So, I've finally given Bioshock Infinite a chance. [SPOILERS]

[ninja666]

I got recommended this game by many people, stating it's something I'd like, even despite not liking the original Bioshock, so I decided to give it a go. So far I'm not enjoying it as much as I would've liked to, though. Sure, it's entirely different from the first Bioshock, and that made me not outright hate this game. The problem is, I find the combat in general to be extremely underwhelming and simply boring - none of the guns or vigors feel powerful enough to be satsifying to use and the game often tries to compensate for lack of decent AI by throwing stronger, more bullet sponge-y versions of enemies, like the Firemen, Motorized Patriots, or Handymen in order to fuck you up when you're doing too good. I don't have anything against stronger enemies when they're thrown in to add to the challenge and are balanced correctly. This game, however, doesn't really manage to do it correctly.

So, since I don't really enjoy the combat, the story is the only reason I keep playing. I don't really know if it's worth it, though. Currently I'm at the beginning of the Comstock House, right after the Vox Populi revolution and deaths of both Fink and Fitzroy. However, I don't really feel like I'm engaged at all - the game just goes on, events happen, and here I am asking myself constantly: "Why should I even care?". That's right, I don't care about any character I've met so far, Elizabeth included, or any of the story events occuring. Does it get better over time and there's a moment where you genuinely start to get involved, or is it one of those situations, where I should care because the game tells me to do so, and if I happen not to, the whole experience's ruined for me? Please keep your answers as spoiler-free as possible, of course.

 

[tippy2k2]

I can't believe you got THAT far into a game that you really don't seem to like...(if you're where I think you are, you're about...3/4 the way through the game or so).

If the story hasn't hooked you by now, it's not going to. If you don't enjoy the gameplay and the story is doing nothing for you, you can probably drop the game without worry. Although you're not too far from the ending so it might be worth finishing off just to finish it off...

Note: If I'm wrong about where he is, people can feel free to correct me but you're near the end if I'm not mistaken.

 

[ninja666]

I can't believe you got THAT far into a game that you really don't seem to like...(if you're where I think you are, you're about...3/4 the way through the game or so).

I really hope you're mistaken. This game can't be THIS short. I've only been playing for, like, 6 hours.

If the story hasn't hooked you by now, it's not going to.

I can't say it didn't get me hooked at all, but what I've seen so far seemed more like a beginning of a story that's about to unfold into something awesome, not the whole thing. Are my expectations too high?

 

[tippy2k2]

I can't believe you got THAT far into a game that you really don't seem to like...(if you're where I think you are, you're about...3/4 the way through the game or so).

I really hope you're mistaken. This game can't be THIS short. I've only been playing for, like, 6 hours.

If the story hasn't hooked you by now, it's not going to.

I can't say it didn't get me hooked at all, but what I've seen so far seemed more like a beginning of a story that's about to unfold into something awesome, not the whole thing. Are my expectations too high?

It's pretty short (10-12 hours seems to be the normal time for people when Googled although I remember it being shorter than that when I played).

Honestly, it may have been too long since I played it so I'm not 100% where you are at. Hopefully some other people will waltz in and help you out a bit more than I did...

I thought the story was good because I liked the characters. Much like "The Last of Us", I feel like if you can't/don't like Elizabeth and Booker, then it's not going to be a very good story.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

You're at the Comstock House? Yeah, you're pretty close to the end of the game there. You may as well finish it. You need to confront something from Elizabeth's past and then see what happens if you fail and then I think you're pretty much done. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it. I loved all three of the games, but yeah, if you didn't like the first one, this one wasn't really going to make you change your mind.

 

[Gladion]

Yes, it can be this short. It's a modern, big-budget first person shooter. 6-8 hours is a given, I think. Not sure why you'd wanna complain about that, anyhow, since you're not exactly enjoying the game that much.

I didn't care too much about the combat myself, but the story's conclusion is easily the best part of the game. So I'd say stick with it.
Can't tell if your expectations are too high, let's just say there's a reason so many people said that this was one of those rare games that made them think long after they beat it. There were a lot of people who were disappointed, though, too. Either way, finish it. If you're gonna skip out on the ending, you could've just skipped the whole thing to begin with. Only thing I can say spoiler-free is that people weren't really banging on about the game because of how much they cared about the characters, it was something else.

