Hey little sister what have you done
April 20, 2009 1:17 PM Subscribe
The Pepsi you are about to drink may cause genetic mutations, fortean manifestations, mania.
posted by Artw at 1:21 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by Artw at 1:21 PM on April 20, 2009
C'thulhu R'lyeh...oh. Never mind.
posted by jquinby at 1:24 PM on April 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by jquinby at 1:24 PM on April 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
I love BioShock. This site look like a lot of fun to sift through and ponder.
posted by Liver at 1:27 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by Liver at 1:27 PM on April 20, 2009
I never buy games at full price, when they first come out. I'm the guy who is perfectly willing to wait three years to pick up a game for $10 at Gamestop. I'm just now playing Call of Duty 3.
That said, I am buying this sucker the day it goes on sale. No game has ever given me as much pleasure and a more memorable experience than Bioshock.
posted by jbickers at 1:27 PM on April 20, 2009
That said, I am buying this sucker the day it goes on sale. No game has ever given me as much pleasure and a more memorable experience than Bioshock.
posted by jbickers at 1:27 PM on April 20, 2009
The Pepsi you are about to drink may cause genetic mutations, fortean manifestations, mania.To say nothing of stillnotgonnabeasgoodassystemshock1itis.
posted by lumensimus at 1:29 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
I see one major glaring problem.
The mind that gave us the original bioshock, system shock, system shock 2...he isn't involved.
posted by 5imian at 1:29 PM on April 20, 2009
The mind that gave us the original bioshock, system shock, system shock 2...he isn't involved.
posted by 5imian at 1:29 PM on April 20, 2009
The preview at Eurogamer is worth checking out. I really enjoyed the first one (especially the lush visuals and gorgeous level design), but System Shock 2 is still the benchmark for me.
I also have a serious hetero-boner for Ken Levine.
posted by slimepuppy at 1:29 PM on April 20, 2009
I also have a serious hetero-boner for Ken Levine.
posted by slimepuppy at 1:29 PM on April 20, 2009
..that aside it looks awesome.
(oh and yes i'm a ss2/bioshock fanboy to the core)
posted by 5imian at 1:32 PM on April 20, 2009
(oh and yes i'm a ss2/bioshock fanboy to the core)
posted by 5imian at 1:32 PM on April 20, 2009
I am actually vaguely sad that this wasn't some sort of Lovecraftian text-y game thing, or a new book or a movie.
On the plus side, maybe in a few months I'll be the proud owner of a computer which can run the original Bioshock.
posted by Scattercat at 1:33 PM on April 20, 2009
On the plus side, maybe in a few months I'll be the proud owner of a computer which can run the original Bioshock.
posted by Scattercat at 1:33 PM on April 20, 2009
Annoyingly neither System Shock nor System Shock 2 have turned up on Steam or Gametap or any of the usual places I get old stuff.
posted by Artw at 1:33 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by Artw at 1:33 PM on April 20, 2009
I bought Bioshock for €4,99 at Mediamarkt, but it didn't hold a candle to System Shock 2- I feel really sorry for the people who paid full price.
posted by dunkadunc at 1:34 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by dunkadunc at 1:34 PM on April 20, 2009
Ha! I knew what it was going to be–because I AM A NERD DAMN YOU!
posted by Mister_A at 1:34 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by Mister_A at 1:34 PM on April 20, 2009
They should just remake SS2 with current gen technology.
Hmm. Let's try this...
Ken, would you kindly remake SS2 with current gen technology?
posted by slimepuppy at 1:35 PM on April 20, 2009 [10 favorites]
Hmm. Let's try this...
Ken, would you kindly remake SS2 with current gen technology?
posted by slimepuppy at 1:35 PM on April 20, 2009 [10 favorites]
Maybe I shouldn't have tried to play it on the Xbox, but it seemed far, far too easy to die in the first couple hours of the game, and I ended up putting it down. It was also a little boring, frankly.
posted by TypographicalError at 1:36 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by TypographicalError at 1:36 PM on April 20, 2009
I am actually vaguely sad that this wasn't some sort of Lovecraftian text-y game thing, or a new book or a movie.
Well there is a movie supposedly...
posted by 5imian at 1:37 PM on April 20, 2009
Well there is a movie supposedly...
posted by 5imian at 1:37 PM on April 20, 2009
Ken, would you kindly remake SS2 with current gen technology?
Now if only they would do that with Thief: The Dark Project. Thief 3 was a travesty.
posted by dunkadunc at 1:38 PM on April 20, 2009
Now if only they would do that with Thief: The Dark Project. Thief 3 was a travesty.
posted by dunkadunc at 1:38 PM on April 20, 2009
Now if only they would do that with Thief: The Dark Project. Thief 3 was a travesty.
the mantling system did suck didn't it? It wasn't that terrible though. I personally like thief two: the metal age the most.
posted by 5imian at 1:41 PM on April 20, 2009
the mantling system did suck didn't it? It wasn't that terrible though. I personally like thief two: the metal age the most.
posted by 5imian at 1:41 PM on April 20, 2009
I'm pretty excited that Deus Ex 3 is even happening. It's the Fallout franchise compromise: better ever than never.
posted by cortex at 1:52 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by cortex at 1:52 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
It's the Fallout franchise compromise: better ever than never.
