Official Bioshock thread

[Tessian]

I was surprised to have actually received the game today from Amazon...

I got up to the first major boss, which is a good deal past where the demo stops. Good stuff, great stories... I'm finding myself enjoying listening to the tapes left around which I never did in other games.

Who else got it? I only saw Bovine on Live and at the time I had 20pts for finishing the first larea.. Boving had 150pts... wtf man, you been playing all day?

[kali o.]

I heard it doesn't support widescreen (by that I mean 4:3 actually shows more)...if true, that's a little disappointing.

Details:
http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4883

Anyway, looks like the repair center just got my 360 today - so hopefully I can join this thread soon, as Bioshock is the first thing going inside my system when it returns.

[bovine]

going to seattle on thursday for pax, so i'm trying to beat it before i go to avoid the possibility of spoilers. I got off work at 11am today and have basically been playing it since i got home (12:30ish). The girlfriend played a little into it and was frightened. Great game so far... The spoon feeding of content is a nice way to integrate the large amount of customization without overwhelming.

[Eric]

I heard it doesn't support widescreen (by that I mean 4:3 actually shows more)...if true, that's a little disappointing.

Details:
http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4883

Anyway, looks like the repair center just got my 360 today - so hopefully I can join this thread soon, as Bioshock is the first thing going inside my system when it returns.

I'll put something inside your system.

And yes this game is awesome!

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

Street date broken in Aus. Trying to get my EB to give me my copy. Waiting on a call back. May explode from excitement. STOP.

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

Got it last night. Fuck me. It's a landmark title, no doubt. I've got the statue sitting next to my second monitor at work and I can't wait to get home and keep playing it.

[Blotus]

I borrowed a friend's 360. I am playing Bioshock. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

[Flip]

FPS's suck balls on consoles... this game has the creepy feel, otherworldly look, and good story like HL and HL2, which i played years ago.

[Kupek]

Goddamnit. I figured I was going to not bother with this generation. And if I did get in, i figured it would be with a Wii. Bioshock is not the first 360 game to get my attention (that was Crackdown), but it's the first to make me actually want to buy a system.

[Flip]

just buy the computer version.

[Eric]

just buy the computer version.

The X-Box 360 version is very good as well, the controls are set up quite comfortably.

[Kupek]

just buy the computer version.

I have a four year old laptop. I can't imagine playing it would be an enjoyable experience.

[Oracle]

Bioshock = awesome.

Loads of fun with the game so far. Best plasmid would have to go to Telekenisis, with the Security Patsy (whatever it's called, toss it on a guy to make robots and turrets rape him) as a close second.

Graphics aren't quite what I expected (I.E. thought they would be better) but the game is awesome nonetheless.

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

I have a four year old laptop. I can't imagine playing it would be an enjoyable experience.

Playing it on a laptop at all would not be an enjoyable experience. This game needs to be played either:

* in front of a television, in the dark and comfortable, or
* on a PC with a big screen, in the dark and with good headphones

Bioshock is worth buying a 360 for, and Crackdown definitely seals the deal. (and fuck but there's a lot of good stuff coming soon!)

[SineSwiper]

Fucking awesome!



What do I do now? Call tech support? "Uhh, can you try another video card to see if that works?" Yeah, sure, I'll go to my lab and fetch one from the supply closet, because I'm totally rich and have hundreds of video cards just for problems like this.

EDIT: Oh great...their tech support phone line is "busy". You don't even get to wait in line. They just tell you to email them and kick you off the phone.

[SineSwiper]

Also, an awesome pic that illustrates what's wrong with the "anti-piracy" bullshit that's in the PC version of the game:

BioShock/SecuROM customer support at its finest... [pic]

[Zeus]

Just got back from vacation and will be picking mine up tomorrow. I actually didn't want to pre-order this game before I d'loaded the demo. It just looked too great a game to pass up

[Tessian]

Also, an awesome pic that illustrates what's wrong with the "anti-piracy" bullshit that's in the PC version of the game:

BioShock/SecuROM customer support at its finest... [pic]

While PC game piracy is a big concern... protection programs like SecuROM do much more harm to the honest consumer than pirates. Fuck, it's easier to circumvent SecuROM than it is to use it legitimately.

[Eric]

[Oracle]

Just finished my first play through today. Now I'm going for a second, to get a different ending (don't want to spoil anything).

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

I beat it yesterday. Spoilers: <font color="white">I saved all the little sisters and got the good ending. Final boss fight was a little easy, but completely awesome.

