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BioShock: The Collection |OT| Once is not enough.

H

Horseticuffs

Full werewolf off the buckle
Playing through the series right now, starting with 1 which I beat back in the day. I didn't care for it all too much back then but I am REALLY loving the experience now. I'm on PC and it looks great and, while I've seen the odd bug (Water turned to red glitches in one spot) it is a very good experience. It has a terrific flow to it. You never leave the story and it's just so easy to go from one mission to the next. The gunplay holds up very well too, in my opinion.

I've never played 2 so I'm pretty excited to give that a go. Hopefully it'll be as good as everyone here says it is.

Now, on to Infinite. I beat that on 360 on release and loved it so much. SPOILER]As a dad and a big "Many worlds interpretation" nerd it has a deep place in my heart.[[/SPOILER] I just can't wait to play through it again, this time on PC. To this day it is the only game poster I own and it still has a place in my bedroom (I know I'm a classy fucker).

Unlocking the commentary disks is a nice treat. I've only found one so far but if I miss any which I'm certain I will I'll just Youtube them.

I'm really glad these came out. I already owned 1 on PC so this was a great incentive to buy 2 and Infinite.
 
E

Easy_D

never left the stone age
There's a way to fix the audio in Bioshock 1 and 2! Including enabling the EAX effects :D.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/409710/discussions/0/350542145692394453/

Now someone mod the specular maps back in to get shiny wet surfaces in the right places and they'll be definitive for me, granted, the audio being fixed helps a lot. Fucking shame that fans have to fix shit, like usual, but I'm glad UE3 is so easy to tamper with for that reason.

Edit: Seems it doesn't do anything, another user in that thread said the remaster uses fmod, so the EAX option does jackshit. Enabling 5.1 for those who want it seems to work though
 
M

MMarston

Was getting caught part of your plan?
Hehe
t1svvusaekupttgzkdxi.jpg
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P

pbsapeer

Banned
sdornan said:
I still don't understand all the retroactive love that Bioshock 2 gets. It's a fine game, but it feels like a retread. Lamb feels shoehorned in as a character, and it mimics a lot of what the first Bioshock did without introducing enough new stuff. I really hate the mechanic of adopting all the little sisters in each area, harvesting all the bodies, and then killing the big sister. It's so time-consuming and breaks any kind of flow in the story that the game tries to establish.
Click to expand...

I agree. The harvesting mechanic is shite and just ruins the flow.
 
D

Dommo

Member
sdornan said:
I still don't understand all the retroactive love that Bioshock 2 gets. It's a fine game, but it feels like a retread. Lamb feels shoehorned in as a character, and it mimics a lot of what the first Bioshock did without introducing enough new stuff. I really hate the mechanic of adopting all the little sisters in each area, harvesting all the bodies, and then killing the big sister. It's so time-consuming and breaks any kind of flow in the story that the game tries to establish.

I got through about half of it and decided to skip ahead and replay Infinite, which I'm enjoying much more.
Click to expand...

Played about half of B2 a few years ago, didn't remember much and have now returned to it, still fairly early on. I tend to agree. I actually don't hate any of those mechanics - just all of them together becomes pretty overwhelming. That it's gone (in Bio1) from killing a big daddy > making a decision, to now killing a big daddy > making a decision > following/finding the right body to harvest > defend little sister for for a minute > finding another body to harvest > defend little sister for a minute > take her to a crawl tube > kill a big sister is pretty crazy, especially considering this isn't even the core content of the game. This is just too many successive elements that are starting to get repetitive and grating. That there's usually 2-3 little sisters in each level makes it a larger headache. That means in some levels you'll be doing the tower defending exercise six times. That's excessive. Fleshing out one or two of these would have been for the best, I think.

Hell, I wouldn't have even minded removing the big daddies entirely. We've done enough of that in Bio1, and now you're the big daddy, it would be fine to jettison this. The big sister is intimidating and unique enough that it could take the place of the tough mini-boss stand-in. It would be cool to do the full big daddy experience like you witnessed in Bio1, where you'd go and bang on the crawl space to call a little sister out. Culling the little sister harvesting down to one per sister would also help quite a lot.