Am I the only person that thought fallout 3 was excellent?
posted by 5imian at 1:56 PM on April 20, 2009
Am I the only person that thought fallout 3 was excellent?
posted by 5imian at 1:56 PM on April 20, 2009
5imian, absolutely not. It's the bees knees. (And they've announced a new one for next year! By Obsidian, no less.)
posted by slimepuppy at 2:00 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by slimepuppy at 2:00 PM on April 20, 2009
I see one major glaring problem.
The mind that gave us the original bioshock, system shock, system shock 2...he isn't involved.
Yeah, but the new guy is no slouch [pdf] either.
posted by juv3nal at 2:04 PM on April 20, 2009
Am I the only person that thought fallout 3 was excellent?
It wasn't everything I'd hoped for, but on balance, I'd have to say it was pretty good.
posted by juv3nal at 2:05 PM on April 20, 2009
But since Artw's recent post I've lost all interest in computer games and have been playing Last Night on Earth, Scotland Yard, and Small World since and have Arkham Horror winging it's way to me at this moment. Beat that Bioshock*.
*I loved Bioshock up until the shock... then it just became boring A to B pick up C stuff. The highlight was the Sander Cohen part.
posted by Elmore at 2:05 PM on April 20, 2009
*I loved Bioshock up until the shock... then it just became boring A to B pick up C stuff. The highlight was the Sander Cohen part.
posted by Elmore at 2:05 PM on April 20, 2009
One odd thing about Bioshock is that it seemed like it should have reasons for you to travel back and forth between areas in a more free manner once you pass that point - but it never quite goes that way.
posted by Artw at 2:12 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by Artw at 2:12 PM on April 20, 2009
(I think you can even go back to previously explored sections in the Bathysphere... there's just no reason to do so).
posted by Artw at 2:14 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by Artw at 2:14 PM on April 20, 2009
I like a lot of things about Fallout 3 and am glad it exists, and exploring the wild fringes of the world was some of the most genuinely engaging gaming immersion I've experienced in a long time. But I can go on at considerable length about some specific things that broke my heart. There are some core pieces of the originals that got lost along the way, almost all of which are about character, not environment.
Fallout 3 is basically the right world with the wrong people in it. I'm glad Obsidian is doing the next one; better chance of things swinging back in a direction I'll love. Having Chris Avellone back in the mix can't be a bad thing, either.
Also, speaking of Deus Ex, this speedrun is hot, hot shit. I haven't laughed this much in a while. Impenetrable if you haven't played Deus Ex through at least once, fucking fantastic if you have.
I guess I'm excited about the new BioShock too, I guess.
posted by cortex at 2:16 PM on April 20, 2009
Fallout 3 is basically the right world with the wrong people in it. I'm glad Obsidian is doing the next one; better chance of things swinging back in a direction I'll love. Having Chris Avellone back in the mix can't be a bad thing, either.
Also, speaking of Deus Ex, this speedrun is hot, hot shit. I haven't laughed this much in a while. Impenetrable if you haven't played Deus Ex through at least once, fucking fantastic if you have.
I guess I'm excited about the new BioShock too, I guess.
posted by cortex at 2:16 PM on April 20, 2009
I just read Cormac McCarthy's The Road over the weekend, and now I want to go back and finish the missions I missed in Fallout 3.
posted by Elmore at 2:21 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Elmore at 2:21 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
That's good news about the new Fallout and Obsidian, although it reminds me that we're still not getting a proper sequel to KOTOR II (a MMORPG? Suck my balls, LucasArts).
Anyway, I'm not sure about the Bioshock sequel, given that the first was such a self-contained story. But I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
posted by Rangeboy at 2:27 PM on April 20, 2009
Anyway, I'm not sure about the Bioshock sequel, given that the first was such a self-contained story. But I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
posted by Rangeboy at 2:27 PM on April 20, 2009
Playing as a Big Brother makes me worried that the entire game could devolve into a next-gen version of Friday the 13th from ye olde NES days. Remember that game? Remember how annoying it was to be in the middle of something then have to run across Crystal Lake to try and fail to save a counselor from a rampaging Jason?
posted by robocop is bleeding at 2:39 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by robocop is bleeding at 2:39 PM on April 20, 2009
Wait, this is different from Splatterhouse?
Eidos hints at Thief 4
posted by Artw at 2:41 PM on April 20, 2009
Eidos hints at Thief 4
posted by Artw at 2:41 PM on April 20, 2009
I hope that drill has an "interesting gameplay" setting.
posted by fleacircus at 2:43 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by fleacircus at 2:43 PM on April 20, 2009
I guess that since I didn't care about the first Bioshock anymore after the reveal [NOT SPOILER-IST], I'm not that enthusiastic about Bioshock 2.
But man, up until the reveal Bioshock ruled.
posted by Caduceus at 2:58 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
But man, up until the reveal Bioshock ruled.
posted by Caduceus at 2:58 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
The mind that gave us the original bioshock, system shock, system shock 2...he isn't involved.
posted by 5imian at 4:29 PM on April 20 [+] [!]
If his departure means we get a plot twist that hasn't been recycled for a third time, then good riddance.
posted by Ziggy Zaga at 3:17 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by 5imian at 4:29 PM on April 20 [+] [!]
