BioShock Infinite - Airships and Racism

[Mr Bean]

So Bioshock Infinite drops today and the early reviews have been all been very positive. The negative reviews (IE the ones below 90) which open with why the dislike the game so much still spend 2/3rds of the piece showering it with praise.

I'll mention only one review by name from PC Gamer just because of how hilarious it is out of context

You’re on a flying city of magical racists in 1912, and that soon drops to being only the fifth or sixth most puzzling thing about your situation. Who are those two? Why are they talking about me? What’s with the giant cyborg bird? What does AD stand for? How does he know… why does she think… when did they… why can I shoot crows from my hands? And how do these pants help me reload?

I'm in the pre-order camp because Steam threw in XCOM and Bioshock with it, both of which make excellent gifts. Who else is looking to pick up the latest from Irrational Games?

[bilateralrope]

I'm in the pre-order camp because Steam threw in XCOM and Bioshock with it, both of which make excellent gifts.

Amazon's pre-order bonus for PC was better. XCOM + "$30 2K Games Credit"

After seeing Aliens:CM and Simcity both turned out to be not the games they were advertised as, I couldn't help being a bit cynical and wondering why 2k Games are pushing non-refundable preorders more than other publishers do. The only answer I can think of is that 2K Games thinks that Bioshock Infinite, or at least its PC version, falls short of the hype, so they want everyone's money before the truth gets out.

I've very interested in seeing if my cynicism is correct.

[Stark]

Dude the ads literally say 'from the makers of the best rated FPS ever', and both Bioshock games were awful. What's not to love?

I just want to know if the game has bows. Bows are so hot right now.

[weemadando]

I copped some heat recently for arguing that Bioshock was an ambitious idea played safe to the point that it's just another shooter.

Apparently the fact that you spend about 95% of your game time involved in shooting/bashing irrelevant things is overwritten by the 5% of the time that people are talking to you directly or via convenient tape recorders and that makes it an intense story experience.

[Stark]

I think you'll find it's shooter 2.0, pal. The first game I remember where after 10/10 GOTY best ever reviews people realised the game actually reeked of piss.

[Vendetta]

Well the arstechnica review spent most of its time gushing about the story and world and had, like, a paragraph about how the combat was totes bland and somewhat bereft of challenge because Elizabeth will keep saving your ass not just by resurrecting you but chucking out health packs when you need them.

I guess I'll probably buy it at some point, but my expectations may not be as fevered as the rest of the internets.

[Mr Bean]

Well I'm an hour in and sold. The first five minutes to first half an hour without spoiling anything involves wandering Colombia and as the reviews indicate... yes it's greatly fun to play tourist. And the second big twist?.... well.... fuck. The moral choices are much better than Bioshocks which all broke down into save girl/harvest girl. I've already counted four in under the first hour but who knows what if any impact they will have.
Spoiler

Unlike Bioshock, Infinite is much less artful about the twist to the point you know there's time travel going on from day 1, minute 1 of the story with the first opening quote. More importantly apparently your being followed around by a pair of Time Lords as the same Gentlemen/Lady team who row you out to the lighthouse also meet you later to flip a coin and meet you at a bar later. The coin tossing bit indicates that your not in your first run through of what I suspect is a Time Loop, and the rowing section where the Gentleman indicates "because he does not row" indicates the two of them are in the know about what's going to happen

[weemadando]

I think you'll find it's shooter 2.0, pal. The first game I remember where after 10/10 GOTY best ever reviews people realised the game actually reeked of piss.

Also, the hilarity that's ongoing at the moment about "hard mode" and "1999 mode".

Oh man, did you know that if you die in hard mode, you don't just get a reload/checkpoint restore? NO. Apparently you go back to the main menu and have to load your last save manually.

Because that's what makes a game harder/better.

Fuck. I really hoped we were done with this stupidity after the Vitachambers, guess what guys, Quantum Reconstruction Chambers or what-fucking-ever were in fucking System Shock 2. But I guess the fact that we're talking about the stupidity arms race between console and PC and critics and reviewers and PR and developers means that we can't acknowledge that and have to scream about it being "TOO EASY!" instead.