EDIT: Also, locking your medkits and eve hypos to a maximum of 5 ensures I'm constantly scrounging and buying more of them after these heavily taxing scenarios that are sure to test your attrition levels. Like, I'm gonna drop 2-3 health kits and probably eve hypos for each of - Big Daddy killing, little sister defence, and big sister killing. Pretty tiring. Do you upgrade to a higher maximum later in the game? Not sure this needs to be an upgradeable mechanic.
 
G

GeeTeeCee

Member
sdornan said:
I still don't understand all the retroactive love that Bioshock 2 gets. It's a fine game, but it feels like a retread. Lamb feels shoehorned in as a character, and it mimics a lot of what the first Bioshock did without introducing enough new stuff. I really hate the mechanic of adopting all the little sisters in each area, harvesting all the bodies, and then killing the big sister. It's so time-consuming and breaks any kind of flow in the story that the game tries to establish.

I got through about half of it and decided to skip ahead and replay Infinite, which I'm enjoying much more.

Minerva's Den is still great though.



I agree, it really is. I remember it being perfect in the original too.
Click to expand...

Dommo said:
Played about half of B2 a few years ago, didn't remember much and have now returned to it, still fairly early on. I tend to agree. I actually don't hate any of those mechanics - just all of them together becomes pretty overwhelming. That it's gone (in Bio1) from killing a big daddy > making a decision, to now killing a big daddy > making a decision > following/finding the right body to harvest > defend little sister for for a minute > finding another body to harvest > defend little sister for a minute > take her to a crawl tube > kill a big sister is pretty crazy, especially considering this isn't even the core content of the game. This is just too many successive elements that are starting to get repetitive and grating. That there's usually 2-3 little sisters in each level makes it a larger headache. That means in some levels you'll be doing the tower defending exercise six times. That's excessive. Fleshing out one or two of these would have been for the best, I think.
Click to expand...

I think you've both summed up the reason I've never been able to get more than a couple of hours into B2 before bailing out. Even when you were going on fetch quests through places like Haephestus or Arcadia in B1, the joy of exploring each area helped to mask the slightly monotonous objectives. Arriving in a new area in B2 brings a new checklist of repetitve "defend this spot" gameplay that was too exhausting for me to tolerate for very long.

I swear I'll try and complete Bioshock 2 this time. Honest.
 
D

Dommo

Member
GeeTeeCee said:
I think you've both summed up the reason I've never been able to get more than a couple of hours into B2 before bailing out. Even when you were going on fetch quests through places like Haephestus or Arcadia in B1, the joy of exploring each area helped to mask the slightly monotonous objectives. Arriving in a new area in B2 brings a new checklist of repetitve "defend this spot" gameplay that was too exhausting for me to tolerate for very long.

I swear I'll try and complete Bioshock 2 this time. Honest.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I actually think Bio1 strikes an almost perfect balance with its core gameplay and the big daddy stuff. There's something really nice about having the big daddies trotting around the level peacefully while you're doing your own thing, so that in the back of your mind you're always thinking "oh man I'm gonna have to take these guys out at some point." So as you're doing your normal thing, you're also looking out for sweet spots to take advantage of the ensuing fight. Are there turrets in this area? Lots of explosive barrels around? Could I use this camera to my advantage here? It's not taken to a perfect conclusion, but there is a nice sense of 'prep-time Batman' to the whole thing.

My only wish would have been if they'd somehow created a unique Big Daddy for every level. Obviously asking too much, but it would have been great to have to watch and study how the big daddy moved and fought against attacking splicers to understand the unique mechanics of each of boss. Then you'd tweak your plasmids and gameplan accordingly to take full advantage of the strengths and weaknesses of that specific big daddy. As it stands it gets a little monotonous by, let's say Haephestus, but I can't really complain.
 
M

MidnightCowboy

Member
I absolutely loved the harvesting mechanic in Bioshock 2. So fun laying traps and defending your position. It was exhilarating and never felt taxing or like too much of a grind.

Bioshock 2 is my favorite in the series.
 
T

Toa TAK

Banned
MidnightCowboy said:
I absolutely loved the harvesting mechanic in Bioshock 2. So fun laying traps and defending your position. It was exhilarating and never felt taxing or like too much of a grind.

Bioshock 2 is my favorite in the series.
Click to expand...