 

[The Madman]

I remember you, you're the super nitpicky one from some topic awhile back. It's a shame you still don't seem to have found something to scratch that game itch, hopefully you'll find something eventually if you haven't already.

For what it's worth by the way I'm not a big Infinite fan myself either. Not that I think it's bad or anything but I vastly preferred the decaying art-deco of Bioshock or the clean futuristic look of System Shock 2's hallway over Infinite's colourful and patriotic Americana aesthetics. I also never got nearly as invested as Elizabeth as many other people seem to have so the late game mandatory twist never struck me as all that mind-blowing, nor the ending which without spoiling anything is a sort of comic-book style timey-wimey bit of narrative that put me in more of a Dr. Who mood than any sort of grim existentialism which I suspect is what it was aiming for.

Not a bad game by any stretch mind you, but I can see where you're coming from. Gameplay wasn't anything special either.

Never did play the DLC. Not really sure if they'd interest me given what I mention above, though I have heard they apparently take place in the original Bioshocks setting which seems like it could be neat.

 

[ninja666]

Thanks for the answers. Well, I guess since I'm really that far, I'm gonna get to the end just for the sake of it. I'm not really getting my hopes up, though, and seems like for a good reason. The whole thing is kinda disappointing, though, since I really wanted to like this game, but it didn't let me.

 

[MysticSlayer]

I can't believe you got THAT far into a game that you really don't seem to like...(if you're where I think you are, you're about...3/4 the way through the game or so).

I really hope you're mistaken. This game can't be THIS short. I've only been playing for, like, 6 hours.

The game is only about 7-12 hours long depending on which difficulty you play at and how much time you spend exploring, listening to conversations, and analyzing the environment. Given where you are, I'd imagine you have about 2-3 hours left at most.

I can't say it didn't get me hooked at all, but what I've seen so far seemed more like a beginning of a story that's about to unfold into something awesome, not the whole thing. Are my expectations too high?

Well, pretty much the whole story is setting up for the 5-10 minutes that follow the final battle. It's ridiculous how much they try to cram into that ending. That's not to say that it feels like they ran out of money and just had to throw in the ending prematurely, but I still don't get why they didn't pace some of that stuff out better.

Anyways, with the exception of lacking any interesting characters, I found Infinite to pretty much have the same strengths and weaknesses of the first game in terms of storytelling. The pacing was awkward and it lacked any good overarching story tying the areas together (granted, BioShock did have that plot twist). But it still built up its world very well and had an excellent commentary about video game storytelling. Still, I can see how all the praise both games receive would give the expectation that the story was actually among the best ever told when in reality it really just has a very smart commentary strewn throughout it.

But if you don't really care about the characters at the point you are at, I doubt you'll come to care about them. If anything, I'd imagine you'll probably just start to dislike Booker and Elizabeth at this point. With that said, though, I still sort of recommend playing through the game a second time after seeing the ending. Once you realize that the only thing good about the story is its commentary, then following that commentary rather than trying to enjoy the characters or story makes the game much more enjoyable. Well, it did for me at least.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

The whole thing is kinda disappointing, though, since I really wanted to like this game, but it didn't let me.

I hear you. Whenever something doesn't comply to my particular tastes, I like to think it's actively preventing me from enjoying it, rather than that it's just my cup of tea.

For instance, I WANTED to enjoy coconut, but it doesn't LET me. Doesn't matter how many times I taste it, it just willfully resists my efforts to find it delicious. Fucking coconut.