Remember the attempted reboot of Prince of Persia, where if you fucked up you were magically saved by Elika? And people screamed and cried and pooped all over it for destroying the game and making it too easy. THE GAME ISN'T ANY HARDER. YOU'RE JUST GETTING THAT ANIMATION OF HER SAVING YOU INSTEAD OF A FUCKING LOADING SCREEN YOU SHITBIRDS.

Why is all of this so hard for cretins to understand?

[Vendetta]

Fuck. I really hoped we were done with this stupidity after the Vitachambers, guess what guys, Quantum Reconstruction Chambers or what-fucking-ever were in fucking System Shock 2. But I guess the fact that we're talking about the stupidity arms race between console and PC and critics and reviewers and PR and developers means that we can't acknowledge that and have to scream about it being "TOO EASY!" instead.

Though in System Shock 1/2 you did have to find them and turn them on when you entered a new area. Which would have been nice in Bioshock, because it would have given a sense that you were gradually expanding your zone of relative safety.

[Terralthra]

Fuck. I really hoped we were done with this stupidity after the Vitachambers, guess what guys, Quantum Reconstruction Chambers or what-fucking-ever were in fucking System Shock 2. But I guess the fact that we're talking about the stupidity arms race between console and PC and critics and reviewers and PR and developers means that we can't acknowledge that and have to scream about it being "TOO EASY!" instead.

Though in System Shock 1/2 you did have to find them and turn them on when you entered a new area. Which would have been nice in Bioshock, because it would have given a sense that you were gradually expanding your zone of relative safety.

You do have to activate a Vita-Chamber in the original BioShock (and 2). You do that by walking near it, rather than pushing a button, but you do have to walk up to one before it will rez you, else you'll be rezzed at the last one you passed.

[xthetenth]

On a linear game that takes on more aspects of checkpoints than of a safe zone that you push outwards like I remember in System Shock.

[Covenant]

The thing about the Vita Chambers that bothered me in Bioshock was that it didn't actually force me to lose any progress, so it was more like having Game Genie with infinite lives and a convenient save point. I even remember killing myself once just to return to the save point, or just running around with the wrench to save ammo because if I died I swear I lost nothing and just got popped back to it. Luring a big daddy to near one and beating it senseless with my wrench and infinite clone booth seemed just stupid.

I would have preferred if the Vita Chambers needed fixing via a puzzle piece hidden in each level, or if they had a limited amount of charges, or a range, or something. Overall it just felt way too easy to progress. The monsters were helpless against you as it was, and I could buy and make ammunition. I didn't feel threatened ever, really, I don't know. I think the vita chambers, as a restore point, worked fine. But maybe not as a free heal + teleportation every time you get low on health.

[Terralthra]

:: There's no question that Vita-Chambers make the game incredibly easy, as-is. There's no cost for using them, they work infinitely, etc., etc. You can basically walk around with a wrench for the vast majority of the game.

So if you want the game to be hard, turn 'em off.

[Dread Not]

Fuck. I really hoped we were done with this stupidity after the Vitachambers, guess what guys, Quantum Reconstruction Chambers or what-fucking-ever were in fucking System Shock 2. But I guess the fact that we're talking about the stupidity arms race between console and PC and critics and reviewers and PR and developers means that we can't acknowledge that and have to scream about it being "TOO EASY!" instead.

Though in System Shock 1/2 you did have to find them and turn them on when you entered a new area. Which would have been nice in Bioshock, because it would have given a sense that you were gradually expanding your zone of relative safety.

It also used up currency/nanites which you also needed for hacking, repairing, buying items, etc. In Bioshock you can zerg rush any enemy like Covenant describes since you respawn with half your health and a good chunk of EVE and no other penalties. Respawning enemies were also more of an issue in System Shock 2 so it was harder to abuse the system.

Also, the hilarity that's ongoing at the moment about "hard mode" and "1999 mode".

Oh man, did you know that if you die in hard mode, you don't just get a reload/checkpoint restore? NO. Apparently you go back to the main menu and have to load your last save manually.

Because that's what makes a game harder/better.

Seriously? Even Bioshock had a "reload last save" button when you died with the vita-chambers disabled.

[Stark]

Look we can put all that aside, because fundamentally broken mechanics of that sort are what shooter 2.0 is all about. What we should really be laughing at is the actual poor content - the terrible story, the bad combat, the ubiquitous pretension.

Yes, I know that was in the other ones too. :p

[bilateralrope]

I think you'll find it's shooter 2.0, pal. The first game I remember where after 10/10 GOTY best ever reviews people realised the game actually reeked of piss.