The Harvesting mechanic is one of the reasons I love the game so much. Playing around with your tools each time and setting up your defense is a fantastic experience when you can nail it without any damage to the Little Sister and you don't even have to life a finger.
 
foxdvd

foxdvd

Member
Every time I play Bioshock Infinite on 1999 mode I tell myself I am not going to use the broken overpowered Charge with immunity upgrade...and every time I end up using it. It really makes the second half of this game easy mode on 1999...with blood to salts I don't even use up that much salt..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIv4vfkQ6gw
 
J

Jombie

Member
Bioshock 2 on hard is ridiculous. I just lost a good bit of progress because it crashed - - again. I don't know if I have the patience for this shit.
 
B

black070

Member
Bioshock, Bioshock 2, Minerva's Den, Bioshock Infinite and Burial at Sea Part 1 & 2 all completed - what a thrill replaying the mainline games again and experiencing their respective DLC's for the first time.
 
J

Jombie

Member
Toa TAK said:
Did you save often?
Click to expand...

I do but it still slips my mind from time to time. I was halfway through Siren Alley, and now back at the beginning... This is the only trophy I need, but it's too tedious. It's rare that I have more than 1 health pack or hypo at a time. 1999 mode on Infinite is a cakewalk compared to this shit.
 
TGO

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
I'm up to
Stanley Poole
BS2 is a huge improvement over BS1, although I'm a bit disappointed by BS1's ending which would be better if it didn't end that way
when you become a Big Daddy I thought it was connected to BS2, ie same character and it was a continuation
 
F

Fisty

Member
Just did a RTTP on Minervas Den yesterday. Really good little story, a very personal touch and human element to it that you don't really get anywhere else in the series. The bit where
Porter starts talking to "Pearl" really gets to me, the voice actor fucking nails that scene
. I don't think it really pushes the medium forward and out like Bioshock 1 obviously, but taking the narrative in a completely different direction than Ken's meta-plot was the best course of action and really paid off.

I got all the trophies for MD and the Protector Trials, and I think I'll skip the main game for now lol. I think Infinite will be a better one to jump into now, Bio2 didn't grab me at all when I played it before, and I don't want to get burned out on Rapture by the time I head back as Booker and Liz :D
 
T

Toa TAK

Banned
Jombie said:
I do but it still slips my mind from time to time. I was halfway through Siren Alley, and now back at the beginning... This is the only trophy I need, but it's too tedious. It's rare that I have more than 1 health pack or hypo at a time. 1999 mode on Infinite is a cakewalk compared to this shit.
Click to expand...
Haha. I feel your pain, I had to save before and after every Adam gathering just in case. Personally, I don't think any of the BioShock games are particularly hard. 2 is the easiest and 1999 Mode wasn't too challenging, either.
 
N

Nere

Member
I had bought bioshock in spring but stopped playing it since I heard the remasters were announced and bioshock had many issues on newer windows. Here I am got the remasters and I am really sad that many of the issues that made me quit playing it are still here: graphic options change on their own all the time, the difficulty is also changing on its own, game crashes often, graphical glitches. Couldn't they fix anything? I feel I am playing a ticking bomb here that is going to crash at any moment. Disappointing, thank god they were free, really wanted to experience this masterpiece at all it's glory like I did on the xbox back in 2007.
 
J

Jombie

Member
Toa TAK said:
Haha. I feel your pain, I had to save before and after every Adam gathering just in case. Personally, I don't think any of the BioShock games are particularly hard. 2 is the easiest and 1999 Mode wasn't too challenging, either.
Click to expand...

I'm just terrible. I'm also not creative enough.

I did a whole playthrough just to get the stupid research trophy, now I'm just kind of burned out.
 
C

cftrooper

Member
Unrelated question: Has the school(s) of fish swimming in place bug been a thing since the original version or is that just yet another thing they screwed up in the remaster?
 
F

FoxnHurley

Member
Jombie said:
I do but it still slips my mind from time to time. I was halfway through Siren Alley, and now back at the beginning... This is the only trophy I need, but it's too tedious. It's rare that I have more than 1 health pack or hypo at a time. 1999 mode on Infinite is a cakewalk compared to this shit.
Click to expand...

May I ask what you find hard about it? I've been doing just fine on that difficulty, aside from needing to stock up on medkits after a big sister or big daddy fight. The game gives you a ton of money from just searching bodies, furnishings, and safes. I've always had enough to buy any depleted ammo or a few medkits after a tough encounter. Researching enemies helps a lot since you can gain damage multipliers specific to their class.

