Why does everyone love Bioshock?

[Justice4L]

Why does everyone love Halo?
Why does everyone love Mass Effect?
Why does everyone love Call of Duty?
Why does everyone love Final Fantasy?
Why does everyone love Fallout 3?
Why does everyone love Metal Gear Solid?
Why does everyone love GTA?

Why does everyone love asking others why they like a specific game or game franchise they don't?

Why won't you answer the question?

Because I don't think there's much reason to, considering other users have already said what I would've posted. Plus, there are way too many threads that ask these types of questions. I don't feel like encouraging more of them by answering one, when this isn't the first thread to ask the same question about BioShock.

Then why bother posting on this thread at all?

 

[Justice4L]

I've always been a fan of the view that opinions can be wrong. If you play any quantity of games, and didn't find the atmosphere and setting, good (for starters), then your opinion of good is based on some weird, nonsensical definition that is wrong.

The atmosphere and parts of the story make up 4/10, rpg elements 2/10

Thank you for agreeing to demonstrate a nonsensical opinion.

Not everyone has to love a game. Surprised you have not learnt that yet.

That's not what is going on in most of these posts though. People aren't saying they didn't see what makes it good. They(like your dumb rating above) are saying this thing which is clearly good, by any reasonable standard, isn't.
These "critiques" come across like a bunch of amateur architecture students looking at the Sears Tower and saying, "It's not very well designed". At their heart, for the purpose of having people look at their 'knowledgeable' or 'seasoned' opinion, when it's clearly anything but. Instead of saying, it's well designed, but not how I like buildings to look.
I don't particularly like COD multiplayer. I know it's relatively well put together, but I'm not self-important enough to attach a number to it, like it has to meet my standards.

What do mean "which is clearly good." Maybe it is good to you, but not so good to others. I have not said it is bad, I have said it is not as great as it is made out to be and pretty average.

How can you compare Bioshock to Sears Tower? They are two different mediums. I never said the whole game is not well designed, it just loses focus in the middle. Is there no game that you dislike? Do you look at a terrible game and say "It's absolutely amazing but it's not my thing." Do you know why people give scores to games? It is to compare them to others, not to see if they meet standards. Someone is perfectly entitled to enjoy a 3/10 game. It may not be well made, but it could still be fun.

 

[Justice4L]

Why does everyone love Halo?
Why does everyone love Mass Effect?
Why does everyone love Call of Duty?
Why does everyone love Final Fantasy?
Why does everyone love Fallout 3?
Why does everyone love Metal Gear Solid?
Why does everyone love GTA?

Why does everyone love asking others why they like a specific game or game franchise they don't?

Why won't you answer the question?

Because I don't think there's much reason to, considering other users have already said what I would've posted. Plus, there are way too many threads that ask these types of questions. I don't feel like encouraging more of them by answering one, when this isn't the first thread to ask the same question about BioShock.

Then why bother posting on this thread at all?

I think you took my reply a bit too literally, I meant to mock the constant making of these types of threads and I didn't answer the question to your thread. You don't like BioShock? That's perfectly, but threads like these aren't necessary.

The point of this thread is to not force my opinion on others, it is to see others' views on the game. I just want to know, what is YOUR view on the game?

 

[let's rock]

You can have more thab 2 weapons, and the plasmids, along with the ability to choose your how you fight through plasmids and gene tonics, and I loved the storyline

 

[Gearhead mk2]

Bioshock never really got to me (save the good ending). I just thought it was Fallout under the sea with some japanese horror thrown in for good measure. Honestly, I prefeerd the second one, due to being a Big Daddy and a new story and all that. And allthough the multiplayer was shit, at least it tried something new. And serioudly, the new one? Theres no Rapture, no Adam, no Big Daddys or anything! It should just be a standalone game, not part of the Bioshock name.

 

[Silenttalker22]

But they're entitled to think that Sears Tower looks horrible (which, after a quick Google Image search, it kinda does). BioShock was a bad game, in my opinion. You seem to be acting as if I'm just saying that to annoy you.

Point of interest: What do you think of The Elder Scrolls?

Never played. My time doesn't allow more than occasional rpgs in my gaming schedule. And you annoy me? I was never talking about any person in particular on either side, but the general scale these are held to, depending on who is talking about them. Curious leap that was.

