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Bioshock Infinite |OT| No Gods, Kings, or Irrational Games

Hawk269

Member
Man...I am playing at the highest possible settings at 1080p and at times this game is pulling 2.5gb of Video Ram.

I do not like however at certain points in teh game where you reach certain areas and you are near a point where it is loading more stuff in. I have found some parts where some far off backround and people in the far distance appear and dissapear depending if I walk closer or further away..of course this makes the FPS drop to the 30's or so. It seem likes a LOD setting is not set too high or something. It does not happen a lot, but it has happened a few times. I wonder if there is some hidden settings menu in the files to allow a larger amount of memory dedicated to helping the lod.

Outside of these rare parts, been getting solid 60fps with max settings. Game looks amazing and atmostphere is amazing!
 
Headshots on hard seem to do more damage than body shots.

I'll make sure to pay more attention, but shotgun blast wreck at close range.

I've noticed that at least 1/2 of the early enemies now wear helmets (nobody but fireman do) with the first headshot usually knocking it off
 

HiiiLife

Member
So how many people are doing their first play through on hard?

Still don't know whether I should or not. I usually play games on veteran but I've never played a Bioshock on a high difficulty.

Eh. I guess it won't hurt.
 

nbthedude

Member
You seriously just said you would rather play RE6 than this? Wow.

Edit: You make good points but seriously, why compare RE6 to this?

I edited my post to clarify the comparison. I realize that comparison is likely to cause many to dismiss everything else I have to say but I made the comparison because:

1) I am playing that game right now so it is a fresh point of comparison for me

2) I think the two games are antithetical both in terms of mechanics and tone and I think that using RE6 a foil helps me highlight some of my (initial) problems with Bioshock Infinite.
 

Sullichin

Member
Played for 90 minutes. I am absolutely blown away by the detail and liveliness of this world. It makes so many flat-plane cooridor ridden FPS games look like a joke in comparison to the amount of love that has gone into every inch of what i've experienced so far. This is a refreshing outlier from a sea of generic action games, and it's not just the setting that makes it stand apart. The tutorial aspects are seamless, you don't have to get through some boring, obvious bullshit to get to the "real" game. The combat is fresh while still feeling decidedly Bioshock. I'm playing with the 360 pad and it feels perfect. The difficulty of these early encounters on hard mode make me believe I'll be in for a nice challenge as well. It runs great for me on ultra, a nice change from some PC games that took me a good amount of tweaking to get running as smoothly. I'm really impressed, this exceeded my expectations even after reading this thread hyped me enough to get it at midnight.
 
Hey guys you know what's gonna be funny? Comparing this to Army of Two :p Doesn't that come out tomorrow too?

edit: is there even an OT for it?
 

-COOLIO-

The Everyman
Wow, the gunplay in this game is really good. Like, REALLY FUCKING GOOD. I love how ADS is actually a tactical decision. It slows you down so much that you need to only use it in long range situations, otherwise it's better to fire from the hip. The pacing of bloom and firing shots works really well, and landing headshots feels really key.

I ended up going hard, and I'm glad I did, I'm dying a fair amount, and losing a ton of cash. We'll see how the balance feels, but right now it seems right.

totally agree but the instant revives still kill the tension, but i dont see any options to turn them off. my only issue with the game thus far.
 
Jesus Christ @ the shock moments later on....I've jumped out of my seat a number of times...more than I did with RE5 anyway. lol

For those who've finished the game:

The fucking Warden's Office; turning around to the see that Deathcaller - Siphon, whatever the fuck it's called, just standing right behind me...Also, damn, the room full of presidents' heads was brutally unnerving.

You're talking about...

The part where you watch the screens? Yeah I tried to back up and I was like what the fuck? Something's blocking me. I turn around and that motherfucker blasts that noise and then it was shotgun time.
 

VALIS

Member
Yeah, there's some niggling issues here and there (save system, both controller and kb/m feel too loose on the aim), but so far it's delivering what I want from this game in spades: An art direction and sophistication that to me is beyond most other games. Feels more like a novel than what most video games tend to shoot for, which is a Michael Bay movie. Video gaming needs so much more of this upper middle-brow type aim.
 