In all honesty I find that the drill is the best weapon to use against larger enemies. Stun them, get behind, and drill away. Combined with its upgrades, a few specific tonics, and 50% damage bonus you gain from researching big daddies, the damage output per second you can do is insane. Moreover, I've been using the fully-upgraded rivet gun for splicers. Easy to get headshots, usually light on fire after the second shot. Hope these tips help you.

Jombie said:
Honestly don't know what my problem is. It seems I only have enough money to buy a few health packs and hypos here and there, which are gone almost immediately. I think it's a mental thing on my part.
Click to expand...

I just don't understand how you burn through them so quickly. Don't forget to hack med stations for free medkits, use telekinesis to grab hypos and medkits that are well out of reach. The game has a tendency to hide them in places that are overlooked if you're just rushing through.
 
J

Jombie

Member
FoxnHurley said:
May I ask what you find hard about it? I've been doing just fine on that difficulty, aside from needing to stock up on medkits after a big sister or big daddy fight. The game gives you a ton of money from just searching bodies, furnishings, and safes. I've always had enough to buy any depleted ammo or a few medkits after a tough encounter. Researching enemies helps a lot since you can gain damage multipliers specific to their class.

In all honesty I find that the drill is the best weapon to use against larger enemies. Stun them, get behind, and drill away. Combined with its upgrades, a few specific tonics, and 50% damage bonus you gain from researching big daddies, the damage output per second you can do is insane. Moreover, I've been using the fully-upgraded rivet gun for splicers. Easy to get headshots, usually light on fire after the second shot. Hope these tips help you.
Click to expand...

Honestly don't know what my problem is. It seems I only have enough money to buy a few health packs and hypos here and there, which are gone almost immediately. I think it's a mental thing on my part.
 
Z

zerotol

Banned
Close to finishing up Bioshock 2. I still think it's the best one. However, this version (xb1) froze/crashed on me about 6 times now. Pretty frustrating. My play through of B1 froze once.
 
M

maus

Member
GeeTeeCee said:
I think you've both summed up the reason I've never been able to get more than a couple of hours into B2 before bailing out. Even when you were going on fetch quests through places like Haephestus or Arcadia in B1, the joy of exploring each area helped to mask the slightly monotonous objectives. Arriving in a new area in B2 brings a new checklist of repetitve "defend this spot" gameplay that was too exhausting for me to tolerate for very long.

I swear I'll try and complete Bioshock 2 this time. Honest.
Click to expand...

You could always harvest the little sisters and forgo the defense missions.

It's my first time playing B2 and I've been harvesting them all and I totally forgot that was even a thing. The one I did for a tutorial wasn't exactly fun since playing on hard with a controller made it pretty overwhelming and frustrating. I may begin saving some now that I have a better arsenal.

No crashes on the PC version so far and I would estimate I'm about halfway in. I'm loving the utilitarian level design of B2. The levels actually feel somewhat sprawling with the quest marker turned off and are a joy to explore. I'm getting Doom 4 vibes. Story feels completely uninspired but I'm enjoying it for the stylized shooter that it is.
 
B

Bedameister

Member
show me your skeleton said:
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY WRENCHES

anyway, i changed the difficulty and disabled vita-chambers before bioshock's credits rolled but only unlocked the difficulty achievements, do i have to play the whole game without vita-chambers to get those or did i just fail at gaming the system?
Click to expand...
Yes of course you have to play the whole game without the vita chambers lol
 
M

MauroNL

Member
So are they patching the Xbox One version or what? I've tried tweeting Blind Squirrel games but they say contact 2K Support, yet they refer me to the offcial Bioshock account and they're not responding to anything but praising tweets. I can't even finish Bioshock 1 because it doesn't have 5.1 sound for some reason and I'm going through Infinite now but the constant stuttering is getting pretty annoying. I knew I should've hold off buying the game but I can't skip on my favorite franchise ever!
 
Berserking Guts

Berserking Guts

Member
Is there something wrong with the audio in bioshock 1 on ps4? There's entire dialog missing in the section where the dude is banging on the door in the dance room.
 
R

RodzTF

Member
Got the BS1 platinum earlier today.

Performance-wise, I was quite fortunate with my experience compared to what I've read here. Throughout two playthroughs, I only had one freeze. There was however a few audio glitches (either missing dialogue or dialogue repeating) and texture pop-in was quite ridiculous for a 'remastering' of a 9-year-old game.

