Or so thats what a handful people have been telling me lately. In my defence, Volcynika (of PC-Gaf) asked me out of the blue if I had played the first game, I said I hadnt, and he then generously gifted it to me on Steam. So here I am, progressing through the game for the first time. I know the big story twists going in (ANDREW RYAN IS ATLAS, OH MY GOD [joking]), so it's mainly an atmosphere and gameplay playthrough for me.
Position (Updated semi-regularly): Beginning of
Point Prometheus
Guns, Loot and Shiny Things
- Electrobolt, what to say of it? Bread and butter of the plasmids, more or less.
- Incinerate is good fun, especially if fire is one your favoured game weapons.
- The gusting plasmid is one I occasionally use. I wonder if it does anything to Big Daddies.
- The freezing plasmid is one I rarely (if ever) use. Loot is just too important to me :lol
- Telekinesis stays equipped pretty much for the out-of-reach items it nets me.
- Hypnotize Big Daddy is occasionally fairly useful (especially during holdout scenarios), if not a bit dauntingly expensive.
- Finally decided to craft the Booze Hound tonic. Now I'm putting all that alcohol in the world to good use!
- Clever Inventor and Prolific Inventor aka plasmids targeted at dirty U-Invent addicts like me. I lapped that shit up!
- Mmm, anti-personnel rounds. One-shotting splicers feels darn good.
- When I first stumbled across a rubber hose at the beginning of Arcadia (iirc), I was thinking, "Hello, what's this?" Little did I realize at the time that it was an item component, and little did I realize that the U-Invent machines would be so darn interesting to me. I just love stockpiling scraps and making shit with it.
- I'm a compulsive audio-diary listener, which is odd because I thought I wouldn't really like the mechanic. Some video diaries would be nice, I think.
- Like in real life, I don't really drink much booze in Bioshock. Jebus Botolf, you are a boring, boring Splicer.
Botolf versus the Splicers
- I love the random doctor splicers that wander around occasionally. "Nurse, can you help me find this patient?" :lol
- Nitro Splicers are a pest. So many grenades to trip over and that crate of theirs is almost always empty. I'm glad they haven't shown up in such high frequency since Neptune's Bounty.
- Ive been relying on a lot of anti-personnel ammunition versus the tougher Splicers, my upgraded dmg machine gun seems to handle Spider and other Splicers well enough on regular bullets.
- That vampire tonic can be pretty useful for when I'm in the mood to go leisurely back through an area and collect items from Splicers. I don't waste bullets that way :3
- Damn those Spider Splicers, they always seem to run for the ceiling when I'm ready to give them an etiquette lesson with my wrench.
- I like fighting the Houdini Splicers, partially because they'll hold still long enough for me to snap a few pictures with my camera.
Botolf versus the world
- Fucking trap bolts are so tricky to handle with telekinesis, I always wound up electrocuting myself. I needed an idiot-proof solution for these situations, so I now roll with Electrobolt.
- It took until Arcadia before it really clicked that I could hack turrets and cameras. I had been getting decent at hacking vending machines and flying drones, but I had always elected to destroy the other machines up until this point. Ill probably save my ammunition and just sacrifice a little health to secure a corner of the world for myself.
- So far I haven't electrocuted myself in water yet, I've (thankfully) been very careful about that.
- I always somehow manage to break a pane of security glass when it's around, especially when fighting Big Daddies. Fighting one of those when an alert is active is really hectic.
- Without this nifty map, I'd miss out on a lot of goodie caches and other nice things. One downside is that now I'm compelled to fill all the areas of the map before I move on :<. Oh well, goodies!
Botolf versus the Big Daddy
I came into Bioshock with zero knowledge as to how to confront these brutes, so I relied totally on trial and error. Trying to transplant some common knowledge from another game, I figured I could lead this thing around in circles whilst lighting him on fire. It works for Tanks in Left 4 Dead, were my thoughts at that moment. Well, there were two big flaws that I was not aware of beforehand: 1) Big Daddies can charge a lot faster than a Tank can, 2) Big Daddy fire resistance is impressive. Unaware of these things, I formally initiated the gentleman's duel by setting his arse on fire. By prodding this big, scary man in an iron suit with matches as I was, poor little Botolf was mercilessly smashed into paste and smeared all over the walls.
