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This thread has been linked to the game 'BioShock'.
Let me be blunt. Bioshock is one of the prettiest, most original, and most imaginative games of the year. Happy? Good for you. And on the other side of the fence I can say that it's also one of the most over-hyped and disappointing games of the year.
Shock-horror.
Bioshock takes place during the mid 20th century in the fictional metropolis of Rapture. A sprawling city built under the ocean on the whim of one typically batty toff, Andrew Ryan. Equally typical is the fact that the inhabitants of this funny place have gone ever so slightly amusing themselves, fuelled by a merciless need to get their hands on the genetically-enhancing super-drug, Adam. And then along comes you. Ever get the feeling these things are meant to happen?
The city of Rapture is undoubtedly an imaginative one, and easily one of the most eye-pleasing game world ever created. Gardens, grand hallways, theatres; it's all a rather lovely sight to behold. Alas, being under the sea, and subject to considerable abuse from its residents, it's all starting to go downhill. Water flows around your feet, trickles down walls, and generally makes for an extra pretty sight, as the water physics are some of the best ever seen in a game. It's just unfortunate that it never actually feels threatening. The developers had a chance to generate an unparalleled atmosphere of claustrophobic panic with the nature of the environment and its damp downfalls. However, the intrusive ocean only serves as eye-candy for the vast majority of the time, and whenever a big deal is made of say... a tunnel collapsing under the strain of it all, it's so very obvious that nothing's actually going to happen to you as a result of it, and that you can quite easily reach the exit just before said scripted event is drawn to a conclusion...just as you're out of harm's way. How very dramatic...
Speaking of dying, let me introduce you to what is easily the biggest flaw in the game and something that isn't an example of mere nit-pickery: the respawn system. Should Rapture's unfriendly locals give you one hiding too many, you'll be transported to one of the game's many restoration-chambers where you'll be magically perked back up to full health. Miraculous! Unfortunately this medical marvel makes the entire game so laughably easy that someone without thumbs could probably stumble their way through it if persistent enough. And in turn, the game is stripped of pretty much all the tension that the superb level design builds up, as it becomes increasingly apparent that dying has absolutely no consequence and serves only as a minor irritation whereby you occasionally have to go for a brief stroll to get back to where you were before. This lazy piece of design also ruins one of the game's most talked about aspects: the Big Daddies.
These bulky, mysterious creatures apparently exist only to protect the Adam wielding children known as the Little Sisters; Adam being the substance needed to obtain the game's various plasmids, which basically amount to fireballs, ice blasts, lightning attacks, et al. and various upgrades of the basic attributes that your character can obtain. And in short, to get to the Adam, you need to get to the Little Sister, and to get to them, you need to get through the Big Daddy. Now, when angered, these brutes quickly turn from lumbering, overgrown metallic teddy bears, into extremely fast and extremely powerful enemies. At first when one of them retaliates (for it's always you that makes the first move), you see no obvious way of killing it, and can only riddle it with bullets as it roars towards you. But then of course you remember the respawn system, and sadly, this turns what could be a truly terrifying battle into a totally unchallenging chore, in which you could merely clout the Big Daddy over the head with a wrench for all the difference it would make to the overall outcome of the battle. You'll probably die, but then instantly reappear a short distance away. It simply turns it into one big unfunny joke.
Once you inevitably hack away at the Big Daddy's health bar for long enough, you're free to either harvest the Little Sister of all her Adam, killing her in the process, or ponce about like a goody goody paragon of virtue and purge her of her demons, setting her free, but only receiving some of her Adam. Such are the burdens of sainthood.
However, the difference this much-touted morality system makes really isn't that significant, other than the ending you'll see, of which there are two alternatives. The fact that you'll be rewarded with more Adam every so often as compensation if you keep saving the Little Sisters, means that life is made neither easier nor harder depending on how you decide the fate of the Little Sisters, which again comes at the expense of any real drama.
Gameplay-wise Bioshock has always been heralded as an FPS, and it does indeed live up to that. At your disposal is a standard FPS arsenal including pistols, shotguns, machine guns etc. etc. although the mechanics of the actual shooting don't really feel that satisfying, as the guns all tend to feel rather underpowered and clunky, which isn't helped by the fact that shooting one of the enemies seems to only evoke mild annoyance unless they simply drop dead on the spot.
