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[TTG]

Man, this game just keeps going! I thought I was going to finish like 3 times by now, currently on

Spoiler

the engineering deck of Comstock's flagship.

One thing that's annoying me is the way game overs are handled(strictly mechanically) and I want to see if I'm alone on this or not. I started the game on hard and that means, by this point, if I find myself in a bad spot there's a good chance the enemy will blow my shield and a full health bar in a couple of seconds... which is fine. What I don't like is when I die, especially in places where this happens twice or even three times, I feel like I'm brute forcing my way through the encounter. Restarting at the checkpoint isn't really viable because it takes so long and it will often set you a ways back.

With most sandbox shooters, say Halo or something, a part of the fun is getting shut down and retrying. You get to try a different strategy or just execute better. But with Infinite, I often find myself mopping up the leftovers instead. If I could at least manually save before an encounter I would probably suffer through the loading screens, but it won't even let me have that.

 

[Fjordson]

The standalone art book is pretty fantastic.

I'm glad they went where they did with the look and feel of Columbia in the final game, but the darker version of the city in some of this early concept art looks incredible

 

[Papercuts]

Man, this game just keeps going! I thought I was going to finish like 3 times by now, currently on

Spoiler

the engineering deck of Comstock's flagship.

One thing that's annoying me is the way game overs are handled(strictly mechanically) and I want to see if I'm alone on this or not. I started the game on hard and that means, by this point, if I find myself in a bad spot there's a good chance the enemy will blow my shield and a full health bar in a couple of seconds... which is fine. What I don't like is when I die, especially in places where this happens twice or even three times, I feel like I'm brute forcing my way through the encounter. Restarting at the checkpoint isn't really viable because it takes so long and it will often set you a ways back.

With most sandbox shooters, say Halo or something, a part of the fun is getting shut down and retrying. You get to try a different strategy or just execute better. But with Infinite, I often find myself mopping up the leftovers instead. If I could at least manually save before an encounter I would probably suffer through the loading screens, but it won't even let me have that.

I agree; vitachambers have always been dumb and I was disappointed to see them basically return here. Sometimes you get tossed right in the middle of enemies, and given the way your ammo may be depleted it isn't something a real strategy can be based around. You never get a second shot at full capacity without reloading, which constantly throws you way too far back.

1999 fully regens the damaged enemies, but it still isn't the same as everyone will be aware of your position(wherever the game puts you).

 

[Wunder]

Random question: Is 1999 mode a checkbox/different from Easy/Medium/Hard? Is there a way to check if I'm in 1999 mode or is it really evident that I'd know? Like if I went into options to see difficulty, would it say 1999?

 

[Wynnebeck]

So finally started this back up and

Spoiler

found the three tears and beat Lady Comstock easy. Now I'm making my way up Comstock House

and the new enemy they introduced has to be one of the most annoying enemies I've ever fought in a video game. You blast me back, summon your little cronies to get me and then disappear like a bitch? Then every encounter turns into another mini battle dealing with this stupidity. Anyway, just past the

Spoiler

room with all the beds lined up after the tub room.

How close am I to the end?

 

[foxdvd]

Random question: Is 1999 mode a checkbox/different from Easy/Medium/Hard? Is there a way to check if I'm in 1999 mode or is it really evident that I'd know? Like if I went into options to see difficulty, would it say 1999?

I know each time you start on 1999 mode, and try to push up on direction pad a pop up tells you that navigation has been disabled in 1999 mode. This only works once each time you start the game up...which I always did right away to make sure my game was still on 1999 mode...lol

 

[Papercuts]

So finally started this back up and

Spoiler

found the three tears and beat Lady Comstock easy. Now I'm making my way up Comstock House

and the new enemy they introduced has to be one of the most annoying enemies I've ever fought in a video game. You blast me back, summon your little cronies to get me and then disappear like a bitch? Then every encounter turns into another mini battle dealing with this stupidity. Anyway, just past the

Spoiler

room with all the beds lined up after the tub room.