--You is a general term in the following paragraphs.-- Let's nip that in the bud.
It would be the same as playing COD(I like COD examples cuz they're recognizable), and saying its combat system is bad(or 4/10). You can say it wasn't for you cuz it didn't have as much blood exploding over things, or magic bullets,or needlers, but the fact is its actual system does exactly what it's supposed to and does it well. And if you call it bad, you're wrong. Which goes with my other post.

Likewise, if you look at the atmosphere of Bioshock 1, and don't think it's at high end in the recent video game spectrum, then your vantage point is based on some weird standard that should be qualified preemptively as inane in pretty much any conversation.

Edit: now it's way past time for bed. Will see what interesting input awaits much later.

 

[martin's a madman]

In my opinion it did everything right.

Even without all the brilliant writing, atmosphere, and story, the gameplay could hold it up as a fun combat game.


Without the gameplay, the writing and story could have kept it going as a videogame-novel of sorts.

It was pretty enough that you wouldn't want the lights off when making love to it.


It is still one of the best games I've played. I have it on Xbox, but I'm buying it on PC because that's where I do most of my gaming now.

So, that means I'm willing to buy it twice; and the sequel as well. The sequel caught a lot of flak, but I still like it a lot.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

My favorite part of Bioshock is the combat mechanics, even more than the story in fact, which did offer quite a few angles and perceptions, and was quite a ground breaker topic for games.

Best thing about combat is getting familiar with the mechanics of plasmids/weapons and combos, and then quickly strategizing every encounter. Seeing a Big Daddy lumbering around, or hearing the scream of a Sister, and you just zone in, start setting up traps, getting ready your plasmids and weapons, and raising all kinds of hell. Sometimes I just wish the encounters were bigger, with the waves of enemies. Defending sisters harvesting splicers was great fun too. The weapons had a pretty weighty, damaging feel to them as well which is kinda big factor for me.

 

[Justice4L]

Why does everyone love Halo?
Why does everyone love Mass Effect?
Why does everyone love Call of Duty?
Why does everyone love Final Fantasy?
Why does everyone love Fallout 3?
Why does everyone love Metal Gear Solid?
Why does everyone love GTA?

Why does everyone love asking others why they like a specific game or game franchise they don't?

Why won't you answer the question?

Because I don't think there's much reason to, considering other users have already said what I would've posted. Plus, there are way too many threads that ask these types of questions. I don't feel like encouraging more of them by answering one, when this isn't the first thread to ask the same question about BioShock.

Then why bother posting on this thread at all?

I think you took my reply a bit too literally, I meant to mock the constant making of these types of threads and I didn't answer the question to your thread. You don't like BioShock? That's perfectly, but threads like these aren't necessary.

The point of this thread is to not force my opinion on others, it is to see others' views on the game. I just want to know, what is YOUR view on the game?

Well, then why make a thread about it? You can get a better viewpoint if you read user reviews for the game. Why don't you ask question about the portions people like about the game? Like going more in depth and specific with the question you're presenting? I don't mind that you want to understand a different viewpoint than yours, but couldn't you wait for a bit? We have way too many threads that asks the same question.

Before I made the thread I looked really hard for anything similar but could not find it. Which threads do you mean?

 

[Justice4L]

But they're entitled to think that Sears Tower looks horrible (which, after a quick Google Image search, it kinda does). BioShock was a bad game, in my opinion. You seem to be acting as if I'm just saying that to annoy you.

Point of interest: What do you think of The Elder Scrolls?

Never played. My time doesn't allow more than occasional rpgs in my gaming schedule. And you annoy me? I was never talking about any person in particular on either side, but the general scale these are held to, depending on who is talking about them. Curious leap that was.

--You is a general term in the following paragraphs.-- Let's nip that in the bud.
It would be the same as playing COD(I like COD examples cuz they're recognizable), and saying its combat system is bad(or 4/10). You can say it wasn't for you cuz it didn't have as much blood exploding over things, or magic bullets,or needlers, but the fact is its actual system does exactly what it's supposed to and does it well. And if you call it bad, you're wrong. Which goes with my other post.

Likewise, if you look at the atmosphere of Bioshock 1, and don't think it's at high end in the recent video game spectrum, then your vantage point is based on some weird standard that should be qualified preemptively as inane in pretty much any conversation.

Edit: now it's way past time for bed. Will see what interesting input awaits much later.

I said that the atmosphere was one of the best parts of the game, but other areas lacked.

 

[6_Qubed]

No, Bioshock was not the great ethics-examining masterpiece it was hyped up to be.