If his departure means we get a plot twist that hasn't been recycled for a third time, then good riddance.
posted by Ziggy Zaga at 3:17 PM on April 20, 2009
Fallout 3 was SCRUMTRALESCENT. So was the first Bioshock. I believe whole-heartedly that part two will be SCRUMTRALESCENT as well.
I beat Dead Space yesterday and was so very proud of me. It's rare that I have enough time, patience, and the attention span to beat a whole game anymore. RE5, Dead Space, and Bioshock are the only three I can think of over the last year. I plan on beating Fallout, only....
I was more than halfway through the game when my house was broken into and robbed (in January). The thieves took my 360 which sucked hard, it being the 360 elite and having two years worth of saved games on it, including Fallout. Now I have a new 360 and a new copy of Fallout, but how do I jump back into a game that's going to take at least 30 hours for me to get back to where I was 4 months ago? My tears could fill a swimming pool. *sigh*
posted by Bageena at 3:30 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
I beat Dead Space yesterday and was so very proud of me. It's rare that I have enough time, patience, and the attention span to beat a whole game anymore. RE5, Dead Space, and Bioshock are the only three I can think of over the last year. I plan on beating Fallout, only....
I was more than halfway through the game when my house was broken into and robbed (in January). The thieves took my 360 which sucked hard, it being the 360 elite and having two years worth of saved games on it, including Fallout. Now I have a new 360 and a new copy of Fallout, but how do I jump back into a game that's going to take at least 30 hours for me to get back to where I was 4 months ago? My tears could fill a swimming pool. *sigh*
posted by Bageena at 3:30 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
but how do I jump back into a game that's going to take at least 30 hours for me to get back to where I was 4 months ago?
After my first playthrough, I started over with a brick shithouse melee character and powered through the plot to the endgame in a surprisingly brief number of hours. Something between five and ten, and that involved some unnecessary dicking around. You can make up for a lot of lost time by just skipping intermediary plot points and showing up wherever the next unskippable bit of the game is.
And being as how your character selections have approximately zilch to do with how the game treats you in any significant sense, this sort of reboot wouldn't be as disruptive as you might otherwise imagine.
posted by cortex at 3:37 PM on April 20, 2009
After my first playthrough, I started over with a brick shithouse melee character and powered through the plot to the endgame in a surprisingly brief number of hours. Something between five and ten, and that involved some unnecessary dicking around. You can make up for a lot of lost time by just skipping intermediary plot points and showing up wherever the next unskippable bit of the game is.
And being as how your character selections have approximately zilch to do with how the game treats you in any significant sense, this sort of reboot wouldn't be as disruptive as you might otherwise imagine.
posted by cortex at 3:37 PM on April 20, 2009
When I was seven
I asked my mother
To trip me to the bay
And put me on a ship
And lower me down
Lower me out of here
‘Cause when I was seven
I wanted to live in a bathysphere
Green coral
Silent eel
Silver swordfish
I can’t really feel
Or dream down here
And if the water should cut my line
And if the water should cut my line, set me free
And if the water should cut my line, set me free, I don’t mind
I’ll be the lost sailor
My home is the sea
When I was seven
My father said to me:
“But you can’t swim”
And I never dreamed
Of the sea again.
- "Bathysphere", Smog
posted by turgid dahlia at 3:43 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
I asked my mother
To trip me to the bay
And put me on a ship
And lower me down
Lower me out of here
‘Cause when I was seven
I wanted to live in a bathysphere
Green coral
Silent eel
Silver swordfish
I can’t really feel
Or dream down here
And if the water should cut my line
And if the water should cut my line, set me free
And if the water should cut my line, set me free, I don’t mind
I’ll be the lost sailor
My home is the sea
When I was seven
My father said to me:
“But you can’t swim”
And I never dreamed
Of the sea again.
- "Bathysphere", Smog
posted by turgid dahlia at 3:43 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
"Aug 25th 2:37 AM - Innsmouth RI"
I would be so happy if they made a game where wayward Randians awoke Cthulhu.
posted by Nomiconic at 3:52 PM on April 20, 2009
I would be so happy if they made a game where wayward Randians awoke Cthulhu.
posted by Nomiconic at 3:52 PM on April 20, 2009
I would be so happy if they made a game where wayward Randians awoke Cthulhu.
There was this...
It was moreso about Dagron and Hydra and Innsmouth
posted by 5imian at 3:56 PM on April 20, 2009
There was this...
It was moreso about Dagron and Hydra and Innsmouth
posted by 5imian at 3:56 PM on April 20, 2009
Bioshock drove me nuts for the same reason that Doom3 drove me nuts: I hate, hate, hate fighting against a ridiculous control set-up. Except that Doom3 at least used some of the stupidity in such a way as to make the game more interesting (balancing the fear of not being able to see a damned thing with the fear of being completely defenseless) Bioshock just seemed like it hadn't been playtested enough.
If I have a button for "use a Force power," and a different button for "use a weapon," and they each use an opposite hand, then why does only tapping the button merely *select* my Force-powers, rather than use them? Why does hitting the "shoot" button not shoot, but only get the gun out? This makes switching between Jedi-action and shooting-action inherently slower than it needs to be, which leads to the enemies being slower than they need to be, which makes the whole thing feel like it is the kids version of the game, with the corners rounded off, and the outlets taped over. Until a boss fight comes along, and you actually need to move at full speed, at which point the whole thing is just painful.
