Only just started playing Bioshock Infinite and i have mixed reactions.. especially for Elizabeth..

[crazygameguy4ever]

I liked Bioshock 2.... and as for Bioshock Infinite? i've only played a little of it since getting it a few days ago, and it's fun and all but.. not as good as Bioshock 2 in some regards.. like the enemies.. in the previous Bioshock games your enemies were drugged up, crazed people who could take a lot of damage because their minds and bodies were so messed up because of overuse of Adam.. but in Infinte, you face regular people who can take a lot of damage because of.. um.. reasons?.. i know one kills or 2 hit kills like in real life would make the game go too fast, but couldn't they have given a reason for their oblivious to damage?.. like maybe they watched too much Who's the Boss and became numb to pain?


Also, whats up with Elizabeth? so far she seems more like a walking vending machine then anything else.. always throwing me money, and health, and bullets and salts for my vigor powers... her role could have almost been filled by a vending machine on wheels. which is what she kind of is, from what i've seen so far.. I expected her to be more then a supply truck on legs.. and maybe she becomes more later on in the game ,but first impressions aren't good so far for a character i was looking forward to interacting with.

plus the game is really racist... this has been said before, adn isn't anything new but wow.. it's really, really racist against black people,Asians and.. well, anyone not white. 

What does everyone else think of the game? and try not to put any spoilers in your comments(or put a spoiler warning) since i've just started playing it after picking the game up on an impulse buy for $20 at walmart last week.

 

[QuietlyListening]

I think Elizabeth is there more for narrative reasons and the vending machine part is just to make her useful so the whole game isn't like a giant escort mission.

I don't think the game is racist itself. It portrays racism, but that view isn't endorsed by the narrative of the game.

As for the fight mechanics. Yeah. That's probably the weakest part of the game. Get the water tentacle power and throw people off ledges. A much more elegant solution.

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

I think Elizabeth is there more for narrative reasons and the vending machine part is just to make her useful so the whole game isn't like a giant escort mission.

I don't think the game is racist itself. It portrays racism, but that view isn't endorsed by the narrative of the game.

As for the fight mechanics. Yeah. That's probably the weakest part of the game. Get the water tentacle power and throw people off ledges. A much more elegant solution.

I have no problem with Elizabeth being useful to gameplay, but.. still.. having her as an all purpose vending machine might not have been the best way to make her useful to the game.. maybe let her help you by eventually taking up arms and helping you kill enemies too.. i do like the game so far as a whole, just not as much as past Bioshock games

 

[QuietlyListening]

That's kind of against her character. And would probably be unfair given that she's immortal.

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

That's kind of against her character. And would probably be unfair given that she's immortal.

maybe.. i'm saying don't let her shoot people till later in the game after she realizes that she might not survive unless she also uses a gun.. and they could make her vulnerable instead of immortal.. healing Ashley in RE4 was fine and giving how Elizabeth is always finding money and supplies, it might have worked.

 

[MirenBainesUSMC]

I suppose this is one of those times where I would say --- play more of the game. Elizabeth isn't just a vending machine for you. Certainly she is in the beginning but... you'll see her place within the story as you progress. Keep playing, you'll be either intrigued or you'll put the controller down but I'm guessing if you went through BioShock 2, you'll continue onward!


One thing Infinite did however do was decrease the lore and suspense behind The Handy Man, when you first walk into the carnival and you see one of them being prodded and made a spectacle, it down graded the " oh sh---!" factor vs when Big Sister was going to come and kick your ass in Bioshock 2.


I for one did not believe the game was racist either. You see --- its racist if you simply leave it the way it is, depicted Asians and Blacks in a bad way, while being condoned by the main character and becoming an accepted view of the game itself. This is kind of like attempting to drag a teacher in for being racist when told what racism is and examples of it --- you are not condoning it but you are being shown and taught what it is. In this case its to show that under the veneer of Columbia's Uncle Sam/Grilled Hot Dogs and Capella singers, lies the evil and authoritative core which attempts to keep the lie going while the slave pits and gears are being oiled down below by the poor souls entrapped within it. Think a Roman sea ship with the whip master. Its the representation of degradation and corruption. Besides you can become D'Jango Unchained by slicing up the guards with the rail hook and filling them full of lead with a machine gun.

 

[Vault101]

Also, whats up with Elizabeth? so far she seems more like a walking vending machine then anything else.. always throwing me money, and health, and bullets and salts for my vigor powers... her role could have almost been filled by a vending machine on wheels. which is what she kind of is, from what i've seen so far.. I expected her to be more then a supply truck on legs.. and maybe she becomes more later on in the game ,but first impressions aren't good so far for a character i was looking forward to interacting with.
.

as someone already said she's mainly there for narrative reasons....same thing with ellie the Developers know how painful escort missions are so they forgoe them entirely and just have those companions "there" I guess its a compromise

[quote/]plus the game is really racist... this has been said before, adn isn't anything new but wow.. it's really, really racist against black people,Asians and.. well, anyone not white[/quote]
well that is kind of the point....Columbia is a terribly racist society

HOWEVER

that taken into account I have seen some criticism for a certain character that comes up later (and other things) so that is perhaps a point to be made

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

in the previous Bioshock games your enemies were drugged up, crazed people who could take a lot of damage because their minds and bodies were so messed up because of overuse of Adam.. but in Infinte, you face regular people who can take a lot of damage because of.. um.. reasons?

plus the game is really racist... this has been said before, adn isn't anything new but wow.. it's really, really racist against black people,Asians and.. well, anyone not white.

