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

Raven77

Member
So this game was super-hyped prior to release and has tons of good reviews.

Its also been out for a whole 2 days.


Does everyone hate it now or should I come back in a week or two?


(This is a cleverly disguised question, because I'm thinking of buying it and wondering if it REALLY is as good as the reviewers all seem to say. I know, pretty clever.)
 
There was really only one time that I felt the game jerked me around in an attempt to stretch things out
the three tears
, and even that was there to avoid a long info dump, so I can forgive it. For me, a better paced narrative experience trumps a pure exercise in mechanics. Infinite delivered on that front.
That could be a glimpse of what would have happened more often if BI was completely open world. That was the most open part of the game, too.
 

Syrinx

Member
I've seen some people say that this game is more linear than BioShock and that it doesn't really use the same hub-world style design as that game. Is this something more reminiscent of something like Half-Life, or what?
 

DatDude

Banned
So this game was super-hyped prior to release and has tons of good reviews.

Its also been out for a whole 2 days.


Does everyone hate it now or should I come back in a week or two?


(This is a cleverly disguised question, because I'm thinking of buying it and wondering if it REALLY is as good as the reviewers all seem to say. I know, pretty clever.)

No backlash yet.

I doubt there will be any either.

The narrative makes 100% sense. No cliffhangers, and no plotholes. All cohesive.


An Columbia will always be beautiful and haunting, there's no changing the opinion of that.

Get it now. If the narrative and city clicks with you, like it has for most people this will no doubt he a straight up GOTY contender, if not Game of the Generation contender like it has been for some.

If it doesn't. Than the gameplay is pretty solid, and overall you will still have an enjoyable time regardless I would think.

I've seen some people say that this game is more linear than BioShock and that it doesn't really use the same hub-world style design as that game. Is this something more reminiscent of something like Half-Life, or what?

It's like a more open branched out Uncharted game I would say.
 

Raven77

Member
No backlash yet.

I doubt there will be any either.

The narrative makes 100% sense. No cliffhangers, and no plotholes. All cohesive.

An Columbia will always be beautiful and haunting, there's no changing the opinion of that.

Get it now. If the narrative and city clicks with you, like it has for most people this will no doubt he a straight up GOTY contender, if not Game of the Generation contender like it has been for some.

If it doesn't. Than the gameplay is pretty solid, and overall you will still have an enjoyable time regardless I would think.

Wow, very well written reply. You just cost me $60 bucks!!! Dang you!
 
D

Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
Smart move. About 50% through the game, and I accidentally hit "last page" on the Bioshock Infinite Analyze thread instead of this one. goddammit
 

Riposte

Member
Somewhat like Human Revolution (but with less grinding on an annoying hacking minigame), Infinite encourages you to make a chore out of exploration. Tying power upgrades and optional doors (money and lockpicks) to sniffing around every crevice is draining as a player who wants to experience everything. I'm now in the mindset of the most vigilant maid who've ever lived. My play time is high, but I feel like a lot of that is just cleaning places of garbage and loose change, with unlocking a door being the highlight of these periods of downtime. I didn't vocalize it before, but it is one of my bigger problems with the game. So you might say why don't I just stop? These upgrades are steep in price (not to mention numerous, if we include guns) and the game has already taught me the best way to find those vials which upgrade my stats is behind locked doors.

Combat scenarios have been steadily improving, but it sort of falls into the same-old cover shooter with shield recovery routine. Powers are mainly good for showing off or fixing a mistake. There are some moments with tears and rails working together that are interesting, but most of the time it is just pump bullets into the chests of some bumbling humans and throw them into the air or summon crows if they are giving you some trouble. If I'm lucky, a mini-boss shows up, but I'm not exactly exhilarated to see one. At least that seems to be changing with enemies with armor.

I fought the first handyman. He caught me off guard and killed me like 2 or 3 times. That's a little less than half the times I died up until then, so it was a shock. He's certainly more of a tank than anything else I fought so far. I wanted to start the fight over after getting my bearings, but stopped myself just before I reloaded because I had no idea where it would take me (that's kind of a problem). So while eating a few deaths I realized that (aside from maybe 1999 mode) the death penalty isn't a big deal and really functional as a tool to zombie a tough scenario. I don't like that. Moreover, if it does anything it just puts more pressure on picking up Columbia's litter in a dedicated fashion. I could see where they were going with maybe 1999 mode, being cutthroat and all, but that goes out the window when the real threat is having to spend half your game time picking up garbage.