My next attempt involved Electro Bolt. Needless to say this was far more effective and I finally understood the Big Daddys vulnerability to electricity. Still being a nub I died a few times before I wore Big Daddy down.
The Little Sisters didnt really present me much of a moral dilemma. Basically it comes down to: Kill children, or dont kill children. Well gee, when you put it that way... Not really much of a choice. And Im still receiving a lot of Adam so Im not really suffering for it either.
As I grew more knowledgeable about the games weapons, I slowly figured out better ways of confronting the Big Daddies. I grasped the application of electric buckshot immediately; it certainly made further encounters go much smoother. I now carry around a full amount at virtually all times. Lately, however, Ive been using the electric buckshot as a secondary weapon for Big Daddy fights. Laying a nest of proximity mines and leading a Big Daddy into them can bring him to the edge of death instantly, and a few shots of electro-buck have typically been enough to finish him after that.
On Fort Frolic I encountered the Elite Bouncers. I hadnt tried the Chemical Throwers electric gel on a Big Daddy yet, so I laid down some proximity mines and snuck up behind the Big Daddy with the Chemical Thrower in hand. Its damage was high, but I emptied it before the Big Daddy was dead. The Bouncer somehow charged past the proximity mines without incurring too much damage and I was in trouble. He swatted me and I revived in a vita chamber. Upon returning, I whittled down what was left of his health and re-evaluated my strategy. I had a little electro buck left, but not enough to kill two more Elite Bouncers. I gave the Crossbows Trap Bolts a try. I laid about 5 lines in a hallway and then provoked a Bouncer with my pistol. He charged right into the lines and lost about 9/10s of his health. I finished him with a few frag grenades. Number three played out similarly, except this time I had the good luck of having the Bouncer walking toward me. I quickly laid another nest and waited. Armor piercing rounds were loaded into my Tommy gun. He strolled into the nest and charged at me gravely wounded. He fell in mid stride at my feet. Three Big Daddies vanquished and three Little Sisters saved in fifteen minutes, I felt pretty accomplished at having pulled that off.
The reduced ammo consumption upgrade for the chemical thrower makes it a hell of a lot more useful for anti-Big Daddy purposes (along with the damage upgrade). I'm getting low on ammo for it, need to find more distilled water and make more "kidnapping fuel".
Chapter by Chapter Thoughts (HERE THERE BE HEAVY SPOILERS BELOW)
Botolf Liked:
Welcome to Rapture
> Scared the shit out of me in the demo.
> The trip down to Rapture was pretty mind-blowing.
Medical Pavilion
> Nice, creepy setting. I was on my toes at all times.
> I really liked the audio diaries in this area, especially those by Dr. Steinman.
Arcadia
> Really nice setting, I especially liked wandering around in the Rolling Hills.
> I had lots of fun during the lab defence scenario (especially because I brought a Big Daddy with me), and the Lazarus Vector fetch quest was enjoyable (as was the end result).
> The Farmers Market was a nice little side-area.
Fort Frolic
> Sander Cohen is such a lovably wacky character. Spooky levels really get an atmosphere boost when theyre narrated by a screwball (another example: Ravenholm in Half-Life 2 was a lot better for Father Grigoris inclusion). Another thing I really appreciated was not being forced to fight the wacky little dude; I was beginning to smell boss fight and was pleasantly surprised at not being arm-twisted into one.
> Im a sucker for assassination missions.
> Its fun to roam around through the stores and just beat the shit out of random Splicers. It kind of feels like home within the game. I have a few hacked security cameras and turrets watching things. My mall now, bitches!
Olympus Heights
> Nice setting, but I felt like it needed something. Maybe some hugeass sculptures or equally extravagant things. It's a place for the richest people to dwell, after all.
> I'm glad I wasnt tasked to hunt down a million and a half ingredients for the mind control antidote.