Name me some games that does a better job at the political, social, moral and historical themes than Bioshock? (that isn't a de-facto movie like MGS4's TV-series length of cutscenes)

I can't stand it when people ONLY think of the little Sisters harvesting thing in purely resource terms, it is reductionist, simplistic and fundamentally Dishonest. When you make the decision to harvest or save the first Little Sister you have no idea what rewards you will get for saving if any or for how long. And the most important thing is you are making the decision of the lives of children, I am puzzled at how many people just ignore the moral aspect of that.

Taking the good path, means you need the virtues of trust and patience without greed. Greed for as much Adam as you can get, rather than just as much as you need. It is a hard-headed assumption that the "good path" must come with terrible forfeits, as this isn't particularly relevant to the way things work. People are rewarded for doing good things, evil is NOT the ONLY path to riches, though it is a sure-way.

And actually stop and think of a second, if you only got half ADAM with rescuing, you would be so pitifully underpowered that the players would be bitter at doing the right thing that most would not stick with it. The haters would instead be saying "huuh, it gave a moral choice but punished you so much for the right one you know harvesting the little sisters is the only way"

PS: Only idiots get caught up in the hype. And you shouldn't let relativism with idiotic-hype detract from what the game actually is on its own.

You say all of that like I don't know it already. You are either a bad troll, or a worse intellectual.

Personally? I probably would've saved every 'Sister I ran across anyway, damn the gifts, because I'm just weird like that. Now, had you read my whole post, you would've seen how I was not condemning the whole game, merely details of it. For example, (SPOILERS AHEAD) what moral choices are there in the first game that aren't related to the little sisters? Helping Atlas? You're gonna do that anyway. Regrowing the oxygen-providing trees? You're gonna do that anyway. Killing Ryan? You're gonna do that anyway. Turning yourself into a big Daddy? You're gonna do that anyway, because in all these examples, if you don't, you can't play the game. We can continue this later, I have places to go, but try reading the entire post again, and then reply. And seriously, if you're going to jump to conclusions, at least jump to the right ones.

 

[Dogstile]

well..it was pretty nice. but if you ever played system shock 2, you probably will only have a tired smile left for the consolized, dumped down experience that is bioshock. don't get me wrong, it's still a very good game. not great perhaps, but very good. a lot deeper than what console players usually get served. pc players who remember the hayday of deep games know what i'm talking about though when i say that it's not as big a deal as it gets made out to be nowadays.

Consolized and dumbed down? I beg to differ. I have system shock 2 on my computer right now and its an awkward clunky mess of a game.

I get that people like to shout that the game was dumbed down, but the only thing that's really missing from the game is the stat's system.

And as a last point, the hacking in system shock 2 when you started out was absolutely one of the worst game mechanics i've seen because it's luck based.

 

[Pikey Mikey]

I liked/loved it because it had fun gameplay and a neat story. And since I never played System Shock I didn't feel like it was a "ripoff/spirit child/other fancy word" off of anything. I liked the gameplay,characters and story so I'm satisfied. I won't say that it's the best game ever, but I definately think that it's very good. And it was also the source of uproarious laughter for me and some of my friends when we make fun of "Moira, ken ya hehrr me in ther duhrlin"
And there is my opinion. =)
Edit: Rapture is nice too

 

[Reptiloid]

I don't love it, not one bit. Probably because I played System Shock 2 first. In fact, I've played it numerous times and it's my #1 favorite game alongside the original Deus Ex.

Not saying BioShock was bad, when judged on it's own merits. But in comparison it just felt... "meh".

 

[Lungo]

Because they haven't tried anything better...

 

[hardpixelrain]

I think it introduced a little more freedom in first person shooters than most players were used to, especially on consoles. It also had a story that was more than just a justification for shooting.

I think it was a big timing thing. Twas an earlier xbox 360 game with good art design and some novel features.

I honestly felt it was pretty average gameplaywise, though the story and themes were quite good.

I've played System Shock 2, which is pretty much the same although with more depth, so the gameplay was nothing new.

 

[Flames66]

I was unable to finish Bioshock, which was unfortunate as I was getting quite into the story. I got very frustrated when I kept getting killed in the same place and eventually just lost interest. Same thing happened with Mass Effect, I could not get past a bloody lift section and could not bring myself to go through it again.

 

[6_Qubed]

flerpy flabely floo

Alright gruesome, now that I'm not on a schedule, you better sit down on something comfy and keep a tasty beverage handy, because I am become Text, the destroyer of words. Yours, specifically. Let's vivisect your post, and see if we can't figure out where we went wrong, shall we?