BearPawB

Banned
Anyone who thinks RE6 is a better game than this is taking crazy pills

Also make sure you turn off mouse smoothing. I hate that.
 
Really not liking the save system. Didn't the original bioshock have a save anywhere system? In any case, lost about 15 mins of gameplay due to crashing, at least make the saves more frequent.
 
After a few hours(I played slow, only just after I'm actually shooting folks), I am slightly negative. I agree with those above who say that once the shooting starts, the whole thing feels odd. Granted, I don't really like any FPS's nowadays, but I loved the first two, and I loved the first hour. But I just don't find this style of combat fun anymore. I think I would rather watch this as a movie, honestly.
 

Dylan

Member
Success. Played a couple hours so far and loving it. Really like the
callbacks to the original Bioshock
as a nice touch.

Had crazy mouse issues on start though. Mouse acceleration was nuts. Working great now on a 640m.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Color me impressed. Just played the PC version for two hours straight and am loving this. The art direction is just superb and I love the atmosphere they've created.

The downside of how elaborate everything is appears to be in just how static everything in the environment is. Once an NPC says their piece, they may as well be statues. Most objects in the world are locked down and just for looking, too. Still a beautiful game.

My only other complaint so far is just boring the enemies are. Doesn't seem like it matters where you shoot them unless it's a headshot.

Oh well, the presentation is top notch and I'm having a great time just absorbing everything Columbia has to show me. It looks like I'm going to be enjoying this game much more for its atmosphere and story than its gameplay, but that's just fine.
 

f3niks

Member
1024x576.resizedimage


... and I'm still waiting for my new video card to return from RMA.
 

DatDude

Banned
Here are my impressions after one hour. Be warned, they aren't as glowing as many of the reviews, so if you are just looking for a hype train ride, you might want to just skip this post.

Spoilers ahead, obviously, for the opening hour of the game...

Loved the open 15 minutes. The idea of exiting the baptismal waters into the glowing sun drenched world of Columbus is a fantastic and breath taking opening. I also loved the idea of blending the language of the "founding fathers" with religious language of "brothers" and "brotherhood" into a unified rhetoric. It's fascinating and well realized stuff.

But then you immediately start to notice how you are just going through a giant fun house, a fun house that likes to spout ideas and commentate at you, but a fun house none the less.


Non-player characters are stiff and will generally deliver their one or two line exchange with one another then stand there like mannequins. Doors and places that it appears that you can access everywhere, but as soon as you try, you are immediately reminded how on rails the experience is. Case in point. Early on I saw a ledge that was maybe 10 feet below me. So I jumped to it. Right before I hit what should have been the ground, I teleported magically back up to the ledge above. It all feels very fake in a way that the original Bioshock avoided by not trying to have a living city to begin with but smartly, instead, the aftermath of one. Similarly in Bioshock 1, it made sense when a crumbed pile stopped me from accessing an area because the world was literally falling apart. But here it is obvious there is often nothing stopping me from accessing a door or a ledge except for the fact that the designers decided I shouldn't be able to go there.

Then the combat started and the suspension of disbelief shot through the roof. I get the idea of a sudden violent scene when you first start mauling guarded faces with the skyhook. I understand that this intentionally over the top and shocking. But what took it to the level of absurd parody is that I didn't just carry out this violent act once or twice before being caught and carted away. No, instead, I paraded through the city like a mad man, murdering literally a hundred or so guards in the first half hour of the game alone. And every time you encounter a group of casual non-guard based NPC, they all suddenly become rambo-esque as well, immediately tearing after you with their pistols and machine guns. Apparently members of the weird KKK masonry cult all carry automatic weapons on them even during the ceremonies. Same for people that just happen to be hanging out drinking at a bar. This is a portrait of American gun usage that even Wayne LaPierre would not envision in his wettest of wet dreams.