Not to mention things like the turrets being completely worthless once you hack them, after being great against you; or the fact that the Xbox version has unchangeable controls AND moved the "reload" and "jump" buttons to weird, unexpected places. And yet, in spite of all of that, the game is so piss-easy that the only real challenge is getting used to the control mechanics, and wading through the same bogged-down nonsense over and over.
Ugh. I bought the game for 20$, and it feels like it was a waste. I can't imagine if I had payed more for it.
posted by paisley henosis at 4:00 PM on April 20, 2009
If I have a button for "use a Force power," and a different button for "use a weapon," and they each use an opposite hand, then why does only tapping the button merely *select* my Force-powers, rather than use them? Why does hitting the "shoot" button not shoot, but only get the gun out? This makes switching between Jedi-action and shooting-action inherently slower than it needs to be, which leads to the enemies being slower than they need to be, which makes the whole thing feel like it is the kids version of the game, with the corners rounded off, and the outlets taped over. Until a boss fight comes along, and you actually need to move at full speed, at which point the whole thing is just painful.
Not to mention things like the turrets being completely worthless once you hack them, after being great against you; or the fact that the Xbox version has unchangeable controls AND moved the "reload" and "jump" buttons to weird, unexpected places. And yet, in spite of all of that, the game is so piss-easy that the only real challenge is getting used to the control mechanics, and wading through the same bogged-down nonsense over and over.
Ugh. I bought the game for 20$, and it feels like it was a waste. I can't imagine if I had payed more for it.
posted by paisley henosis at 4:00 PM on April 20, 2009
So, will this be encumbered with system-crippling DRM like the original one was?
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 4:29 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 4:29 PM on April 20, 2009
Not if you get it on the Xbox 360, which is the ultimate platform for weird steampunk-esque aquatic-themed first-person quasi-RPGs.
posted by turgid dahlia at 4:38 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by turgid dahlia at 4:38 PM on April 20, 2009
You should see what they're doing to poor old Deus Ex.
Deus Ex 2 already did it.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 5:08 PM on April 20, 2009
Deus Ex 2 already did it.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 5:08 PM on April 20, 2009
Bioshock is indeed an amazing game. The design alone may make it the most beautifully realized and detailed game thus far. My only nitpick with it is the weapon systems you're supposed to use: combining various random elements together to "create" your own weapons, as well as using different combinations of injections for different attacks....that part got tiresome quick for me. I like to use cheats anyway, so that aspect was lost on me for the most part.
Looking forward to part two, though!
posted by zardoz at 5:53 PM on April 20, 2009
Looking forward to part two, though!
posted by zardoz at 5:53 PM on April 20, 2009
What I hated about the first game was a peculiar feeling of disconnect from my attacks. When I used guns, the aim felt "floaty;" when I used plasmids, there seemed to be a delay. This was quite odd to me, because I'm a pretty avid fan of FPS games and have never had the sensation. I would miss easy pistol shots, found it difficult to keep a bead on a lot of the enemies, and so on.
posted by sonic meat machine at 7:17 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by sonic meat machine at 7:17 PM on April 20, 2009
Who is ready to play some pipe dream?
I hated Bioshock too, for the reasons above. Beautiful, yes but dumb as hell.
posted by Keith Talent at 7:37 PM on April 20, 2009
I hated Bioshock too, for the reasons above. Beautiful, yes but dumb as hell.
posted by Keith Talent at 7:37 PM on April 20, 2009
Am I the only one who was somewhat underwhelmed by System Shock 2? I tried it out after reading the piles of praise it gets and while I thought it was an entertaining enough game it didn’t really deserve the praise it got. The RPG elements all seemed a bit half-done (especially the modifications bit), I found the psi-powers unusable and so avoided them completely and wasn’t very impressed with the level design or aesthetics and the set-up wasn’t hugely original. The only thing I found impressive was the atmosphere, I enjoyed the sound effects, logs and emails etc.
From the little I’ve played of Bioshock I felt they captured what made the atmosphere of System Shock 2 great and improved it greatly. The setting was fresher and, quite frankly, I didn’t really miss the RPG elements (keep in mind I did enjoy such elements in Deus Ex). The tension and mood, no doubt aided by better hardware, seemed far more convincing.
For me, Bioshock represented the Levine et. al. taking what they did well and expanding on that, and from what I did experience (about an hour’s worth) they did it well. Both it (and the sequel, when it is out) will get some serious play time from me, whenever I get the bloody time to do so.
posted by Serial Killer Slumber Party at 7:52 PM on April 20, 2009
From the little I’ve played of Bioshock I felt they captured what made the atmosphere of System Shock 2 great and improved it greatly. The setting was fresher and, quite frankly, I didn’t really miss the RPG elements (keep in mind I did enjoy such elements in Deus Ex). The tension and mood, no doubt aided by better hardware, seemed far more convincing.
For me, Bioshock represented the Levine et. al. taking what they did well and expanding on that, and from what I did experience (about an hour’s worth) they did it well. Both it (and the sequel, when it is out) will get some serious play time from me, whenever I get the bloody time to do so.
posted by Serial Killer Slumber Party at 7:52 PM on April 20, 2009
You all go on and have fun with your Little Sisters.
