phazonfreak

New game by Irrational Games: BioShock Infinite

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New game by Irrational Games: BioShock Infinite

from Elemental Forums

I'm sure some of you heard of the mysterious new game that is in the making at Irrational Games. As a die hard System Shock 2 fan and an avid admirer of Ken Levine, I am really looking forward to the reveal today.

We only know about a work title "Project Icarus" and that there is a website with an infinity symbol. Some say it might be a remake of Xcom, newest rumors say something about "BioShock above the clouds". Now, BioShock was a very good FPS, but not as fascinating as System Shock 2 in my opinion. Nevertheless, I am curious and we will find out soon enough: 1:45 PM Eastern Daylight Time.

http://www.whatisicarus.com/

111,285 views 37 replies
Reply #26 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Annatar11, reply 25
BioShock is far from a "landmark" game. It just got so much attention because it tried being a story-driven modern FPS instead of a plain shooter - and it did that mostly by just having you look around for old recordings. The gameplay remained a plain and generic shooter. Like I said, generic shooter in a pretty wrapper. It just stood out because none of the other games tried to focus on the atmosphere or story.

Annatar, I've always respected your opinion but you said yourself exactly why Bioshock was an important game. Bioshock's #1 criticism was the shooting mechanics yes, but what the game lacked slightly in mechanics it more than made up for in art direction, narrative and characters. I personally did not go around and look for all the tapes and I still came out of Bioshock feeling amazed. The scene with Andrew Ryan and the golf club is one of the most memorable moments in modern gaming.

Reply #27 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

The golf club part was good waaaayyyy better than the crappy end-game boss and so-called "open" ending:

 

"Oh I never took those pastid or soemthing, let me overdose on it!  Oh no! I'm a huge mutaded freak now with all my head, despite everyone you saw with the same crap in their system, just in lower dosage,  turned into a mindless freak!  Surely It must be beginner's luck or a hole in the logic as big as the moon."

 

Kinda like Red Dead Redemption: cool story, then you win, then 6 missions where you do shit all but ride in horses and talk to Jack...laaaammmme

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Reply #28 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting LEADER, reply 27
The golf club part was good waaaayyyy better than the crappy end-game boss and so-called "open" ending:

Kev Levine even said in retrospect everything after the golf club scene sucks.

Reply #29 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Way beter to make a cool escape scene a la Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

Reply #30 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Polynomial, reply 24
I'm beginning to wonder if anyone on these forums even likes video games. First no one likes Bioware games, now people slam one of gaming's landmark games.

You think it's bad now, wait and see what'll happen if it turns out to use Steamworks. :P (There's a seperate Steam-free Civ 5 thread for that reason.)

Reply #31 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Tridus, reply 30



Quoting Polynomial,
reply 24
I'm beginning to wonder if anyone on these forums even likes video games. First no one likes Bioware games, now people slam one of gaming's landmark games.


You think it's bad now, wait and see what'll happen if it turns out to use Steamworks. (There's a seperate Steam-free Civ 5 thread for that reason.)

I'll get it for 360 if it has Steamworks. That's all.

Reply #32 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Polynomial, reply 24
I'm beginning to wonder if anyone on these forums even likes video games. First no one likes Bioware games, now people slam one of gaming's landmark games.

I love BioWare games, I am looking forward to SW:TOR and, yes, BioShock is a landmark game, but not in the story and character department, at least on the whole, not with the AI and not with moral dilemmas.

Reply #33 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

What moral dilemmas?  You either save the girls or not, then shown some good/evil ending which serves to proove that only in video games where the gray area sudenly fade off

Reply #34 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting phazonfreak, reply 14



Quoting awuffleablehedgie,
reply 12
System Shock has a boring and cliched concept (rogue AI). Bioshock had a wonderful character and narrative structure that let you discover who you were ALONG with the character and with a bumpy ride, and with fantastic atmospheric tension and memorable bosses and environments. 

