So, what was the big deal about Bioshock? (spoilers)

[Shoggoth2588]

I remember it as being one of the first real FPS titles on the 360 which is probably very wrong of me (I think there was a King Kong and a Call of Duty or two) but I recall it being one of the first actual 'next-gen' FPS titles for that gen. It had really good atmosphere and the plot was really clever for the time too. I liked the shooting and I liked using plasmids: the game felt pretty open-ended with the amount of ways you could kill enemies though there were some methods that worked better than others. I still like the original Bioshock more than the other two entries in the series: Bioshock 2 felt like more of the same but with a heavier emphasis on protecting little sisters. Bioshock 3...it rubbed me completely the wrong way to be honest. I've never ever liked limited inventory in shooters and when you're playing one where a character can make the time-space continuum roll over and play dead it makes me question why Booker can only hold 2 guns at a time. Something about Columbia (that was the floating city, right?) just didn't seem as impressive to me as Rapture.

When it comes to triple-A blockbuster games, I would rate Bioshock much higher than say, The Last of Us but it's not this paragon of perfection that some would make it out to be. As a game, I have more fun with Bioshock than an indie darling like Braid or Undertale though I liked the characters of the later much, much more than any character in any of the Bioshock games I've played.

 

[Zaltys]

I liked the first one but yeah since then other games have certainly gone above and beyond.

I hope I'm not derailing the thread too much, but I have to wonder what those other games are. I must've missed them.

Bioshock was far from perfect, but the athmosphere and immersion were excellent. I think a lot of that was because of the brilliant soundscape and voice acting. And level design that avoided the worst by-the-numbers pitfalls. I haven't played anything since then that's come close to the same level of immersion. Though some (such as Dishonored) excelled in other areas.

 

[stroopwafel]

I liked the first one but yeah since then other games have certainly gone above and beyond.

I hope I'm not derailing the thread too much, but I have to wonder what those other games are. I must've missed them.

Bioshock was far from perfect, but the athmosphere and immersion were excellent. I think a lot of that was because of the brilliant soundscape and voice acting. And level design that avoided the worst by-the-numbers pitfalls. I haven't played anything since then that's come close to the same level of immersion. Though some (such as Dishonored) excelled in other areas.

Bioshock was sold on its serious themes, but the problem was the gameplay itself was too silly for any of those themes to really resonate with me personally. It was a fun playthrough for sure, but I couldn't have cared less about whatever it was trying to tell me, because I was too busy blasting crazy eyed splicers away with ice beams whenever I wasn't hacking vending machines. I was actually more emotionally affected by Gears of War 2 than anything from Bioshock, and that's saying something.

Other more typical examples of games with either exceptional atmosphere or emotionally charged storytelling -

Journey
The Last of Us
Red Dead: Redemption
Dark Souls
Life is Strange
Brother: A Tale of Two Sons
The Walking Dead

 

[Dalisclock]

I'm ok with it. I love the opening level, but after that it feels like the game devolves into "Shoot things, listen to audiologs" until you get to the "Would you kindly" twist which is brilliant.

Unfortunately, it's undermined somewhat by the other "twist" which was pretty much lifted straight out of System Shock 2, so if you'd played that, you were probably noticing a familiar pattern emerging. Even if you hadn't, there are clues that "Atlas" was lying to you, like the transparent "My family is in that submarine. I know you can't see or hear them but trust me, they're in there. Oh nos! It blew up! Now you have to be sympathetic towards my cause!" ploy.

And, of course, after that point, there's not a lot of reason to keep playing. Even the idea of becoming a big daddy is just an excuse for a crappy escort mission, and if the good ending is to be believed, doesn't actually mean anything in the long run.

 

[Zaltys]

Other more typical examples of games with either exceptional atmosphere or emotionally charged storytelling -

Journey
The Last of Us
Red Dead: Redemption
Dark Souls
Life is Strange
Brother: A Tale of Two Sons
The Walking Dead

Ah, I see.
Narrative games in general tend to focus on that, but I meant games that are in the same genre as Bioshock. Well-crafted atmosphere is a rarity in first-person shooters.

I've never played The Last of Us or Red Dead Redemption. And I doubt that I ever will, since I'm not much of a console gamer.

 

[Laughing Man]

No idea, got the game at launch and could never get in to it. Not withstanding the issues the game had at launch I just hated the combat and the 'atmosphere' and 'narration' wasn't enough to pull me in. So I missed Bioshock 2 totally, then along came Bioshock 3 and the hype train somehow, no idea how though, managed to get me caught up again. So I went back reinstalled and played Bioshock 1. This time I pushed on and completed the game and yeah it was alright, a clever twist here or there but nothing that stood out as being amazing. Again I skipped Bioshock 2 and went straight to Bioshock 3 and suffered the exact same problem got part way in to it couldn't find the appeal and quit.

So yeah not really sure what the Big Deal was, you also have to remember that this game came out a few months after the very first Stalker which was fucking amazing, amazing atmosphere that was both scary and drew you in so Bioshock was, for me anyway, completing against a game that was better looking, more engaging and well it was just better in everyway.