I'll be here playing through Baldur's Gate 2.
Pretty excited for this, though.
posted by voltairemodern at 8:18 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
I'll be here playing through Baldur's Gate 2.
Pretty excited for this, though.
posted by voltairemodern at 8:18 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Quite frankly, if you're playing any FPS but Halo or (and I'm being generous here) Call of Duty on a 360, you're doing it wrong, and get what you deserve. I don't care how much you refine the controls, no gamepad is going to replace a mouse and keyboard for the FPS or RTS genres.
posted by Caduceus at 11:01 PM on April 20, 2009 [4 favorites]
posted by Caduceus at 11:01 PM on April 20, 2009 [4 favorites]
I flagged this as advertising-y, but since cortex is all over the thread: never mind.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:27 PM on April 20, 2009
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:27 PM on April 20, 2009
I read the 'there's something in the sea' and thought it was another thread about squids rising up against us.
Kinda disappointed now...
posted by She Kisses Wyverns at 3:05 AM on April 21, 2009
Kinda disappointed now...
posted by She Kisses Wyverns at 3:05 AM on April 21, 2009
Quite frankly, if you're playing any FPS but Halo or (and I'm being generous here) Call of Duty on a 360, you're doing it wrong, and get what you deserve. I don't care how much you refine the controls, no gamepad is going to replace a mouse and keyboard for the FPS or RTS genres.
"Christ, what an asshole," was made for such times as this.
posted by papercake at 6:49 AM on April 21, 2009
"Christ, what an asshole," was made for such times as this.
posted by papercake at 6:49 AM on April 21, 2009
I flagged this as advertising-y, but since cortex is all over the thread: never mind.
Batman, Aliens, and video games: I turn into a gibbering fanboy in their presence. Guilty.
posted by cortex at 6:52 AM on April 21, 2009
Batman, Aliens, and video games: I turn into a gibbering fanboy in their presence. Guilty.
posted by cortex at 6:52 AM on April 21, 2009
Batman, Aliens, and video games: I turn into a gibbering fanboy in their presence. Guilty.
Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:03 AM on April 21, 2009
Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:03 AM on April 21, 2009
Bioshock was brilliant in many ways, in terms of overall design and storyline, but really fell apart in the third act.
Loved "the reveal" and I am going to get into TEH SPOILERZ, so would you kindly avert your eyes from the rest of this comment if you've someone who hasn't played and doesn't want it spoiled...
What I loved about the reveal is that in every FPS under the sun, you're one guy who has to do everything. While everyone around you is falling apart or getting blown apart, you're the guy who has to undertake all these insanely complicated and dangerous missions on your own. I know that's just the nature of the game design, but it always struck me as kind of funny.
Bioshock's reveal made this make sense. Even when you're tasked with those insane missions in Bioshock, you don't really think about it. Of course I'm the saviour of Rapture, I'm the protagonist! When it was revealed that I was a pawn, only doing these things because I was forced to, my mind was blown.
After all that, the rest of the game couldn't really hold up. I kept expecting another double cross or something, especially given the hard, irreversible transformation Tennenbaum has you undergo. But no, that was it, capped by one of the easiest final boss fights ever, and a 30 second ending cut scene. It was quite a let down. I recently replayed, and found I couldn't keep going after meeting Ryan.
As for Bioshock 2... Eh, I don't know. We'll see. Playing as a Big Daddy and the addition of the Big Sister kind of seem gimmicky to me. I'm sure I'll play it, but it's pretty low on my excitement scale.
posted by yellowbinder at 8:13 AM on April 21, 2009
Loved "the reveal" and I am going to get into TEH SPOILERZ, so would you kindly avert your eyes from the rest of this comment if you've someone who hasn't played and doesn't want it spoiled...
What I loved about the reveal is that in every FPS under the sun, you're one guy who has to do everything. While everyone around you is falling apart or getting blown apart, you're the guy who has to undertake all these insanely complicated and dangerous missions on your own. I know that's just the nature of the game design, but it always struck me as kind of funny.
Bioshock's reveal made this make sense. Even when you're tasked with those insane missions in Bioshock, you don't really think about it. Of course I'm the saviour of Rapture, I'm the protagonist! When it was revealed that I was a pawn, only doing these things because I was forced to, my mind was blown.
After all that, the rest of the game couldn't really hold up. I kept expecting another double cross or something, especially given the hard, irreversible transformation Tennenbaum has you undergo. But no, that was it, capped by one of the easiest final boss fights ever, and a 30 second ending cut scene. It was quite a let down. I recently replayed, and found I couldn't keep going after meeting Ryan.
As for Bioshock 2... Eh, I don't know. We'll see. Playing as a Big Daddy and the addition of the Big Sister kind of seem gimmicky to me. I'm sure I'll play it, but it's pretty low on my excitement scale.
posted by yellowbinder at 8:13 AM on April 21, 2009
I thought Bioshock was a shitty game with mostly awesome set dressing.
The opening sequence, the plane crash and swimming through the wreckage and that gorgeous, ominous entrance hall was so beautifully and carefully designed -- my jaw dropped when I stepped out of the water and droplets clung to my screen -- it really set me up to expect a totally immersive experience. yes you see what I did there They had my complete and total attention at that point; I was ready to love this game.
And then the actual gameplay starts and it all turns completely to crap almost immediately.
