So, as is par for the course, I sat down and beat BioShock in a few evenings.
So, what do I think of it?
Glad you asked...
One liner: Pretty good game, most of which feels cinematic, with a good dosage of oddities that make it not quite the uber-game it's been hailed as.
So, now for the devil - err, the details:
"... it was not impossible to build Rapture and the bottom of the ocean; it was impossible to build it anywhere else..."
Basic overview:
You are a man who crash lands in the middle of the ocean and is whisked down to "Rapture" - city of free will, free markets and free scientific reign. You fight initially to survive, then to undo the wrongs of those who have created the monstrosity that is now your prison. As arsenal, you can inject ADAM, genetic modifications that change how your body operates, giving you super-human abilities...
First and foremost, this is a FPS in terms of genre. It has the typical elements: point gun, shoot monster, get bigger guns to shoot harder monsters. Collect ammo.
It has some RPG-esque elements as well: Choose which upgrades to "install" at the time being. You start with two solts each in five categories of upgrades, upgradeable to five slots each. You receive quite an array of items for each category and have to choose between them.
But perhaps most significantly, this is movie quality game play. The production values are amazing. Of everything this game has to offer, it really would be a so-so game if this one part did not hold true. But the story, the game decisions, the people you meet, the logs you listen to, all of it - encapsulates you in an epic tale of a good idea driven bad by greed and mistrust.
As you play, you learn that two people who were once partners became rival factions. In the game, you start hearing announcements from prerecorded devices about how bad it is to be a "parasite" - or in other words, a derogatory name for a member of one of the two factions.
These things give the game incredible ambiance.
The genetic enhancements are really cool as well. Your "Adam" is powered by energy called "Eve" (I feel there should be an obligatory drum/hat sound off here...). Eve is kept in fat syringes and then injected in your veins to "reload" when you run out. It is a universal "ammo" for your genetic upgrades and powers all of your enhancements.
Right click and instead of holding your hand out, ready to use a super power, you swap over to the good ol' tried and true gun arsenal. Each has their own ammo - or I should say, set of three possible ammo types. Ammo is found or purchased in about the right amount of frequency, perhaps a bit over-available, but not by much.
The monsters you fight are zombified denizens of Rapture who have gone over the edge of sanity by "splicing" (injecting ADAM upgrades) too far for too long. Now, they retain small semblances of their former self (you find one weeping at the coffin of her daughter - which now has ammo inside - no child) until you attack or alarm them, at which time they go in to a fury and attack you. They shout out at you, in manners that reflect who they were (the doctors, when losing sight of you call out "Nurse, get me that man!" for instance).
In a refreshing break from the norm, this game deserves every inch of its "Mature" rating. My kids will not be playing ANY time in ANY near future. =) Not only do the mobs have no problem spewing out profanities that would make a sailor blush, but the environment is sometimes dripping with blood, or the the questions of morality thrown out of the window. You even make decisions whether to kill semi-innocent little girls for extra power upgrades. (If you choose to kill them, it is at least tasteful about it and the screen fades out while you hear the death scream.)
Finally the deco is very steam-punk. Couple with the unique environment (a city at the bottom of the ocean) that they do take advantage of, and the pixel popping goodness of the engine, it's pretty damned good for a FPS.
So, with all that goodness, why aren't you convinced it's a contender for best game?
Glad you asked, Jimmy.
The game has some problems which kill its enjoyment value. The most troublesome of these, and it's really bad, is the insignificance of death. Now, I understand that the designers didn't want death to be a major hindrance, but really, some hindrance is desirable as it gives the player satisfaction for progressing beyond something that is hard for them. It is so bad in fact, that "zerging" tough monsters (of which there are very few) is a completely viable tactic. ONLY the final battle requires you to complete it in one go.
Another problem is that aside from turrets (which you can disable very easily at any difficulty) there are only TWO mobs in the game outside of bosses. Sure, splicers have different "flavors" but many times it's just a difference in their weapon of choice. Spider Slicers, because they can crawl on walls and ceilings (really cool btw) are the most variant of them, the rest are pretty much just a "he's carrying a different weapon" variety.