First, your reply in its entirety for the benefit of those who care what you say, and spoiler'd for the benefit of those who don't:

No, Bioshock was not the great ethics-examining masterpiece it was hyped up to be.

Name me some games that does a better job at the political, social, moral and historical themes than Bioshock? (that isn't a de-facto movie like MGS4's TV-series length of cutscenes)

I can't stand it when people ONLY think of the little Sisters harvesting thing in purely resource terms, it is reductionist, simplistic and fundamentally Dishonest. When you make the decision to harvest or save the first Little Sister you have no idea what rewards you will get for saving if any or for how long. And the most important thing is you are making the decision of the lives of children, I am puzzled at how many people just ignore the moral aspect of that.

Taking the good path, means you need the virtues of trust and patience without greed. Greed for as much Adam as you can get, rather than just as much as you need. It is a hard-headed assumption that the "good path" must come with terrible forfeits, as this isn't particularly relevant to the way things work. People are rewarded for doing good things, evil is NOT the ONLY path to riches, though it is a sure-way.

And actually stop and think of a second, if you only got half ADAM with rescuing, you would be so pitifully underpowered that the players would be bitter at doing the right thing that most would not stick with it. The haters would instead be saying "huuh, it gave a moral choice but punished you so much for the right one you know harvesting the little sisters is the only way"

PS: Only idiots get caught up in the hype. And you shouldn't let relativism with idiotic-hype detract from what the game actually is on its own.

No, Bioshock was not the great ethics-examining masterpiece it was hyped up to be.

Name me some games that does a better job at the political, social, moral and historical themes than Bioshock? (that isn't a de-facto movie like MGS4's TV-series length of cutscenes)

For starters, way to take an off-hand comment, quote it out of context and blow it way out of proportion. That's nice work, and you have a bright future in either law or politics. So bright, in fact, that I gotta wear shades.

Speaking of old 80's songs about nuclear holocaust, the first two games I can list for you are Missile Command (OLD SKOOL) and Fallout. Now, the Extra Credits guys talked about Missile Command better than I ever could already, but suffice it to say that it safely hits "moral" and "political", while Fallout's backstory as a series examines the whole 50's zeitgeist, from McCarthyism to the "nuclear family" and then examines what would happen if We The People had taken a nuclear war to its logical conclusion, and then it explores what happens after the ashes have settled.

I can't stand it when people ONLY think of the little Sisters harvesting thing in purely resource terms, it is reductionist, simplistic and fundamentally Dishonest. When you make the decision to harvest or save the first Little Sister you have no idea what rewards you will get for saving if any or for how long. And the most important thing is you are making the decision of the lives of children, I am puzzled at how many people just ignore the moral aspect of that.

Taking the good path, means you need the virtues of trust and patience without greed. Greed for as much Adam as you can get, rather than just as much as you need. It is a hard-headed assumption that the "good path" must come with terrible forfeits, as this isn't particularly relevant to the way things work. People are rewarded for doing good things, evil is NOT the ONLY path to riches, though it is a sure-way.

Well for starters, it's called a difference of opinion. You've heard of opinions, right? They're like assholes; everybody has one, and nobody wants to hear about anyone else's. No, you can't know for certain what the upside is of saving that first little mutant, but if you've played any other game that bandies around the term "moral choices", you can certainly guess. Most times, the "bad" choice gets you more resources but cuts you off from some other advantage, while the "good" choice gives you the advantage, which ends up making the resources obsolete anyway.

And actually stop and think of a second, if you only got half ADAM with rescuing, you would be so pitifully underpowered that the players would be bitter at doing the right thing that most would not stick with it. The haters would instead be saying "huuh, it gave a moral choice but punished you so much for the right one you know harvesting the little sisters is the only way"

Fair enough, but here's why I say Bioshock only has "eat babies/don't eat babies" as its only moral choice; why can't you harvest anyone else? Remember at the beginning, right after you shoot up the electro-bolt plasmid, and those two splicers talk about gutting you and taking your ADAM? Apparently, it can be done by them, so why can't I do it? For that matter, why can't I save anyone else? Apparently, that bottle of kryptonite and witchcraft that Tenenbaum tosses you can reverse not only ADAM mutation, but the invasive surgical insertion of a whole other living creature, so why couldn't I do the same to those who've not had the latter happen to them? (The answer is pretty simple in the second one; You're a big daddy, so fuck everyone else.) Also, why does the bad ending, in which you've presumably eaten every baby under the sea, are you jacking a sub? How does "baby eating" equal "steals shit?" when I play Fallout (3 and New Vegas) I tend to rack up a fairly high negative karma rating early on but not because I've been killing people left and right, no, rather I have been stealing all their shit.