 


As cliched as the concept of a rogue AI might be, Shodan is by far the more menacing and interesting villain compared to the boring douche in BioShock, because they added something fresh to it. It's quite telling that I already forgot his real name... The rest of the bickering bunch didn't really help either.

The character and narrative structure of the two System Shock installments blows BioShock right out of the water. BioShock had a fantastic climax with the "Would you kindly?" scene, but went straight downhill afterwards.

Bs had cliched characters and plot devices, big ego mastermind, predictable double-cross from former friendly character, and fairy tale grade cutsequences.   Ken Levine is so full of himself, he probably thinks he's the gaming industry's only hope in gaming greatness.

Reply #35 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting LEADER, reply 33
What moral dilemmas?  You either save the girls or not, then shown some good/evil ending which serves to proove that only in video games where the gray area sudenly fade off

Well, that's exactly my point: There are no moral dilemmas in BioShock, it's a pure gameplay mechanic providing the player with different sets of abilities and amount of Adam. I have to say though that I like the good ending, it is quite poignant. The bad ending however is an utter disgrace. Anyone experiencing both endings knows instantly that Ken Levine conceived the good ending as the real and only one and the bad ending is nothing but a mere afterthought.

Reply #36 from Elemental Forums Top

BioShock just went from "This is all a bit implausible, but fair enough" to "Holy shit this is nonsense".

Having player Bioshock and Bioshock 2, I can't say that I'm getting my hopes up. They were mediocre at best.

Quoting Annatar11, reply 25
BioShock is far from a "landmark" game. It just got so much attention because it tried being a story-driven modern FPS instead of a plain shooter - and it did that mostly by just having you look around for old recordings. The gameplay remained a plain and generic shooter. Like I said, generic shooter in a pretty wrapper. It just stood out because none of the other games tried to focus on the atmosphere or story.
I still feel a need to defend Bioshock here, though. I think the whole Objectivism schtick in the first game was excellent. I think that felt fresh, in the way it was all presented. The way it was defended from the outlook of characters, rather than having an omnipresent observer's judging view as a red thread throughout the game, which many games that do include storytelling aspects of politics and philosophy do.

Could've been done better, but it takes a certain mindset to even get into the mood properly, for which I do salute the developers. On the other hand, they shoehorned dualistic "morality" into the whole thing. So while I'm not by far a fan of Bioshock, it does have some nice aspects to it (apart from visuals, which I carelol for).

Quoting Polynomial, reply 28
Kev Levine even said in retrospect everything after the golf club scene sucks.
If the game had ended then and there, with a swing of the golfclub, I can say that I would likely have lauded Bioshock as a creative masterpiece.

I don't care if people would've raged. It would've been absolutely awesome, underlining the entire story.

Quoting Polynomial, reply 24
I'm beginning to wonder if anyone on these forums even likes video games. First no one likes Bioware games, now people slam one of gaming's landmark games.
I don't see how it's a landmark game, unless you were born in the late 90's.

Reply #37 from Sins Forums Top

I guess the problem is that I, at least, rate games very badly for small mistakes - not bugs. Disicions that were made that were bad i.e. the camera stuff in Bioshock is NOT fun imo. It should just be about doing different stuff AT ANY TIME IN THE GAME should get you points, not having to shuffle around with differnt keys blah blah. Stuff like that brings the 'game' donw.

Now if you seperate it out into story from the other aspects then BioShock does go up several 'points' in that area. I LIKE Bioshock, its on the TOP of my "Meh" list along with pretty much every competent console port like Vegas or Warfighter.

 

Maybe I just badly named my list? I guess it should be called "Solid games that arn't X-Com". :P

 

 

OH yeah, and something I felt at the time (and will feel again more after Crysis 2, RAGE!!!!11!!! and others) is just a general fatigue with FPSes. Very little changes, its the same old thing since quake.

Combine that with bad shooting and it dosn't leave the greatest taste in your mouth outside of listenting to the tapes and reading the walls.

 

If it was a game like myst or even Indigo Prohpechy/Farenheight with some intense shooting sections with the splicers then I think I would have enjoyed it more.