The other of the TWO mobs - the "Big Daddy" is a real problem for balance. In the early game, they own you in seconds. No matter how well you net up, it isn't possible to beat them in one go for the normal player, no matter how good you usually are at games. I can imaging that some BioShock aficionados will get to where they can, but that will be the exception, not the norm. But, by late game, due to your upgrades, they become a joke. Actually, everything does. The difficulty ramps down so far that I had to invent new challenges for myself just to keep it difficult. I even decided that for a whole level, I'd only allow myself to wrench stuff to death. (Your melee weapon)
Some levels *drag*. Neptune's bounty is one and it's early on. I almost shelved the game at that point. Couple with the painless death and I had a real hard time staying focused to keep going.
Yes, I'm glad that I did, but the problems were not outweighed by the cinematic quality.
All in all, I'd say the game is good. "Fairly good" perhaps. "Awesome" it is not.
Refreshing, definitely.
Solid Gold, definitely not.
Hopefully, if they make a sequel, they will enhance the good things, rethink the bad, and give us a contender that might even be able to rival "Deus Ex" for FPS heavy weight of all time.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Note on a change to my blog
I am changing my default font to Calibri and putting Verdana as the backup for those who don't have it. (Anyone who is running MS Office 2003 or Windows Vista already has it.)
But I highly recommend you get it if you can. If you Google it, you'll find legal ways of obtaining it.
The increase in readability is worth it.
But I highly recommend you get it if you can. If you Google it, you'll find legal ways of obtaining it.
The increase in readability is worth it.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
EA is buying BioWare
http://www.bioware.com/bioware_info/press_releases/2007_10_11_EA_to_acquire_bioware_pandemic/EA_to_acquire_bioware_pandemic.pdf
EA has always been a company where I can gather whether or not a game of theirs is good by asking one question.
"Is it a sports game?" The answer to that question is almost always the very same answer to "will it be good?".
So the fact that they are acquiring BioWare makes me want to get started on a headstone that reads "BioWare - your tender touch will be missed".
This does not bode well - mark my words. Not well at all.
EA has always been a company where I can gather whether or not a game of theirs is good by asking one question.
"Is it a sports game?" The answer to that question is almost always the very same answer to "will it be good?".
So the fact that they are acquiring BioWare makes me want to get started on a headstone that reads "BioWare - your tender touch will be missed".
This does not bode well - mark my words. Not well at all.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Bioshock on play
Well, I picked up Bioshock.
First impressions: Death is not penalizing enough, story line is cool, random spawn is too Doom-ish (not a good thing), sound is awesome, presentation is awesome.
I will play through it some more and we will see how it goes!
First impressions: Death is not penalizing enough, story line is cool, random spawn is too Doom-ish (not a good thing), sound is awesome, presentation is awesome.
I will play through it some more and we will see how it goes!
Monday, October 8, 2007
Halo 3
Am I the only person in the world that thinks the Halo series is over-hyped and as a FPS is a bit lack-lustre?
I played the first one. I was bored off my gourd. The largest issue being the amount of down time after each death, but even the battlefields and guns, etc, didn't really seem like they tried.
I see Halo 3 came out and everyone is all ga-ga-goo-goo over it. I have no desire to play. Sure, if I had an X-Box I might try it to see what the big deal is, but my interest level is probably a negative number at this point.
On the other hand, Bio Shock looks fun. It's a PC title (and X-Box, but as previously stated, I don't own an X-Box) and at some point, I plan to try it out.
Oh - and Tabula Rasa - I pre-ordered. It fills my run-around-and-shoot-stuff gaming desires pretty nicely. It has potential - we will see how that potential delivers.
I played the first one. I was bored off my gourd. The largest issue being the amount of down time after each death, but even the battlefields and guns, etc, didn't really seem like they tried.
I see Halo 3 came out and everyone is all ga-ga-goo-goo over it. I have no desire to play. Sure, if I had an X-Box I might try it to see what the big deal is, but my interest level is probably a negative number at this point.
On the other hand, Bio Shock looks fun. It's a PC title (and X-Box, but as previously stated, I don't own an X-Box) and at some point, I plan to try it out.
Oh - and Tabula Rasa - I pre-ordered. It fills my run-around-and-shoot-stuff gaming desires pretty nicely. It has potential - we will see how that potential delivers.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Tabula Rasa Open Beta ...
... is going pretty well so far. There have been some server instability issues, but in a completely unexpected move, Richard Garriot (designer/producer of TR) chatted with people IN GAME (in chat) about them and what they were doing to fix.
