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[Wasp]

Jeez. I'm even playing on Hard and exploring everything carefully.

Yeah BioShock 2 is quite short, I'd estimate it at 7-9 hours, about two thirds of the length of BioShock 1.

Minerva's Den DLC is a good 4-6 hours long though, at least half of the length of the main game if not more.

 

[Andrew.]

Yeah, and I miss the different ammo types from BS2 (I think they might have been in 1 as well...?).

Yeah they were there. Electric buck, anti personnel rounds, etc.

 

[DukeBobby]

Just got to

Spoiler

Finkton

and 1999 mode has been pretty easy so far. Not died once.

 

[TTG]

So, I started a 1999 mode run and imagine my joy when the very first piece of gear I get is headmaster. HIT THE FUCKING JACKPOT! Now I just need the excessive damage piece and maybe the bonus with every successive kill gear to really become a death dealing machine.

By the way, I'm so much better at the game the second time around. Maybe I'll regret saying this when the first handyman shows up, or a certain special boss, but for now the difficulty is right on.

 

[Deleted member 80556]

Dammit, Rod, stay in one place already (Rod Fergusson, VP of Irrational Game's development leaves the studio).

 

[The Librarian]

One of the criticisms I agree with most is that all of the combat tools as a whole are perhaps introduced a bit too late.

Agreed with this too. Starting over is going to suck without having all the tools I have access to now.

 

[Grisby]

Yeah they were there. Electric buck, anti personnel rounds, etc.

Cool, I thought they were.

 

[rohlfinator]

Man that would have been so rad. My biggest disappointment with Infinite was when I found out how limited the skyrails are in terms of their utilization for exploration. It was a really missed opportunity

Totally. There were a couple spots where you could use them to get up to secret-ish areas, but they were too few and far between.

I really liked the scripted skyrail scenes in the first third of the game too, I wonder why they didn't bring any of those back in the later sections.

The mechanics of the skyrails were handled so well. I can't imagine how much refinement it must have taken to make them feel right.

 

[Tummi Gummi]

I really do miss how the weapons would change as you upgraded them. I kept looking at my shotgun and waiting for some flashing glowing parts to show up when i would upgrade it...and nothing would happen : /

Bleh, I thought some of the weapons in B1 actually looked uglier after upgrading. Like from tasteful, understated trim to WEIRD SCIENCE!!!!!

 

[Amir0x]

Totally. There were a couple spots where you could use them to get up to secret-ish areas, but they were too few and far between.

I really liked the scripted skyrail scenes in the first third of the game too, I wonder why they didn't bring any of those back in the later sections.

The mechanics of the skyrails were handled so well. I can't imagine how much refinement it must have taken to make them feel right.

The game had some really disjointed segments. I didn't even understand what was going on with the direction of

Spoiler

Comstock/Elizabeth House

, seemed like

Spoiler

it was from a considerably more survival horror version of the game.

I didn't understand what those particular enemies and that

Spoiler

siren guy

were supposed to represent to the story. Fucking creepy

Like you, the skyrail thing was what I'm most sad we didn't get more of. SO many ways they could have had this enhancing the game world, and it is mostly relegated to a few "combat arena" type areas where you can swing back and forth for combat advantage. I wanted to be traveling all over Columbia with this system, exploring at my leisure. When you first enter Columbia proper and see those crates being shipped on the Skyrail, all I could think of "I can't wait to follow 'em and follow them into the city!" Alas, not to be

 

[pj]

This is exemplified in the green arrow you can conjure up. [bold]You see it veers off right, so you go left in search for loot and voxophones.[/bold] Apart from killing any urgency that's left (because your mind outright refuses the idea that you have to roleplay as the protagonist in the plot and e.g. hurry quickly save Elizabeth), the loot mechanic furthermore kills any observation of the environment. Loot is everywhere. In the trashcans, on the street, in desks. You're clicking on everything without giving it conscious thought. Therefore the environment, Columbia(!) (the place it should be about), is essentially meaningless. There's no spatial cognition, because there's no need for it. You don't have to reason about the environment, like 'I bet there's a voxophone on that person's nightstand', because they are on the ground, in a crypt, in the bushes, everywhere that's illogical. As such, you don't appraise the environment like a logical place, but like it's a backdrop. And then there's the shooting again, for the fiftieth time in a row. Why were you doing this again? To pay off some kind of debt that hasn't even been explained. Okay..

