Since there were a lot of people in the impressions thread with the same perspective, I thought I'd share. I didn't like the original Bioshock. It came highly recommended on its strength of atmosphere, storytelling, and gameplay, and I didn't like any of them. I thought it was the most overhyped waste of sixty bucks I'd ever spent.
So I was understandably hesitant about Bioshock Infinite, despite everything about it looking right up my alley and the reviews being spectacular. After watching about twenty minutes of a friend playing it, I picked it up. That was 24 hours ago; I have now finished it. Let me put it this way - if I ranked every game I'd ever bought, Bioshock would be near the bottom of the stack, and Infinite would be on top.
The claustrophobic environments are gone, for one. Bioshock felt like a series of corridors stapled together, one long winding tunnel. Infinite, by comparison, cleverly uses both space and backstory to create large, open environments where the invisible walls feel justified (ie, the street that connects to this one flew away).
On the subject of atmosphere, it's also much better. The lighting is bright enough to actually see what you're doing, there is little of the empty backtracking that plagued Bioshock, and the populated world imparts a sense of reality that was previously lacking. Additionally, maybe it was because I know how Objectivist societies end, but Rapture's demise seemed utterly predictable to me, to the point of being a foregone conclusion. Bioshock expected me to be shocked by it, and it fell flat. By comparison, Infinite's shock and horror comes from watching a naive and innocent girl affected and transformed by the collapse of society - but at the same time, she never comes across as weak. The game also builds an investment into its characters before asking you to care about them, whereas Bioshock gave us ten seconds of a plane ride as characterization and called it quits.
On the subject of gameplay: this just isn't the same game. It's much faster, throwing hordes of weaker enemies at you backed up by a few heavies rather than a few obnoxiously resilient lunatics. The guns feel weightier and more powerful, there is enough ammunition around, and there are a wealth of creative enemies and tactics in play.
And finally, the way the game handles its story is masterful. It may not have quite the subtlety of film yet, but if anyone is still looking for gaming's Citizen Kane moment, may I present a contender? It really is that good. Even if you see everything coming, the quality of execution should still blow you away. I know I'm going to need a few more hours to process what I've just seen.
I hope that helps everyone who wanted an opinion from someone who found Bioshock disappointing. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go play it again.
So I was understandably hesitant about Bioshock Infinite, despite everything about it looking right up my alley and the reviews being spectacular. After watching about twenty minutes of a friend playing it, I picked it up. That was 24 hours ago; I have now finished it. Let me put it this way - if I ranked every game I'd ever bought, Bioshock would be near the bottom of the stack, and Infinite would be on top.
The claustrophobic environments are gone, for one. Bioshock felt like a series of corridors stapled together, one long winding tunnel. Infinite, by comparison, cleverly uses both space and backstory to create large, open environments where the invisible walls feel justified (ie, the street that connects to this one flew away).
On the subject of atmosphere, it's also much better. The lighting is bright enough to actually see what you're doing, there is little of the empty backtracking that plagued Bioshock, and the populated world imparts a sense of reality that was previously lacking. Additionally, maybe it was because I know how Objectivist societies end, but Rapture's demise seemed utterly predictable to me, to the point of being a foregone conclusion. Bioshock expected me to be shocked by it, and it fell flat. By comparison, Infinite's shock and horror comes from watching a naive and innocent girl affected and transformed by the collapse of society - but at the same time, she never comes across as weak. The game also builds an investment into its characters before asking you to care about them, whereas Bioshock gave us ten seconds of a plane ride as characterization and called it quits.
On the subject of gameplay: this just isn't the same game. It's much faster, throwing hordes of weaker enemies at you backed up by a few heavies rather than a few obnoxiously resilient lunatics. The guns feel weightier and more powerful, there is enough ammunition around, and there are a wealth of creative enemies and tactics in play.
And finally, the way the game handles its story is masterful. It may not have quite the subtlety of film yet, but if anyone is still looking for gaming's Citizen Kane moment, may I present a contender? It really is that good. Even if you see everything coming, the quality of execution should still blow you away. I know I'm going to need a few more hours to process what I've just seen.
I hope that helps everyone who wanted an opinion from someone who found Bioshock disappointing. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go play it again.