Luke, to be honest, i didn’t really follow this game from the first series as i just heard about Bioshock Infinite a few months back and started to be interested with the whole thing about this game, especially the first and second series of the game. But personally, what i really like from the game is definitely the fact that it’s happening in underwater sea of Rapture, which as far as i know, i never played any console game that has that same game concept, although i already played such games like Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil, which occurs in underground and outside the earth.

@ Craig A. Betts:

You know, I probably didn’t notice that because as soon as I got Big Daddy gear I went for the end-game segment. :P

@ Alex:

Yeah, I heard that about System Shock 2. I will have to pick it up one of these days. I think I saw it on GoG.com last time I checked. :)

@ Alex:

Bioshock < System Shock 2 < System Shock

Not that I can say that with certainty because SS2 was the only game in the series I didn't finish. The slow as molasses movement and spawning zombies which to this day creep me out meant that I never got very far. Maybe I should try again with one of the high resolution mods and actually finish the game.

The real reason I remember all these games is the way their worlds were realised. Citadel Station, The Von Braun and Rapture all feel like places I've really been to. I really can't say that's true for many other games.

Maybe it's down to Ken Levine's involvement, but I prefer to think that Looking Glass Studios was the best development house out there.

If you enjoyed BioShock, then I really, really have to recommend it’s “spiritual father” – System Shock 2. I played SS2 first and then couldn’t like BioShock – it just seemed like a glittery, cut down version of SS2.

Would you kindly post more comments?

come on, luke! 15 more pages and you’ve got your 650th! More posts!

(on topic) the ending system is borked.

Luke Maciak wrote:

What do you mean? Did they stop ambushing you wen you became a Daddy? Or is it because by that time you were powerful enough to take you on. I didn’t notice any change in splicer behavior when I became a Big Daddy.

Yep, once you fully become a Big Daddy (suit, pheromones and voice box), everybody will ignore you as if you were a real Big Daddy.

Now, would you kindly play the game again. ;-)

Mackattack wrote:

The Research Camera: This gives damage bonuses, and by Fort Frolic if used from the start eventually kills off the Awful Plumbing Minigame with the “Autohack” bonus. It levels up health and eve on Little Sisters, damage bonuses for all enemies, and provides unique Gene tonics from research splicers: Sportsboost from Thuggish splicers, allowing the player to batter the crap out of dudes with the wrench, or Natural Camoflage (Chamelon) invisibility bonus, to work in conjunction with things like Wrench Lurker. Like I said, different styles of play.

Yeah, I sort of wish I used the damn thing more. Usually I’d just forget to snap pictures of splicers. I did the invisibility hack and it was great. I no longer had to worry about alarms. All I had to do is to stop and not move as the security bots were flying towards me. Once they failed to see me they would dart off in different directions and I could just run for cover. Or I would just stand there for the 20 seconds and wait. :)

Mackattack wrote:

The RPG ness of Bioshock comes from style of play, and not actaul numbers, like Fallout3’s S.P.E.C.I.A.L and Skills. Moreover, it comes from collecting and equipping tonics suited towards how one approaches situations. Although it would be vastly improved with an Inventory screen for the U-Invent, it’s flaws can be circumnavigated by understanding how the game mechanics function.

Well, the term RPG is so over used these days that it sort of lost it’s meaning. I personally consider that an RPG must have at least:

– stats (attributes, skills etc..) that can be improved through experience
– experience points
– inventory screen
– stat based combat

There area lot of games that do include some of these features, but I believe that you must have all of them to actually classify as RPG. For example, STALKER had a quite detailed inventory management but I wouldn’t classify it as an RPG game.

But yeah – your millage may vary.

Mackattack wrote:

As a final note, in defense of the developers, the Hitler/Jesus ending was forced onto the developers from their bosses, who are COMPLETE TWATS – Take Two’s Execs have expressed that they understand BioShocks world to be one of “Good Versus Evil, like Star wars”. (Actaul words, I shit you not). Insane cunts ruining a good game.

Interesting. I did not know that. That actually explain a lot. The world itself seems much more nuanced. The “moral choice” is lame and grafted on.

Mackattack wrote:

If you want a game with a REAL moral choice/dilemna, I recommend Killer7.. that’s if you can wrap your head around the plot first.

I’ll have to check that out. :)

Zel wrote:

basically played the whole game (on Hard) using the zap & whack combo, powering the wrench or the lightning plasmid as available. It never failed me. Big daddies were handled with the same combo, with a couple of electric buckshots from the shotgun to stun them when out of EVE. Later on I added the pheromone thingy to throw your enemies off of you, and that’s it. The only tough fight was the final boss (unavoidable attacks in the later stages), and curiously it’s the only one in which the resurrection chamber are disabled.

I sort of abandoned the zap & whack combo early on. Maybe I should have stayed with it.

On the other hand, I found the final boss fight easy. I specifically stocked up on RPG’s, grenades, Exploding and Electric bucks ahead of the fight. Then I just circle strafed around him, shooting him with the strongest weapon I had. His attacks had incredibly long windup times and were easy to avoid. I found him much slower than an actual Bouncer big daddy, and less dangerous than an average Rosie (ie. no rivet gun).

Zel wrote:

And last but not least : respawing enemies. This was very very very annoying. Especially when you want to do some exploration. The whole game was a dilemna between finding the neat audio logs/looking at stunning art deco design and skipping a lot of boring repeated fights. By the end, I just went with the skipped fights…

Amen to that. I hated dying in the middle of the level only to realize that all the enemies I just killed have re spawned.

Craig A. Betts wrote:

also liked all the artwork. I went back to all the different areas once I became a Big Daddy so I wouldn’t get ambushed.

What do you mean? Did they stop ambushing you wen you became a Daddy? Or is it because by that time you were powerful enough to take you on. I didn’t notice any change in splicer behavior when I became a Big Daddy.

@ Mackattack:
Everyone has his definition of what is and is not a RPG and yours is as good as mine. I don’t consider a choice of approach for battle resolutions as a RPG element, otherwise Crysis, GTA, Resident Evil or StarCraft would all qualify and I think we’ll agree they’re not RPGs at all. Bioshock offered a little more choice than the others but that’s all and definitely not enough to make a FPS-RPG hybrid.

I know you can explore Rapture and areas are interconnected but do you not unlock new areas only as the story progresses ? I don’t remember it that well, but I think you can’t go where you want from the start. Furthermore, I found little interest in revisiting old levels, especially as that meant fighting yet more (of the same) enemies. If I understand Craig right (if once a Big Daddy splicers don’t attack), it might be worth it to gather all those extra logs and pieces of info, but other than that…

@ Craig A. Betts:
Getting the good end also requires that you don’t lose a single sister during the escort near the end. It’s annoying as she likes to stand out of cover, splicers attack from both directions and they kill her easily with splash damage. Definitely one of the worst moments of the game.

@ Zel:

Well, RPG = Role Playing Game, that is to say, player chooses ones “Role.” I’d argue that the variety of powerups means they can’t be put in the same box as standard FPS powerups like temporary invunerability, invisibility which are the normal ones. It’s a far cry between “2 less tiles when hacking safes” to Infinite Ammo.

The choice bioshock provides in terms of RPG is approach to situations. Trap bolts with the crossbow? Proximity mines? Hacked turrets and security bots? Zap and Whack? These permutations are only made effective by the “RPG” Gene Tonics boost and Plasmids.

On another note, Rapture is an openly explorable game world, which is rare, if not a first, for pure FPS’s. Although it may seem linear, and becomes linear at the final stage of the game, it’s actaully a huge sprawling urban map tied together with the Fast Travel of the Bathysphere.