That really impressed me.
The game play is surprisingly fast and fun, even though it is still an MMO. There are no "headshots" a`la FPS style games, but there is enough battlefield tactics to still feel pseudo-FPS.
The class system is reminiscent of SWG in that you choose how to level up as you go along. And I really liked that system, so I was happy to see it here.
Pleased enough, I pre-ordered.
I will probably post a more comprehensive view post-launch. I don't like reviewing pre-launch games. I find that to be a violation of the gamer/company trust with an open beta offering.
That really impressed me.
The game play is surprisingly fast and fun, even though it is still an MMO. There are no "headshots" a`la FPS style games, but there is enough battlefield tactics to still feel pseudo-FPS.
The class system is reminiscent of SWG in that you choose how to level up as you go along. And I really liked that system, so I was happy to see it here.
Pleased enough, I pre-ordered.
I will probably post a more comprehensive view post-launch. I don't like reviewing pre-launch games. I find that to be a violation of the gamer/company trust with an open beta offering.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Meme: Ten Fictional Characters
Taken from Chris at 2 Guys (see side bar for URL), here's the next cool meme. (And be sure to read his too)
First, select your ten fictional characters (from any medium) by whichever method you like best. Then answer the questions below.
1 - Samus Aran, Metroid
2 - Neo, Matrix
3 - Gandalf, Lord of the Rings
4 - Minsc, Baldur's Gate Series
5 - Rogue, X-Men
6 - Alicia, Valkyrie Profile 2
7 - Hermione, Harry Potter Series
8 - The Iron Mage, Ptolus
9 - Jean-Luc Picard, USS Enterprise
10 - John Preston, Equilibrium
1. Divide the list up by even and odd. Which group of five would make a better Five Man Band (like a Power Rangers team)? Who would you slot in each position: Leader, Lancer (second-in-command), Big Guy, Smart Guy, The Chick? If you think the team would be improved by swapping one character between the even and odd groups, which ones would you switch?
(I'm going to assume this means don't reorder them, split them left right, left right, etc)
Group 1
- Neo, Matrix
- Minsc, Baldur's Gate Series
- Alicia, Valkyrie Profile 2
- The Iron Mage, Ptolus
- John Preston, Equilibrium
Group 2
- Samus Aran, Metroid
- Gandalf, Lord of the Rings
- Rogue, X-Men
- Hermione, Harry Potter Series
- Jean-Luc Picard, USS Enterprise
Better 5 man band? Power - group 1 - smarts - group 2
G1: Leader: Preston; 2nd: Neo; Biggun: Minsc; Smart: Iron Mage; Chick: Alicia (at age 18)
G2: Leader: Gandalf; 2nd: Picard; Biggun: Samus Aran; Smart: Hermione; Chick: Rogue
Swap: Preston <--> Picard
2. Gender-swap 2, 8 & 10. Which character would have the most change in their story arc? Which the least? Would any of these characters have to have a complete personality change to be believable as the opposite sex?
Neo Most Change. Iron Mage no change at all. None would have to have a complete personalty redux to be believable.
3. Compare the matchups of 1 & 8 and 5 & 9. (Ignore canon sexual preferences for the moment.) Which couple would be more compatible? Which couple would be more plausible to people from either principal's home culture?
Hm so that means Samus + Iron Mage and Rogue + Jean-Luc Picard. Wow, both are hetero matches.
More compatible - Samus pairing, fo sho. Home culture, same.
The Samus and Iron Mage matchup would kick some major ass. Wow.
4. Your team is 3, 4 & 9. The mission consists of a social challenge, a mental challenge and a physical challenge. Which team member do you assign to each challenge?
So, I get Gandalf, Minsc and Jean-Luc.
Hell yeah. Bring it on! Wow the challenges are a bit too perfect for this group. Do I have to spell them out? Really??
OK, Social - Jean-Luc -- Mental - Gandalf -- Physical - Minsc. (No bars a berserker raging, hamster wielding ranger can't bend nor break)
5. 7 becomes 1's boss for a week in some plausible fashion. How's their working relationship?
Hermione gets to boss Samus??
Samus - gone on day one - Hermoine panics - Samus comes back on day seven with fully upraded suit, a few power houses in body bags and a Margarita. Hermione lectures, Samus rolls in to a sphere and ignores.
