Zero Punctuation: BioShock
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
I wish I could say this "review" was funny, or that it was even a "review". The game was originally going to be a successor to the System Shock Series, but later turned into a "spiritual successor". The game stole from both the original games. Why would that matter ? A revamp of a game like System Shock 2 , the most underrated FPS in history that maybe 5 people including myself in the Western Hemisphere even bought. The fact that people now know what it is and want to jump on its bandwagon to ***** or praise , they can all suck my hairy balls.
The fact that you state no real review of the use of the weapons that perform better than any other game out now that tries to use similar ones, but only stammer on the fact that you think it copies System Shock 2 , when it was originally supposed to be a successor of the game, shows that you are a jackass trying to push his opinion with propaganda tactics.
This "review" makes no sense and would be like anyone attacking Super Mario Bros 3 for being like Super Mario Bros 1 or Metroid 1 being like Metroid 2 or Castlevania 1 being like Castlevania 2. The whole thing was terrible and uninformative. I read a better review that knew that the game was a successor from an article in Stuff Magazine. That's just sad. Both the fact that I read it, and that this couldn't compete with it.
The fact that you state no real review of the use of the weapons that perform better than any other game out now that tries to use similar ones, but only stammer on the fact that you think it copies System Shock 2 , when it was originally supposed to be a successor of the game, shows that you are a jackass trying to push his opinion with propaganda tactics.
This "review" makes no sense and would be like anyone attacking Super Mario Bros 3 for being like Super Mario Bros 1 or Metroid 1 being like Metroid 2 or Castlevania 1 being like Castlevania 2. The whole thing was terrible and uninformative. I read a better review that knew that the game was a successor from an article in Stuff Magazine. That's just sad. Both the fact that I read it, and that this couldn't compete with it.
These videos make Wednesday fun again, thank you Yahtzee.
I'm still playing BioShock but I really don't feel like finishing it anymore. Every time I go to play I just remember I have to shoot a bunch of splicers again.
I Have this question and I hope someone can think of an answer because I can't.
My character as just arrived at Fort Frolic, at this point he has rescued 8 little sisters, taken out 11 big daddies (3 had no little sisters), dispatched over 100 splicers and is still alive to talk about it.
Now shouldn't every other character in Rapture with half a brain left, run away from him like the plague instead of you know running directly at him with a wrench in hand while he's holding a loaded shotgun?
Does that confuse anyone else? Because it makes no sense to me. Why run into the path of a mass murderer on purpose?
All that said I still like the game but I was hoping for more, like melee enemies trying to ambush you instead of running straight on.
Well at least it's deeper than most other console shooters.
Edit: When did the BioShock Defense Force get created, I thought all the folks liable to sign up for that were to busy with the console "war".
I'm still playing BioShock but I really don't feel like finishing it anymore. Every time I go to play I just remember I have to shoot a bunch of splicers again.
I Have this question and I hope someone can think of an answer because I can't.
My character as just arrived at Fort Frolic, at this point he has rescued 8 little sisters, taken out 11 big daddies (3 had no little sisters), dispatched over 100 splicers and is still alive to talk about it.
Now shouldn't every other character in Rapture with half a brain left, run away from him like the plague instead of you know running directly at him with a wrench in hand while he's holding a loaded shotgun?
Does that confuse anyone else? Because it makes no sense to me. Why run into the path of a mass murderer on purpose?
All that said I still like the game but I was hoping for more, like melee enemies trying to ambush you instead of running straight on.
Well at least it's deeper than most other console shooters.
Edit: When did the BioShock Defense Force get created, I thought all the folks liable to sign up for that were to busy with the console "war".
Eurgh, down with all these serious people arguing about the game.
The review was superb, both funny and informative. Funny for the obvious reasons and informative because you stated many things which other reviews have failed to even mention. As someone who was gripped by games like Deus Ex I was wondering how similar Bioshock would be to System Shock 2 and also how much of a battering its new aim to appeal to a wider audience would affect it. I'm sure it's a fantastic game, but I don't think I will find it to be as good as everyone tells me it is.