How close am I to the end?

Spoiler

~1-2 hours, depending on how you handle upcoming combat.

You can stealth past the boys of silence btw.

 

[EatChildren]

I agree that the whole "never die, always respawn" system needs a bit more tweaking, but I didn't mind it in Infinite. I think the more generous buffing of enemies when you respawn and the remixing of their positions made it a bit more tense whenever you respawned. There were a few times I was killed by an mechanised patriot and was then surprised by its repositioning.

I didn't like BioShock's because the combat wasn't all that great to start with, and it really killed the intensity of taking down a Big Daddy, which was one of the biggest draws of the game.

 

[IzzyF3]

Just finished it. I'll probably get burned for this, but my favorite Bioshock is still 2. Still the best paced game and I thought the relationship between the protagonist and Elenor Lamb was stronger than Dewitt and Elizabeth. Bioshock Infinite combat sequences outshines all other shooters though.

 

[Wynnebeck]

Spoiler

~1-2 hours, depending on how you handle upcoming combat.

You can stealth past the boys of silence btw.

What just run past them or actually try to sneak by them?

 

[Guess Who]

the relationship between the protagonist and Elenor Lamb was stronger than Dewitt and Elizabeth.

I don't even.

 

[Papercuts]

What just run past them or actually try to sneak by them?

Spoiler

Just don't get caught in the light. You can run past them despite their horn ear things.

 

[GiantEnemyGoomba]

I know I'm still really early in the game, but I want to get a good idea of how much progress I've made. Elizabeth

Spoiler

just knocked me out.

Hopefully I'm not even as far along as I think; I'm already dreading the ending!

 

[Guess Who]

I know I'm still really early in the game, but I want to get a good idea of how much progress I've made. Elizabeth

Spoiler

just knocked me out.

Hopefully I'm not even as far along as I think; I'm already dreading the ending!

~45%.

 

[dekjo]

First time in the thread - been avoiding it until now. So I apologize if stuff like this has been asked a thousand times. But want to get a time check from those who have finished the game.

Spoiler

Just got on Comstock's airship - how much longer until the end? Just want to know if I should power through tonight or relax and finish the fight tomorrow.

 

[catotheyounger]

First time in the thread - been avoiding it until now. So I apologize if stuff like this has been asked a thousand times. But want to get a time check from those who have finished the game.

Spoiler

Just got on Comstock's airship - how much longer until the end? Just want to know if I should power through tonight or relax and finish the fight tomorrow.

Almost there. a few encounters and you're done. ~1 hour, mileage may vary.

 

[dekjo]

Almost there. a few encounters and you're done. ~1 hour, mileage may vary.

Nice. Tonight's the night then. Thanks

 

[WatTsu]

Finished this. Loved it, even with getting it spoiled for me by some crank on Kotaku. Context is really everything.

 

[Jarmel]

One thing I would like to mention about the combat is that due to the way the enemy AI is and the actual level design, I feel the player really doesn't have much of a chance to actually mess around with the skyhook and rail system that much other than three key parts in the game. It definitely should have been implemented more heavily in the level design. I loved the docks battle sequence after the Hall of Heroes just because I could mess around with the skyhooks.

 

[civilstrife]

I want to turn off combat and just explore this game with the Oculus Rift.

 

[The Xtortionist]

I want to turn off combat and just explore this game with the Oculus Rift.

OMG

OMG guys

Skylines...

...with the Oculus Rift

*mind blown*

 

[Shrike_Priest]

Rab Florence has a pretty interesting take on the whole "Bioshock Infinite is too violent for the story it tells"-debate.

 

[dekjo]

Just finished the credits. My first response is "What?"

 

[PaulloDEC]

Rab Florence has a pretty interesting take on the whole "Bioshock Infinite is too violent for the story it tells"-debate.