Combat, which should be the most visceral and immersive part of the game, consists mostly of repeatedly hitting the pause button to rummage through fourteen different weapon choices each with three types of ammo two or three times for every single enemy (first the research camera, which isn't repetitive AT ALL no sir, then one or another stunner plasmid, then finally a gun to finish the job, but a different type of gun for each target.)
Death is so inconsequential that if you accidentally set off an alarm it's literally easier to just die and respawn than to walk five feet and spend a few dollars to pull the handy "alarm reset" lever. (Also, try not to think too much about the logic of an alarm system which comes with a pre-installed vending machine reset lever.) Until the end of the game, when death suddenly becomes irrevocable. For some reason.
Oh, and the much-talked-about Complex Moral Decision for the player! Which is, SPOILER ALERT: Should I, or should I not, eviscerate the cute little girls? Wow, you totally knocked my socks off with that one. I expect Bioshock II will up the stakes to do I, or do I not, drown the adorable puppy.
But my favoritest design choice of all: constantly interrupting the action with a refreshing round of a two-decades old shareware game. Because, get it? Pipes? Underwater city? Awesome. Pun-based gameplay is the wave of the future. (Get it? Wave? Awesome.) Take your time; any bad guys will stop what they’re doing -- even if that happens to be leaping down at the player from the ceiling brandishing giant bloody hooks, while on fire -- and wait while you mosey through this moment of innovative gameplay circa 1989.
And that's not even getting into the bizarre art design lapses, like the 1950's bowling-alley-kitsch weapon intro videos thrust randomly in this 1920's deco environment, or the fact that the landscape is scattered with "audio diaries" recorded in thick peasant-russian accents despite the complete absence in Atlantis of A) russians or B) peasants, or the "secret rooms" which are plainly marked on your map, but still hard to get into, but contain nothing of interest once you do, or the awful control scheme, or the way the guy on the radio only ever gives you useful information while you're in the middle of combat so you can't hear him over the irritating screeching voices of the mutants, and the this, and the that, &c &c. I Did Not Like It, Sam I Am. I Will Not Buy The Sequel, Man.
posted by ook at 10:55 AM on April 21, 2009 [2 favorites]
The opening sequence, the plane crash and swimming through the wreckage and that gorgeous, ominous entrance hall was so beautifully and carefully designed -- my jaw dropped when I stepped out of the water and droplets clung to my screen -- it really set me up to expect a totally immersive experience. yes you see what I did there They had my complete and total attention at that point; I was ready to love this game.
And then the actual gameplay starts and it all turns completely to crap almost immediately.
Combat, which should be the most visceral and immersive part of the game, consists mostly of repeatedly hitting the pause button to rummage through fourteen different weapon choices each with three types of ammo two or three times for every single enemy (first the research camera, which isn't repetitive AT ALL no sir, then one or another stunner plasmid, then finally a gun to finish the job, but a different type of gun for each target.)
Death is so inconsequential that if you accidentally set off an alarm it's literally easier to just die and respawn than to walk five feet and spend a few dollars to pull the handy "alarm reset" lever. (Also, try not to think too much about the logic of an alarm system which comes with a pre-installed vending machine reset lever.) Until the end of the game, when death suddenly becomes irrevocable. For some reason.
Oh, and the much-talked-about Complex Moral Decision for the player! Which is, SPOILER ALERT: Should I, or should I not, eviscerate the cute little girls? Wow, you totally knocked my socks off with that one. I expect Bioshock II will up the stakes to do I, or do I not, drown the adorable puppy.
But my favoritest design choice of all: constantly interrupting the action with a refreshing round of a two-decades old shareware game. Because, get it? Pipes? Underwater city? Awesome. Pun-based gameplay is the wave of the future. (Get it? Wave? Awesome.) Take your time; any bad guys will stop what they’re doing -- even if that happens to be leaping down at the player from the ceiling brandishing giant bloody hooks, while on fire -- and wait while you mosey through this moment of innovative gameplay circa 1989.
And that's not even getting into the bizarre art design lapses, like the 1950's bowling-alley-kitsch weapon intro videos thrust randomly in this 1920's deco environment, or the fact that the landscape is scattered with "audio diaries" recorded in thick peasant-russian accents despite the complete absence in Atlantis of A) russians or B) peasants, or the "secret rooms" which are plainly marked on your map, but still hard to get into, but contain nothing of interest once you do, or the awful control scheme, or the way the guy on the radio only ever gives you useful information while you're in the middle of combat so you can't hear him over the irritating screeching voices of the mutants, and the this, and the that, &c &c. I Did Not Like It, Sam I Am. I Will Not Buy The Sequel, Man.
posted by ook at 10:55 AM on April 21, 2009 [2 favorites]
Also, try not to think too much about the logic of an alarm system which comes with a pre-installed vending machine reset lever.
It's Randian!
posted by Artw at 11:03 AM on April 21, 2009 [2 favorites]
It's Randian!
posted by Artw at 11:03 AM on April 21, 2009 [2 favorites]
ARGH! Haters! HATERS!
You know what game I hate? Skate 2! Why do I bring it up? I don't know! But I loved Bioshock damnit!
posted by Bageena at 11:21 AM on April 21, 2009
You know what game I hate? Skate 2! Why do I bring it up? I don't know! But I loved Bioshock damnit!
posted by Bageena at 11:21 AM on April 21, 2009
'Am' and 'man' don't rhyme.