Yes, exactly. Whenever the narrative was pushing me in one direction, I went in the exact opposite direction to find the trinkets they had dotted about.

Elizabeth: Booker, come on! We have to go find the blahdeboop!
Me: Simmer down, I think I saw a non-gated door at the beginning of this fight arena.
Elizabeth: *silent for 20 minutes while I pick through the garbage and press X four hundred times*

 

[RiccochetJ]

Scavenger Hunt cheevo get! Man, 1999 mode feels so rewarding when you make your way through some of those encounters.

 

[Drago]

Just got to the Bull House Impound, gonna finish there for today and keep on playing tomorrow. (How far am I in the game at this point?)

I am in love with this game.

 

[Dylan]

I'd only go so far as to say this would make a fun episode of Star Trek.

That still puts it above Mass Effect.

 

[The Librarian]

Beat

Spoiler

Lady Comstock for a third time. This last time was made more difficult because I had trouble finding weapons, but I go through it without dying.

Went through Comstock gate; Songbird takes Elizabeth away. I gotta say, the atmosphere here is absolutely incredible. The stone faces are fucking scary amidst the thunderous clouds and the deadly lightning that shakes the entire rig.

 

[Divvy]

Beat

Spoiler

Lady Comstock for a third time. This last time was made more difficult because I had trouble finding weapons, but I go through it without dying.

Went through Comstock gate; Songbird takes Elizabeth away. I gotta say, the atmosphere here is absolutely incredible. The stone faces are fucking scary amidst the thunderous clouds and the deadly lightning that shakes the entire rig.

Yeah the imagery there is stunning

 

[DarkKyo]

Beat

Spoiler

Lady Comstock for a third time. This last time was made more difficult because I had trouble finding weapons, but I go through it without dying.

Went through Comstock gate; Songbird takes Elizabeth away. I gotta say, the atmosphere here is absolutely incredible. The stone faces are fucking scary amidst the thunderous clouds and the deadly lightning that shakes the entire rig.

Is this still your first playthrough? It's blowing my mind how slowly/thoroughly you're absorbing the game.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Dax is determined to be the last dude/dudette to beat Bioshock Infinite on NeoGAF

 

[DarkKyo]

Dax is determined to be the last dude/dudette to beat Bioshock Infinite on NeoGAF

I wouldn't be able to stand it. Two days of playing Infinite and I had to blow my load and fight to the end -- just had to know the story. Now in my second playthrough I'm taking my sweet time.

 

[Hot Coldman]

OK so I just

Spoiler

beat Lady Comstock's ghost, for what I assume is the final time, with Elizabeth apologising and seemingly winning her over

. How much further do I have left? I kinda wanna beat it now but it's late and now's a good jumping-off point.

 

[DukeBobby]

Beat

Spoiler

Lady Comstock for a third time. This last time was made more difficult because I had trouble finding weapons, but I go through it without dying.

Went through Comstock gate; Songbird takes Elizabeth away. I gotta say, the atmosphere here is absolutely incredible. The stone faces are fucking scary amidst the thunderous clouds and the deadly lightning that shakes the entire rig.

I expect plenty of 'Holy shit, WTF' posts in the coming hours.

OK so I just

Spoiler

beat Lady Comstock's ghost, for what I assume is the final time, with Elizabeth apologising and seemingly winning her over

. How much further do I have left? I kinda wanna beat it now but it's late and now's a good jumping-off point.

I'd say you have about 2 hours left.

 

[Divvy]

OK so I just

Spoiler

beat Lady Comstock's ghost, for what I assume is the final time, with Elizabeth apologising and seemingly winning her over

. How much further do I have left? I kinda wanna beat it now but it's late and now's a good jumping-off point.

like 3 hours.

 

[The Librarian]

Is this still your first playthrough? It's blowing my mind how slowly/thoroughly you're absorbing the game.

Yup! Still not finished two weeks later, lol.

Proceeded a little farther...

Spoiler

Hello, snow! I think I entered a tear? Huh. Got to the door and saved the game.

While Elizabeth not being the daughter of Comstock and Lady Comstock surprised me, though I should've expected, Lady Comstock being killed by Comstock wasn't. Or rather, I suspected that Fitzroy killing Comstock was just propaganda. Or maybe it wasn't propaganda in the first universe. I do remember that audio recording of Fitzroy in the police headquarters saying she was a murderer; though she didn't explicitly say she murdered Lady Comstock. My brain!

I know I'm almost at the end, and I somehow missed thirty voxophones. I am so disappointed in myself.