Best moment in the game: the many reveals just before, during and after you meet Andrew Ryan. The meeting with Ryan in particular was just stunning: the first time in the game that control is taken away from you, and it is completely appropriate to the narrative that control is actually taken away from you. Really amazing, and the kind of thing that you could only do in a game.</font>

I'm going to play it through on hard for the extra achievements (I didn't upgrade all of my weapons and missed some recordings, tonics and research targets). And also just to play around a bit more: for the most part I played it like a pretty traditional shooter, using plasmids to only really support the weapons. This time around I think I'll be using the enemy- and environmental-manipulating plasmids more, like (very minor spoilers ahead) <font color="white">enrage, cyclone trap, befriend Big Daddy and the security system confusing one</font>.

My favourite plasmid was probably insect swarm, just because watching splicers curse, stumble around and shoo the bees away was hilarious.

[SineSwiper]

Took the PC version back, bought the 360 version. I'll buy an Elite tomorrow. IGN had a video review that looked awesome! I really hope that this will encourage more story and depth in future games like this.

[Zeus]

I just finished the part with the garden and on my way to kick buddy's ass

[RentCavalier]

This game is mesmerizing.

Highly original, though while the sum of its parts is truly magnificent, some of the individual parts don't add up as well as they ought.

Still...fucking creepy game at times. Big Daddies are a pain in the ass.

[SineSwiper]

There's a lot of details that you catch on a 2nd playthrough.

[RentCavalier]

Hey, are there multiple endings? 'cause the game seems kinda linear at the moment...

[Blotus]

There are two.

Pretty sure.

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

Yep, two. And the game is linear, but I don't think this can be levelled against it as a complaint.

[Zeus]

Technically, there are three endings, but really, there are only two. The one is a very, very slightly different version of the other.

[SineSwiper]

Three endings? No there isn't. There's only two.

[Zeus]

Three endings? No there isn't. There's only two.

I haven't actually tried it myself, but apparently, if you harvest only some of the girls you get the bad ending with different wording. At least that's what I read in the FAQ when I was searching for the last 7 diaries

[RentCavalier]

This game has an awesome storyline, I'll give it that.

I dunno...I kinda wish things were less inconsequential though, you know? This game has almost no real exploration involved--there are optional areas and bonuses and the like, but really...if you don't want to, you don't have to. Also, the Vita-Chamber system is swell and all, but it basically takes the BITE out of the game. There's no challenge, and the scares get diminished without the threat of actual death.

They really should've just stuck with a checkpoint or save system like Doom 3.

Even better, there should've been save points. Limiting your respawns would make the game WAY more scary and add some extra difficulty involved.

Still, I have a ton of fun with this game, even as I am nearing the end and am eager to do so (I really wanna see how the story ends, considering all the shit the last half thrusts at me.).

Very fun game, but...maybe a little overhyped?

[Tessian]

This game has an awesome storyline, I'll give it that.

I dunno...I kinda wish things were less inconsequential though, you know? This game has almost no real exploration involved--there are optional areas and bonuses and the like, but really...if you don't want to, you don't have to. Also, the Vita-Chamber system is swell and all, but it basically takes the BITE out of the game. There's no challenge, and the scares get diminished without the threat of actual death.

They really should've just stuck with a checkpoint or save system like Doom 3.

Even better, there should've been save points. Limiting your respawns would make the game WAY more scary and add some extra difficulty involved.

Still, I have a ton of fun with this game, even as I am nearing the end and am eager to do so (I really wanna see how the story ends, considering all the shit the last half thrusts at me.).

Very fun game, but...maybe a little overhyped?

You dare suggest save points? NO gamer wants save points these days! They were used back in the day because of limited memory to save games; there's no excuse today and it seriously detracts from any game that forces it.

There's now an achievement for not using a vita-chamber; so just keep yourself to the saves... I never used them anyway.

[RentCavalier]

I personally like save-points. I don't see why people make a big deal about them--they work very well in games like Ninja Gaiden and Final Fantasy.

[bovine]

I did not enjoy the save points in dead rising. The fellow who made it said they were to make the game more challenging, but fuck that! They just made the game stop being fun. That and constantly having to be somewhere when all I wanted to do was wander aimlessly and kill zombies. Other than that game, I have not encountered a place where I found the save-points to be unfair or annoying.

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

I personally like save-points. I don't see why people make a big deal about them--they work very well in games like Ninja Gaiden and Final Fantasy.