6. 2 finds him/her/itself inserted into 6's continuity. As far as anyone other than 2 or 6 is concerned, they've always been there. What role would 2 be presumed to have had in 6's story, and could they fit in without going wonky?
Neo inserted in to Valk-world. Neo would have been presumed to be a messenger from the gods with the ability to dodge arrows at the speed of light - or something. And Neo would never fit in. Ever.
7. 3 and 5 get three wishes. The catch is that they have to agree on all three wishes before they get the benefits of any of them. What three wishes would they make?
Gandalf and Rogue's three wishes...
Evil eradicated
Underpriveledged to become priveledged
Instantaneous Travel
8. 1 and 2 are brainwashed by a one-time artifact that works even on people immune to mind control to attack and kill 4. They keep their normal personality, skills and competence level, except any Code vs. Killing has been turned off. Can 4 survive? How?
CORRECTION:
This morning I realized I should have written that they were out to kill Minsc, not Rogue.
I like the old response too, so I am keeping it in, but grayed out.
As for Samus and Neo killing Minsc. Minsc is a good fighter but with no super powers up his sleeve, he's a bit toast. Sorry Minsc.
Samus and Neo are out to kill Rogue.
This is a game of Stratego. By herself, Rogue would be normally toast... Unless she got the first strike. Steal the powers of either and then it's game over for the other. (Kill the first person in the process too.)
9. 6, 7, 9 & 10 must help an orphanage full of small and depressed children have a merry Christmas. Who does what, knowing that at the very least the kids will be expecting a visit from Santa?
Alicia, Hermione, Jean-Luc and Preston?
Jean-Luc will avoid actually being at the whole event. He hates being around kids, but he does like helping kids. So he will be sure to beam down some presents and a holo-emitter for the Santa. Hell, make it two holo emitters and throw some elves in too.
I guess he could cover food too.
Alicia will fit right in witi the kids. She might be something like 16, but she's 8 at heart.
Hermione will try to explain how everything works, including magic, until her audience wanes, at which time, she will will simply resort to trying to look comfortable while sitting in the corner - alone.
Preston will make sure that no one threatens the event. Period.
10. 3 and 8 are challenged to circumnavigate the Earth in eighty days or less, using only forms of transportation invented before 1900. Can they do it, or will they be fatally distracted by sidequests or their own personality conflicts?
Gandalf and the Iron Mage... Both rely on magic and are from Medieval Era times. Let's just assume they don't get that I-Win button.
They'd still pull it off easy. I mean, Gandalf can ride on horses fast as the wind, talk to animals and has an uncanny knowledge of geography. (Being a celestial helps with that I guess)
The Iron Mage is very task focused. It wouldn't matter if he had to bribe, convince or otherwise force people to listen to him. He'd get it done.
First, select your ten fictional characters (from any medium) by whichever method you like best. Then answer the questions below.
1 - Samus Aran, Metroid
2 - Neo, Matrix
3 - Gandalf, Lord of the Rings
4 - Minsc, Baldur's Gate Series
5 - Rogue, X-Men
6 - Alicia, Valkyrie Profile 2
7 - Hermione, Harry Potter Series
8 - The Iron Mage, Ptolus
9 - Jean-Luc Picard, USS Enterprise
10 - John Preston, Equilibrium
1. Divide the list up by even and odd. Which group of five would make a better Five Man Band (like a Power Rangers team)? Who would you slot in each position: Leader, Lancer (second-in-command), Big Guy, Smart Guy, The Chick? If you think the team would be improved by swapping one character between the even and odd groups, which ones would you switch?
(I'm going to assume this means don't reorder them, split them left right, left right, etc)
Group 1
- Neo, Matrix
- Minsc, Baldur's Gate Series
- Alicia, Valkyrie Profile 2
- The Iron Mage, Ptolus
- John Preston, Equilibrium
Group 2
- Samus Aran, Metroid
- Gandalf, Lord of the Rings
- Rogue, X-Men
- Hermione, Harry Potter Series
- Jean-Luc Picard, USS Enterprise
Better 5 man band? Power - group 1 - smarts - group 2
G1: Leader: Preston; 2nd: Neo; Biggun: Minsc; Smart: Iron Mage; Chick: Alicia (at age 18)
G2: Leader: Gandalf; 2nd: Picard; Biggun: Samus Aran; Smart: Hermione; Chick: Rogue
Swap: Preston <--> Picard
2. Gender-swap 2, 8 & 10. Which character would have the most change in their story arc? Which the least? Would any of these characters have to have a complete personality change to be believable as the opposite sex?