I expect plenty of 'Holy shit, WTF' posts in the coming hours.

Ha! Not tonight 'cause I need to grab some beauty sleep. Probably tomorrow night though.

 

[Hot Coldman]

I'd say you have about 2 hours left.

like 3 hours.

OK, I'll save it for tomorrow.

 

[Andrew.]

After much debilitation and inebriation, I've concluded that the only things I dislike about Infinite are as follows:

- PS3 screen tearing is horrible at some points, but more often than not it's cool (or else I just got really used to it).

- Liz commenting on thimbles being "All the rage" in Paris. It's not just what she says, it's more that Book doesn't react to that statement whatsoever. I wanna bet that no one said that back in 1912 unless it is something she heard through a tear, which is perfectly understandable and I get it. However if that is so, then the fact we get no "All the what?" or some other similar line out of Booker really bothers me. It may be beyond trivial to some, but for some reason this really, really stuck out to me and was something that actually zapped me out of the atmosphere. I know, I'm weird as fuck.

- 1999 was easier/more adaptable than I expected yet it is still the best and only way to really experience this game after you've completed it once on whatever difficulty you desire.

- I miss the upgrade details being visible on your weapons. This is one thing I fucking loved about the first two games. Blows my mind why it couldnt have been implemented into this. We have tears for christs sake. We couldve had various looking tech on those things.

- The Big Daddy "equivalents" were so ferocious and aggressive, that I really yearned for some sort of large slothy precise attacker for a large, but quick intense battle.

 

[ArynCrinn]

I guess it depends what you're looking for. I had more fun using Bioshock's telekinesis in and out of combat far more than anything on hand in Infinite.

A big reason why Telekinesis wouldn't work as well in BI is because what is there to grab or throw? There's hardly any real physics applied at all. I miss wrenching a dead splicer in the face and making it bloodier.

 

[UFRA]

You really should at least rent it. Because this isn't Bioshock 2.0..

Redbox has it in stock (at least the one in my area does, perhaps your does as well), and only costs 1.50 to rent. Try it for a night and see if it's for you?

Rent this before making up your mind. The distinction between this and bio 1 is the 'how' not the "what". This is vastly an improvement over 1 and, mechanically, they play nothing alike. There's only one bit in third act where the scavenging becomes a tad overwhelming

I read in a review (can't remember what site since I read several) that all of the side missions are essentially pointless fetch quests like in the first game. As an OCD gamer that likes to complete everything in a game, I'm worried about that.

Is this accurate or is it hyperbole from the review?

When I played the first Bioshock, about halfway through I got bored with the repetitive fetch missions, and got to the point where I just started speeding through the game for the sake of finishing it, and not because I wanted to know what happens next.

I'm conflicted and confused about this game. Some say it's incredible, others say it has too many old problems in it.

I guess I may just have to do the renting route.

 

[Grisby]

I read in a review (can't remember what site since I read several) that all of the side missions are essentially pointless fetch quests like in the first game. As an OCD gamer that likes to complete everything in a game, I'm worried about that.

Is this accurate or is it hyperbole from the review?

When I played the first Bioshock, about halfway through I got bored with the repetitive fetch missions, and got to the point where I just started speeding through the game for the sake of finishing it, and not because I wanted to know what happens next.

I'm conflicted and confused about this game. Some say it's incredible, others say it has too many old problems in it.

I guess I may just have to do the renting route.

I wouldn't even really call them side quests. I guess they are but Infinite is more linear than the original Bioshock so backtracking to get a chest or whatever isn't a huge deal.

If your OCD I'd be more worried about the collectibles (recordings, sight seeing telescopes). I thought I looked everywhere and came up a few short.

You should at least give it a rent. I'm a bit disappointed in the game but it gives off some great atmosphere and art. Gunplay is alright but make sure you at least start on hard.

 

[Drago]

The game is short enough where a week rental will be enough to get through the main story, I think. I only started playing yesterday and I'm pretty sure I'm at least halfway through the game at 6 hours, and a good hour or so of that was just taking everything in and looking at the finer details of the game. I am playing on easy though (you can judge me all you want) so it may be different on other difficulties.

Also, if someone can clear this up for me:

Just got to the Bull House Impound... How far am I in the game at this point?

 

[Papercuts]

I read in a review (can't remember what site since I read several) that all of the side missions are essentially pointless fetch quests like in the first game. As an OCD gamer that likes to complete everything in a game, I'm worried about that.