Also, the hilarity that's ongoing at the moment about "hard mode" and "1999 mode".

Oh man, did you know that if you die in hard mode, you don't just get a reload/checkpoint restore? NO. Apparently you go back to the main menu and have to load your last save manually.

How could they ever think that's a good idea ?

Is hard mode the same thing as 1999 mode, or is that something else ?

[Ariphaos]

1999 is a special 'super-hard' mode that unlocks after you beat the game.

That said, really early on in the game, a pretty strong clue gets dropped and I had a "Wait, this isn't going to be yet another one of those games where Spoiler

the main antagonist is a future version of myself and I'm going to have to die to stop myself

is it?"

...should have waited until it was in the $10 bin on Steam.
Spoiler

That said, the commentary it makes on what being 'born again' in the ultra-evangelical sense does to many Christians is apt and good to build a story around. They should have ditched either the multiple realities or the time travel.

[Stark]

A Bioshock game that isn't as clever as it thinks it is?

Is this more surprising than people not having learned this yet?

[Vympel]

Started playing today. Its very pretty (its no Crysis 3 or Far Cry 3, but I like the design), the combat is alright, but I like the idea a lot.

[Mr Bean]

Well I beat it and have the following comments.

First up a short summary about what Bioshock Infinte is all about (Fully spoilery)
Spoiler

First off it was as I guessed a time loop. Specifically you start the game as the one hundred and twenty second attempt by the Lutece Twins to correct their sin. You see despite what Xeriar thinks, it's not you killing your future self with your past self. The entire game is all about alternative universes and possibilities. The phrase used is Constants and Variables. There are constants in Bookers life, certain things that always seem to happen. Like him joining the military, him losing his wife and the most important one in which Booker is knee deep in a river about to be Baptized as a born again Christian. In one reality which your in the day Booker goes he goes with several other converts and agrees to be baptized, taking the name Comstock as his new name and setting in motion the events of Bioshock Infinite. The key event being that Comstock can not conceive a child and thanks to the brilliant scientist twins that are the Lucteces they elect to take a child from another universe where Booker's child survives. Things go wrong and this gives Elizabeth her abilities as she's physically existing in multiple universes at the same time. The entire game is an attempt by the Lutece twins to undo the kidnapping of the child. Oh and the twins? Naturally they are not twins but are gender-swapped alternative universe copies of themselves. Each one was experimenting in the same field leading to a tear being created and they each spent years trying to communicate across it until they managed it with Comstock money. Once they got to the same universe they began "cheating" and creating holes into alternative universes to explore more science and got themselves all sorts of nice toys as a result. Fink the industrialist did the same thing by accident and got his hands on Rapture Plasmids and turned those in Vigors. So you Booker are trying to undo what the Lucteces did to themselves, and it's the 122 attempt, each time things are different but until now you've never really saved Elizabeth and the Lucteces having moved out of time are willing to let you try over and over again because my what great data they are getting.

My thoughts Spoiler

Comstock knows who you are from the start, your the version of himself who's child he took. Why he did not take better measures I will never understand. Also his killing of the Lutece's was damn foolish as he inadvertently gave them their Timelord powers via this act. But the Lutece's are just as bad considering the fact that they have a goal in mind but can't help but use this as an experiment. Don't use the real world for your reality warping science experiment come on now. All this multiple timeline mucking about can't be good for things.

As for the game itself as noted many times the combat was meh. Enemies came in three flavors, specials enemies who were immune to Murder of Crows, Specials who were not immune to Murder of Crows... and the bloody crow pecked corpses that had not stopped moving yet. There were other powers but aside from the lightning powers every Vigor was so expensive to use I got the most bang for my buck with Murder of Crows which was pretty much "everything gets pecked to death". Of the guns the Carbine is the clear winner as it drops everything in one head-shot except specials. The normal pistol was fine but lacked stopping power, the hand cannon pistol lacked ammo. The SMG fully upgraded is pretty much an assault rifle. The fully upgraded shotgun and Vox weapons are merely "less bad". The sniper rifle is almost never useful because anything you can't pop with the carbine can have Crows thrown at it until you can get close enough to pop it. Melee is a waste of time without gear most of which comes late you'll already be settled in using.