I also get the feeling that because they spent a lot of effort making these beautiful areas, they really want you to stay there for awhile. Lots of backtracking (with new fights), for one.

Despite my complaints, I think this game is pretty cool. It is going to be the most overrated thing since Journey, but if it wins "GotY" it will be a hell of an upgrade over last year's nonsense.


Also, stop making a celebrity out of Derrick.
 
Kind of torn...an hour in I bumped the difficulty up to Hard because I like the idea of being forced to improvise with the combat, but on Hard it kinda ruins the immersion because regular unarmed enemies take an 'unrealistic' amount of bullets to kill. On Normal, I appreciated that one or two shots from a pistol would down most guys who didn't have crazy armor on. A small detail, I know...
 

Stark

Banned
Favorite optional (assuming) moment is in (minor-spoiler)
Shantytown bar. When you can pick up the guitar and Liz will sing while handing the boy food.

Really nice.
 

Papercuts

fired zero bullets in the orphanage.
Superb art direction at the intro areas. Loved the water flowing down the stairs and such.

On the whole the intro itself was nice and captivating, but lost me a bit with how...stilted it all seems? Not really sure how to explain it, but the world itself looks so damn great that it seemed off putting to fall under videogame norms to have these NPCs you are forced to linearly pass say a line or two then become blank slates that stare at you with dead eyes. Compounded on a bit more when there is money stuffed around in fountains and stuff with no reaction to the random guy leaping around.

It improved a lot in that area getting to the general fair area where there were various minigames to take part in. The way the first combat segment happened was odd, but I'm only a little bit past this part so I clearly have barely scratched the surface of the game yet. Have to go to work for now.
 
D

Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
Knowing what happens doesn't actually prepare you for what actually happens. Jus' sayin.

Yeah, but still, it's a prickly twig in my asshole that I would rather not have up in there. Eh well. It's the journey that matters.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Somewhat like Human Revolution (but with less grinding on annoying hacking minigame), Infinite encourages you to make a chore out of exploration. Tying power upgrades and optional doors (money and lockpicks) to sniffing around every crevice is draining as a player who wants to experience everything. I'm now in the mindset of the most vigilant maid who've ever lived. My play time is high, but I feel like a lot of that is just cleaning places of garbage and loose change, with unlocking a door being the highlight of these periods of downtime. I didn't vocalize it before, but it is one of my bigger problems with the game. So you might say why don't I just stop? These upgrades are steep in price (not to mention numerous, if we include guns) and the game has already taught me the best way to find those vials which upgrade my stats is behind locked doors

Yes, heavily reminiscent of DE:HR in that regard, and absolutely not a good thing. Some of this is the fault of my being on 1999 mode, where it can be essential to get every little bit of trash loot to be able to pick up any upgrades, but I'd probably end up doing the same thing on hard.

It's not fun in the least, but I'm compelled by the game mechanics to do it. New area, new set of one hundred garbage bins to scavenge coins and ammo and half-eaten food out of.
 
Yeah, same thing happened when Half Life 2 came out. Valve never recovered from that.

Ugh I vividly remember those issues. And the whole thing with allegations of performance being deliberately capped on nvidia cards etc etc.

I haven't had anything like the issues I had with HL2 during my time in BI.
 
Hey guys wanted to say I am really really enjoying the game so far haven't posted in here lately cause afraid of spoilers but hope you all are enjoying it.
 

Dave1988

Member
Ok, I have the season pass installed and yet I never received my 5 Infusion bottles and gear in the Blue Ribbon. I never even got a message that I'm even supposed to get it. I'm on my 1999 playthrough now and still nothing. Anyone know's what's up?
 

DatDude

Banned
Somewhat like Human Revolution (but with less grinding on an annoying hacking minigame), Infinite encourages you to make a chore out of exploration. Tying power upgrades and optional doors (money and lockpicks) to sniffing around every crevice is draining as a player who wants to experience everything. I'm now in the mindset of the most vigilant maid who've ever lived. My play time is high, but I feel like a lot of that is just cleaning places of garbage and loose change, with unlocking a door being the highlight of these periods of downtime. I didn't vocalize it before, but it is one of my bigger problems with the game. So you might say why don't I just stop? These upgrades are steep in price (not to mention numerous, if we include guns) and the game has already taught me the best way to find those vials which upgrade my stats is behind locked doors.