Is this accurate or is it hyperbole from the review?

When I played the first Bioshock, about halfway through I got bored with the repetitive fetch missions, and got to the point where I just started speeding through the game for the sake of finishing it, and not because I wanted to know what happens next.

I'm conflicted and confused about this game. Some say it's incredible, others say it has too many old problems in it.

I guess I may just have to do the renting route.

They are all backtracking, but that isn't much of a timesink. I would say there is only like 4 side missions even in the game, and it's basically backtracking through an area you just cleared which doesn't take long at all.

I would recommend renting it, as I disliked bio1 while having a much better time with infinite. I don't hold it in a very high regard like many others, but it was still worth playing and fun overall.

 

[aparisi2274]

So do I really need to go search for all the infusion bottles? Or can I just get the ones that are easy to find and be able to finish this game? I am playing on Normal and am currently heading to the Hall of Heroes.

 

[CitizenCope]

Finished this up. Great game. What a job by Irrational to pull that off on 8 year old hardware. Sure textures were lacking but IMO the art made up for it ten fold. What a beautiful world. Thanks for the love that was put into this game.

 

[Lord_Byron28]

So do I really need to go search for all the infusion bottles? Or can I just get the ones that are easy to find and be able to finish this game? I am playing on Normal and am currently heading to the Hall of Heroes.

I'd say fully explore for hidden rooms and, try to lock pick as much as you can. Most of them I found were either in plain sight but a window blocked it off so I had to find another way to it or I just needed to lock pick a door.

 

[aparisi2274]

I'd say fully explore for hidden rooms and, try to lock pick as much as you can. Most of them I found were either in plain sight but a window blocked it off so I had to find another way to it or I just needed to lock pick a door.

I mean I am searching most of the nooks and crannies, and trying to open all doors and what not, so I assume I should be ok...

 

[Laughing Banana]

Around 4 hours in, just met Elizabeth.

I really like the overall feeling and atmosphere of the entire place, but unfortunately found the battles as...... well, I wouldn't call it boring, but it felt lacking or impact and not something to be excited of.

It didn't help that occasionally the AI seemed spotty too... especially the enemies trying to melee me. Like, sometimes they spun and ran towards the walls first before coming towards me.

I guess this feeling of atmosphere curbstomping battles will be something that will continue throughout the game? A shame. Maybe I need to be more creative and crazy with battles...

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

So is it better to upgrade the shield before health/salts?

Just got to my first upgrade, and wondering how I should proceed.

Around 4 hours in, just met Elizabeth.

I really like the overall feeling and atmosphere of the entire place, but unfortunately found the battles as...... well, I wouldn't call it boring, but it felt lacking or impact and not something to be excited of.

It didn't help that occasionally the AI seemed spotty too... especially the enemies trying to melee me. Like, sometimes they spun and ran towards the walls first before coming towards me.

I guess this feeling of atmosphere curbstomping battles will be something that will continue throughout the game? A shame. Maybe I need to be more creative and crazy with battles...

I feel the same way...BioShock's world isn't as fleshed out as I'd hoped as well. You're just kind of taken on this amusement ride with little context outside of some Videophones. It's an amazing visual feast, and I love the world design...but it's not drawing me in to the same degree as BioShock, and perhaps it's because it's hardly improved from BioShock's presentation.

Gunplay is what it is....better than BioShock by a large mile, but ultimately something feels flat and not very satisfying.

I also hate games where there's an endless amount of crates to open...shit is infuriating actually, and I hated it on Skyrim/Oblivion too.

Granted, I haven't even gotten to Elizabeth yet.

 

[Computron]

Is there some writeup of all the choice aspects of the game and how they impact the story?

I want to know what's out there but I wont play it again for a while...

 

[t-ramp]

Is there some writeup of all the choice aspects of the game and how they impact the story?

I want to know what's out there but I wont play it again for a while...

As far as I can tell, there isn't much choice and what there is barely affects anything.

 

[RiccochetJ]

So is it better to upgrade the shield before health/salts?

Just got to my first upgrade, and wondering how I should proceed.

If you're playing on hard/1999 mode, I'd recommend maxing your shields as quickly as you can. I went 3/1 shields to salts until it was maxed and then went with salts. I ignored health altogether until the other two were done.

 

[Papercuts]

So is it better to upgrade the shield before health/salts?

Just got to my first upgrade, and wondering how I should proceed.