In a thick russian peasant accent over a scratchy radio during a firefight with mutants, they do.
posted by ook at 11:39 AM on April 21, 2009
In a thick russian peasant accent over a scratchy radio during a firefight with mutants, they do.
posted by ook at 11:39 AM on April 21, 2009
Although now that I think about it I'm a bit bothered by the fact that I consider "drowning adorable puppies" to be upping the stakes from "eviscerating little girls."
posted by ook at 11:42 AM on April 21, 2009
posted by ook at 11:42 AM on April 21, 2009
Death is so inconsequential
I do agree that bioshock was way way way way way too easy.
but then again in my younger days I had been in the trenches of counter-strike for FPS training (oh god the horror!).
I am tired of playing every single game i come across on "MeG@ InSaNe HaRdCoRE RancOr Xtr3m3 ModE" and end up breezing through it. IS IT MY FAULT I KICK SO MUCH ASS?!?!?!?
I'm looking at you "i metaphorically raped you with my eyes closed" Fallout 3.
Yes. I even played Stalker Clear Sky on hard. It was actually a little challenging, if not a bit cheap. (if the enemy says "grenada" you apparently dies instantly. They must have learned power word kill at some point. The whole completely unavoidable one shot kill grenade thing was lame, man. laaaaaammmmeee.)
Protip: If someone can speedrun your game in 15 minutes you might consider adding a harder difficulty level.
*puts epeen away*
*clears throat*
Well, i'm glad you all got a look at that.
posted by 5imian at 11:58 AM on April 21, 2009
I do agree that bioshock was way way way way way too easy.
but then again in my younger days I had been in the trenches of counter-strike for FPS training (oh god the horror!).
I am tired of playing every single game i come across on "MeG@ InSaNe HaRdCoRE RancOr Xtr3m3 ModE" and end up breezing through it. IS IT MY FAULT I KICK SO MUCH ASS?!?!?!?
I'm looking at you "i metaphorically raped you with my eyes closed" Fallout 3.
Yes. I even played Stalker Clear Sky on hard. It was actually a little challenging, if not a bit cheap. (if the enemy says "grenada" you apparently dies instantly. They must have learned power word kill at some point. The whole completely unavoidable one shot kill grenade thing was lame, man. laaaaaammmmeee.)
Protip: If someone can speedrun your game in 15 minutes you might consider adding a harder difficulty level.
*puts epeen away*
*clears throat*
Well, i'm glad you all got a look at that.
posted by 5imian at 11:58 AM on April 21, 2009
I'm pretty much done playing games on hard. Normal is getting less and less of my attention, too, at least on initial playthroughs.
I want to play your awesome game, and I don't want to have to put up with any bullshit on the way to the good stuff. I no longer have all the time in the world, and I no longer get significant pleasure from doing something again and again until I get it right. (The recent and fucking awesome Bionic Command: Rearmed stands as an exception, here.)
So BioShock was great. Fallout 3's frequent autosaving: great. RE5's explicit checkpointing: great. The general upswing in games supporting chapter-based access for replay: rocking my socks.
That's just me, and I've had my hardcore past and can respect that a lot of people still want, first and foremost, a challenge. But I'm done with that. I want a game, and a story if you've got a good one, and I want them on a platter.
If a DVD restarts halfway through, I'm returning it. Games aren't movies, yes, but entertainment is entertainment and I don't want to be punished for relaxing (relatively speaking) and enjoying it.
posted by cortex at 12:09 PM on April 21, 2009 [5 favorites]
I want to play your awesome game, and I don't want to have to put up with any bullshit on the way to the good stuff. I no longer have all the time in the world, and I no longer get significant pleasure from doing something again and again until I get it right. (The recent and fucking awesome Bionic Command: Rearmed stands as an exception, here.)
So BioShock was great. Fallout 3's frequent autosaving: great. RE5's explicit checkpointing: great. The general upswing in games supporting chapter-based access for replay: rocking my socks.
That's just me, and I've had my hardcore past and can respect that a lot of people still want, first and foremost, a challenge. But I'm done with that. I want a game, and a story if you've got a good one, and I want them on a platter.
If a DVD restarts halfway through, I'm returning it. Games aren't movies, yes, but entertainment is entertainment and I don't want to be punished for relaxing (relatively speaking) and enjoying it.
posted by cortex at 12:09 PM on April 21, 2009 [5 favorites]
I'm all for difficulty on both ends of the spectrum.
Like "I want a challenge" mode as well as "Interactive movie" mode.
And they shoudl be available upfront, witout having to beat the game first.
(like prey's "cherokee" mode) Seriously. If i beat your game once, why should I play it again?
posted by 5imian at 12:18 PM on April 21, 2009
Like "I want a challenge" mode as well as "Interactive movie" mode.
And they shoudl be available upfront, witout having to beat the game first.
(like prey's "cherokee" mode) Seriously. If i beat your game once, why should I play it again?
posted by 5imian at 12:18 PM on April 21, 2009
I really hate the way that beating the game on multiple difficulties gets tied up into the Achievement point system. I have absolutely no desire to play Dead Space through again, but there's 150 points in it for me if I do it on the new super-insane hard mode. Weak. So very, very weak.
posted by Bageena at 12:35 PM on April 21, 2009
posted by Bageena at 12:35 PM on April 21, 2009
I do agree that bioshock was way way way way way too easy.