Combat scenarios have been steadily improving, but it sort of falls into the same-old cover shooter with shield recovery routine. Powers are mainly good for showing off or fixing a mistake. There are some moments with tears and rails working together that are interesting, but most of the time it is just pump bullets into the chests of some bumbling humans and throw them into the air or summon crows if they are giving you some trouble. If I'm lucky, a mini-boss shows up, but I'm not exactly exhilarated to see one. At least that seems to be changing with enemies with armor.

I fought the first handyman. He caught me off guard and killed me like 2 or 3 times. That's a little less than half the times I died up until then, so it was a shock. He's certainly more of a tank than anything else I fought so far. I wanted to start the fight over after getting my bearings, but stopped myself just before I reloaded because I had no idea where it would take me (that's kind of a problem). So while eating a few deaths I realized that (aside from maybe 1999 mode) the death penalty isn't a big deal and really functional as a tool to zombie a tough scenario. I don't like that. Moreover, if it does anything it just puts more pressure on picking up Columbia's litter in a dedicated fashion. I could see where they were going with maybe 1999 mode, being cutthroat and all, but that goes out the window when the real threat is having to spend half your game time picking up garbage.

I also get the feeling that because they spent a lot of effort making these beautiful areas, they really want you to stay there for awhile. Lots of backtracking (with new fights), for one.

Despite my complaints, I think this game is pretty cool. It is going to be the most overrated thing since Journey, but if it wins "GotY" it will be a hell of an upgrade over last year's nonsense.


Also, stop making a celebrity out of Derrick.

I don't see why it would be overrated though?

Game design is about all aspects, not purely just gameplay.

An from a world design, and narrative perspective, this is one of the great games in those 2 particular arenas this gen (if not in it's medium).

So it winning goty would be incredibly justified. If another game comes out, that manages to 1up Infinite with gameplay, while retaining the same magical world and narrative than by all means, that game should win.

But look at the releases this year, I don't think there are many contenders (besides maybe the last of us)
 

Zeliard

Member
So while eating a few deaths I realized that (aside from maybe 1999 mode) the death penalty isn't a big deal and really functional as a tool to zombie a tough scenario. I don't like that.

That's the primary reason I chose to play on 1999, to basically trivialize the Vita-Chamber element. It's costlier and enemies fully regenerate health if you respawn, so dying on 1999 mode is generally a very bad idea, as you can't just persistently wear the enemy down through attrition.

Yes, heavily reminiscent of DE:HR in that regard, and absolutely not a good thing. Some of this is the fault of my being on 1999 mode, where it can be essential to get every little bit of trash loot to be able to pick up any upgrades, but I'd probably end up doing the same thing on hard.

It's not fun in the least, but I'm compelled by the game mechanics to do it. New area, new set of one hundred garbage bins to scavenge coins and ammo and half-eaten food out of.

What makes it more bothersome than it'd otherwise be is the checkpoint system. If you've completely scoured an area and then you get a crash, or you simply have to quit out before hitting the next checkpoint, you have to do it all over again. Checkpoint distances being pretty far apart doesn't help.
 
Oh, this section
where I have to protect the ship
is fucking irritating.

It's pretty easy. Never stop moving around killing enemies or you get overwhelmed and
send Songbird to the red ships first and then ONLY to zepellins as soon as they spawn
 

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
That's the point of me calling it overrated - I don't agree with you.

You make many perfectly valid points. Why distract from that by using an unhelpful word like "overrated." It implies your opinion is better than others, and it ascribes properties to the game that are actually properties of your subjective experience.

You don't need to continually make thinly veiled assertions that GAF likes things for the wrong reasons. You make really smart posts, but sometimes I'm put off by the parts where you try so hard to separate yourself from the rest of GAF.

I very much agree about everyone shutting up about what Derrick thinks, though. Jesus.

There's too much fucking scanving in this game. Its a major detriment to the pacing and the overall game design

Assuming you mean scavenging, I agree, but I take my share of the blame. There's no real reason (on normal difficulty) that I have to eat out of every garbage can, or find every penny on the ground, but I do it anyway.
 

WJD

Member
I loved that part.

Granted I played on normal, but it felt really challenging and embraced the Skyrail combat.

I just dislike
those types of "protect a health bar" missions. If it had been flat out combat in that environment I think I'd have enjoyed it more. Did it on my second attempt anyway.
 