I really like this article. I was kinda bowled over when I saw that Kotaku post, it seemed totally weird to me. The violence in Bioshock Infinite is critically important to the story, and the suggestion that it shouldn't have been there suggests a total lack of understanding of what Levine was trying to achieve IMO.

 

[Guess Who]

Rab Florence has a pretty interesting take on the whole "Bioshock Infinite is too violent for the story it tells"-debate.

Thank God someone said it.

 

[dan2026]

Huh I've just realised what the Songbird reminds me of.

Nosferatu Zodd from Berserk.

 

[The Librarian]

I loved the ending personally but how many people are going to understand what all of it meant without looking at a discussion about it? (Including me). Your average joe isn't gonna browse forums and websites to get everything they throw at you at the end.

Anecdotal sure, but I'd say the chances of the average Joe looking up the ending are higher than you think. I was talking about the game with classmates the other day.

Agreed. It's a narrative that doesn't know what it's about.

It knows: get the girl and get out.

It's definitely not an ending that "makes you think." It's an ending that makes you think that you're thinking, but all you're really doing is putting plot together. That's not critical thought. That's just decoding. It's like saying that using a magic decoder ring to read the back of a cereal box is "thinking." But no one ever says, "Wow, that Cap'n Crunch cereal sure makes you think!" It's just mindless busywork. There's no substance.

Putting pieces of a plot together requires thinking on your part. It's a different kind of thinking than what a story says about something, but it's still thinking.

I think I'm in the same boat. I was really enjoying the game at first, just as I did with Bioshock 1. Then it starts to feel very formulaic and I lose interest. I don't think I enjoy the shooting mechanics. For the first few hours, I thought, "Ok I'm just opening up my powers and getting weapons, pretty soon here the game will really start to shine. This is just the beginning section of the game that is supposed to teach me how to play." But then after more hours go by, it feels like I've seen all there is to see in the gameplay department even before I've gotten all the vigors.

I don't think I feel compelled to continue playing anymore despite liking the same aspects that you like. It feels like a high quality game that just misses the mark in some way I can't quite verbalize.

How far are you? Wait until everything comes together: weapons, vigors, tears, skyrails, and skyhooks.

Well said and echoes my thoughts completely. I was excited to see these themes of racism, religion, and classes play out throughout the game and it just devolves into 'get the girl out of here'.

The first thing you learn in the game is to get the girl and get out. That's what it is from the beginning.

 

[Guess Who]

The first thing you learn in the game is to get the girl and get out. That's what it is from the beginning.

No kidding. The plot never, from start to finish, takes its focus off of "bring us the girl and wipe away the debt" - I think people just went in expecting something more like the original Bioshock, which was more about Rapture, whereas Infinite is more about Booker and Elizabeth.

 

[Riposte]

Rab Florence has a pretty interesting take on the whole "Bioshock Infinite is too violent for the story it tells"-debate.

Same old shit, except BioShock Infinite is now an exception for some reason.

 

[Mistle]

Just played through the section of meeting Elizabeth for the first time up until the part where Booker gets

Spoiler

stabbed in the hand.

So many incredible moments just within that section. Wow.

 

[FlutterPuffs]

Well said and echoes my thoughts completely. I was excited to see these themes of racism, religion, and classes play out throughout the game and it just devolves into 'get the girl out of here'.

Well yes. I loved this about Bioshock Infinite. Rather than letting the racism/religion/class themes become the story, It's just a part of it.

I loved that the story centers around Elizabeth and Booker, and their struggles.

 

[noffles]

Well yes. I loved this about Bioshock Infinite. Rather than letting the racism/religion/class themes become the story, It's just a part of it.

I loved that the story centers around Elizabeth and Booker, and their struggles.

To me, it sounds like they just wanted another Rapture.

And to call deus ex machina is just a lack of thought.

 

[StevePharma]

Same old shit, except BioShock Infinite is now an exception for some reason.