OT: Just stop now. It's a character driven game. If you hate the characters, you're not going to find anything else to get excited about. And it'll spare us yet another "I didn't like (popular game)" thread.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I really don't get why people find the combat so poor. Compared to the standard modern military shooter, Infinite has a lot more going for it IMO. You can just use power weapons pretty much the whole game as I do agree the standard automatic guns in Infinite suck. Even in my 1999 playthrough not buying ammo, I used the sniper rifle and shotgun like the whole time. The volley gun was the shit against the Handymen. The vigors were pretty interesting especially some of the upgrades and combinations. Once I was just basically standing there watching enemies die from fire crows, then becoming a crow trap, other enemies tripping those traps, and that repeating. I had several times the framerate dropping just due to everything going off. I found Infinite to be much more similar to say Borderlands in gameplay than a standard FPS and we don't really get that many FPSs built around powers (and those rails were fun) and such so Infinite for me was a good break from standard shooter fair. If you don't like the combat, drop it to easy and finish it as you are pretty far. Once you go to rescue Elizabeth, the story picks up. I enjoyed the overall story very much although there is a rather large plothole (that doesn't affect the core story) in the the game (it can be explained by changing your perspective on what exactly Elizabeth is doing). Infinite kinda has the same kinda large chunk of a "sidequest" that the original Bioshock has, that whole stuff with getting the guns and all that. Anyways, I kinda went all over the place but I'd say finish it quickly just to experience the story.

 

[ninja666]

I really don't get why people find the combat so poor. Compared to the standard modern military shooter, Infinite has a lot more going for it IMO.

I didn't find the combat that poor, but rather unsatisfying. You don't feel the power of the weapons you're using and therefore it makes all of them feel weak. Mostly the sound selection is at fault there - they're too quiet and dull. Louder shot sounds and explosions, and reload sounds with more clanking would've made it so much better. Not perfect by any means, but much more enjoyable.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I really don't get why people find the combat so poor. Compared to the standard modern military shooter, Infinite has a lot more going for it IMO.

I didn't find the combat that poor, but rather unsatisfying. You don't feel the power of the weapons you're using and therefore it makes all of them feel weak. Mostly the sound selection is at fault there - they're too quiet and dull. Louder shot sounds and explosions, and reload sounds with more clanking would've made it so much better. Not perfect by any means, but much more enjoyable.

I really did love that headshot sound effect though, especially on the shotgun.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I had the same issue with the combat; just bullet-hose enemies untill they got wet enough to fall down.

And the story was seemingly doing the same thing the first Bioshock did, where it spends hours referencing a side character through audio logs, and then when you finally meet this person you immediately kill them.

I got to about the Chinese weapon smith till I couldn't be bothered anymore.

 

[gigastar]

Really the bullet sponges arent that much of an issue so long as you have a vigor or two to throw at them. Firemen and the crow guys can be both be stunned by nearly any vigors theyre not using, and Motorized Patriots can be stunned on the cheap by lightning and theyre the only ones that have a weakpoint.

The only exceptions are the Handymen, but you only fight like 2(?) of them in the main story and you can usually find a rocket launcher in the same area you encounter them.

 

[Shymer]

I played the whole of Bioshock Infinite - something that I couldn't bear to do with the other Bioshock games - so that's something for it. However I can't remember ever really enjoying anything other than some of the scenery and one or two of the story elements. It was worth playing for that - though. Unlike some games it does end and the end is satisfying - it doesn't wimp out and is not afraid of a change in pace.

In recollection it was decent enough. A high quality product and I didn't need it to be much longer than it was. I would finish it if I were you and then move on to find something else.

 

[xdiesp]

What a fine videogame connoisseur you are Ninja666, only you could ever resist the hype of a popular title and be let down because of your oh-so-high standards. Oh man, 6 hours to reach 3/4ths of the game on your first playthrough: what a scandal. I wish I was so elite and forward thinking.

All right, the truth then: I do need capital, and votes. You on the other hand, need hype backlash. Day one, all aboard the hype bandwagon. Six months later, it's the Gamefaqs wasteland where everyone is too savvy and knows better than the previous generation. Realize this: to find others are worse, you ain't better.

 

[Silvanus]

I enjoyed Bioshock Infinite a lot, but I'll readily admit the combat isn't great, even for a single-player FPS. The Handymen in particular are HP-sacks.

It was atmosphere and plot that hooked me in B.I.

 

[deth2munkies]

Have fun with that motherfucking ghost.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

snip

Just out of curiosity, what difficulty are you playing on?