DatDude

Banned
That's the point of me calling it overrated - I don't agree with you.

You haven't even finished the game, and experience all there is to experience, so I'm confused how you could even say it's overrated before finishing the game, including the credits, with a 100% compiled thoughts.
 

Derrick01

Banned
What makes it more bothersome than it'd otherwise be is the checkpoint system. If you've completely scoured an area and then you get a crash, or you simply have to quit out before hitting the next checkpoint, you have to do it all over again. Checkpoint distances being pretty far apart doesn't help.

This is what happened to me last night. I lost about 20 minutes of scavenging due to the GPU crashes I was dealing with last night so when I got back to that area it really felt like a chore, at least more of a chore than searching every spot for trash loot already is.

This, people, is why manual saving and the ability to do it anywhere is the preferable method.
 

Alucrid

Banned
Oh, this section
where I have to protect the ship
is fucking irritating.

I'd rather fight a few patriots than a Handyman. The Handyman that comes after your elevator crashes/breaks was the worst in the game.

And yeah, the intro is fantastic. The choir is wonderful, I literally just looked at everything when you get out of the pod just to hear it a bit longer.
 

dan2026

Member
Elizabeth trowing you supplies never gets old.

So far I think the original Bioshock is defiantly the better game though.
Infinite just doesn't have enough new ideas, there is a definite sense of 'been there, done that'.

Still a solid game though.
 

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
You haven't even finished the game, and experience all there is to experience, so I'm confused how you could even say it's overrated before finishing the game, including the credits, with a 100% compiled thoughts.

From what I have gathered, Riposte cares a lot about mechanics and not very much about the less tangible qualities that lead many people to rave about a game despite its shallowness or simplicity. I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing, just a thing that will help you see his perspective and decide whether it's worth arguing about.
 

Scratch

Member
Elizabeth trowing you supplies never gets old.

So far I think the original Bioshock is defiantly the better game though.
Infinite just doesn't have enough new ideas, there is a definite sense of 'been there, done that'.

Still a solid game though.

I think Bioshock Infinite is definitely, for all intents and purposes, the "better game," in terms of gameplay and story.

But for some reason it just doesn't have the magic of the original Bioshock. I dunno what it is :(
 

Riposte

Member
You haven't even finished the game, and experience all there is to experience, so I'm confused how you could even say it's overrated before finishing the game, including the credits, with a 100% compiled thoughts.

You are right, these are not my final thoughts, but we are talking about half the game at this point I think. In the best case scenario, we are looking at the game's mechanics getting the way of the game's atmosphere. The whole looting system just doesn't fit with what the game is trying to do and is quite boring in itself. This is ultimately a game where you participate in combat frequently and all that entails. (EDIT: I say frequently, but I mean relative to the plot points, not so much the time you spend picking up things.)

You make many perfectly valid points. Why distract from that by using an unhelpful word like "overrated." It implies your opinion is better than others, and it ascribes properties to the game that are actually properties of your subjective experience.

You don't need to continually make thinly veiled assertions that GAF likes things for the wrong reasons.

I'm just giving the forecast. It is helpful for me at least (and I'm only speaking my thoughts out loud) because I'm predicting what the context of this year is going to be like. And I do think my opinions are better than many others, so there is that too.


EDIT: Btw, I don't only care about mechanics. Mechanics can define and greatly limit what the atmosphere can accomplish.
 

Sober

Member
RE: The Handyman discussion from a few pages back -

Use movement to fuck up the Handyman, getting on rails to have him chasing you and off when he's about to shock it. That'll open up opportunities to shoot at his heart and get him in position to lay traps, using Undertow to pull him into traps if need be (best used with Shock Jockey for a stun).

Generally shoot him in the heart when available, particularly when he's stunned or distracted. He'll occasionally do stuff like cough which gives you an opening, or you can distract him with Murder of Crows. Vary your tactics appropriately based on what sort of stuff you've been upgrading and gearing up with, but good movement is generally the key against those guys. If you're largely sitting there trying to have a battle of attrition with him, it won't bode well.

I find those fights super-fun in 1999 mode. I've seen a lot of people liken them to Big Daddies but I think that comparison is wrong; they're more like a Big Sister, except the fights are far more movement-based on your end. The Big Daddies were memorable because of their melancholic and bizarrely affectionate demeanor in contrast to their appearance, but I never found them particularly interesting to fight, even in Bioshock 2.