> I didn't mind the shifting plasmids sequence all that much. Sure, it kind of rushed me through the level (went back after to explore), but it was a nice space of time to play with some plasmids I didn't really get much use out of. Fleshing that idea out more with additional complications might have been neat (such as plasmids malfunctioning and firing even when you used guns).
> I accidentally invoked Sander Cohen's wrath when I tapped some piano keys in the middle of a Splicer duet's dance. I was honestly going to leave them be, but I wanted to play with the piano :lol . So yeah, Cohen came down from his room all pissed and shit.0 After killing him quite easily, I went back to Fort Frolic and opened his Muse Box with the key I found on him. Kind of disappointed at the stuff I found.
Apollo Square
> The setting was really muddy and dingy, but it didn't really bother me because it worked, it genuinely felt like a ghetto.
> It was nice to see a Little Sister orphanage pop out, just for the satisfaction of seeing something that was talked about in Rapture diaries and news alerts previously.
> The contrast between Olympus Heights and Apollo Square was really quite cool to see. Maybe it would have been an even sharper contrast if Olympus Heights sat directly above the Square, the Rapture elite would more or less be living in the treetops while the poorest languished at the roots. Interesting things you could do with light in that setup, especially as it filters down into the poorer districts.
> I really liked the diary content in this area. Rapture Civil War stuff is probably more interesting to me than the main story stuff.
> Scared the shit out of me in the demo.
> The trip down to Rapture was pretty mind-blowing.
Medical Pavilion
> Nice, creepy setting. I was on my toes at all times.
> I really liked the audio diaries in this area, especially those by Dr. Steinman.
Arcadia
> Really nice setting, I especially liked wandering around in the Rolling Hills.
> I had lots of fun during the lab defence scenario (especially because I brought a Big Daddy with me), and the Lazarus Vector fetch quest was enjoyable (as was the end result).
> The Farmers Market was a nice little side-area.
Fort Frolic
> Sander Cohen is such a lovably wacky character. Spooky levels really get an atmosphere boost when theyre narrated by a screwball (another example: Ravenholm in Half-Life 2 was a lot better for Father Grigoris inclusion). Another thing I really appreciated was not being forced to fight the wacky little dude; I was beginning to smell boss fight and was pleasantly surprised at not being arm-twisted into one.
> Im a sucker for assassination missions.
> Its fun to roam around through the stores and just beat the shit out of random Splicers. It kind of feels like home within the game. I have a few hacked security cameras and turrets watching things. My mall now, bitches!
Olympus Heights
> Nice setting, but I felt like it needed something. Maybe some hugeass sculptures or equally extravagant things. It's a place for the richest people to dwell, after all.
> I'm glad I wasnt tasked to hunt down a million and a half ingredients for the mind control antidote.
> I didn't mind the shifting plasmids sequence all that much. Sure, it kind of rushed me through the level (went back after to explore), but it was a nice space of time to play with some plasmids I didn't really get much use out of. Fleshing that idea out more with additional complications might have been neat (such as plasmids malfunctioning and firing even when you used guns).
> I accidentally invoked Sander Cohen's wrath when I tapped some piano keys in the middle of a Splicer duet's dance. I was honestly going to leave them be, but I wanted to play with the piano :lol . So yeah, Cohen came down from his room all pissed and shit.0 After killing him quite easily, I went back to Fort Frolic and opened his Muse Box with the key I found on him. Kind of disappointed at the stuff I found.
Apollo Square
> The setting was really muddy and dingy, but it didn't really bother me because it worked, it genuinely felt like a ghetto.
> It was nice to see a Little Sister orphanage pop out, just for the satisfaction of seeing something that was talked about in Rapture diaries and news alerts previously.
> The contrast between Olympus Heights and Apollo Square was really quite cool to see. Maybe it would have been an even sharper contrast if Olympus Heights sat directly above the Square, the Rapture elite would more or less be living in the treetops while the poorest languished at the roots. Interesting things you could do with light in that setup, especially as it filters down into the poorer districts.
> I really liked the diary content in this area. Rapture Civil War stuff is probably more interesting to me than the main story stuff.
Botolf was Neutral On:
Port Neptune
> Not too crazy about the setting.
