Why Haven't I Played Bioshock Infinite?

[Ferisar]

Why I haven't Watched Your Bioshock-Infinite-Not-Having-Played-But-Played-Video:

Got two seconds to spare? Join me while I do my damn hardest to eviscerate this gem.

Spoiler

BECAUSE I DON'T GIVE A FUCK

Here it is. The supposed g-- wait, no, I can't copy paste that.

If it was not made abundantly clear: I disagree with your opinion of a widely-acclaimed title because I find it largely reactionary to the subject of said opinion being just that: widely acclaimed.

 

[Thoughtful_Salt]

Why I haven't Watched Your Bioshock-Infinite-Not-Having-Played-But-Played-Video:

Got two seconds to spare? Join me while I do my damn hardest to eviscerate this gem.

Spoiler

BECAUSE I DON'T GIVE A FUCK

Here it is. The supposed g-- wait, no, I can't copy paste that.

If it was not made abundantly clear: I disagree with your opinion of a widely-acclaimed title because I find it largely reactionary to the subject of said opinion being just that: widely acclaimed.

Meh. Discussion and criticism is always better than kissing the game's ass. If the game is strong enough then it will persevere, if it ins't then it will be exposed as the merely good game that it is.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

Look at this great game that came out, that does a lot of things I'd wish the industry would do, but now I'm going to tell you why it's shit because it didn't cure cancer like the fans told me it would. Back to playing Duke Nukem Forever the best game of all time! HOY-TEE-HO-HO!

 

[Callate]

I'm not sorry I bought it; I'm not sorry I played it through. It's visually and aurally beautiful, a masterpiece of design, and its clear that a significant amount of research went into that design. It creates a world every bit as captivating as Rapture was in Bioshock, one in which the player can easily imagine countless untold stories occurring behind the scenes.

But- especially when looking at what can be seen in the builds shown in earlier previews- it's hard not to feel there were a lot of missed opportunities. There are places where its breadth makes it shallow, and one can't help but wish that time spent on making extra weapons that the player ends up ignoring or designing levels that skyhooks could endlessly circuit around were spent tightening up the pacing or shoring up some of the weaknesses of the storyline.

In a way, it's remarkable that the story is as cohesive as it is, given that it's clear it had to be cobbled together after significant changes in several different versions. But ultimately, it doesn't bear a lot of thinking about, both because of the amount of "no, this is how it works, go with it" hand-waving and because we're expected to accept the inevitability of certain tragedies despite an unlimited number of possibilities. The latter comes across as incredibly cynical, and only becomes more so on reflection.

I don't know if there will be another Bioshock game, though its relative success makes it seem likely. But I do strongly feel that Ken Levine needs to find a theme other than the juxtaposition of linear inevitability and the illusion of player choice. We get it already, Ken.

 

[Simonoly]

I always appreciate seeing people actually criticising this game. I enjoyed Bioshock infinite for the visuals and most of the story, but the gameplay was so disappointing and just, unsophisticated. I was really expecting a lot more after all those promo videos and my time with Bioshock 1 and 2. I guess I would have just preferred a more sandbox like approach that really allowed me to feel enveloped and enriched with the lore of the setting. Also, the tear system was really disappointing and I was a bit annoyed that they removed the consequences of using it from the final game (pretty sure it was originally going to affect your ending in a similar way to the little sisters in BS1 and 2). Some parts of the game felt incomplete and patched together. The 2nd Act in particular felt like a rushed in-between for the other two acts that were originally part of a different game.I can only guess that for whatever reason, an executive decision was made to streamline the whole experience.

Despite my reservations, it's still an enjoyable game and should receive much praise for its mature story and themes.

