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

Ithil

Member
Is there anybody here who loved BioShock that isn't so hot on this game? Impressions here seem very positive, but I'm skimming as fast as possible to avoid spoilers.

Glad to see people are saying this looks great on PS3, as I'll be playing on that. But does it run all right?
Haven't seen any impressions like that.

There's been people who didn't like Bioshock that aren't blown away by this, but it seems any Bioshock fans also like this a lot (in some cases, more).
 
inimpekzzovsv2gurz.gif

I'd agree with him, I think DMC is a great looking game.

But I digress, played some more BI, shit's gettin' wiiiiiiiiild.
Just met up with Elizabeth and escaped the tower, then changed my pants.
 
So far, I have some mixed feelings.

The game mechanics feel a lot like Bioshock watered down to appeal to the mass audience. Shields, vocal protagonist, plethora of ammo, mainly fighting human enemies with guns...it just feels off.

That said, Columbia is great and the characters/dialogue are great.

If Booker didn't talk then a lot of the game wouldn't make sense really.
I do think the combat went for a more traditional one though, especially the whole shield thing. It's not Planetside lol
 

Ithil

Member
I'm just glad games like this are being made. The circumstances are such that its very difficult for such a game to be made, but here I am playing through it.
 

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
Woke up early and took the day off work specifically to play this. Just stopped at
the ghost of Lady Comstock
for the evening. What a fantastic game. The entire opening is probably one of the best in gaming ever, from the
gorgeous idyllic world that makes you want to live there, to the sudden knife twist when the lottery begins
I wish it was a little more slow burning, but I suppose they needed to get to the shootin' so Johnny Numbnuts wouldn't put it down. Elizabeth is an absolutely wonderful character, so far. I dreaded having a permanent escort mission type game and was pleasantly surprised.

Love this game.
 
Gotta say I'm not really feeling 1999 mode a few hours in.

It's good in that you really feel like you have to have an intimate understanding of your surroundings (item placement, ambush spots) but the complete lack of stealth opportunities and lack of any real positive A.I has pretty much made it "scarcity" the game, which would be nice if I had options other than engaging enemies, but you really don't. You can possess an enemy turret but it probably won't finish the job, and with resource scarcity you'll be limited in how often you can use your vigors to make the job easier.

Sometimes it clicks, but more often than not it doesn't.

As far as the game the atmosphere is amazing...some of the best in a game yet, but I can't help but feel that Levine didn't learn a single lesson from Bioshock. He still doesn't know how to properly balance his games in terms of difficulty--things seem to range from either mind-numbingly simple or painfully inflated. I'll probably restart and go with the former due it at least giving me a full breath of what the game has to offer in terms combat variety, but yeesh.
 

Zeliard

Member
You can possess an enemy turret but it probably won't finish the job, and with resource scarcity you'll be limited in how often you can use your vigors to make the job easier.

You possess the turret for the distraction more than the damage. Possess a turret and attack them from another angle and they'll be caught in the crossfire, and will have difficulty pointing at the right target.
 

DukeBobby

Member
Is there anybody here who loved BioShock that isn't so hot on this game? Impressions here seem very positive, but I'm skimming as fast as possible to avoid spoilers.

There's been a couple of people who thought that, including somebody who said the original Bioshock had better combat.

Which is just...nonsense.
 

Syrinx

Member
Haven't seen any impressions like that.

There's been people who didn't like Bioshock that aren't blown away by this, but it seems any Bioshock fans also like this a lot (in some cases, more).

Great to hear.

Gonna be a long wait til Thursday.

There's been a couple of people who thought that, including somebody who said the original Bioshock had better combat.

Which is just...nonsense.

The (admittedly few) impressions I've read here seem to be in agreement that combat is better here, so I'll take that with a grain of salt, but I'll keep it in mind.

I guess the other ones are talking more about liking Rapture more than Columbia?
 

Ithil

Member
No Gods or Kings, Only Ken.

Pretty much. He's definitely a game designer that doesn't just go "let's copy those cool movies we saw recently", he does try to both improve himself/build on what he's done and also make it about being a game. The effort alone I can appreciate.

BI is more cutscene heavy than Bioshock (whose twist really did rely on it being a game), but at the same time I think it's really designed for video games, not for "like a movie, but with some shooting bits in between the movie parts".
 
Oh man, I am having so much fun with this game right now.

The first half hour of the game, just exploring Columbia, falling into the world before combat even starts. It's amazing. I love how colorful and bright everything is. It's such a contrast to the dark and gloomy Rapture after its fall.

Spoilers for right after you meet Elizabeth:
The escape ride on the Skyhook while Songbird is flying around. Holy shit. The music made it terrifyingly terrific. Also did I hear Girls Just Wanna Have Fun on the beach right after? All of Elizabeth's actions are so much fun. Especially her refusing to go into the men's restroom, and then her calling after you if you spend too much time in there.

I'm so excited about finding out what's going on in Columbia and the world. I managed to stay mostly spoiler-free; I've played through all the parts I already watched in trailers/quick looks so I'm really interested to see where the game goes from here. Pretty sure this is my Game of the Year and I'm barely two or three hours in.

The designs for the Vigor Bottles are assfuck-amazing

I want replicas of all of them, life size

Ditto.
 

Fracas

#fuckonami
There's been a couple of people who thought that, including somebody who said the original Bioshock had better combat.

Which is just...nonsense.

I've only played the first couple of hours, but I would agree with that statement.

Fighting normal people that have guns and take cover is boring. Feels like a run-of-the-mill FPS at times. No tension, atmosphere, anything.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
did the original bioshock have the option to show all the damage points when you shoot dudes?