> The fight with Peach Wilkins, eh. Not really much fun. It being glaringly obvious that he was just going to take my guns and betray me was kind of annoying. Know what wouldnt have been expected? Peach not being a total bastard
P).
> I really liked the freezer sections, got a lot of use out of Incinerate!
Hephaestus
> Not really crazy about how this chapter looked. It looked really cartoony or overdone in places, kind of like a little kid's conception of hell. I would have preferred it if the volcanic vents were a lot more subtle, maybe located below the city and casting warm, orange light against the ceiling, with darkened floors and corners for contrast.
> The EMP bomb fetch quest was enjoyable, but seemed to be much less thematically interesting than Arcadia's Lazarus Vector quest.
> I liked the audio diaries in this chapter, lots of good stuff on attempted assassinations and the details of civil war.
> Rapture Central Control: Damn, that Suchong was a real dick.
> Rapture Central Control: I have to wonder if Ryan's death scene would have been a bit more "affecting" if the player had to make the swings. You'd still essentially have no choice, but it'd fit better with how you were being controlled throughout the game.
> Rapture Central Control: The Little Sister leading me to safety was a nice touch.
> Rapture Central Control: The realization that Fontaine could still verbally control me kind of dawned on me before the level ended, very glad to see that the game is tying that up and not leaving a very large potential plot-hole.
> Not too crazy about the setting.
> The fight with Peach Wilkins, eh. Not really much fun. It being glaringly obvious that he was just going to take my guns and betray me was kind of annoying. Know what wouldnt have been expected? Peach not being a total bastard
P).> I really liked the freezer sections, got a lot of use out of Incinerate!
Hephaestus
> Not really crazy about how this chapter looked. It looked really cartoony or overdone in places, kind of like a little kid's conception of hell. I would have preferred it if the volcanic vents were a lot more subtle, maybe located below the city and casting warm, orange light against the ceiling, with darkened floors and corners for contrast.
> The EMP bomb fetch quest was enjoyable, but seemed to be much less thematically interesting than Arcadia's Lazarus Vector quest.
> I liked the audio diaries in this chapter, lots of good stuff on attempted assassinations and the details of civil war.
> Rapture Central Control: Damn, that Suchong was a real dick.
> Rapture Central Control: I have to wonder if Ryan's death scene would have been a bit more "affecting" if the player had to make the swings. You'd still essentially have no choice, but it'd fit better with how you were being controlled throughout the game.
> Rapture Central Control: The Little Sister leading me to safety was a nice touch.
> Rapture Central Control: The realization that Fontaine could still verbally control me kind of dawned on me before the level ended, very glad to see that the game is tying that up and not leaving a very large potential plot-hole.
Point Prometheus
> Kinda disappointed with the implementation of the Big Daddy suit. Increased damage resistance and a slightly fish-eyed overlay. Felt like a rushed feature, instead of being the ultimate culmination of your adventures in Rapture.
Proving Grounds
> I don't mind escort missions, but this one rubbed me the wrong way by virtue of a few things. I did like that losing Little Sisters wasn't an instant game-over, and that you summoned them with your wrench. However: they're unarmed, they're slow, they ignore danger and they don't even avoid enemies. I felt like a babysitter, rather than an escort. Had this gone on for longer, I probably would have ended up hating this level.
Fontaine
> The fight itself was easy (thank goodness). Still a lame way to end gameplay.
> I loved the "Good" ending. Made rescuing all those Little Sisters worth it.
> Kinda disappointed with the implementation of the Big Daddy suit. Increased damage resistance and a slightly fish-eyed overlay. Felt like a rushed feature, instead of being the ultimate culmination of your adventures in Rapture.
Proving Grounds
> I don't mind escort missions, but this one rubbed me the wrong way by virtue of a few things. I did like that losing Little Sisters wasn't an instant game-over, and that you summoned them with your wrench. However: they're unarmed, they're slow, they ignore danger and they don't even avoid enemies. I felt like a babysitter, rather than an escort. Had this gone on for longer, I probably would have ended up hating this level.
Fontaine
> The fight itself was easy (thank goodness). Still a lame way to end gameplay.
> I loved the "Good" ending. Made rescuing all those Little Sisters worth it.