What does everyone else think of the game? and try not to put any spoilers in your comments(or put a spoiler warning) since i've just started playing it after picking the game up on an impulse buy for $20 at walmart last week.

I only used power weapons all game, I mainly had the sniper rifle and shotgun all game. I'd change it up every so often with like the volley gun (it's actually really awesome against a certain enemy). There's no reason to use anything other than power weapons as you can buy ammo and you get plenty of good ammo all game; I played through on 1999 using almost power weapons exclusively and I didn't buy anything from the vending machines (for the trophy). Using vigors and their combinations correctly along with some great gear decimates enemies as well. I had some really fun moments with the crow traps after a death vigor upgrade where I was just standing there for a couple minutes watching crows just kill an enemy, which lays a crow trap and that going off over and over again, it was pretty funny. I've had several times where I'd get some massive framerate drops due to so many things proccing at once.

The game isn't racist, people were really racist back then.

I really loved Infinite. There's a rather big plothole that can be explained away by a different interpretation of what Elizabeth does. For the most part, the plot works out according to the rules set forth by the game.

 

[zen5887]

Man Infinite is a weird game.

My beef with BS:I is that, and this has been talked about a lot, the game play and the narrative are working in completely different directions. There are some genuinely human and touching moments in the game but they become completely meaningless somewhere after your 4th 25 minute shootout.

"Hey guys, violence as a means to solve your problems is bad!"
"Pardon? I couldn't hear you over the screams of the 753rd person I killed in the last 15 minutes."

The game wants to tell you some interesting ideas but for some reason they have to come before and after killing 100s and 100s of people. I feel like the game almost doesn't trust the player to be interested enough in the themes and messages the it's is putting out without something to kill along the way.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Short answer: Keep playing the game.

Long answer (without spoiling too much): Elizabeth evolves into something much, much more. There are also several moments in the game where you don't do anything except walk around with her, and I found these moments to be some of the strongest in the game. Your wish for her to pick up a gun and start fighting back is addressed later in the game, and it's handled very well and will show you why she doesn't do that.

As for the racist comment, I think you're mixing it up a bit. The game isn't racist. The game is showing racism. That is what life was like in the U.S. at that time. It would be an insult to pretend that it was all sunshine and rainbows. And as you'll see, the racism plays a major role in the story. It would be impossible to tell Infinite's story without the racism actually.

 

[DeimosMasque]

Also, whats up with Elizabeth? so far she seems more like a walking vending machine then anything else.. always throwing me money, and health, and bullets and salts for my vigor powers... her role could have almost been filled by a vending machine on wheels. which is what she kind of is, from what i've seen so far.. I expected her to be more then a supply truck on legs.. and maybe she becomes more later on in the game ,but first impressions aren't good so far for a character i was looking forward to interacting with.

Out of curiosity where are you in the game so far? That will explain a lot of your issues. She does grow and change during the game's narrative.

plus the game is really racist... this has been said before, adn isn't anything new but wow.. it's really, really racist against black people,Asians and.. well, anyone not white.

No the -game- isn't really racist, the society in Columbia is really racist againt blacks, asians and everything not white.

 

[DementedSheep]

Elisabeth is a very much tied into the story. It doesn't sound like you are far in so she starts doing more later. She doesn't fight but NPC allies you don't control fighting generally doesn't go too well nor dose it match her character so tossing you supplies, opening locks and using her powers is how they made her relevant to gameplay.

As for the racism, yes there is a lot of racism but the condemnation of that is a major theme and not exactly a subtle one. It is the difference between depicting racism and actually being racist. Columbia's meant to be a pretty peaceful place on the surface but it's built on lies and is awful if you stop to look or take notice of how people who don't fit the rigid ideal mould are treated.

Combats not great though and I wasn't really sold on the plot.

 

[MHR]

Minor location description spoiler

The racism is part of the plot and atmosphere. That's one of the flaws in Columbia, and I think of it as funny at times. In the museum they set up big ridiculous stereotypical displays of native americans and chinese that are comically making them out to be the boogeymen. Also good ol' fashioned hate for the irish - So ridiculous. They're white people too, but they always gotta hate somethin'.

As for Elizabeth, I do find her annoying. She's helpful and all, sure, but I didn't need a vending machine strapped to my back. It trivializes the inventory management and scavenging survival aspect of the gameplay. Most of the time I did my best to ignore her offers of free charity goods. That's what I liked about Bioshock, you had to be mindful of what resources you had and that's what separated a well-prepared player from one that just coasted from medkit to medkit and died all the time.