As mentioned before, you also have access to a wide variety of plasmids, and the fun you can have with them is arguably much more interesting than with the guns. Setting an enemy on fire, for example, and then electrocuting the water that he or she leaps into is something of a sadistic pleasure, and actually makes some use of the plentiful supply of water.
Bioshock's story is definitely an interesting one, unless you count its woeful ending, but disregarding that, it is a substantially satisfying plot that does the job of carrying the game along nicely, but at the same time it's nothing to get well and truly excited about.
By this point you're probably under the impression that I really don't like Bioshock that much. This isn't the case, as for what it is, the game IS enjoyable to play. The journey that the developers take you on is a memorable one, and the levels are some of the most well-executed examples of inspired design that this generation of hardware has seen. The criticisms come as a result of foolishly buying into the hype that's been generated for the game, giving the impression that it would be flawless spectacle of near-perfect gameplay and be as deep an experience as the ocean that it takes place in, which is simply not true. It's easily preferable to some of the other insipid games that fester in the market, but for the life of me I can't see why it's been touted as an all-conquering masterpiece.
Go in expecting one of the best games of all time, and you'll more than likely come away feeling disappointed, much like I did, but play it expecting a good, enjoyable, but far from perfect shooter, and you should be able to overlook its faults and emerge from the other side all the better for it.
Shock-horror.
Bioshock takes place during the mid 20th century in the fictional metropolis of Rapture. A sprawling city built under the ocean on the whim of one typically batty toff, Andrew Ryan. Equally typical is the fact that the inhabitants of this funny place have gone ever so slightly amusing themselves, fuelled by a merciless need to get their hands on the genetically-enhancing super-drug, Adam. And then along comes you. Ever get the feeling these things are meant to happen?
The city of Rapture is undoubtedly an imaginative one, and easily one of the most eye-pleasing game world ever created. Gardens, grand hallways, theatres; it's all a rather lovely sight to behold. Alas, being under the sea, and subject to considerable abuse from its residents, it's all starting to go downhill. Water flows around your feet, trickles down walls, and generally makes for an extra pretty sight, as the water physics are some of the best ever seen in a game. It's just unfortunate that it never actually feels threatening. The developers had a chance to generate an unparalleled atmosphere of claustrophobic panic with the nature of the environment and its damp downfalls. However, the intrusive ocean only serves as eye-candy for the vast majority of the time, and whenever a big deal is made of say... a tunnel collapsing under the strain of it all, it's so very obvious that nothing's actually going to happen to you as a result of it, and that you can quite easily reach the exit just before said scripted event is drawn to a conclusion...just as you're out of harm's way. How very dramatic...
Speaking of dying, let me introduce you to what is easily the biggest flaw in the game and something that isn't an example of mere nit-pickery: the respawn system. Should Rapture's unfriendly locals give you one hiding too many, you'll be transported to one of the game's many restoration-chambers where you'll be magically perked back up to full health. Miraculous! Unfortunately this medical marvel makes the entire game so laughably easy that someone without thumbs could probably stumble their way through it if persistent enough. And in turn, the game is stripped of pretty much all the tension that the superb level design builds up, as it becomes increasingly apparent that dying has absolutely no consequence and serves only as a minor irritation whereby you occasionally have to go for a brief stroll to get back to where you were before. This lazy piece of design also ruins one of the game's most talked about aspects: the Big Daddies.
These bulky, mysterious creatures apparently exist only to protect the Adam wielding children known as the Little Sisters; Adam being the substance needed to obtain the game's various plasmids, which basically amount to fireballs, ice blasts, lightning attacks, et al. and various upgrades of the basic attributes that your character can obtain. And in short, to get to the Adam, you need to get to the Little Sister, and to get to them, you need to get through the Big Daddy. Now, when angered, these brutes quickly turn from lumbering, overgrown metallic teddy bears, into extremely fast and extremely powerful enemies. At first when one of them retaliates (for it's always you that makes the first move), you see no obvious way of killing it, and can only riddle it with bullets as it roars towards you. But then of course you remember the respawn system, and sadly, this turns what could be a truly terrifying battle into a totally unchallenging chore, in which you could merely clout the Big Daddy over the head with a wrench for all the difference it would make to the overall outcome of the battle. You'll probably die, but then instantly reappear a short distance away. It simply turns it into one big unfunny joke.