And then the fight goes on and on and I continue entering new areas mowing down enemies with almost no commentary, except for a brief radio announcement that there is some mad man tearing through the city shooting everyone. A cheap trick that didn't really work the first time when Spec Ops tried it. Yes, I know I am being an immoral monster, videogame, you are forcing me to be. I tried just to run away and hide but you would not let me do it. Instead you insisted on throwing three or four other murder weapons at me in the next 10 minutes and encourage me to try them all out asap. It dawns on me that it is almost like I'm suddenly playing a different game than I was for the first 20 minutes with no explanation of why the entire game broke character and tone. One minute it's all Wizard of Oz, the next minute, Rambo.

And the more I think about it, the more I think that what they want to do here just simply doesn't work. It just shows how broken videogames are as a medium that we accept this type of tonal mishmash. If you went to see the latest Mission Impossible movie and it started pontificating to you about American Exceptionalism in between absurd action set pieces, you would wonder what the hell was going on. If a spy thriller suddenly trying to turn into a serious psychological drama it would be lambasted. Pulp fiction may have lower aspirations, but at least good pulp fiction is tonally consistent.

And here is the part where I alienate myself even further from the majority. I have been playing Resident Evil 6 co-op with my brothers over the past weekend since it was just released on PC. At least so far, I think mechanically and tonally, I prefer Resident Evil 6 to this game by a significant margin. I am going to tease out this comparison because I think it demonstrates some of the major issues I see developing with this game.

Mechanically speaking, I think I prefer RE6 because I enjoy picking my shots and waiting for the red laser sights to line up at that one right moment a lot more than circle strafing and throwing burst fire. Resident Evil's gunplay ever since 4 actually feels unique in sea of action games that all rely on the same skills we have become so accustomed to we can practice them without even thinking. Take cover to regen health, circle strafe around enemies, back pedal by firing. When I engage in the combat in Bioshock, I basically go on autopilot because it is the same kind of combat I have been conditioned to play in the same way for over a two decades.

Tonally, I prefer RE because it knows it is a big dumb roller coaster ride and it makes the most of it. When it has awkward animations like the thumbs up to your co-op partner it is carried out with intentional comic exaggeration that fits with the tone of the action itself. Call of Duty is banal, morally bankrupt and disgusting because it tries to maintain the guise of some sort of realism even playing off of real geopolitical and cultural tensions. Resident Evil 6 is Call of Duty mixed with Japanese anime. It's not trying to fool you with any notions of authenticity to anything. This is a game where soliders escape plan is to blow up a bus so that they can slide stylistically under it in mid air before it comes crashing to the ground. Yes, it's absolutely silly and absurd, but it knows what it is at all times and it is just trying to amuse you with its absurdity.


This is all subject to change. Again, an hour is basically no time at all spent with this game. But I am surprised by my own initial impression given that the original Bioshock was one of my favorite games this generation. But the setting of this new games seems to, by its very nature, introduce all kinds of problem of suspension of disbelief that I'm not sure they can properly deal with.


Yet the disbelief of a city under the water gave you no problems?
 

Dylan

Member
Really not liking the save system. Didn't the original bioshock have a save anywhere system? In any case, lost about 15 mins of gameplay due to crashing, at least make the saves more frequent.

The only thing I miss about save anywhere is in the Original Bioshock, I would often replay battles that I had survived simply because I figured I could do it better or more creatively. Already had one experience like that in BI.
 

DatDude

Banned
After a few hours(I played slow, only just after I'm actually shooting folks), I am slightly negative. I agree with those above who say that once the shooting starts, the whole thing feels odd. Granted, I don't really like any FPS's nowadays, but I loved the first two, and I loved the first hour. But I just don't find this style of combat fun anymore. I think I would rather watch this as a movie, honestly.

you do realize that one the shooting starts, it's not BANG BANG BANG POW POW POW until the ending, right?

It's just like bioshock. There's action moments, and there's tons of slow moments were you are given time to explore your world to your leisure.

I feel like there's this notion out there that once the action starts, it never stops. It does guys, relax :p
 

Toki767

Member
Played about 90 minutes so far...though a lot of the time I was wandering around taking screenshots. This game is stupidly pretty.
 

KorrZ

Member
Anyone else having problems with gamepad? Tried to play with it originally, but it wasn't replacing the button prompts (is it supposed to?) and then I wasn't able to move...could jump, everything else, but no movement.
 
you do realize that one the shooting starts, it's not BANG BANG BANG POW POW POW until the ending, right?

