Bioshock Infinite

  On 3/27/2013 at 3:46 PM, logboy said:

 

  On 3/27/2013 at 2:20 PM, Iain C said:

Seems shooter-fatigue is pretty widespread among gamers these days.

 

think it's gaming fatigue. nobody designing games seems to imagine they're not really managing to design the elements that would set them apart, and they manage to dress up a certain kind of structure which was designed by someone at some point, but has been taken as convention. oddest thing is that there's loads of lessons as to how to do a game well, but massive outlays from companies mean they don't really risk redesigning what seems to be the wheel that should be left alone.

I think that's a good point. The whole "AAA" section of the industry is creatively bankrupt, but FPS games typify it more than any other genre. The only games I'm really playing these days are niche titles - roguelikes, grand strategy games and sims.

I'm about 8 hours through. I don't know exactly.

Spoilered only because I don't know how little you might want to know. I haven't played anything that felt significant yet.

it's a genre game that doesn't revel in it. if i was watching a genre film, i'd expect it to be a honest one, hopefully with no pretentions beyond that unless kind of ironic, accidental, somewhat tongue in cheek. i think max payne 3 relished the shoot em up genre and went over the top with it, and i had more fun with it as a result. bioshock, in fact the whole trophy-oriented turn that gaming took with the current generation, towards autistic levels of necessity (money, health, tools & weapons) being morphed into obsessive collecting on an inconsequential and completely dismantled range of items & objects scattered in huge quantities across the game really urks me as it's grinding gameplay out. it's the most visible major-money part of the industry, and it's now making what are essentially self-indulgent wannabe filmmaker ideas, badly-written, overstretched and impossibly thin on filmic levels of ideas as it's only keen on SF / war and other such famous franchises, and only really asking you to fulfil the necessary role of triggering it's own preplanned events rather than for you to create an experience in your own mind that doesn't require a script.

  On 3/27/2013 at 2:20 PM, Iain C said:

Seems shooter-fatigue is pretty widespread among gamers these days.

Yes.

I think that's one of reasons Minecraft has been such a huge success.

It's still a shooter yes, but I think this game is a fine example of a shooter done right, and it's the story and atmosphere it creates that set it apart from the standard "run and guns"... WATMM can be so jaded and cynical sometimes. It's a good game.

Agreed. Good game. I'd recommend that everyone plays it. There's a lot of love in it, and a lot to love. But if you're not interested right now, then wait 'til it's cheaper.

but it's not really a game though, there's this incredible world and interesting story and setting, and then you have those painstakingly planned stages where you shoot stuff plopped in in various locations for some reason, and that's where actual gameplay ends basically. there's almost no organic connection between those two elements, sure, they try to make it seem like there is but it just doesn't work. it's the opposite of something like fallout nv, for example, where you are completely inside the gameworld, where choices matter and you make your own story.

I'm only two hours in, but I have to say that I'm really disappointed so far.

Sure it's pretty, but It lacks the same kind of atmosphere and creepiness from the original. And it doens't have that same kind of mindblowing intro. Plus the gameplay is doing nothing for me.

It's not bad, but I was hoping for something more. Maybe it will get better.

  On 3/27/2013 at 8:28 PM, eugene said:

but it's not really a game though...it's the opposite of something like fallout nv, for example, where you are completely inside the gameworld, where choices matter and you make your own story.

Of course it's a game, however It's not trying to be that type of game, it's not an RPG that much should have been clear from the development stages... You are playing as a character with a set story to make it through. Yeah it's linear but that's not always bad... It seems people have gotten overly used to sandbox style and open-ended games in recent years. I think the jump between the story-driven and gameplay moments has happened pretty well so far.

jesus christ peoples expectations on watmm are weird. Of course it's a shooter. What were you expecting? The new Super Mario Bros on Wii U is just another 2D Platformer but from what I have seen and heard it's one of the best designed 2D mario games. Doesn't matter that the formula has been used before or that its linear with a start point and end point. If the details are tuned and thought over in such a way that it evokes emotions or adds versatility to ways you can tackle problems, that is good game design and is what game design is all about. Minecraft is a different kind of game experience than Bioshock, so if you don't like shooting stuff then yeah, you probably won't like Bioshock. But the same kind of argument could be made against the new Super Mario Bros, that its just another 2D platformer with nothing new. It's a bullshit argument.

To demand some kind of organic open world experience is to demand 2D mario games be open world and organic. It's ridiculous.

playing through now. love it so far. the atmosphere and characterization is fantastic. the enemies get a bit tedious though. i just spam crows lol.

