Why Haven't I Played Bioshock Infinite?

[Thoughtful_Salt]

Got a half hour to spare? Join me while I do my damn hardest to eviscerate this overrated gem.


here it is. the supposed great game of the year. does it live up to those expectations?

 

[CollinxChu]

Personally, I'd say it does not.

Without writing my own review, I'd say that I wouldn't play the game again. The gameplay was repetitive. Elizabeth was -- for a lack of a better word -- flat. She was reactionary, slightly hysterical, and lacked logic. It doesn't matter how often anything went down, she seemed to be almost bipolar in her treatment of you, then around the end seemed to completely lose any semblance of reality or past, to the point that she seemed to ignore that anything had happened before, or that Booker had any emotional ties to her.

Playing on anything other than easy mode tended to have a die-try-again-die feel to it. Guns felt like peashooters, to the point where I would expend entire guns worth of ammo when facing certain enemies, to the point that fighting them felt like a chore as opposed to fun, or even a tough interaction.

Vigors were horribly unbalanced, they ranged from paltry and outright useless to all powerful weapons that when upgraded could completely obliterate entire swaths of enemies with one fell swoop.

The ending wasn't all that original in a science-fiction perspective. Time travel and multiple universes is a tired and overused concept, and the idea -- almost parallel to Infinite -- isn't all that original. While said works have never achieved the mainstream popularity, they most certainly exist, and in many cases, much more strongly.

Weapon balance was nonexistent, and without going at length, if you didn't use the hand cannon at least once, you missed out. And only idiots use the pistol. Some felt like all-destroying weapons of death that could rend worlds if you gave them a chance, and others felt like the other weapons would make fun of them if they were in the metaphorical school I'm envisioning.

Much of the symbolism and foreshadowing was downright weak, to the point that I figured out most of the twists about halfway through the game, and this is without having scrounged beyond your typical ammo hoarder.

And I'll say it. I didn't like the ending. It seemed to WANT to be heavy handed, but really came across as flat. Booker was unlikeable, Elizabeth, within modern perspective, is a weak character for this day and age.

With regards to your review, you used a lot of buzzwords and relied too heavily on what could be potentially nonexistant impact that players or viewers would have to certain events. Beauty in the eye of the beholder, and all that. And while it's okay to show your opinion, as a REVIEW, as opposed to an opinion piece, the general consensus is that you back up your claims, even if it's with your own experiences.

 

[The_Echo]

I don't really have the time to watch a half-hour video at the moment.

But uh... how do you "eviscerate" something that you apparently haven't played? Moreover, "eviscerate" implies that it's bad, which it is not by any means. Overrated, sure, why not. But bad? Not even.

 

[CollinxChu]

I don't really have the time to watch a half-hour video at the moment.

But uh... how do you "eviscerate" something that you apparently haven't played? Moreover, "eviscerate" implies that it's bad, which it is not by any means. Overrated, sure, why not. But bad? Not even.

He did play it. He just hadn't before. That was the implication.

Also:

Eviscerate

e·vis·cer·ate
/iˈvisəˌrāt/
Verb
1 Disembowel (a person or animal).
2 Deprive (something) of its essential content.
Synonyms
disembowel - gut

 

[Radoh]

That's how video games work.
Remember when Dishonored came out and everyone lost their minds at the greatest game that ever happened?
Or further back when the same was said about Deus Ex Human Revolution.
Give it a couple weeks after the release and the... I dunno, "magic" of it wears off and people point out that it does indeed have flaws. Sure, Bioshock Infinite, Deus Ex: HR, and Dishonored were all good games that were well received, but it certainly did receive a good extra bit of hype.

Though for me Infinite had a bit of a stumbling block what with my save file buggering and not getting the ability to save after "Find the Gunsmith".

 

[The_Echo]

He did play it. He just hadn't before. That was the implication.

Also: [eviscerate definition]

Well alright.

But actually, the implication of "why haven't I played this?" is that at the current time, he hasn't played the game. A more accurate title might be "why hadn't I played this?" Either way, I'd expect it to be a list of reasons why he found the game not particularly interesting to him, as opposed to an apparently exhaustive review.

 

[CollinxChu]

-snip-

To me, it was more of a 'why haven't I played this yet? How about we play it together?' sort of deal.

It wasn't all that exhaustive, and there are a lot of open ends due to his wish to not spoil anything, though.

Remember when Dishonored came out and everyone lost their minds at the greatest game that ever happened?

And just to completely derail the entire meaning of your post, yes. Yes I did. And it's still pretty fun.

 

[Thoughtful_Salt]

Personally, I'd say it does not.