Also, was that 6.0 a point score from you for Bioshock?
Anyway, keep up the awesome work, I love all the videos so far and I even registered here because of them. You're doing The Escapist some good business. ;P
The review was superb, both funny and informative. Funny for the obvious reasons and informative because you stated many things which other reviews have failed to even mention. As someone who was gripped by games like Deus Ex I was wondering how similar Bioshock would be to System Shock 2 and also how much of a battering its new aim to appeal to a wider audience would affect it. I'm sure it's a fantastic game, but I don't think I will find it to be as good as everyone tells me it is.
Also, was that 6.0 a point score from you for Bioshock?
Anyway, keep up the awesome work, I love all the videos so far and I even registered here because of them. You're doing The Escapist some good business. ;P
Bioshock was made with casual gamers as a target audience? Did I miss the memo?ZippyDSMlee said:
There's at least one, I think more than one, article I've read where the author discusses the difficulty of coming up with a death/failure mechanism which maintains challenge, without being overly punishing. What's the point of death, if you have quicksave ability? Why punish the player to repeat large sections of a game which they completed successfully, only to fail at the very end, right before the next checkpoint?
I think there are extremes, and maybe Bioshock is at one end of the extreme, while, say, Ninja Gaiden might be at the other. How this makes it targeted towards 'casual' gamers, I have no idea.
Perhaps they are so busy trying to selfishly compete for and harvest Adam that they don't communicate such things?LxDarko said:
Dissemination of such information would also presumably require some kind of centralized communication system, an APB "warning, psycho outsider on the loose, considered armed & dangerous".
*shrug*
Yes it looks like the memo slapped you in the face but you still missed it... :/Geoffrey42 said:
The game was designed primarily for the 360 user I believe. And no offence, but playing an FPS on a console is difficulty enough what with the retarded controls and such.
I think the respawn feature was definatly aimed at casual 360 users since it's bad enough that it is harder to aim and move than on a PC. And since i use the pc version and i've probably died more times than i can count on the fingers on some hick inbread family, the game would be punishingly hard for a casual console user...
Why would, if they weren't aiming it at casual gamers, they make the game for the 360 for which the majority of users are casual gamers?
Well now that you are challenging me to play the game on the hardest difficulty while only being able to quicksave at the start of the area and wrench only... (breathes)... that does sound like a worthwhile challenge. But i'll still use all Plasmids, because the game wouldn't be as fun without themIan Dorsch said:Okay, how about wrench only?fonzythedog said:
He nails all the issues with this game on the head while being fucking brilliant. Kudos blabbinator!
Ahh, apparently the memo I missed was that console gamers = casual gamers. Maybe, JUST MAYBE, if we were talking about the Wii, with it's known broad aim, this might be relevant. But the 360? We must have very different definitions of "casual gamers". If, to you, casual and console are interchangeable, then it would be a great help to me if you would use console, instead of casual, and reserve casual for <a href=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/casual>"irregular, occasional" gamers.fonzythedog said:
This speaks nothing to the points I was trying to make about the current state of death/punishment in videogames. (See Kyle Orland's <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_100/556-The-Slow-Death-of-the-Game-Over>The Slow Death of the Game Over, or Marty M. O'Hale's <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_84/475-Killjoy>Killjoy) Either you die, and have to start over, (yay Steel Battalion) or they give you some sort of save/autosave/quicksave/respawn, and the level of punishment is variable, and, in the end, increasingly irrelevant (what's the point of death in a videogame, if there are no lasting consequences, except the negative reinforcement of having to replay portions of the game you already cleared?). Bioshock seems to have gone more with the "we want people to play for the story, not the brutal difficulty."