That's how I play, every time. I don't help people out of the milk of human kindness, I do it because if you help people in video games, they give you shit and you don't have to waste ammo by killing them.

PS: Only idiots get caught up in the hype. And you shouldn't let relativism with idiotic-hype detract from what the game actually is on its own.

Who said I did? I didn't. Actually, here's the rest of that comment you butchered earlier;

No, Bioshock was not the great ethics-examining masterpiece it was hyped up to be. Never trust hype. That is not to say that it was a bad game. On the contrary, it was still very good. The story was a very strong part of the gameplay, and it was fun exploring Jack's not-amnesia (Jack knows full well what his identity is, it's just wrong,) even though I had seen gameplay footage on Youtube beforehand, spoiling me to "the twist."

Did you read that last part, where I say that I knew what was going to happen, and bought the game anyway? That is how good Bioshock is. It didn't live up to the hype that surrounded it but then few games, if any, do. Hype is not information, it is an opinion-based information substitute, and should not be used as the basis of one's own opinions. I did not say that I shut out all feedback, but neither do I trust it without examining it, because to do so would be just as bad in a different direction.

And a word of advice boyo, take it or leave it; If you're looking to be a game's white knight, you don't need to defend it from other people who also think it is good.

 

[CityofTreez]

I just thought it was Fallout under the sea with some japanese horror thrown in for good measure.

Fallout is obviously a direct copy of DOOM since they're both a FPS.

/sarcasm. I hate that line when talking about games. Game A was a copy of game B so it was average. Just shut up. Every game out there copies other games. No shit.

(That rant wasn't directed at you btw)

 

[LitleWaffle]

A bunch of arguments

They ARE little girls, only a true psychopath would think it's acceptable to calculatedly murder children for personal gain if they aren't cute. And all those splicers? You killed crazy people in self-defence as the only means to prevent your immediate death. That's war. Soldiers can make good statesmen, such as President Kennedy and not forgetting George Washington.

My analogy isn't even an analogy, it is a perfect explanation via a shifted perspective.

You are a worthy opponent, but you haven't got a leg to stand on.

Question: When you are isolated with little hope against surviving with murderous things after you and the only way to keep your chances of survival above 0% is to obtain a special substance, wouldn't you want as much of that substance to improve your chances of survival even if it means to kill someone you wouldn't normally?

Hint: The question is rhetorical, it is human instinct to survive, and when put in a situation and traumatized in such a manner, morals get thrown out the window for the average human being. It isn't just a psychopath who would do that.

On a side note: You just mixed morals and instincts leading to two different outcomes to prove a point which wasn't actually proven at all.

You don't HAVE to murder the little girls, you get by just fine by only Saving them, though you must suffer a bit but not too much. Only greed and psychopathic lack of empathy leads to harvesting. Greed, wanting more than you NEED. That makes you a BAD person. You need "some" to survive, but it does not justify infanticide to get "as much of that substance" as possible. Just because some is necessary, does not mean ALL must be obtained at all costs.

Every time a Splicer attacks you have no choice, it is kill or be killed. It is self-defence.

Now if ADAM was so short going the "Rescue Sisters" route that the game was almost impossible to beat, then that is no moral choice, you have no choice but to resort to Harvesting or dying. It's like those people whose plane crashed on a mountain and had to resort to cannibalism, they had NO CHOICE! If someone is chasing you with a knife intending to kill you and you use a gun to shoot them, it is not murder, you have no choice but to kill them to save your life.

It is in fact YOU who is the one conflating morals and "survival instinct"! Harvesting a single Little Sister is never necessary for survival. Only Greed.

I think this is a god damn excellent moral choice, as it shows how moral the players really are. Those who have poor moral guidance are the ones who say there is no real choice or they shouldn't be judged for infanticide. You're a slave to your greed. It deludes and blinds you that there is no choice, to obey your greed with the rationalisation of "survival instinct".

A man chooses, a slave obeys.

I'll end this by saying that we have different perspectives... You are looking at the topic from the game aspect, knowing that you won't need all of the ADAM by harvesting. I'm looking at it from a more "if this happened in real life" perspective.

The only problem with your argument is that your associating in game knowledge with real life moral decisions. The fear of the unknown is a powerful thing.