As for the game itself, many people will say the combat is boring and generic. Bioshock 2 definitely had the better gameplay. Tons of cool powers and weapons and enemies and varied environments as opposed to Bio infinite not doing as much in any of that. All the enemies are samey with the exception of a few "boss" enemies, and a lot of the guns are generic and interchangeable. There's a founder and a bootleg version of every weapon, and that doesn't add diversity of options, it means you have to spend cash upgrading two versions of the same damn weapon.

For the people that spend large sums on a single-player game and only play it once, it'd be one of the better buys because the whole game just oozes quality experience with a great story, great visuals, and crisp gameplay.

 

[SmallHatLogan]

A game with racist characters in it doesn't make it racist. All they're doing is portraying a bunch of racist arseholes as what they are: a bunch of racist arseholes.

How do I feel about the game? I really enjoyed the characters and the story. The ending was great. The gameplay was pretty lacklustre though. Quite a step down from Bioshock (which while decent wasn't anything groundbreaking). In fact I thought it got a bit tedious towards the end as the enemies are able to soak up more and more damage. To paraphrase TotalBiscuit (and this reflects my own feelings), the gameplay got in the way of the story.

The DLC was a bit hit and miss. Clash in the Clouds was meh. Burial at Sea episode 1 started out interesting but got less so. But it was required to set up episode 2 which was probably my favourite part of the entire game.

 

[Casual Shinji]

plus the game is really racist... this has been said before, adn isn't anything new but wow.. it's really, really racist against black people,Asians and.. well, anyone not white.

Well first of all, that's the point, and secondly, it's brought to you in such a cartoony and non-controversial way that I really couldn't take any of it serious. So what, they have this entire mechanized stage set-up for the off change there's an interracial couple? Wouldn't they have simply lynched/stoned them? It was too cartoonishly evil for the serious issue they supposedly wanted to adress.

As for the bullet sponge enemies... I wouldn't have minded the damage they could take as much if they actually looked like they were taking damage. Attacks have zero impact on their movement making them come across less like flesh-and-blood humans and more like mindless robots.

I can't really comment on the story since I didn't finish the game. The action was just boring me to tears and the story and characters really weren't picking up any of the slack. The intro was pretty cool though.

 

[zumbledum]

i thought infinte was a massive pile of poo. crap shooting and a god aweful story that had huge great swathes of stupidity. but i didnt find it racist, its depicting a racist world yes, but i never got the feeling the game was promoting it , just the opposite in fact.

 

[TheGamerElite33]

Being a Huge fan of FPS games i hate bioshock infinite. bioshock in general was dumbed down console version of System shock 2. and secondly infinite is very scripted, linear with mediocre gameplay mechanics and terrible shooting (this is why we love FPS games).

 

[JagermanXcell]

Just wait till the end. You'll wonder why the beginning with it's neat racist subtext was so good because Infinite has quite possibility the worst case of buyers remorse once you reach the second half of the game... The combat is fun, then it's dull. Batmaning people off skylines is satisfying, then it's dull. The stories branching ideas are neat, but nothing interesting is done with them beyond padding out the game... and then it's dull.

As for Elizabeth, she actually becomes quite the badass on top of actually being a very neat asset during combat, then the ending happens, then she becomes dull depending on how you see it.

Overall, you might be walking away from this game wishing it was the E3 demo like the rest of us. Good lord, to think a whole game like what we were shown originally was scrapped is downright tear jerking. RIP Levine. You gave us hope then "something" happened...

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

Also, whats up with Elizabeth? so far she seems more like a walking vending machine then anything else.. always throwing me money, and health, and bullets and salts for my vigor powers... her role could have almost been filled by a vending machine on wheels. which is what she kind of is, from what i've seen so far.. I expected her to be more then a supply truck on legs.. and maybe she becomes more later on in the game ,but first impressions aren't good so far for a character i was looking forward to interacting with.

Out of curiosity where are you in the game so far? That will explain a lot of your issues. She does grow and change during the game's narrative.

plus the game is really racist... this has been said before, adn isn't anything new but wow.. it's really, really racist against black people,Asians and.. well, anyone not white.

No the -game- isn't really racist, the society in Columbia is really racist againt blacks, asians and everything not white.

By this point i've just gone through the tear Elizabeth opened after finding the Asian guy that was dragged to a cell and tortured to death.. i really wanted to be able to ram my shy hook hand thing down Her throat after she clubbed me in the head with a wrench,which led me to being knocked out an then woken up slightly and having some random black guy leans over and and knocks me out again...and then the same guy, throws me off of the air ship after some girl talks to me.. and then of course the "lovely" time i had chasing the damn girl around and getting hit hit and thrown by a random handyman enemy.. they should have let you pop her in the head at least once.. i was ready to throw my controller threw my tv screen it was so frustrating.. i especially "love" how the walking vending machine Elizabeth went acted as if nothing had happened after we met back up.. was anyone else that frustrated with the idiot girl?