Zero Punctuation: BioShock 2

[solidstatemind]

A perfect example of how Yahtzee is completely off-base on some of these points?


The point is: the info was there if you cared to look for it. Clearly, Yahtzee doesn't have time to actually thoroughly play a game; instead, he has to rip right through them as fast as possible looking for elements he can excoriate, rather than provide a legitimate, in-depth review.

Which is exactly why I consider his 'reviews' to not be informational, but simple entertainment.

Let's conveniently ignore the fact that Yahtzee is a busy man with his fingers in several pies, including a TV show, a bar, and a novel, on top of playing games for Zero Punctuation in the first place. I do agree with you, that the information was there, but all that really matters is him actually getting to the end of the game in time for the review. It would have made more sense to play as Subject Delta if it was a prequel, as his sudden revival felt stretched.

Spoiler

I thought Vita-Chambers only worked for certain people?

Plus, I'd like to actually explore Rapture rather than just stomp about a bit of seabed for a bit.

Note that I specifically said he was "off-base on some of points". I definitely don't think he was conclusively wrong in everything he said about Bioshock 2, just that some of his complaints weren't valid, and I believe they weren't valid because he didn't invest enough time into actually exploring the game.

Let's face it, while Yahtzee can legitimately say that he's very, very busy, he shouldn't penalize his audience for that fact-- it would be similar to me saying to my boss at work "sorry, but I couldn't debug that code as thoroughly as I was supposed to because I had to go to my second job." You think that would go over well? It wouldn't, and neither should we allow Yahtzee to make spurious claims about a game when the truth is that he just didn't spend the time to find the information that clarified the issue in question!

It's not like we're talking about easter eggs in God of War III here: BioShock is known for being plot-heavy (which is something that many of us actually like), so it's reasonable to conclude that these niggling questions/plot holes he brings up just might be addressed in some way... and Yahtzee is smart enough to realize that himself. I think he intentionally chose to overlook that thought so as to have more vitriol to spew.

But that's fine! I have no problem with that at all. Really! Still that is the exact reason why I've completely ceased to factor ZP into my purchasing decisions in any way, and now only consider it to be a cartoon I watch on Wednesdays where a dude with a cool accent and a cooler hat vents his spleen on a video game in funny and inventive ways.

Also, in re: your spoiler: I did mention that there was some ret-conning that was going to have to be done, but it didn't affect me anyway, because

Spoiler

the first thing I did was turn off the damn VitaChambers!! Yet another example of how Irrational improved the gameplay over the first

Edited for layout...

 

[Hileo20]

I liked bioshock 2, but thats because its bioshock 1 with some tweaks, and i liked bioshock 1.

More related to this threads topic(if carefully thought through) I think Yahtzee is finally working his jokes back up. He was going downhill for awhile there. Good show old chap.

 

[Hileo20]

A perfect example of how Yahtzee is completely off-base on some of these points? The point is: the info was there if you cared to look for it. Clearly, Yahtzee doesn't have time to actually thoroughly play a game; instead, he has to rip right through them as fast as possible looking for elements he can excoriate, rather than provide a legitimate, in-depth review.

Which is exactly why I consider his 'reviews' to not be informational, but simple entertainment.

Let's conveniently ignore the fact that Yahtzee is a busy man with his fingers in several pies, including a TV show, a bar, and a novel, on top of playing games for Zero Punctuation in the first place. I do agree with you, that the information was there, but all that really matters is him actually getting to the end of the game in time for the review. It would have made more sense to play as Subject Delta if it was a prequel, as his sudden revival felt stretched.

Spoiler

I thought Vita-Chambers only worked for certain people?

Plus, I'd like to actually explore Rapture rather than just stomp about a bit of seabed for a bit.