Once you inevitably hack away at the Big Daddy's health bar for long enough, you're free to either harvest the Little Sister of all her Adam, killing her in the process, or ponce about like a goody goody paragon of virtue and purge her of her demons, setting her free, but only receiving some of her Adam. Such are the burdens of sainthood.
However, the difference this much-touted morality system makes really isn't that significant, other than the ending you'll see, of which there are two alternatives. The fact that you'll be rewarded with more Adam every so often as compensation if you keep saving the Little Sisters, means that life is made neither easier nor harder depending on how you decide the fate of the Little Sisters, which again comes at the expense of any real drama.
Gameplay-wise Bioshock has always been heralded as an FPS, and it does indeed live up to that. At your disposal is a standard FPS arsenal including pistols, shotguns, machine guns etc. etc. although the mechanics of the actual shooting don't really feel that satisfying, as the guns all tend to feel rather underpowered and clunky, which isn't helped by the fact that shooting one of the enemies seems to only evoke mild annoyance unless they simply drop dead on the spot.
As mentioned before, you also have access to a wide variety of plasmids, and the fun you can have with them is arguably much more interesting than with the guns. Setting an enemy on fire, for example, and then electrocuting the water that he or she leaps into is something of a sadistic pleasure, and actually makes some use of the plentiful supply of water.
Bioshock's story is definitely an interesting one, unless you count its woeful ending, but disregarding that, it is a substantially satisfying plot that does the job of carrying the game along nicely, but at the same time it's nothing to get well and truly excited about.
By this point you're probably under the impression that I really don't like Bioshock that much. This isn't the case, as for what it is, the game IS enjoyable to play. The journey that the developers take you on is a memorable one, and the levels are some of the most well-executed examples of inspired design that this generation of hardware has seen. The criticisms come as a result of foolishly buying into the hype that's been generated for the game, giving the impression that it would be flawless spectacle of near-perfect gameplay and be as deep an experience as the ocean that it takes place in, which is simply not true. It's easily preferable to some of the other insipid games that fester in the market, but for the life of me I can't see why it's been touted as an all-conquering masterpiece.
Go in expecting one of the best games of all time, and you'll more than likely come away feeling disappointed, much like I did, but play it expecting a good, enjoyable, but far from perfect shooter, and you should be able to overlook its faults and emerge from the other side all the better for it.
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Let me be blunt. Bioshock is one of the prettiest, most original, and most imaginative games of the year. Happy? Good for you. And on the other side of the fence I can say that it's also one of the most over-hyped and disappointing games of the year.
Shock-horror.
Bioshock takes place during the mid 20th century in the fictional metropolis of Rapture. A sprawling city built under the ocean on the whim of one typically batty toff, Andrew Ryan. Equally typical is the fact that the inhabitants of this funny place have gone ever so slightly amusing themselves, fuelled by a merciless need to get their hands on the genetically-enhancing super-drug, Adam. And then along comes you. Ever get the feeling these things are meant to happen?
The city of Rapture is undoubtedly an imaginative one, and easily one of the most eye-pleasing game world ever created. Gardens, grand hallways, theatres; it's all a rather lovely sight to behold. Alas, being under the sea, and subject to considerable abuse from its residents, it's all starting to go downhill. Water flows around your feet, trickles down walls, and generally makes for an extra pretty sight, as the water physics are some of the best ever seen in a game. It's just unfortunate that it never actually feels threatening. The developers had a chance to generate an unparalleled atmosphere of claustrophobic panic with the nature of the environment and its damp downfalls. However, the intrusive ocean only serves as eye-candy for the vast majority of the time, and whenever a big deal is made of say... a tunnel collapsing under the strain of it all, it's so very obvious that nothing's actually going to happen to you as a result of it, and that you can quite easily reach the exit just before said scripted event is drawn to a conclusion...just as you're out of harm's way. How very dramatic...
Speaking of dying, let me introduce you to what is easily the biggest flaw in the game and something that isn't an example of mere nit-pickery: the respawn system. Should Rapture's unfriendly locals give you one hiding too many, you'll be transported to one of the game's many restoration-chambers where you'll be magically perked back up to full health. Miraculous! Unfortunately this medical marvel makes the entire game so laughably easy that someone without thumbs could probably stumble their way through it if persistent enough. And in turn, the game is stripped of pretty much all the tension that the superb level design builds up, as it becomes increasingly apparent that dying has absolutely no consequence and serves only as a minor irritation whereby you occasionally have to go for a brief stroll to get back to where you were before. This lazy piece of design also ruins one of the game's most talked about aspects: the Big Daddies.