So my combat flow was again
1. Throw Crows at them
2. Murder Death kill anyone immune to crows
3. Throw more crows at what's left
4. Walk up and gun down the rest
The only change came with Handymen, Patriots and Ravens who were all Crow immune so I used lighting on them instead and unloaded on them with whatever RPG was to hand.

By the two hour mark I was in my grove and I never once needed to change anything the only change came from Elizabeth savaging things for me. Nothing quite as nice as firing an entire SMG clip only to turn around and accept a fresh one from Elizabeth in the nice ammo here animation. The most important place came in handy in the end game where I'd fire the RPG and Elizabeth tossed me a fresh one saving me lots of reload time.

At that point I was purely play for story and the amazing locations you get to visit. Seriously going from the Temple to Main Street to the 1912 Parade was amazing and things get more interesting from there. The Rooftops of Columbia to the Raven club to Monument Island. The first hour and a half has great visual spectacle in the nice places you go to. Later on when you go off to visit Battleship Bay or Hall of Heroes? Nothing drives things home as much as Finkton and the Slums on the great varied locations. Hand of the Prophet was a bit disappointing until the end bit which is a great visual treat. I like what I got for my 60$, ten hours for 60$ is a good deal even if I suspect I could beat it in under 6 hours it does not matter since I only scored half the recordings which is the go-to collectable.

I might replay it next year, but I had my fun, and I'll be putting it away for a good deal of time.

At the end of the day I'll steal a line from reddit.
"There is always a man. There is always a city. There is always a lighthouse.

[Stark]

There is always an audience for pretentious crap. At least we know someone played Singularity. :V

The best part of the story is people saying online that they don't understand xyz part of it but they're 100% certain it's AMAZINGLY MEANINGFUL.

[Mr Bean]

The best part of the story is people saying online that they don't understand xyz part of it but they're 100% certain it's AMAZINGLY MEANINGFUL.

What's not to understand? There story is pretty explicitly spelled out. All the relevant details are even added via audiologs but you can get the story just by what Booker and Elizabeth say to each other. People who think the end section is trippy have no idea what trippy means. What's going on again is spelled out. Your at X because of Y, Z is happening because your at X, remember when we talked about X four times before now? Well fuck you it's X pay fucking attention.
Spoiler

The thing I'm referencing is when you die in one world then get revived in another your brain tends to not be happy because your aware of being both alive and dead at the same time. Most people get nose bleeds, intense headaches and general mind fuckery as a result. You see this happen to NPC's and Booker comments on it TWICE then it happens a third time and they have an extended monologue about what it would be like to kill an alternative universe version of yourself or to come into a world were your already dead.

[Stark]

Yeah but this is the internet, where once someone says something is deep and significant and meaningful it's impossible for your average nerd cretin to disagree. Thus, people who don't pay any attention and have no real idea what's going on have to say that it's A POWERFUL MYSTERY or A COMPELLING ABIGUITY to avoid being branded as someone who doesn't 'get' it.

Just like how people honestly think that the statue in Singularity doesn't change in the various endings and that that's what it was all along; because they're idiots.

Luckily for 2K, this makes it pretty easy to trick people into thinking your story is complicated or meaningful.

[Mr Bean]

Look give 2k credit for giving you a meaningful moral choice and smacking you upside the head with it in a surprising way.
Spoiler

Of course it's only one of three choices, who your throw the baseball at, if you give slade his wish or how you act in the ticket office

The first choice gave me such high hopes only for them never to be met again.

[Tolya]

Is it wrong of me to predict pretty much how the story goes and what the big plot twist is? Because it kinda screams at you in the Slate episode.

I mean, holy fuck. Dishonored had a more interesting plot line than B:I. And a less predictable plot twist. Shit like that was new (for me) in KOTOR1. This is Syndicate-level predictable.

Tell me, where the fuck did all the good writers go? Because sure as hell they didn't end up in the gaming industry.

The game is a pretty standard run of the mill shooter with very nice art. This is a third game of the series which does a lot of new stuff... in the nothing department.

Btw Stark, no bows in this one, sorry. I guess this is their attempt at breaking new ground, to make traditional firearms "the thing to have".

As a disclaimer, I don't hate this game. I like it. But it's just a shooter, pretty much like every other shooter out there. For how long can they push run of the mill FPS shooters and then lie about them being revolutionary?