I feel the same way...BioShock's world isn't as fleshed out as I'd hoped as well. You're just kind of taken on this amusement ride with little context outside of some Videophones. It's an amazing visual feast, and I love the world design...but it's not drawing me in to the same degree as BioShock, and perhaps it's because it's hardly improved from BioShock's presentation.

Gunplay is what it is....better than BioShock by a large mile, but ultimately something feels flat and not very satisfying.

I also hate games where there's an endless amount of crates to open...shit is infuriating actually, and I hated it on Skyrim/Oblivion too.

Granted, I haven't even gotten to Elizabeth yet.

Shield and Salts, I would go with both evenly, maybe skewed more towards salts at the start. Ignore health completely.

 

[ChoklitReign]

Dax is determined to be the last dude/dudette to beat Bioshock Infinite on NeoGAF

It's going to be me. Probably on Sunday. I stay at school on weekdays and I've been cramming school work. I feel good about it so that gives me all weekend to marathon. I've only made it to the Hall of Herpes (best typo ever).

 

[clutch.as.it.gets.]

The game had some really disjointed segments. I didn't even understand what was going on with the direction of

Spoiler

Comstock/Elizabeth House

, seemed like

Spoiler

it was from a considerably more survival horror version of the game.

I didn't understand what those particular enemies and that

Spoiler

siren guy

were supposed to represent to the story. Fucking creepy

Like you, the skyrail thing was what I'm most sad we didn't get more of. SO many ways they could have had this enhancing the game world, and it is mostly relegated to a few "combat arena" type areas where you can swing back and forth for combat advantage. I wanted to be traveling all over Columbia with this system, exploring at my leisure. When you first enter Columbia proper and see those crates being shipped on the Skyrail, all I could think of "I can't wait to follow 'em and follow them into the city!" Alas, not to be

I feel the same way. They played it way too safe.

 

[RDreamer]

Started up 1999 mode for the hell of it. It's pretty insane.

I wouldn't mind the insanity if it didn't take so damned long to reload checkpoints

 

[nib95]

Ok, so I am absolutely loving this game. Played what seems like 3+ hours in a row, which I have not done with a game in... Well a long time. Just getting to a stage now though

Spoiler

where the Vox have taken over the city and everything is in ruins

where it is just getting too hectic now. Too much carnage from every direction and battles that are not only a lot more frequent, but last a lot longer too. Does this die down a bit and get back to more story and exploration, or can I expect more and more combat as I go on?

 

[DatDude]

Is there some writeup of all the choice aspects of the game and how they impact the story?

I want to know what's out there but I wont play it again for a while...

Spoiler

It's the main theme of the game in that the choices aren't supposed to impact your game. Similar to how "Would you Kindly" was a message in regards to how we were slaves the developers game design.

 

[DatDude]

Ok, so I am absolutely loving this game. Played what seems like 3+ hours in a row, which I have not done with a game in... Well a long time. Just getting to a stage now though

Spoiler

where the Vox have taken over the city and everything is in ruins

where it is just getting too hectic now. Too much carnage from every direction and battles that are not only a lot more frequent, but last a lot longer too. Does this die down a bit and get back to more story and exploration, or can I expect more and more combat as I go on?

it slows down yeah.

 

[Papercuts]

Ok, so I am absolutely loving this game. Played what seems like 3+ hours in a row, which I have not done with a game in... Well a long time. Just getting to a stage now though

Spoiler

where the Vox have taken over the city and everything is in ruins

where it is just getting too hectic now. Too much carnage from every direction and battles that are not only a lot more frequent, but last a lot longer too. Does this die down a bit and get back to more story and exploration, or can I expect more and more combat as I go on?

The game will be continue being extremely combat heavy, but it will slow down a bit before the end with another great segment before ramping up again.

 

[nib95]

it slows down yeah.

Phew. Anyone know roughly how much longer I have to go? I just got the shield vigor. Looks like a yellow/gold spartan head, absorbs damage. I think my mission is to get to Comstocks house.

 

[DatDude]

Phew. Anyone know roughly how much longer I have to go? I just got the shield vigor. Looks like a yellow/gold spartan head, absorbs damage. I think my mission is to get to Comstocks house.

Maybe 4-5 hours? Again, depends on your playstyle of course.

 

[nib95]

Maybe 4-5 hours? Again, depends on your playstyle of course.

Awesome. My playstyle is take my time, explore, and find as many items, and as much money and collectibles as possible. Oh and take loads of screens too. My God is this game beautiful.