These bulky, mysterious creatures apparently exist only to protect the Adam wielding children known as the Little Sisters; Adam being the substance needed to obtain the game's various plasmids, which basically amount to fireballs, ice blasts, lightning attacks, et al. and various upgrades of the basic attributes that your character can obtain. And in short, to get to the Adam, you need to get to the Little Sister, and to get to them, you need to get through the Big Daddy. Now, when angered, these brutes quickly turn from lumbering, overgrown metallic teddy bears, into extremely fast and extremely powerful enemies. At first when one of them retaliates (for it's always you that makes the first move), you see no obvious way of killing it, and can only riddle it with bullets as it roars towards you. But then of course you remember the respawn system, and sadly, this turns what could be a truly terrifying battle into a totally unchallenging chore, in which you could merely clout the Big Daddy over the head with a wrench for all the difference it would make to the overall outcome of the battle. You'll probably die, but then instantly reappear a short distance away. It simply turns it into one big unfunny joke.
Once you inevitably hack away at the Big Daddy's health bar for long enough, you're free to either harvest the Little Sister of all her Adam, killing her in the process, or ponce about like a goody goody paragon of virtue and purge her of her demons, setting her free, but only receiving some of her Adam. Such are the burdens of sainthood.
However, the difference this much-touted morality system makes really isn't that significant, other than the ending you'll see, of which there are two alternatives. The fact that you'll be rewarded with more Adam every so often as compensation if you keep saving the Little Sisters, means that life is made neither easier nor harder depending on how you decide the fate of the Little Sisters, which again comes at the expense of any real drama.
Gameplay-wise Bioshock has always been heralded as an FPS, and it does indeed live up to that. At your disposal is a standard FPS arsenal including pistols, shotguns, machine guns etc. etc. although the mechanics of the actual shooting don't really feel that satisfying, as the guns all tend to feel rather underpowered and clunky, which isn't helped by the fact that shooting one of the enemies seems to only evoke mild annoyance unless they simply drop dead on the spot.
As mentioned before, you also have access to a wide variety of plasmids, and the fun you can have with them is arguably much more interesting than with the guns. Setting an enemy on fire, for example, and then electrocuting the water that he or she leaps into is something of a sadistic pleasure, and actually makes some use of the plentiful supply of water.
Bioshock's story is definitely an interesting one, unless you count its woeful ending, but disregarding that, it is a substantially satisfying plot that does the job of carrying the game along nicely, but at the same time it's nothing to get well and truly excited about.
By this point you're probably under the impression that I really don't like Bioshock that much. This isn't the case, as for what it is, the game IS enjoyable to play. The journey that the developers take you on is a memorable one, and the levels are some of the most well-executed examples of inspired design that this generation of hardware has seen. The criticisms come as a result of foolishly buying into the hype that's been generated for the game, giving the impression that it would be flawless spectacle of near-perfect gameplay and be as deep an experience as the ocean that it takes place in, which is simply not true. It's easily preferable to some of the other insipid games that fester in the market, but for the life of me I can't see why it's been touted as an all-conquering masterpiece.
Go in expecting one of the best games of all time, and you'll more than likely come away feeling disappointed, much like I did, but play it expecting a good, enjoyable, but far from perfect shooter, and you should be able to overlook its faults and emerge from the other side all the better for it.
Shock-horror.
Bioshock takes place during the mid 20th century in the fictional metropolis of Rapture. A sprawling city built under the ocean on the whim of one typically batty toff, Andrew Ryan. Equally typical is the fact that the inhabitants of this funny place have gone ever so slightly amusing themselves, fuelled by a merciless need to get their hands on the genetically-enhancing super-drug, Adam. And then along comes you. Ever get the feeling these things are meant to happen?
The city of Rapture is undoubtedly an imaginative one, and easily one of the most eye-pleasing game world ever created. Gardens, grand hallways, theatres; it's all a rather lovely sight to behold. Alas, being under the sea, and subject to considerable abuse from its residents, it's all starting to go downhill. Water flows around your feet, trickles down walls, and generally makes for an extra pretty sight, as the water physics are some of the best ever seen in a game. It's just unfortunate that it never actually feels threatening. The developers had a chance to generate an unparalleled atmosphere of claustrophobic panic with the nature of the environment and its damp downfalls. However, the intrusive ocean only serves as eye-candy for the vast majority of the time, and whenever a big deal is made of say... a tunnel collapsing under the strain of it all, it's so very obvious that nothing's actually going to happen to you as a result of it, and that you can quite easily reach the exit just before said scripted event is drawn to a conclusion...just as you're out of harm's way. How very dramatic...