Note that I specifically said he was "off-base on some of points". I definitely don't think he was conclusively wrong in everything he said about Bioshock 2, just that some of his complaints weren't valid, and I believe he was wrong because he didn't invest enough time into it. Let's face it, while Yahtzee can legitimately say that he's very, very busy, he shouldn't penalize people for that fact-- it would be similar to me saying to my boss at work "sorry, but I couldn't debug that code as thoroughly as I was supposed to because I had to go to my second job." You think that would go over well? It wouldn't, and neither should we allow Yahtzee to make spurious claims about a game when the truth is that he just didn't spend the time to find the information that clarified the issue in question! It's not like we're talking about easter eggs in God of War III here: BioShock is known for being plot-heavy (which is something that many of us actually like), so it's reasonable to conclude that these niggling questions/plot holes might be addressed in some way... and Yahtzee is smart enough to realize that himself. I think he intentionally chose to overlook it so as to have more vitriol to spew.

But that's fine! I have no problem with that at all. Really! Still that is the exact reason why I've completely ceased to factor in ZP to my purchasing decisions in any way, and now only consider it to be a cartoon I watch on Wednesdays where a dude with a cool accent and a cooler hat vents his spleen on a video game in funny and inventive ways.

Ill admit im not going to read that long block nor find the origional post you sent but refering to that, I completely agree. If you used only yahtzee's methods to determine what a good game is you would wind up with a book and a controller.. and maybe a puzzled expression.. He is funny, and that is his only real use. Giving him excuses for why he "dosnt have time" doesnt mean he should make bad reviews, if anything that means he shouldnt do them as often so he has time to thoroughly take in all the game has to offer.

So my point is, solidstatemind, you win the argument on grounds of logic.

 

[Kingsman]

Fucking knew it, just looking at the trailers. Nothing that they were adding or doing made any sense when compared to the original Bioshock, smelled like a cash-in fueled by the "play as a Big Daddy" gimmick right from the beginning.

 

[solidstatemind]

"GAHD DAMN SPLOICERS!"

Great review! Although I disagree, I felt that gameplay wise, this game was a massive step over the first. Story wise and atmosphere wise, the game did not even begin to compare to the original. Still, it was pretty cool to get the added backstory to Rapture.

Yeah as I said he's getting, well rather pathetic (all he does is complain)

I loved this game (though I'm trading it in so i cant get Metro 2033, also its only worth two playthroughs and I dont do Xbox Live anymore)

He's a critic. It's his job to complain. If he said that every single game was worth its weight in Branston Pickle then nobody would watch, would they?

No, he ceased to be a critic about the time he realized that he got more views when he slagged on something hard, rather than when he judiciously weighed the pros and cons of a game. He is now simply an entertainer who is focused on making people laugh rather than providing useful information in regards to whether or not buy a game to the community.

Edit: I realized that one might draw the conclusion that I am saying that's a bad thing he's just an entertainer. I'm not; just saying be careful how much authority you grant his rantings...

 

[ninjajoeman]

thank you for sticking to the actual game and avoiding its weird multiplayer.
[small] ps anyone notice....first couple of posters werent banned!!!! a sign of maturing on the escapist community [/small]

or the immature are banned?

 

[kenji8055]

The big sister encounters are not random, they are programmed to occur when you deal with the last little sister of the current area.

 

[Hunter.Wolf]

Nice vid, i really laughed when he was explaining all the things you need to do in order to save one of the little girls, ... lols ... then suddenly the opposite choice is just "ripping their spine out" (ouch) ... also ... the whole "spawn a big sister when you choose evil path" really makes a lot of sense even if meant as a joke ... how the heck the developers missed this ... it is pretty damn obvious the two choices aren't balanced well enough considering all the trouble you go through to save one of the little girls.

Oh .. and it must be the apocalypse .. Yhatzee praising a QTE mechanic ... wow .. that's rare .. can't wait to see what he will do with "Heavy Rain: the movie: the game" (check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmiPL5xUw8A&feature=player_embedded .. pure awesomeness) ... he probably will have a field day with it.

 

[ninjajoeman]

Wasn't that the formula for finding Roots for second order polynomials?

quadratic formula

 

[stiborge]

Well you don't actually have to defend the little sister from the splicers to rescue her. You can just take her strait to the vent without doing the harvest activities. That's what I did.