Neo Most Change. Iron Mage no change at all. None would have to have a complete personalty redux to be believable.
3. Compare the matchups of 1 & 8 and 5 & 9. (Ignore canon sexual preferences for the moment.) Which couple would be more compatible? Which couple would be more plausible to people from either principal's home culture?
Hm so that means Samus + Iron Mage and Rogue + Jean-Luc Picard. Wow, both are hetero matches.
More compatible - Samus pairing, fo sho. Home culture, same.
The Samus and Iron Mage matchup would kick some major ass. Wow.
4. Your team is 3, 4 & 9. The mission consists of a social challenge, a mental challenge and a physical challenge. Which team member do you assign to each challenge?
So, I get Gandalf, Minsc and Jean-Luc.
Hell yeah. Bring it on! Wow the challenges are a bit too perfect for this group. Do I have to spell them out? Really??
OK, Social - Jean-Luc -- Mental - Gandalf -- Physical - Minsc. (No bars a berserker raging, hamster wielding ranger can't bend nor break)
5. 7 becomes 1's boss for a week in some plausible fashion. How's their working relationship?
Hermione gets to boss Samus??
Samus - gone on day one - Hermoine panics - Samus comes back on day seven with fully upraded suit, a few power houses in body bags and a Margarita. Hermione lectures, Samus rolls in to a sphere and ignores.
6. 2 finds him/her/itself inserted into 6's continuity. As far as anyone other than 2 or 6 is concerned, they've always been there. What role would 2 be presumed to have had in 6's story, and could they fit in without going wonky?
Neo inserted in to Valk-world. Neo would have been presumed to be a messenger from the gods with the ability to dodge arrows at the speed of light - or something. And Neo would never fit in. Ever.
7. 3 and 5 get three wishes. The catch is that they have to agree on all three wishes before they get the benefits of any of them. What three wishes would they make?
Gandalf and Rogue's three wishes...
Evil eradicated
Underpriveledged to become priveledged
Instantaneous Travel
8. 1 and 2 are brainwashed by a one-time artifact that works even on people immune to mind control to attack and kill 4. They keep their normal personality, skills and competence level, except any Code vs. Killing has been turned off. Can 4 survive? How?
CORRECTION:
This morning I realized I should have written that they were out to kill Minsc, not Rogue.
I like the old response too, so I am keeping it in, but grayed out.
As for Samus and Neo killing Minsc. Minsc is a good fighter but with no super powers up his sleeve, he's a bit toast. Sorry Minsc.
Samus and Neo are out to kill Rogue.
This is a game of Stratego. By herself, Rogue would be normally toast... Unless she got the first strike. Steal the powers of either and then it's game over for the other. (Kill the first person in the process too.)
9. 6, 7, 9 & 10 must help an orphanage full of small and depressed children have a merry Christmas. Who does what, knowing that at the very least the kids will be expecting a visit from Santa?
Alicia, Hermione, Jean-Luc and Preston?
Jean-Luc will avoid actually being at the whole event. He hates being around kids, but he does like helping kids. So he will be sure to beam down some presents and a holo-emitter for the Santa. Hell, make it two holo emitters and throw some elves in too.
I guess he could cover food too.
Alicia will fit right in witi the kids. She might be something like 16, but she's 8 at heart.
Hermione will try to explain how everything works, including magic, until her audience wanes, at which time, she will will simply resort to trying to look comfortable while sitting in the corner - alone.
Preston will make sure that no one threatens the event. Period.
10. 3 and 8 are challenged to circumnavigate the Earth in eighty days or less, using only forms of transportation invented before 1900. Can they do it, or will they be fatally distracted by sidequests or their own personality conflicts?
Gandalf and the Iron Mage... Both rely on magic and are from Medieval Era times. Let's just assume they don't get that I-Win button.
They'd still pull it off easy. I mean, Gandalf can ride on horses fast as the wind, talk to animals and has an uncanny knowledge of geography. (Being a celestial helps with that I guess)
The Iron Mage is very task focused. It wouldn't matter if he had to bribe, convince or otherwise force people to listen to him. He'd get it done.
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