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[Tokubetsu]

Meh, I found it pretty boring.

Then again I played System Shock 2, so Bioshock 1 wasn't impressive for me as it was for most others. :/

SHODAN > Ryan.

It wasn't bad, but there was a lot "been here, done that" for me. I did like that for the most part you aren't restricted to one "tree" (hacking/magic/guns) like you were in System Shock 2 (I think, my memory is fuzzy on that). So that was a plus/minus.

Pretty much the same for me. A.I. will forever be more frightening to me. Also, fucking HATED hacking. I used to like Pipe Dream...then I played BioShock.

 

[Ashes]

So Botolf, since the game was gifted to you, are you choosing to play? Or just obeying?

seriously?

 

[Sibylus]

Rise from yo gwave! Had an internet-less spell in the middle of a move this week, so I played through the last three chapters of the game. Figured if I could tough out a boss fight with Nihilanth, I could tough out the boss fight everyone bitches about here.

The remainder of my thoughts and impressions follow, as do a few suggestions on how I'd tackle making the last half of the game better.

Spoiler

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.

What Would Botolf Change?

Guns and Plasmids:

Spoiler

I can’t help but notice that the guns really steal the plasmids’ thunder the further you go into the game. Sure, it’s your choice to be creative with the plasmids and all, but there’s very little incentive when the guns are so darn easy and effective. One possible remedy I’ve 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 (you’d 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 game’s 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 player’s 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, there’s 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. You’ve got your average Splicer, but they’re 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 can’t 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. Here’s my idea: Atlas doesn’t 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 Ryan’s stronghold with Atlas and the player at the lead. Ryan meets his end as he did here, except it occurs close to the game’s conclusion. Wouldn’t 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 Rapture’s “Great Chain”.

 

[pargonta]

the wrong bioshock?

...the hell?
there is only one bioshock so far, it came out in 2007 and is amazing.
the developers of that game are making a followup called bioshock infinite. it should come out next year and be pretty good.

this thread title pisses me the hell off.

edit:
...oh

 

[Boonoo]

I like your guns and plasmids thoughts. They should probably also significantly reduce the effectiveness of the wrench. I think that it's a fundamental problem that wrench+electrobolt is the easiest way to get through the game, big daddies and all.

the wrong bioshock?

...the hell?
there is only one bioshock so far, it came out in 2007 and is amazing.
the developers of that game are making a followup called bioshock infinite. it should come out next year and be pretty good.

this thread title pisses me the hell off.

edit:
...oh

I've only played a bit of Bioshock 2, but the little I played had better fundamental gameplay then the first one. I started it up right after finishing, so I was bored of the setting, though.

 

[1-D_FTW]

1-D_FTW thought it was extremely overrated. So any critism that Botolf has, 1-D_FTW agrees with.

EDIT: 1-D_FTW didn't realize this was a bump. What was Botolf doing?

 

[Sibylus]

this thread title pisses me the hell off.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the hell out of Bioshock. The setting, atmosphere, and combat are great, and this is definitely a game I'm going to replay.

The title is more or less a tongue-in-cheek admission that Bioshock 2 was the "new and shiny" game, and I was just getting around to the first one.

1-D_FTW thought it was extremely overrated. So any critism that Botolf has, 1-D_FTW agrees with.

EDIT: 1-D_FTW didn't realize this was a bump. What was Botolf doing?

Botolf ran out of gas at the start of Point Prometheus, set the game down for 10 months or so, and then picked it up again this week. The first play and impressions are now complete!

 

[Llyranor]

I stopped playing the game when some guy at some door wouldn't let me through unless I did some stupid sidequest for him.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

This thread has a confusing title. The wrong Bioshock is Bioshock 2. The right Bioshock is System Shock 2. Bioshock is the Bioshock Bioshock.

 

[Sibylus]

I stopped playing the game when some guy at some door wouldn't let me through unless I did some stupid sidequest for him.

Peach Wilkins? (or however the hell you spell his name)

Spoiler

Still kind of annoyed you can see his backstabbing coming a mile away, before you even enter his place, but you MUST give up your guns (temporarily) before you proceed. The game's motivation and the player's motivation were at total diametric opposites there.

This thread has a confusing title. The wrong Bioshock is Bioshock 2. The right Bioshock is System Shock 2. Bioshock is the Bioshock Bioshock.

I agree entirely. Had I a time machine or title-editing powers, I'd slip that wrong into some quotation marks.

 

[PumpkinPie]

I still have nightmares about respawning sentry bots

 

[_Bro]

I'm a gameplay whore, and I loved both BioShocks (their stories were nice, but I honestly didn't care too much about them). The main part of the gameplay that really grabbed me was the exploration, kind of related to why I like games like Metroid so much.

Different strokes for different folks, just sounds like the game isn't up your alley.

So you'll take any ol' game for a price? Jeff?

 

[Sibylus]

I became a little too efficient with my crafting tonics and money by the end. I'd walk up to U-Invents and just leave the floor absolutely covered in shit I couldn't carry :[