Without writing my own review, I'd say that I wouldn't play the game again. The gameplay was repetitive. Elizabeth was -- for a lack of a better word -- flat. She was reactionary, slightly hysterical, and lacked logic. It doesn't matter how often anything went down, she seemed to be almost bipolar in her treatment of you, then around the end seemed to completely lose any semblance of reality or past, to the point that she seemed to ignore that anything had happened before, or that Booker had any emotional ties to her.

Playing on anything other than easy mode tended to have a die-try-again-die feel to it. Guns felt like peashooters, to the point where I would expend entire guns worth of ammo when facing certain enemies, to the point that fighting them felt like a chore as opposed to fun, or even a tough interaction.

Vigors were horribly unbalanced, they ranged from paltry and outright useless to all powerful weapons that when upgraded could completely obliterate entire swaths of enemies with one fell swoop.

The ending wasn't all that original in a science-fiction perspective. Time travel and multiple universes is a tired and overused concept, and the idea -- almost parallel to Infinite -- isn't all that original. While said works have never achieved the mainstream popularity, they most certainly exist, and in many cases, much more strongly.

Weapon balance was nonexistent, and without going at length, if you didn't use the hand cannon at least once, you missed out. And only idiots use the pistol. Some felt like all-destroying weapons of death that could rend worlds if you gave them a chance, and others felt like the other weapons would make fun of them if they were in the metaphorical school I'm envisioning.

Much of the symbolism and foreshadowing was downright weak, to the point that I figured out most of the twists about halfway through the game, and this is without having scrounged beyond your typical ammo hoarder.

And I'll say it. I didn't like the ending. It seemed to WANT to be heavy handed, but really came across as flat. Booker was unlikeable, Elizabeth, within modern perspective, is a weak character for this day and age.

With regards to your review, you used a lot of buzzwords and relied too heavily on what could be potentially nonexistant impact that players or viewers would have to certain events. Beauty in the eye of the beholder, and all that. And while it's okay to show your opinion, as a REVIEW, as opposed to an opinion piece, the general consensus is that you back up your claims, even if it's with your own experiences.

A lot of what you said here has been brought up before. I actually had a running argument over the merits of the game with the credited user, it ran for hundreds of paragraphs and many replies. In the end we agreed to disagree on a lot of points, but what he brought up was enough to bring some more doubts into my mind (he pointed out how the religious aspects of this game, as well as its historical themes were badly used). I would have included the footage and dialogue to support the historical concerns, but vid length and potential major spoilers prevented me. I felt that the game was strong enough on its own merits gameplay wise to warrant the passing grade. it's story, with its many flaws and strengths, is what got it an essential rating for me. I believe that many people will learn a lot about the medium with one play through, even if they never want to play through it again.
Elizabeth isn't as good as Alyx Vance, but she was good enough on my first play through.
Could you note some used buzzwords for future reference?
While a lot of the weapons in the game weren't very effective (My main weapons ended up being the carbine and hand cannon, because I wasn't going to touch any of those blasted grenade launchers), I still had good fun on Normal difficulty. I did take care to note that some enemies are ridiculously bullet spongy, and that they would become a problem on higher difficulties.
Complain about the vigors all you want man, there's nothing like launching an army of crows towards your helpless foes.

 

[Thoughtful_Salt]

Haven't watched the video, but I can guess the answer.

Mediocre gameplay.

Am I right? At least that's my answer.

Partially, but it's better than the first game in that regard.

 

[CriticalMiss]

Wait, you've not played the game but have a fairly extensive amount of video footage - which must be yours because you don't credit anyone for capturing it - and then 'eviscerate' it by giving it a 4/5 and recommend people play it... I'm confuzzled here. If you've not played the game you have a fairly solid understanding of basically the entire thing.

The game is overrated, sure. I certainly expected it to be better but it wasn't bad.

 

[CollinxChu]

Elizabeth isn't as good as Alyx Vance, but she was good enough on my first play through.

Though I know this has nothing to do with you, the term 'good enough' does not imply quality. It implies just barely meeting the bar for a pass. A 50 out of 100, dig? A D on a test, even.

Could you note some used buzzwords for future reference?

Sure, but it'll take at least another half hour.

My main weapons ended up being the carbine and hand cannon, because I wasn't going to touch any of those blasted grenade launchers

Personally, I just ended up not using the explosives out of habit. They're pretty weak, for explosives.

Complain about the vigors all you want man, there's nothing like launching an army of crows towards your helpless foes.

While true, that's an obvious dodge and you know it. I'd like to add that they also have very little justification for BEING there. They just sort of materialize from some other universe with no real profound effect.

 

[CollinxChu]

Fairly accurate description of most women. What's the problem?

Oh hey, sexism. Fun! The problem is that it isn't the direction powerful characters take. And it lacks character and personality.

 

[Thoughtful_Salt]

He did play it. He just hadn't before. That was the implication.

Also: [eviscerate definition]

Well alright.