It's just like bioshock. There's action moments, and there's tons of slow moments were you are given time to explore your world to your leisure.

I feel like there's this notion out there that once the action starts, it never stops. It does guys, relax :p

There's definitely a lot more slow moments in Infinite then in the previous two Bioshock games.
 
Goddamn, i have to really get my new pc build underway. Even with my underpowered rig right now the game actually runs fairly ok and the game is stunning to say the least. I am definitely taking my time with wandering around the early part of the city. I left off at the quartet singing to me, i was enraptured :D.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
PS3 vs 360 comparison video from the opening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GfPZbFgV4I

- 360 has some judder in the scripted moments, (eg when Booker's hand reaches out from the pod) but no tearing.
- PS3 looks like it has visible tearing (assuming this is with the frame rate locked).
- PS3 version looks like it has some overblown whites, unless that's the capture equipment.
- Resolution and texture quality look about the same otherwis.e
 
Hour and a half in

-Great combat
-Interesting beginning/introduction into the city
-Great atmosphere

With all the expectations GAF/reviewers gave me, I can certainly say I am impressed. If it had just been one of these factors listed above I wouldn't have been - but all of them together was fantastic.

Spoiler from the first hour, something that seemed a little off:
Booker didn't seem to react to 77 until his number got called in the raffle, even though the telegram warned him. I was trying to run away, but the cutscene wouldn't let me :p
 
Running thru the 360 version a second time and literally the only thing I've noticed is some slight slowdown during intense firefights/scripted sequences.

The game runs fine.

Spoiler from the first hour, something that seemed a little off:
Booker didn't seem to react to 77 until his number got called in the raffle, even though the telegram warned him. I was trying to run away, but the cutscene wouldn't let me :p

There's a reason for this.
 

Dylan

Member
Anyone else having problems with gamepad? Tried to play with it originally, but it wasn't replacing the button prompts (is it supposed to?) and then I wasn't able to move...could jump, everything else, but no movement.

Nope, sorry.


In fact, weirdly enough, I didn't even notice my 360 controller was plugged in to my PC until about an hour of playing. I decided to switch it up, and so now I'm just casually switching on the fly. I think this is the first game I've ever played this way but it's actually working out pretty great.
 

xelios

Universal Access can be found under System Preferences
Barely started but I definitely have no complaints about the graphics. Game's stunning, although I'm gonna have to mess with sun/rays/post processing, because everything is way too ... sunny. Also just realized this is the not the thread I thought it was so I'll say I'm enjoying myself in the city so far.
 

Thermite

Member
Game is fucking amazing, goddamn. The skyline aspects are way more fun than I thought they would be, swooping in and destroying dudes makes me feel like a complete badass.
 

Erudite

Member
Loved the intro. Got past the first couple combat scenarios before having to call it a night; wish I didn't.

Runs great on my 560 GTX, i5 2550K & 8GB Ram build.

Restarted about 20 minutes in after curiously looking up online that you can unlock 1999 Mode without having to beat the game first. Wish I'd seen it before starting the game initially.

For the masochists like myself, enter the konami code in the main menu. (Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B (Back) A (Select))
 
Hmm, steam achievements don't seem to be working for me. They don't even show up on the game details page.

I've played about two hours so far, so I should've unlocked something
 

xelios

Universal Access can be found under System Preferences
Hmm, steam achievements don't seem to be working for me. They don't even show up on the game details page.

I've played about two hours so far, so I should've unlocked something

Working for me, the first unmissable one is showing up in my stats and activity feed.
 
It's 3 a.m. on the east coast. Have to go to bed. (Oh god I'm going to be so tired when I wake up for work.). Only got to play about two hours or so and I'm not even that far, but it's god damn amazing. I only just got into the first combat scenario, but it looks and plays beautifully. I know the begining of games are usually front-loaded, but I actually want to continue playing this game and not sleep against my better judgement. I know now that the last 40 plus hours 100 percenting Far Cry 3 was just a fever dream to hold me over to something that I'm genuinely giddy about. Oh God, must not let early impressions get to me. But god-diggity-damn. Playing on PC too, so it looks amazing.
 
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