Botolf Did Not Like:
Smugglers Hideout
> Splicer spam is something I can do without (unless its presented in a really unique way, like Cohens masked performers popping out during a suite of music).
> On the plus side, its short and the story bits were welcome, I suppose.
> Splicer spam is something I can do without (unless its presented in a really unique way, like Cohens masked performers popping out during a suite of music).
> On the plus side, its short and the story bits were welcome, I suppose.
What Would Botolf Change?
Guns and Plasmids:
I cant help but notice that the guns really steal the plasmids thunder the further you go into the game. Sure, its your choice to be creative with the plasmids and all, but theres very little incentive when the guns are so darn easy and effective. One possible remedy Ive considered would be tying the plasmids and the guns together later on in the game. To start with, perhaps the guns would be marginally effective against Splicers (youd be using the plasmids much more out of necessity). Later on, really go nuts with the guns and allow plasmids to be used with a gun. To fit this into the games style, this could be tweaked and re-tweaked by an additional variety of vending machine. The plasmid effects would naturally not be as effective as a plasmid alone (only the first level plasmid being usable on the gun might make sense), but it might present some creative combat techniques in a far more lucrative manner. Imagine electric buckshot replaced by the players manual combination of the shotgun with Electrobolt. Imagine combining your pistol with Gust, thus by dealing a two-fold attack in one combat action. I can see myself opening frozen passages with an enflamed wrench, telekinetically repelling grenades with every blast of my weapon, shooting bees out of my Tommy gun, deploying electric and enflamed sticky bombs, and so on.
Bizarro World: Everyone in Rapture is a lunatic, a scientist, or a power player. The average man is nowhere to be seen, theres virtually no trace left beyond the odd unmodified corpse. Leonard Cohen was the closest thing approaching a regular person surviving in Rapture (and even then, he was absolutely nuts/important). What I would have liked to see would be an area of the city under control of average, unmodified citizens, normal people basically surviving the apocalypse. Half-life has its baseline civilians; Halo has its baseline marines, and so on. Youve got your average Splicer, but theyre batshit insane and there are no average people caught in the middle to provide contrast.
Atlas the Wonder-Bastard: I knew the twist was coming, but I still cant help but feel disappointed. Atlas was developed as this sympathetic/heroic figure of sorts, but all of that was tossed out for cheap shock and an uninspired boss-fight. Heres my idea: Atlas doesnt turn, Ryan retains position as THE big bad and dies at the end. Working in my aforementioned civilian idea, the regular people basically band together and assault Ryans stronghold with Atlas and the player at the lead. Ryan meets his end as he did here, except it occurs close to the games conclusion. Wouldnt that be a more satisfying way to end things? The power players vie for power and attempt to eliminate each other for dominance, but in the end it is the plebeians who are the ones to rise up and take control of Raptures Great Chain.
Bizarro World: Everyone in Rapture is a lunatic, a scientist, or a power player. The average man is nowhere to be seen, theres virtually no trace left beyond the odd unmodified corpse. Leonard Cohen was the closest thing approaching a regular person surviving in Rapture (and even then, he was absolutely nuts/important). What I would have liked to see would be an area of the city under control of average, unmodified citizens, normal people basically surviving the apocalypse. Half-life has its baseline civilians; Halo has its baseline marines, and so on. Youve got your average Splicer, but theyre batshit insane and there are no average people caught in the middle to provide contrast.
Atlas the Wonder-Bastard: I knew the twist was coming, but I still cant help but feel disappointed. Atlas was developed as this sympathetic/heroic figure of sorts, but all of that was tossed out for cheap shock and an uninspired boss-fight. Heres my idea: Atlas doesnt turn, Ryan retains position as THE big bad and dies at the end. Working in my aforementioned civilian idea, the regular people basically band together and assault Ryans stronghold with Atlas and the player at the lead. Ryan meets his end as he did here, except it occurs close to the games conclusion. Wouldnt that be a more satisfying way to end things? The power players vie for power and attempt to eliminate each other for dominance, but in the end it is the plebeians who are the ones to rise up and take control of Raptures Great Chain.