Dictating when the gamer is allowed to stop playing is a terrible, terrible mechanism. They are something to put up with where they do exist, and I find now actively dissuade me from playing. I am not able to start playing FF12 unless I know I can dedicate a large and completely variable amount of time to it; so I just don't play it.

Games should either allow quicksaves anywhere, as is the case in most PC games, have a suspend mechanism (like Phoenix Wright's would be if you couldn't reload the same save over and over again, or like Fire Emblem), or a you-don't-quite-save-all-of-your-progress, but-you-can-turn-the-game-off-if-you-have-to system like Zelda's. Arbitrary save points are a vile anachronism.

[Blotus]

Other than that game, I have not encountered a place where I found the save-points to be unfair or annoying.

Ink ribbons in RE1. First time through, anyway, it was a pain in the ass. On subsequent playthroughs, I found plenty more but on my first run I can remember choosing not to save and push myself forward because I figured I'd need them later.

Same kind of thing was done in Enemy Zero for the Saturn. I never played it, but Bettenhausen talks about it on a Retronauts podcast. Apparently the spaceship you're on only has so much battery, a chunk of which is used for every save. Anybody ever play this? Or D? D2? I played a bit of D for the PS1, but the rental copy kept freezing at the same spot due to a scratch on the disc.

Kind of regret not trying another copy, because the ending is supposed to be grotesquely awesome.

[Zeus]

Other than that game, I have not encountered a place where I found the save-points to be unfair or annoying.

Ink ribbons in RE1. First time through, anyway, it was a pain in the ass. On subsequent playthroughs, I found plenty more but on my first run I can remember choosing not to save and push myself forward because I figured I'd need them later.

Same kind of thing was done in Enemy Zero for the Saturn. I never played it, but Bettenhausen talks about it on a Retronauts podcast. Apparently the spaceship you're on only has so much battery, a chunk of which is used for every save. Anybody ever play this? Or D? D2? I played a bit of D for the PS1, but the rental copy kept freezing at the same spot due to a scratch on the disc.

Kind of regret not trying another copy, because the ending is supposed to be grotesquely awesome.

Enemy Zero was an awesome game. Like D, the controls are a bit weird and take time getting used to as does the rest of the gameplay mechanics and design, but was essentially like playing the movie Alien. It was one of my fav survival horror games of the time. I do remember not saving often 'cause of limited saves but it never really got in the way.

Didn't play D or D2 enough to garner an opinion.

[RentCavalier]

Ok...I beat the game...and I got the "Bad" ending...

um...

FUCK that ending.

I was SO freaking disappointed by the ending of this game it practically hurts. It's really short, and ultimately pointless--and I looked up the second ending two, just to confirm my suspicions. It looks pretty shitty too.

Considering how great the storyline is throughout, is it too much to ask to give us an ending that isn't either a full-out condemnation of the player or else a full-out, freaking, sappy ending?

Ugh! Seriously, the entire game has this awesome platform of the effects of freedom gone too far, and THAT'S what we get? Where's the RESOLUTION? The CHARACTERS!? I mean...ARGH!

*grumble grumble*

[Flip]

I seriously dislike games with multiple endings. Can they really justify that it adds replay value? As a kid, with infinite time to see all Chrono Trigger endings, it was cool. Now, i juat want the one good ending for my efforts.

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

Levine has complained that he wanted only the one ending for the game.

I am curious to see what happens with the franchise without his direction. It's awesome that he's working on a new X-Com game, though.

[Eric]

Even if one of the endings was the only ending he wanted, they both fucking sucked. lol.

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

I don't think he wanted either (He's complained that the endings were digital, but he wanted analog).

That said, I did like the good ending! Die, [Eric]! You don't belong in this world!

[Zeus]

I was a little disappointed at the ending of the game as well. In fact, the entire ending sequence coulda used a lot more, well, oomph I guess. You had 20 hours of build-up and you go in there, waste him, and get a short little ending, and that's it. If there's one complaint I have with the game, the ending shoulda been more

[Blotus]

Even a credit roll would have helped. Still, I found the good ending touching.

[SineSwiper]

All endings suck. Why bitch about them? Half-Life, in all of its forms, is hailed about being one of the best story-driven FPSs on the planet, and ALL OF THE ENDINGS SUCK. They are short and not very full on detail.

The whole game is about the story detail and finding out about all of this stuff during the game. It's about taking the story and trying to fit together all of the pieces. There's a lot of character development, which is excellent. Besides, what the hell ending were you expecting?