And, if you want to start something over console controls versus PC controls, I would ask you kindly to start it somewhere else. There are countless places probably already debating this very point right now (since it's quite nearly a perpetual topic among gamers), and I don't think it's going to add anything to the current discussion.
Slightly irrelevant, but did you know that <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_fingers>Sexdactyly is a dominant genetic trait?
Its pretty much Deus ex 2 all over again(or ark faltalis 2 turned mainstream game with tits dark messiah), however this game has more polish its still a kick in the balls for any long time FPS/PC gamer.fonzythedog said:
I guess I'm in the minority at least on this board, but I actually liked the 'easier' difficulty of Bioshock. I also hate to say it, but I also prefer the game's relative lack of complexity to Deus Ex. Maybe it's just because I'm getting old, but I don't have patience for really complicated games anymore. I want really interesting games that are fun and intuitive to play, and Bioshock delivers in those departments. If a game is too hard and I die every 2 seconds and have to reload or do a lot over again - I get bored of it and will never in a million years finish it. Games can be interesting and fun without being really punishing.
If I were marooned on an island and could only take one game with me - Bioshock, SS2, or Deus Ex - Bioshock would probably be my *last* choice because of its relative lack of depth of gameplay... but it's like video game candy - delicious, goes down easy, gone fast.
If I were marooned on an island and could only take one game with me - Bioshock, SS2, or Deus Ex - Bioshock would probably be my *last* choice because of its relative lack of depth of gameplay... but it's like video game candy - delicious, goes down easy, gone fast.
I'm pretty sure it was his way of saying that the kick in the nuts was done well.Shiloa said:
i.e. the game is good but has issues. Not an actual score for the game.
For those that don't know, 6.0 used to be a perfect score for a figure skating routine.
Perhaps it's just me, but I don't understand why it seems the word "console" seems to be used in a derogatory way here. I'm primarily a console gamer, I currently own a 360, PS2 and DS but have owned others over the years, yet I also, occasionally, use my PC to play games (the most recent being Sam & Max Season One, TrackMania, and Half -Life 2 [which was when it first came out I didn't like that much]).
Now before I get drawn into a control debate, yes a mouse and keyboard combination is quicker, more accurate and more responsive than a control pad, I get it. However, I still prefer to use a control pad simply because I'm more used to it. I'm sure if I played more PC games I get used to it eventually but the reason I don't play PC that often is due to a couple of factors. Mainly because I can't be arsed spending £200 on just a video card to get a game to run perfectly, then having to fiddle with the settings. I lack the paitence and I would rather plonk my money down to get a cosole for a couple of hundred quid which simply entails me opening the disc tray, putting the disc in, closing the disc tray, and starting the game. I remember when I bought Half-Life 2, while a decent game (I wouldn't say it's the best thing since sliced sex, but I wouldn't say that of Bioshock either even though I think if I had to assign an arbitrary score to it, it'd be a 9/10.) was bloody annoying to install. Put disc in, wait for 15+ minutes to install, then spend an hour verifying it...*reads a book while waiting*.
I really forgot where I was going with this...oh yes. Why exactly is Bioshock being on console a bad thing? (I played it on my 360 and pretty much agree with all of Yahtzee's points, especially about the bloody lack of an inventory). Actually that's a good point, why does putting it on the console mean it won't have an inventory exactly? No offence but I fail to find the logic in that. Perhaps it's just I find it rather petulant and pointless to claim that if someone prefers to game on a console, they have to have their games dumbed down. Though if it's a developers fault for having that sought of thought, that developer needs a slap.