Still, a massive feat for Irrational in all aspects of game design. One of the most unique shooters and story-based games out there. The museum of orphaned concepts is a nice addition, although it was kinda botched together. I was expecting more of a guided tour as it states at the beginning of the level y'know with a bit of v/o or whatever, eh I guess that's what the director's commentary reels are for.

Shall start BS2 when the 'burn out' cools from playing BS1 so much.
 
P

PsihoPerihelion

Member
RodzTF said:
Got the BS1 platinum earlier today.

Performance-wise, I was quite fortunate with my experience compared to what I've read here. Throughout two playthroughs, I only had one freeze. There was however a few audio glitches (either missing dialogue or dialogue repeating) and texture pop-in was quite ridiculous for a 'remastering' of a 9-year-old game.

Still, a massive feat for Irrational in all aspects of game design. One of the most unique shooters and story-based games out there. The museum of orphaned concepts is a nice addition, although it was kinda botched together. I was expecting more of a guided tour as it states at the beginning of the level y'know with a bit of v/o or whatever, eh I guess that's what the director's commentary reels are for.

Shall start BS2 when the 'burn out' cools from playing BS1 so much.
Click to expand...

I had no freeze, crash or major bug during my playtime with BS1. I guess I'm a lucky guy too.
 
G

Gator86

Member
MauroNL said:
So are they patching the Xbox One version or what? I've tried tweeting Blind Squirrel games but they say contact 2K Support, yet they refer me to the offcial Bioshock account and they're not responding to anything but praising tweets. I can't even finish Bioshock 1 because it doesn't have 5.1 sound for some reason and I'm going through Infinite now but the constant stuttering is getting pretty annoying. I knew I should've hold off buying the game but I can't skip on my favorite franchise ever!
Click to expand...

You literally listed the reason they're in no hurry to patch anything. People don't care enough to change their purchasing habits. I don't think they've announced anything regarding the console versions. I'm not exceedingly confident they will.
 
D

Dabi

Member
HueyFreeman said:
Amazing - just received a full refund for this through Sony Support. Just basically explained it was technically not what I expected at all - removal of effects from the original, sound issues in Infinite, and framerate problems - and the guys immediately issued a "one time" refund.

Great to have this turd off my hard drive - still can't believe 2K would disrespect such a landmark series, but happy to just play my OG PC versions :)

EDIT: and see below
Click to expand...

What kind of effects were removed from the original? Just played through it for the first time ever thanks to the remaster. Loved it but I'm curious as to what I missed out on lol
 
H

HueyFreeman

Banned
Dabi said:
What kind of effects were removed from the original? Just played through it for the first time ever thanks to the remaster. Loved it but I'm curious as to what I missed out on lol
Click to expand...

Quite a few actually - water effects are muted, lighting has been changed, fog is less, "wet" textures are gone (to be fair, this is a much criticized aspect of this generation of unreal but fuck - it worked in Bioshock). Played the PS4 version back to back with original PC and it really is quite dramatic how much is missing here.

Again the meat and potatoes of the game is there - but BS1 is a mediocre shooter, a good story, and a truly remarkably wonderful atmosphere - much of which owes to its effects. I can't for the life of me understand how this happened on much more powerful consoles, short of just lazy or severely budget constrained development. Given how Blind Squirrel is behaving by not taking any responsibility, it really could be either.
 
E

erotic grandpa

Member
HueyFreeman said:
Given how Blind Squirrel is behaving by not taking any responsibility, it really could be either.
Click to expand...

They've pretty much moved onto touting their work in helping port XCOM 2, and their referral to the official Bioshock account is a hopeless endeavor, since it's just promotional material and retweets, day after day. 2K Support doesn't seem to be offering any help, either.

At least there's enough salty mentions to their tweets to act like some sort of PSA to others.
 
C

ClivePwned

Member
I am enjoying my replay of the game on X1. It's been 9 years since I last played the first one and I'm finding I'm killing lots and lots of Big Daddies with very few Little sisters around (I'm just after the bit where the
submarine explodes
) so still fairly early on).
 
P

pbsapeer

Banned
Really enjoyed the first game. Never played the original so was great to get a chance. I guess without playing the original you don't know what you've missed!
The second one is a bit of a slog. I hate having the harvest the bodies with the little sisters all the time.
I have played infinite and loved it. Can't wait to get to it tbh :)
 
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