyone's praying, chanting words. As a former Christian I found this very creepy. Pagan, before you start. You can blame the odd weather on me american's, I forgot to sacrifice a goat on the equinox.
You go out of the monastery and over hear a few conversations and you subtly get a feel for the politics in the world, the mother talking to her son; telling him it's his duty to serve, the guy talking about the state of affairs in Columbia.
Dewitt also has a bit of a monologue where he tells us he's an atheist, or rather doesn't worship god. Splendid, we're character building.
Then you come across a shop with some health items in it; there's a basket with a note saying "Honour system". This was brilliant because you have an opportunity to decide what kind of man Dewitt is. He's already noticed how dehumanised the inhabitants of Columbia are, does he accept this and steal from the basket? Does he just take what he needs and leave the basket? Or, and I tripped out when I saw this, does he put some money back in the basket? It was such a small thing but did a lot to attach me to the character, and helped me forget about Nathan Drake. Gold Star who ever decided to include that. Unfortunately; I ended up stealing out of the basket anyway because my new mouse wasn't set up properly, but that's my fault, not the games.
Companies that make their money off story, Bioware, Bethesda, Square Enix, I'm looking at you, this thing, detail, it's important.
Then we go to a fair; where you have the option of using guns and vigors to play games. There's even a tent that explains how record mechanic of exposition works, and for foreshadows one of the most annoying enemy's in the game. What I said about the tension being low is true aside from when a handy man was on the field.
You just taught me how to shoot, how the shooting mechanics work, and how vigors work; all while building the world and giving it character. Well done, I can't tell you how perfect this was.
Forgetting the light house, that wasn't all that special, aside from the notes probably being written by Tweeledee and Tweedledum. No the part is when you enter the monastery, the fact that the water covered steps were a bit unsafe looking did little... Basically, due to the themes of the game they used the fact that NPCs haven't left the uncanny valley quite well; it was all off putting and had a very Orwellian feel to it. Then you exit the river and after your baptismal, everyone's praying, chanting words. As a former Christian I found this very creepy. Pagan, before you start. You can blame the odd weather on me american's, I forgot to sacrifice a goat on the equinox.
You go out of the monastery and over hear a few conversations and you subtly get a feel for the politics in the world, the mother talking to her son; telling him it's his duty to serve, the guy talking about the state of affairs in Columbia.
Dewitt also has a bit of a monologue where he tells us he's an atheist, or rather doesn't worship god. Splendid, we're character building.
Then you come across a shop with some health items in it; there's a basket with a note saying "Honour system". This was brilliant because you have an opportunity to decide what kind of man Dewitt is. He's already noticed how dehumanised the inhabitants of Columbia are, does he accept this and steal from the basket? Does he just take what he needs and leave the basket? Or, and I tripped out when I saw this, does he put some money back in the basket? It was such a small thing but did a lot to attach me to the character, and helped me forget about Nathan Drake. Gold Star who ever decided to include that. Unfortunately; I ended up stealing out of the basket anyway because my new mouse wasn't set up properly, but that's my fault, not the games.
Companies that make their money off story, Bioware, Bethesda, Square Enix, I'm looking at you, this thing, detail, it's important.
Then we go to a fair; where you have the option of using guns and vigors to play games. There's even a tent that explains how record mechanic of exposition works, and for foreshadows one of the most annoying enemy's in the game. What I said about the tension being low is true aside from when a handy man was on the field.
You just taught me how to shoot, how the shooting mechanics work, and how vigors work; all while building the world and giving it character. Well done, I can't tell you how perfect this was.
Now the moral choices have gotten a bit of flak, mainly because they don't do anything in the game. I cannot stress that they are good BECAUSE of this. We're beyond binary interpretations of good and evil. There is a part where you throw the ball at the mixed race couple no matter what you choose a guard grabs you hand and points you out as the "False Shepard".
Sorry chaps, this was brilliant. They reinforced the fact that Dewitt had to blend in with the inhabitants through his monologue. There's about fifty brainwashed denizens surrounding you that, if you decide to go against their opinions, will descend upon you. In my very correct opinion, Dewitt was a logical man just wanting to get the job done. Yes, it was a little messy, but their fate was sealed; no point in risking myself.
So you decide to throw at the couple, and rationalise it quickly. As you pull back to throw a guard grabs you and accuses you of being the false "Shepard" by the scar on your hand and, as they say; shit goes tits up yo.
The way this happened was brilliant, because you knew that even if you chose differently the same thing was going to happen; it was the act of winding up for the throw that exposed you, not the throwing itself. This pulled the rational for throwing the ball at the couple from under your feet; and you have the potential for an intense moment of refection.
Let us move to the bird and the cage broach; you can decide, again, what kind of person Dewitt is. The cage pendant is made from gold and Liz expressed that she liked it, The bird is silver but symbolises freedom. Is Dewitt purely objective (By jobe, it's gold!) or does he have a sentimental side?
Shooting the Captain guy, again, is he Objective? What's his opinion on human life? We're also given a bit of context before this and we can take this into consideration if we choose.
Yes, you might only get a little bit of different dialogue out of it, and its undermined by A the choice in Voice Actor and B the sloppy character development, but who ever wrote the morality dilemmas, its not their fault. They did a very good job.
We're past light or dark side points now, we can make our own judgements about what's moral and what's not. Beyond Good and Evil.
Sorry chaps, this was brilliant. They reinforced the fact that Dewitt had to blend in with the inhabitants through his monologue. There's about fifty brainwashed denizens surrounding you that, if you decide to go against their opinions, will descend upon you. In my very correct opinion, Dewitt was a logical man just wanting to get the job done. Yes, it was a little messy, but their fate was sealed; no point in risking myself.
So you decide to throw at the couple, and rationalise it quickly. As you pull back to throw a guard grabs you and accuses you of being the false "Shepard" by the scar on your hand and, as they say; shit goes tits up yo.
The way this happened was brilliant, because you knew that even if you chose differently the same thing was going to happen; it was the act of winding up for the throw that exposed you, not the throwing itself. This pulled the rational for throwing the ball at the couple from under your feet; and you have the potential for an intense moment of refection.
Let us move to the bird and the cage broach; you can decide, again, what kind of person Dewitt is. The cage pendant is made from gold and Liz expressed that she liked it, The bird is silver but symbolises freedom. Is Dewitt purely objective (By jobe, it's gold!) or does he have a sentimental side?
Shooting the Captain guy, again, is he Objective? What's his opinion on human life? We're also given a bit of context before this and we can take this into consideration if we choose.
Yes, you might only get a little bit of different dialogue out of it, and its undermined by A the choice in Voice Actor and B the sloppy character development, but who ever wrote the morality dilemmas, its not their fault. They did a very good job.
We're past light or dark side points now, we can make our own judgements about what's moral and what's not. Beyond Good and Evil.
And that's it. In conclusion this is the bare minimum we should expect from a story driven game. You should buy it but please stop proclaiming it as the Citizen Kane of games. Yes it's the most coherent narrative we've seen in a while, but the Citizen Kane of gaming will always go to Star Trek Voyager; Elite Force, and don't say "Well then it's the god father", because no, that goes to GTA4. Sleeping Dogs gets God Father two if its is better, which admittedly I have yet to play, Half Life gets Star Trek the Motion Picture (from me that's a complement) and Half Life 2 gets The Wrath of Khan.
Please, consumers, buy it but demand more. Only that way will we get the equivalent of Neon Genesis Evangelion for games.
In the video gaming industry that I want, it would get a 7 out of 10