But actually, the implication of "why haven't I played this?" is that at the current time, he hasn't played the game. A more accurate title might be "why hadn't I played this?" Either way, I'd expect it to be a list of reasons why he found the game not particularly interesting to him, as opposed to an apparently exhaustive review.

Why Haven't I Played? it's a question I thought people would ask themselves while searching for reviews and stuff. I admit the intros to my reviews can be a bit wonky when I ask myself the question, but I named the series this way to have a mold-able brand name. For instance: for Halo Combat Evolved I asked Why Haven't You Played? (I gushed over that game, as it is damn good, probably better than any game today), for Modern Warfare 3 it was Why Did I Play? (I proceeded to tear the guts out of that game).

I'll get the hang of this eventually, i swear.

Anyways, Bioshock Infinite is not the best game of the year, but it's still a great game, sort of like how Spec Ops The Line was last year. Whether or not you'll like it will come down to how much you enjoy the story, and a lot of people have mixed feelings about it. I made this review to counter absolute garbage reviews like this: which offered no criticism, but got in line to kiss the game's ass, which is not the mark of a great review or game (as it reflects poorly on the game if no criticism was offered and flaws are found after buying the game on the basis of the review).

Me and mfeff argued for a solid 2 weeks back and forth about the game's merits. He hated it, I somewhat loved it. Opinions, but we both backed our opinions up, in the end it was a draw and this video was the result of my points.

 

[Thoughtful_Salt]

Did it occur to you that nobody cares why you haven't played Bioshock Infinite?

You didn't like it, fine, a lot of people did, and a lot of the reasons are simply subjective. "I didn't like the gameplay" well plenty of us did, I found it a lot more exciting and fun than Bioshock's. Bioshock Infinite 1999 mode is about a 100x more tense and exciting than any FPS game I've played in years, even if it is frustrating at times.

All this fucking hipster posturing over how 'bad' Bioshock Infinite is is beginning to piss me off.

Bioshock's gameplay was pretty poor, and I did say that I loved the gameplay itself in the video, or perhaps you didn't watch the video before passing judgement on it. I do my best to back up my opinions in this review, but I still ended up loving the game (it got an essential rating and a 4/5). It's got great art design, music, sound design, a decent story and Elizabeth, i'd say that qualifies it as not bad.
So please, before you judge my opinion, make sure you've heard it. otherwise you have nothing to add to the discussion.

 

[CollinxChu]

Also, just as a side-note. Elizabeth appearing beside you once you hadn't seen her throughout an entire fight was.. Unnerving, at least to me.

 

[Thoughtful_Salt]

Elizabeth isn't as good as Alyx Vance, but she was good enough on my first play through.

Though I know this has nothing to do with you, the term 'good enough' does not imply quality. It implies just barely meeting the bar for a pass. A 50 out of 100, dig? A D on a test, even.

Could you note some used buzzwords for future reference?

Sure, but it'll take at least another half hour.

My main weapons ended up being the carbine and hand cannon, because I wasn't going to touch any of those blasted grenade launchers

Personally, I just ended up not using the explosives out of habit. They're pretty weak, for explosives.

Complain about the vigors all you want man, there's nothing like launching an army of crows towards your helpless foes.

While true, that's an obvious dodge and you know it. I'd like to add that they also have very little justification for BEING there. They just sort of materialize from some other universe with no real profound effect.

alright, alright. Elizabeth had some wonky moments (shown in the review), but she had so many good moments (in my opinion) that the good stuff ended up cancelling out most of the bad stuff. Of course you could analyze the character and find all sorts of flaws, but I didn't particularly care about her trope when I was playing the game because her performance carried me through.

Yeah, the plasmids had a better narrative purpose. But I had more fun with the vigors as a side-effect of the awesome art design, animations of the visors, sound design and controls. I think I noted that they have little narrative purpose (methinks I did). In the end, I had an immense amount of fun with them and so didn't really care why they were there. Dodgy? yes. Fun? most definitely.

 

[CollinxChu]

Yeah, the plasmids had a better narrative purpose. But I had more fun with the vigors as a side-effect of the awesome art design, animations of the visors, sound design and controls.

You misinterpreted that. I meant it literally seems like most people aren't even reacting to it, not poetically, but literally. Nobody seems to marvel at the fact that people shoot lightning now.

 

[Thoughtful_Salt]

Yeah, the plasmids had a better narrative purpose. But I had more fun with the vigors as a side-effect of the awesome art design, animations of the visors, sound design and controls.

You misinterpreted that. I meant it literally seems like most people aren't even reacting to it, not poetically, but literally. Nobody seems to marvel at the fact that people shoot lightning now.

Lol. noted in lackuster NPC reactions. As said, they don't seem alive at all, like someone left some very well dressed manequinns all over the place