I fucking love seeing all those numbers fill up the screen
 
Anyway so far this is probably the best FPS since Half Life 2 IMO, I actually like it better than HL2 so far. Games like this are so rare....I hope Irrational doesn't take this long to develop their next game.

I'm with you. So far I'm liking this more than HL2.

I don't hold that game on the same level as some though. It had poor enemy AI, average gunplay, boring sections etc. So far the combat and AI in Infinite is solid but not spectacular as well, but the setting is so fresh and the art direction and sound design so strong that I'm in awe.

For a game that went through "development hell" it is remarkably cohesive. Early days yet though, so I might feel differently once I'm done!
 

Ithil

Member
to people playing....bird or cage?
Does it even matter?

I don't know if it matters, I've not finished it yet, but
bird, I don't like the idea of a cage
.

I like how the choices aren't integral to the game, they're just a thing for you to decide while you play. Like (first act spoilers)
choosing whether to kill your crazy old soldier comrade or not. I spared him, then found him in the prison later seemingly lobotimzed, and killed him then as a euthanisation. It's not essential to the plot, I don't expect it to change anything, it's just something to add to the game experience, like how sparing him seemed like a kindness to me at the time, but I hadn't considered the long term consequences
 

Plasma

Banned
I just finished the game and I loved every minute of it, I really enjoyed exploring the world there was so much detail in the environments.

Storywise,
it blew my mind when they went back to Rapture.
 

Iorv3th

Member
I'm feeling like crap today so haven't played much, when I did I just felt more nauseated.

I do like the feel of the first gun you get though, feels very solid and weighty to fire it.
 
Played for 9 hours straight, so a total of 11 hours. Really taking my time with this one, and so far it has been great. Far better paced than BS, with much more enjoyable combat and a story that is genuinely intriguing.
 
Wow, this game sure starts with a bang. I love the atmosphere just before hell breaks loose. The citizens and the locations are so all so full of life and colour. Can't say too much about combat yet (which tends to grate in both the previous Bioshocks IMO), but it seems good so far and some of the combat scenarios are more interesting this time around. Once you start going indoors then the game feels just like the original stuff, with the creepy atmosphere and mood. Anyway, loving it so far.
 

Ithil

Member
I don't know, it's hard to explain, I'm just glad a game like this exists. Whether it's perfect or not (hint, nothing is), whether it's as genre bending as it could have been, at least there's a big budget game that wanted to be more than zero effort dollar signs. Not bashing all big budget games here, just even the good ones tend to be "how fun can we make it within these big sale limitations?".

Movies are over a century old, every year you get dozens of great, interesting films, but how many games a year do you get that are really satisfying beyond a "I had a good time navigating this but wished the cutscenes would be skippable" or a "had fun but nothing more than that, it won't stay with me" kind of way?

The term "A for Effort" is kind of a mixed one but, well...I give Irrational an A for Effort. They went all out trying to make a unified vision of an overall experience, and that's more than literally 99% of games get.

Eh, I'm rambling. But at least it warranted some rambling.
 
Pretty much. He's definitely a game designer that doesn't just go "let's copy those cool movies we saw recently", he does try to both improve himself/build on what he's done and also make it about being a game. The effort alone I can appreciate.

BI is more cutscene heavy than Bioshock (whose twist really did rely on it being a game), but at the same time I think it's really designed for video games, not for "like a movie, but with some shooting bits in between the movie parts".
yeah good point, i hate the copy cat game trend these days.
 

Amir0x

Banned
Irene goodnight, Irene goodnight
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll see you in my dreams

Last saturday night I got married

Me and my love settled down
Now me and my love are parted
I'm gonna take another stroll downtown

Irene goodnight, Irene goodnight
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll see you in my dreams

Sometimes I live in the country
Sometimes I live in the town

Sometimes I have a great notion
To jump In the river and drown

Irene goodnight, Irene good night
Good night Irene, good night Irene
I'll see you in my dreams

Ramblin' stop your gamblin'
Stop stayin' out late at night
Go home to your wife and your family
Sit down by the fireside bright

Irene goodnight, Irene good night
Good night Irene, good night Irene
I'll see you in my dreams

Irene goodnight, Irene good night
Good night Irene, good night Irene
I'll see you in my dreams
 
All in all my impressions are:

The game has one of the best openings if not THE best opening to a game I've ever seen. It was magical
Combat is a big step up from B1 but the vigors aren't as fun to sue and most of them I felt were crappy.
Atmosphere is beyond any other game, that's a given
Music is superb and a lot of nice references
Art style is unrivaled
And the ending is even better than the opening. My favourite game ending of all time now, I was speechless. And this is AFTER I got the whole thing spoiled for me. Still lots of surprises.

The game sadly feels padded in the middle, just errand boy tasks and it didn't resonate well with me. Messed up my lovely pacing.
Booker doesn't put his gun away at the right times, kinda irked me a little, but no biggie.
Normal mode was piss easy, Elizabeth constantly threw ammo/health/salts/coins at me. All the damn time
And the last level is annoying as fuck

But overall it stands right alongside the original if not better than it. And its not tied for my favourite game of all time along with Shadow of the Colossus and Dark Souls
 
It's basically on par with Goonies NES. There's also the Cyndi Lauper connection, which raises both to a greater esteem.

Quick, BioShock Infinite is better than which of the following:

  1. Mega Man 2
  2. Super Metroid
  3. Castlevania : SOTN
  4. Chrono Trigger
  5. Tetris
  6. Planescape : Torment
  7. Bubsy 3D
  8. Oprah gifs
  9. Makeup Sex
  10. Dinner with EatChildren
  11. Ordering 1000 Pizzas Delivered to Derrick's House
 
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