 

[jamail77]

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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 haven't watched your video yet as I'm about to go to bed but I will get to it. Anyway, you lose an incredible amount of credibility with that statement. To say that Halo Combat Evolved is better than any game today? Are you serious? It was a great game for it's time and it definitely did some great things that were adapted into the bigger game industry as a whole (and not just that genre) but I'm afraid it just doesn't stand the test of time. I'll just take a minor problem I had with instead of listing the other handful. It had its share of hallways and corridors that look the same and made you trudge down them for a while until it gets annoying and repetitive not just in pacing and flow but also in game play. Halo is a sort of limbo game in this aspect, environments can be more varied and less monotone than other games only for it to show up in annoying blobs whether it's a corridor or just a single piece of larger terrain (that latter moment was bizarre to me for some reason when I was younger). I don't think that's just a matter of subjectivity either; even at the time it got it's share of complaints from niche groups. You could argue Halo Combat Evolved is the equivalent of BioShock Infinite in that regard except you were on the opposite side of the argument.

I perfectly understand why people are upset over the acclaim it's getting; I haven't played it myself but I am about to beat the first BioShock and I did read up on all/watch the details of Infinite's plot (probably too many were gone over) that I wasn't concerned with spoiling. I see this as a mainstream version of when Yahtzee said he couldn't find a thing wrong with Portal; people were shocked and somewhat upset over that too. Honestly, I don't see that as a bad thing but it did make me purposely look for bad or more critical reviews. This will be my fourth one after reading a 60 and 70 I found thanks to Metacritic and a YouTube fan review that isn't yours.

Regardless, this definitely seems like a well thought out, well researched, intricate little thing with its share of flaws. It was able to pierce through the mainstream even if it had to take the better tropes, not bottom of the barrel, of what is making many games go stale. Naturally it would get crazy acclaim above and beyond a COD. They'd have to struggle to criticize. On that note, I don't think Adam Sessler is out to be neutral and catering though I don't much about him.

If this moves things forward and gets the acclaim that, normally, something much staler gets I'll look past it. I don't see many negative consequences from acclaim thrown at a product like this even if the gold goose of gaming doesn't deserve almost complete praise. Just watching the trailers despite their typical marketing annoyances and the cover issue makes me want to buy a physical copy of this and I haven't done that for a game in a long time let alone just the trailers being enough to convince me.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

I disagree with your point about pacing and voxophones, it really doesn't grind the game to a halt. It's just natural exploration of the area you are and fits with the game's "panic, panic over" general pace that allows you to search and prepare for the next panic.

The story is mostly good, save for the ending, which was pulled out of someone's ass somewhere along the line and had the shit carelessly brushed off. Had the entire game not been rewritten we would have had a far better result, look at the 2011 E3 demos and tell me what we got was as good as those.

Gameplay is repetitive and the tacticool guns didn't really serve much purpose. Your point about not having to rely on RPGs to dispatch large enemies or tough groups has no foundation since every area with a handyman or tough enemy group usually has an enemy using a volley gun or an RPG lying around. If you ever get into a tangle there's a weapon that serves your need lying pretty much at the entrance, especially prevalent with sniper rifles.

Music and sound was well done and provided a great backdrop to the game, it's a completely under rated part of video games but it does set a lot of tone. The only issue I draw with Bioshock Infinite's sound is that it does fit the cliche of "feel this way" music, but then again everything does this now and I can't think of many ways you can achieve the kind of atmosphere Bioshock has without it.

Graphically the game is lackluster. The NPC animations are boring in every sense and don't play the part they need to, though this could also come from the rewrite and rush to completion, a lot of the game seems to have been lost in the rewrite. Texturing is appalling, there are textures in key areas that have such a low resolution and level of detail that you would think they were pulled from a game from the late 90s. These textures are also present in areas that are specifically added to provide detail to the world, like the vegetable stands and roses near the start. Where the game has done it well though, it is done with enough care that you really become immersed in the world, just not enough to prevent the detraction of the poor areas.

A lot of the world feels empty and dull, but it performs well where it chooses to. I can't help but wonder what the original would have been like, and if I would be happier or more impressed if we'd have received that version instead.

Also Captcha is star spangled. Nice one Solve Media.