Now before I get drawn into a control debate, yes a mouse and keyboard combination is quicker, more accurate and more responsive than a control pad, I get it. However, I still prefer to use a control pad simply because I'm more used to it. I'm sure if I played more PC games I get used to it eventually but the reason I don't play PC that often is due to a couple of factors. Mainly because I can't be arsed spending £200 on just a video card to get a game to run perfectly, then having to fiddle with the settings. I lack the paitence and I would rather plonk my money down to get a cosole for a couple of hundred quid which simply entails me opening the disc tray, putting the disc in, closing the disc tray, and starting the game. I remember when I bought Half-Life 2, while a decent game (I wouldn't say it's the best thing since sliced sex, but I wouldn't say that of Bioshock either even though I think if I had to assign an arbitrary score to it, it'd be a 9/10.) was bloody annoying to install. Put disc in, wait for 15+ minutes to install, then spend an hour verifying it...*reads a book while waiting*.
I really forgot where I was going with this...oh yes. Why exactly is Bioshock being on console a bad thing? (I played it on my 360 and pretty much agree with all of Yahtzee's points, especially about the bloody lack of an inventory). Actually that's a good point, why does putting it on the console mean it won't have an inventory exactly? No offence but I fail to find the logic in that. Perhaps it's just I find it rather petulant and pointless to claim that if someone prefers to game on a console, they have to have their games dumbed down. Though if it's a developers fault for having that sought of thought, that developer needs a slap.
I can't really agree here. Deus Ex had a lot of customization, and you actually had to make choices for what you were going to be good at. Bioshock lets you be good at pretty much everything, with very little difficulty in changing that around.ZippyDSMlee said:
And seriously, the old pipe game for 'hacking'? That's just lame.
As for the respawn issue - that's one of the easiest things you can correct yourself. Just don't use it. Autosave + Quicksave, and go to those if you die.
I'm not terribly far into the game, but it seems quite well done from what I've played so far. My only major disappointment is the paucity of enemy variety, and their lack of tactics.
**
Yahtzee, another fantabulous review. Your reviews are what brought me to this site, and are definitely the primary reason I'll stick around
Let me put it you like this,they take your favorite simi smart and witty TV show and then for the next season they change the focus of the demographic and gut the show in order to sale it in a new market, this is what has happened to Doom,Dues ex and Bioshock, they focsed the product to run on a downgraded system or for more causal gameing this damages the games potential in many many ways.Lothar Hex said:
It can also be considered like localized Anime in the states that take a show them dumb the translation down in order to sell it to the largest market possible.
(nothing like taking a charatcer that dose not cuss unless he is ripe mad and having him cuss every other word in english *shudders*)
Anyway our(old gamer farts) point is they should make the game as best they can and then water it down via options (many many stupid game features can be made into something that can be toggled on and off at the menu, like real FPS aiming for a metroid game) or I dunno a real inventory system for bioshock were you can keep and sort things and if you don't want to fool with it leave it on auto a causal gamer wont bother changing it they don't care if the game could be better they just want something to play for a day or 2 and move on to the next one.
And if you can't tell the most mindless sheeple of casual gamers are on consoles in order to limit dev time and not offend the twitch gamers that loath RPG or thinking games they have to make simple games because thats there target audience.
It would be nice if I saw a game that gave you lots of options so you can control not only your controls but the "weakness" of the gameplay, in the past 8 years console games (FPSs) have gotten away from letting you have button mapping as a option MS should get over itself and make the 360 support a KB and mouse they cry foul over it saying it will make the pad elitists feel uncomfortable or something...even the WII laughs at you,when it comes to customized controls for fear they will lose revenue for people using the the WII stuff on N64 games.... casual gaming is killing us at one time had some control over the fun now you are limited in how you play it and how you cheat on it....I can,t wait till sonys first cries of foul over a cheat device and Nintendo is secretly making them non functional for the WII
yes I wear my tinfoil hat tightly but I swear while games advance in graphics and physics gameplay is on life support,user control customization is dead only to have the occasional game toss you some dirt, cheat devices are the new evil devs and the console makers will protect their IP/CP from I mean gaming is just like it use to be it was fun now its all a bunch of saggy old tits....well mostly....some of it is passable...but how many hundreds have we spent for a passable game or 2....... *sigh*