Just compare the violent acts in Infinite (most notably the decapitations and skyhook executions) to the original or even Bioshock 2. It's definitely a step up and somehow feels a bit out of place. I think his article misses the point somewhat on the matter. Violence is definitely a big part of Bioshock's narrative but the way it was presented in Infinite's combat feels really cartoony and somehow took me out of the experience a bit.

 

[The Librarian]

That was quite the twist picking up that

Spoiler

audio log from Booker DeWitt. Holy crap!

 

[FlutterPuffs]

Just compare the violent acts in Infinite (most notably the decapitations and skyhook executions) to the original or even Bioshock 2. It's definitely a step up and somehow feels a bit out of place. I think his article misses the point somewhat on the matter. Violence is definitely a big part of Bioshock's narrative but the way it was presented in Infinite's combat feels really cartoony and somehow took me out of the experience a bit.

I've always thought it was part of the design. Shows a contrast of your actions vs the clean aesthetic of the game, especially in the first part.

 

[StevePharma]

I've always thought it was part of the design. Shows a contrast of your actions vs the clean aesthetic of the game, especially in the first part.

Then it felt like bad design to me if this was the case.

Just imagine if Andrew Ryan's head magically popped off during the golf club scene haha. That scene was gruesome because of the relative subdued imagery of the violent act, while still retaining the violent act. Whenever I decapitate or slice up a policeman in Infinite I just laugh about how silly it looks compared to the serious tone of the rest of the story.

 

[Shrike_Priest]

I've always thought it was part of the design. Shows a contrast of your actions vs the clean aesthetic of the game, especially in the first part.

This.

The first skyhook kill was very jarring.

I do agree that Elizabeth's reactions to the violent nature of Booker is a legitimate criticism (how she acts in-game compared to scripted sequences), but the fact that Infinite is a shooter isn't a problem to me.

The damn Trophy acknowledgements are, though. "On a clear day!" "Vigorous resistance!" that if anything took me out of the experience.

 

[The Librarian]

In

Spoiler

Prosperity Plaza right now

. It's beautiful!

 

[Jarmel]

Just played through the section of meeting Elizabeth for the first time up until the part where Booker gets

Spoiler

stabbed in the hand.

So many incredible moments just within that section. Wow.

I didn't even know this could happen.

Spoiler

I drew first so apparently I don't get stabbed, I guess.

 

[The Librarian]

Oh hey, now that's cool. Lay down a trap, then use Undertow to pull an enemy forward to spring the trap.

 

[FlutterPuffs]

Then it felt like bad design to me if this was the case.

Just imagine if Andrew Ryan's head magically popped off during the golf club scene haha. That scene was gruesome because of the relative subdued imagery of the violent act, while still retaining the violent act. Whenever I decapitate or slice up a policeman in Infinite I just laugh about how silly it looks compared to the serious tone of the rest of the story.

Would disagree with you on that though, I think it fits when everything is already over exaggerated.

 

[StuBurns]

The Move controls are so utterly terrible. Stab to melee, twist to finisher? Seriously? They don't even seem to use the actual Move button. Horrid.

 

[Zia]

Rab Florence has a pretty interesting take on the whole "Bioshock Infinite is too violent for the story it tells"-debate.

Really nice write-up. I've read hyper-critical Twitter comments and essays from people that have intellectualized Bayonetta, defended (or developed!) Bulletstorm, play Gears of War regularly. It's frustrating. Kirk "Objective Quality" Hamilton's essays at Kotaku have been the most self-indulgent. And, apparently, he's now an expert on shooter combat despite having absolutely no informed writing on shooters in his portfolio.

 

[rosaceadude2112]

Rab Florence has a pretty interesting take on the whole "Bioshock Infinite is too violent for the story it tells"-debate.

Hey you tricked me! This isn't an interesting take at all!

 

[Mistle]

I didn't even know this could happen.

Spoiler

I drew first so apparently I don't get stabbed, I guess.