This game's combat reminds me of Bulletstorm to an extent. Both are shooters which are extremely rewarding of player creativity, along with having hectic and movement-heavy combat.
Couldn't find if you had anything to say about the Motorized Patriots, but I was also curious to hear what you have to say about those. Even on hard, I didn't find them to be too much trouble, even without explosives. The thing is that the tooltip says to shoot their gears in the back and I can safely say I never had the privilege to see that until the last part
where they are all busy shooting the generator instead of you
. Any tips to get around them or anything? I've tried a combination of vigors but most of the time a shock jockey didn't hold them for that long (I did not get the stun upgrade) to get chance to circle around on them or anything and they seemed to be pretty responsive to knowing you were turning the corner to try to flank them.
 

dan2026

Member
I think Bioshock Infinite is definitely, for all intents and purposes, the "better game," in terms of gameplay and story.

But for some reason it just doesn't have the magic of the original Bioshock. I dunno what it is :(

This is exactly what I am talking about. At the end of the day you are firing a gun with your right hand and shooting magic with the left. Which stuffing everything that isn't nailed down into your pockets.

Aside from a few new mechanics, this feels like the original Bioshock with a new coat of paint. Not that it is bad in any way, its just not that special anymore.
 
D

Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
It's annoying how much salt is consumed by the possession vigor :/

Keep in mind how valuable it is in combat though. You're not just eliminating an enemy, like you would with another vigor. You're adding another target for your enemy to focus on, AS WELL as getting an ally that can damage them. The distraction alone is worth a LOT of value and let you chew through enemies far easier. It's very, very good.
 

Lingitiz

Member
This is exactly what I am talking about. At the end of the day you are firing a gun with your right hand and shooting magic with the left. Which stuffing everything that isn't nailed down into your pockets.

Aside from a few new mechanics, this feels like the original Bioshock with a new coat of paint. Not that it is bad in any way, its just not that special anymore.

On the whole its just way more fun to play than the original Bioshock. I don't think you can really compare their structure directly. The first is System Shock 2 Lite whereas Infinite is primarily combat and story. The combat is far more enjoyable than really any fight in the first game.
 

Bucca

Fools are always so certain of themselves, but wiser men so full of doubts.
HOLY FUCK THE ENDING.

I -

WHAT-

HOW -

THANK YOU BASED LEVINE.
 

nib95

Banned
So I'm sat here with my ice cold Lucozade orange, newly calibrated brand new Dell U2413 monitor, and just waiting for this install to be done. Didn't realise the retail copy used Steam to sort it's install out too.

Can anyone briefly run through all the tips and tricks to reduce stutter? GTX 570 here.
 

B33

Banned
It's annoying how much salt is consumed by the possession vigor :/
It's a balance issue. Irrational acknowledged some of the weapons and abilities in BioShock were overpowered and overused.

I like that each vigor has a quantitative salt value. It makes me far more conscious of what abilities I'll use in a bout.

You can purchase an upgrade for the Possession vigor that lessens the amount of salt needed for each use.
 

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
You are right, these are not my final thoughts, but we are talking about half the game at this point I think. In the best case scenario, we are looking at the game's mechanics getting the way of the game's atmosphere. The whole looting system just doesn't fit with what the game is trying to do and is quite boring in itself. This is ultimately a game where you participate in combat frequently and all that entails.



I'm just giving the forecast. It is helpful for me at least (and I'm only speaking my thoughts out loud) because I'm predicting what the context of this year is going to be like And I do think my opinions are better than many others, so there is that too.

I can't deny there are lots of badly thought out opinions out there. And you're right that lots of people will continue to praise this game and you will continue to think it's not that good.

But rather than say it's "overrated," implying the game is factually not as good as people think and you are the one who can see the truth, just say you didn't like it as much as the majority and say why. Opening by saying that the majority's subjective experience is wrong isn't going to lead to a good discussion.

The people who think the game is great think so for many reasons, some of which are irrelevant to your own tastes or evaluation criteria. I think it would be difficult for you to argue that your core values (re: gaming) are a better standard than another person's. And if not difficult, then pointless. You can't convince someone they didn't have a good time, or that they should care about x, y, and z failings if they really don't.

EDIT: Btw, I don't only care about mechanics. Mechanics can define and greatly limit what the atmosphere can accomplish.

Can't disagree with that.

I'll have to come back to your posts when I'm done with the game. I'm avoiding reading any substantive criticism until then.
 
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