I actually thought it was way way way too hard, which they then vastly overcompensated for by making it so easy to recover from death. About halfway through the game I stopped even bothering to pretend to fight the Big Daddies properly: I'd just walk up to one, grenade-launch it in the face, die instantly, walk up to it again, grenade it in the face, repeat until done. Trying to actually survive a fight was just too frustratingly difficult, and not in an exciting immersive way (because it's all just little stuttery gaps of action between rummaging through the weapon selection screen.)
I appreciate a challenge -- if you can just sleepwalk through the gameplay, they might as well have made a movie instead of a game (cf. Mass Effect, the Cutscene Occasionally Interrupted By Gameplay) -- but particularly in story-based games, designers should err on the side of making it slightly too easy rather than slightly too hard.
Death in a pure shoot-em-up is fine, since that's why you're playing -- but in a more plot-based narrative, all it does is make the artificiality of the game that much more obvious: you end up repeating scenes of dialog over and over, or attacking the same creature over and over (yet it somehow fails to recognize you every single time.) I know that the plot is basically on rails, it has to be, but you don't have to rub my face in it by killing me every two minutes and making me do it again.
posted by ook at 12:36 PM on April 21, 2009
I actually thought it was way way way too hard, which they then vastly overcompensated for by making it so easy to recover from death. About halfway through the game I stopped even bothering to pretend to fight the Big Daddies properly: I'd just walk up to one, grenade-launch it in the face, die instantly, walk up to it again, grenade it in the face, repeat until done. Trying to actually survive a fight was just too frustratingly difficult, and not in an exciting immersive way (because it's all just little stuttery gaps of action between rummaging through the weapon selection screen.)
I appreciate a challenge -- if you can just sleepwalk through the gameplay, they might as well have made a movie instead of a game (cf. Mass Effect, the Cutscene Occasionally Interrupted By Gameplay) -- but particularly in story-based games, designers should err on the side of making it slightly too easy rather than slightly too hard.
Death in a pure shoot-em-up is fine, since that's why you're playing -- but in a more plot-based narrative, all it does is make the artificiality of the game that much more obvious: you end up repeating scenes of dialog over and over, or attacking the same creature over and over (yet it somehow fails to recognize you every single time.) I know that the plot is basically on rails, it has to be, but you don't have to rub my face in it by killing me every two minutes and making me do it again.
posted by ook at 12:36 PM on April 21, 2009
I really hate the way that beating the game on multiple difficulties gets tied up into the Achievement point system. I have absolutely no desire to play Dead Space through again, but there's 150 points in it for me if I do it on the new super-insane hard mode. Weak. So very, very weak.
Which is funny: I'm totally okay with them tying difficulty runs to achievements; what I don't want is them tying difficulty to anything concrete about the game content. Don't lock cool endings or story branches or other such neat-stuff-that-you-made-for-consumption behind this stuff.
Achievements are an awesome method for separating hardcore incentives from casual enjoyment to make a game work better for everyone. Deny me arbitrary Xbox Whuffie, by all means—if I didn't kill ~65K zombies in Dead Rising (yet...), I don't deserve the points.
In the mean time, let me play with all the cool stuff you made, read all the cool content you wrote, watch all the cool cutscenes you built. I'm just gonna have to cheat (read: break your game) and/or get the content elsewhere (read: get scripts from gamefaqs in a subpar presentation and watch gameplay videos on youtbue that look shittier than your awesome game is supposed to) if you don't. Woo, we both lose. Awesome.
posted by cortex at 12:54 PM on April 21, 2009
Which is funny: I'm totally okay with them tying difficulty runs to achievements; what I don't want is them tying difficulty to anything concrete about the game content. Don't lock cool endings or story branches or other such neat-stuff-that-you-made-for-consumption behind this stuff.
Achievements are an awesome method for separating hardcore incentives from casual enjoyment to make a game work better for everyone. Deny me arbitrary Xbox Whuffie, by all means—if I didn't kill ~65K zombies in Dead Rising (yet...), I don't deserve the points.
In the mean time, let me play with all the cool stuff you made, read all the cool content you wrote, watch all the cool cutscenes you built. I'm just gonna have to cheat (read: break your game) and/or get the content elsewhere (read: get scripts from gamefaqs in a subpar presentation and watch gameplay videos on youtbue that look shittier than your awesome game is supposed to) if you don't. Woo, we both lose. Awesome.
posted by cortex at 12:54 PM on April 21, 2009
One thing I'm getting from this is that the PC version with the regular save was probably a lot more enjoyable to me than the vitachamber and clunky controls X-box version.
posted by Artw at 1:10 PM on April 21, 2009
posted by Artw at 1:10 PM on April 21, 2009
One thing I'm getting from this is that the PC version with the regular save was probably a lot more enjoyable to me than the vitachamber and clunky controls X-box version.
Oh definitely. I'm exclusively a PC gamer.
posted by 5imian at 6:10 PM on April 21, 2009
Oh definitely. I'm exclusively a PC gamer.
posted by 5imian at 6:10 PM on April 21, 2009
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posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 1:19 PM on April 20, 2009