Speaking of dying, let me introduce you to what is easily the biggest flaw in the game and something that isn't an example of mere nit-pickery: the respawn system. Should Rapture's unfriendly locals give you one hiding too many, you'll be transported to one of the game's many restoration-chambers where you'll be magically perked back up to full health. Miraculous! Unfortunately this medical marvel makes the entire game so laughably easy that someone without thumbs could probably stumble their way through it if persistent enough. And in turn, the game is stripped of pretty much all the tension that the superb level design builds up, as it becomes increasingly apparent that dying has absolutely no consequence and serves only as a minor irritation whereby you occasionally have to go for a brief stroll to get back to where you were before. This lazy piece of design also ruins one of the game's most talked about aspects: the Big Daddies.
These bulky, mysterious creatures apparently exist only to protect the Adam wielding children known as the Little Sisters; Adam being the substance needed to obtain the game's various plasmids, which basically amount to fireballs, ice blasts, lightning attacks, et al. and various upgrades of the basic attributes that your character can obtain. And in short, to get to the Adam, you need to get to the Little Sister, and to get to them, you need to get through the Big Daddy. Now, when angered, these brutes quickly turn from lumbering, overgrown metallic teddy bears, into extremely fast and extremely powerful enemies. At first when one of them retaliates (for it's always you that makes the first move), you see no obvious way of killing it, and can only riddle it with bullets as it roars towards you. But then of course you remember the respawn system, and sadly, this turns what could be a truly terrifying battle into a totally unchallenging chore, in which you could merely clout the Big Daddy over the head with a wrench for all the difference it would make to the overall outcome of the battle. You'll probably die, but then instantly reappear a short distance away. It simply turns it into one big unfunny joke.
Once you inevitably hack away at the Big Daddy's health bar for long enough, you're free to either harvest the Little Sister of all her Adam, killing her in the process, or ponce about like a goody goody paragon of virtue and purge her of her demons, setting her free, but only receiving some of her Adam. Such are the burdens of sainthood.
However, the difference this much-touted morality system makes really isn't that significant, other than the ending you'll see, of which there are two alternatives. The fact that you'll be rewarded with more Adam every so often as compensation if you keep saving the Little Sisters, means that life is made neither easier nor harder depending on how you decide the fate of the Little Sisters, which again comes at the expense of any real drama.
Gameplay-wise Bioshock has always been heralded as an FPS, and it does indeed live up to that. At your disposal is a standard FPS arsenal including pistols, shotguns, machine guns etc. etc. although the mechanics of the actual shooting don't really feel that satisfying, as the guns all tend to feel rather underpowered and clunky, which isn't helped by the fact that shooting one of the enemies seems to only evoke mild annoyance unless they simply drop dead on the spot.
As mentioned before, you also have access to a wide variety of plasmids, and the fun you can have with them is arguably much more interesting than with the guns. Setting an enemy on fire, for example, and then electrocuting the water that he or she leaps into is something of a sadistic pleasure, and actually makes some use of the plentiful supply of water.
Bioshock's story is definitely an interesting one, unless you count its woeful ending, but disregarding that, it is a substantially satisfying plot that does the job of carrying the game along nicely, but at the same time it's nothing to get well and truly excited about.
By this point you're probably under the impression that I really don't like Bioshock that much. This isn't the case, as for what it is, the game IS enjoyable to play. The journey that the developers take you on is a memorable one, and the levels are some of the most well-executed examples of inspired design that this generation of hardware has seen. The criticisms come as a result of foolishly buying into the hype that's been generated for the game, giving the impression that it would be flawless spectacle of near-perfect gameplay and be as deep an experience as the ocean that it takes place in, which is simply not true. It's easily preferable to some of the other insipid games that fester in the market, but for the life of me I can't see why it's been touted as an all-conquering masterpiece.
Go in expecting one of the best games of all time, and you'll more than likely come away feeling disappointed, much like I did, but play it expecting a good, enjoyable, but far from perfect shooter, and you should be able to overlook its faults and emerge from the other side all the better for it.