Spoiler

Ah, I was curious if both options led to a stabbing or not. I'm surprised to find out one doesn't, as not too long after has Elizabeth wrapping Booker's hand up.

On a kind of related topic, when presented with a bird or cage, I chose the cage. Does this have any immediate impact on anything? Just curious. If it influences later moments in the game then don't spoil anything.

 

[scytherage]

Then it felt like bad design to me if this was the case.

Just imagine if Andrew Ryan's head magically popped off during the golf club scene haha. That scene was gruesome because of the relative subdued imagery of the violent act, while still retaining the violent act. Whenever I decapitate or slice up a policeman in Infinite I just laugh about how silly it looks compared to the serious tone of the rest of the story.

I felt the same way. The violence is gratuitous. It felt like it was there to tick off a set of checkboxes for a successful AAA game

- has to be a FPS
- has to be gory
- has to have tons of scripted, linear movie moments

Perhaps the contrast is intentional. But at some point while playing I just wanted it to end, it was just shock and guts over and over.

A lot bring up Gears. Yes, the chainsaw gun. But do you chainsaw every single bad guy? I didn't. I could, sure, but it gets tiring. The thrill of it wears off eventually. With infinite, practically every kill is gruesome. If not with buckets of gore, but with screaming, and ridiculous screen shake, and flashing lights. It would likely trigger epileptic seizures. Its not just the gore itself. The presentation is so frantic. It almost makes you feel like an insane person.

Maybe that was the point? I don't know. But it just feels like it could be done better.

By the time you get to the end, it's almost as if Irrational had two teams. 100 people for the crazy shooting levels, and another hundred people who didn't talk with Team 1 and just wrote the arc and the ending. It isn't cohesive. I think the end message will be lost on a lot of people who just relax when they play shooters. All that

Spoiler

inter dimensional quantum physics nonsense will just be interpreted by many as, oh DeWitt =Comstock, and DeWitt dies.

No one generally will piece together all that complicated theory stuff on Forums.

And that's another thing I take offense with. Why do they let other people piece the story together? Can't the story stand on its own without requiring that you Google what just happened at the end? I feel a good story has to make sense generally to nearly everyone. The deeper stuff should be subtext you can look into if you want, but it should never be required reading just to enjoy your product/work of art.

Bioshock 1 didn't have that problem. Maybe because there was no pressure or expectation of a big twist in the story. This one HAD to have a twist, only because the first one had such a great story in the first place.And thats the unfortunate thing. Their past success literally dictated that they had to make this one so complicated, just so people will say that it's deep.

Ill just pretend this game doesnt exist. Bioshock 1 for life haha.

 

[Phreaker]

Has anyone had issues with surround sound on PC? My receiver shows DTS, but I am not hearing anything out of my surround speakers. I didn't see anything in the audio menu to change between stereo and surround.

 

[cackhyena]

Bioshock 1 didn't have that problem. Maybe because there was no pressure or expectation of a big twist in the story. This one HAD to have a twist, only because the first one had such a great story in the first place.And thats the unfortunate thing. Their past success literally dictated that they had to make this one so complicated, just so people will say that it's deep.

Ill just pretend this game doesnt exist. Bioshock 1 for life haha.

Wow.

 

[kurahador]

Jeez..it's always the junior that has extreme opinion about something.

It's like ppl create a new acc just to make a legitimate troll claim. EVERY SINGLE THREAD.

 

[Grinchy]

Jeez..it's always the junior that has extreme opinion about something.

It's like ppl create a new acc just to make a legitimate troll claim. EVERY SINGLE THREAD.

I doubt someone waited 6+ months just to annoy you.

How far are you? Wait until everything comes together: weapons, vigors, tears, skyrails, and skyhooks.

I think I'm like 6 hours in. Though I explore almost every nook and cranny. It's just really feeling "samey" in the gameplay department. And it feels like, "Ok here is a section where I can walk around and look at cool shit. Ok now I know 3 guys are going to jump out at me when I open this door." It's all just very predictable.