Also, I wouldn't worry too much about getting the bad ending, the good ending pissed me off.

 

[ninjajoeman]

more likely you will play as a big sister than a vending machine

or a camera Or a splicer or a turret or the whole security system OR a little sister

 

[wiiwiieddie]

i hope the next game he reviews is heavy rain. it has a really good story yet has clunky controls and guicktime events. he is going to fucking destory it!

 

[ninjajoeman]

i hope the next game he reviews is heavy rain. it has a really good story yet has clunky controls and guicktime events. he is going to fucking destory it!

yahtzee doesnt give a shit if it has good story he likes it no matter what remember silent hill 2?

oh god I've become a machine that supplies refreshing air to people!!

 

[kenji8055]

"GAHD DAMN SPLOICERS!"

Great review! Although I disagree, I felt that gameplay wise, this game was a massive step over the first. Story wise and atmosphere wise, the game did not even begin to compare to the original. Still, it was pretty cool to get the added backstory to Rapture.

Yeah as I said he's getting, well rather pathetic (all he does is complain)

I loved this game (though I'm trading it in so i cant get Metro 2033, also its only worth two playthroughs and I dont do Xbox Live anymore)

He's a critic. It's his job to complain. If he said that every single game was worth its weight in Branston Pickle then nobody would watch, would they?

No, he ceased to be a critic about the time he realized that he got more views when he slagged on something hard, rather than when he judiciously weighed the pros and cons of a game. He is now simply an entertainer who is focused on making people laugh rather than providing useful information in regards to whether or not buy a game to the community.

In all honesty YZ's style is consistent, only a few times has he brought up a game that he personally loves and thats usually at a time when there are no new games to review. Think of these as commercial breaks.

And in all honesty are you telling me that you buy a game based on YZs opinion? Two things, firstly most people who were going to get this game had already got it thanks to the Aussie ability to always be behind on release dates and secondly if your just going on what an internet reviewer says instead of thinking for yourself then you deserve to only play the miniscule number of games he recommends. Just because he doesn't like them doesn't mean that you won't enjoy them.

 

[Hunter.Wolf]

No, he ceased to be a critic about the time he realized that he got more views when he slagged on something hard, rather than when he judiciously weighed the pros and cons of a game. He is now simply an entertainer who is focused on making people laugh rather than providing useful information in regards to whether or not buy a game to the community.

Wow ... somebody really bases their choice of buying/not buying a game over Zero Punctuation ... lols .. now that's entertainment ... a joke at best ... someone needs to check some good/serious review sites and play some demo/rentals .. that's how you make the buy/not buy decision.

Actually for me he always was "an entertainer who is focused on making people laugh rather than providing useful information" ... never did it occur to me that the satire and heavy criticism here were meant as actual bases for making a buy/not buy verdict .. seriously ... satire and criticism go hand in hand ... he simply catches the cracks in the game and pounds them with satire ... it's funny and sometimes true (as those flaws exist in the game) .. but he always blows things out of proportions for a good laugh.

It seems many people turn off their sarcasm-o-meter when they log on the internet.

 

[Tapion817]

I don't know what he's talking about using up a million health and Eve hypos. I played it on the hardest difficulty and I thought it was still too easy. I had Eve Hypos and health packs lying around everywhere. Hell once I got Freezing Drill, Drill Specialist, and Winter Blast 3, I completely owned everyone, especially the Big Daddies and Big Sisters.

 

[Jing the Bandit]

You almost had me for a second there, Yahtzee.
And here I was thinking that the game might be good.

 

[jimClassic]

Though amusing, I'd say Yahtzee's review is more fluff than anything else. Bioshock 2's a fun game so far.

 

[knhirt]

Hahaha, this is the best one in a long time. The beginning was an excellent ruse.

 

[Schlagwerk]

Maybe I've gone mad with midterms looming, but the intro's tempo sounds like it was brought down 3-5 BPM.