I like the combat when I have to do crowd control and some decision making in the larger open areas where you can rail around. But the tougher enemies that just require tons of damage to go down aren't much fun to fight. It's just kiting them around and putting in a few shots every time you can reach a bit of distance.

The lack of quicksave and quickload is a choice I hated at first but it seems like a good idea because it forces a penalty for dying. They should just save the game state when you're exiting though.

Apart from that I'm really enjoying the game. The story certainly has my attention.

just finished the game and... holy shit. i don't want to spoil anything, so i'm just gonna say that they took a big risk in an age where video game storylines are watered down pieces of crap for the most part so the "average gamer" can understand them. bravo, irrational games, bravo.

  On 3/28/2013 at 4:22 AM, Hoodie said:

just finished the game and... holy shit. i don't want to spoil anything, so i'm just gonna say that they took a big risk in an age where video game storylines are watered down pieces of crap for the most part so the "average gamer" can understand them. bravo, irrational games, bravo.

Done already? Damn, you're quick!

Now I'm worried that the game is gonna end up being too short :P

It usually takes me at least 4 times the official playtime for any game as I spend so much time looking at all the details, so I'm not worried.

I'm looking forward to this game.

and there's always playthroughs on harder settings.

Kinda want this game now. I like what people are saying about it being super linear, which I consider a strength when it comes to story based shooters. Makes it easier for the devs to tell the story they want to.

  On 3/28/2013 at 12:26 PM, delet... said:

and there's always playthroughs on harder settings.

I've never done those, it doesn't really do anything for me to play on hard mode other than frustrate me now and then.

Although some games have a well designed hard mode that forces you to lay down some more strategy, that I understand. The old Devil May Cry had some unique enemy types that would only show up on higher difficulty settings, that was a good motivator!

  On 3/28/2013 at 12:33 PM, Terpentintollwut said:

 

  On 3/28/2013 at 12:26 PM, delet... said:

and there's always playthroughs on harder settings.

 

I've never done those, it doesn't really do anything for me to play on hard mode other than frustrate me now and then.

Although some games have a well designed hard mode that forces you to lay down some more strategy, that I understand. The old Devil May Cry had some unique enemy types that would only show up on higher difficulty settings, that was a good motivator!

I like becoming more competent with weapons and against enemy tactics. In first person shooters that is. The last devil may cry i quit after i reached a stage that kept slicing the character in two, forcing me to restart from the beginning of the level. I was rather unimpressed, spose i could have gone online for a workaround, but fuck that, it's devil may cry. I don't know what mental delusion caused me to be playing the game in the first place.

something i don't understand about the ending:

  On 3/28/2013 at 2:24 PM, eugene said:

something i don't understand about the ending:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

why would main booker's death (drowning) affect (their disappearance) elizabeths/annes from other dimensions ? perhaps those 5 (if i remember correctly) that appeared in the scene are interrelated ?

 

  On 3/28/2013 at 2:24 PM, eugene said:

something i don't understand about the ending:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

why would main booker's death (drowning) affect (their disappearance) elizabeths/annes from other dimensions ? perhaps those 5 (if i remember correctly) that appeared in the scene are interrelated ?

 

I don't wan't to sound all down on the game, because it's pretty good. And I'm starting to enjoy it a whole lot more.

But I don't understand how this game can receive almost perfect review scores everywhere. It's nowhere near that good, and It's one of the rare cases where the original is way better than the sequel from a gameplay perspective. I think some people that have reviewed this, might have been caught up in the hype a little too much .

And am I supposed to feel anything for this Elizabeth character?.. Because I don't. And I prefer it when the protagonist don't talk in first person games.

couldn't get through the first Bioshock because of how artificial and forced all the cut scene boring story elements were shoehorned into the game, is this one the same? I just like actually playing, rather than being interrupted by horrible cringe worthy phoned in voice acting

  On 3/29/2013 at 12:09 AM, John Ehrlichman said:

couldn't get through the first Bioshock because of how artificial and forced all the cut scene boring story elements were shoehorned into the game, is this one the same? I just like actually playing, rather than being interrupted by horrible cringe worthy phoned in voice acting

There were no major cutscenes in Bioshock that I remember and the voice over audio files you found throughout were just bonuses. I dont think the game forces you to listen to very much dialogue.

  On 3/29/2013 at 12:09 AM, John Ehrlichman said:

couldn't get through the first Bioshock because of how artificial and forced all the cut scene boring story elements were shoehorned into the game, is this one the same? I just like actually playing, rather than being interrupted by horrible cringe worthy phoned in voice acting

seems like the opposite here, the story and the voice acting is good, the gameplay is boring