Current Events > Bioshock was possibly the most disappointing title I've played in the last year

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm cleaning up my PS3 hard drive in order to install Yakuza 4, and Bioshock is one of the largest games on here. I never finished it, and as much as I can fool myself to keep it around because I might get into it one day, I think it's best if I just uninstall it so I can play games that appeal more to me.

Here are some reasons I'm not so hot on Bioshock:

* I'm not a big fan of the setting. Oh, swingin' 60's music and such in a dingy, dystopian setting as you shoot insane drug addicts. Cool, I guess. You have audio logs detailing daily life before shit began to get fucked, and detailing the politics of the setting between Fontaine and the main guy, with areas like a fishery and a doctor's surgery where a guy forces people into horrific plastic surgery. The setting is somewhere between Cockney England and 50's/60's America, and it reminds me of Fallout 3 in its inspiration almost - and it doesn't do the game any favors, because it feels much more linear and constrained than Fallout 3.

* The weapons feel awful and loose. I hate the pistol, the shotgun is hit or miss and the wrench has no weight to it. There's something unappealing about the framerate and the Plasmids, so not even burning a Splicer alive with your hands feels all that good. The controls just feel really cheap, and I don't like how they feel.

* Pretty much everything has spoiled Bioshock's story. There's nothing here for me, because I know that you're the son of Rapture's main guy, you've been brainwashed into doing someone else's dirty work with the phrase "Would you kindly", and the chummy bloke who's been leading you along has been Fontaine the whole time. Youtube videos and forum posts just go and spill these secrets, and talk about how amazing and thought-provoking they are, and knowing this series of events, nothing that this radio guy says rings true. You know that part where you're trapped in a dark room and have to see this sub get blown up or whatever with Moira on it? I hate how you have movement controls in an absolute dead end of an area, there's nothing to do so you're forced into seeing "Moira" die - and then your radio dude sounds all cut up, but it rings absolutely hollow because I already know his game. The whole game is busywork - which wouldn't be a problem if the guns or Plasmids felt good to use, but I wasn't all that hot on them as I explained above.

* The voice acting and cutscenes feel forced, pretentious or lame. Remember that cutscene where you see a Big Daddy's drill for the first time, a bunch of Splicers talk all of this shit before a Big Daddy comes along and you get that iconic shot of the drill for the first time? It bored me to tears. You have to listen to these braindead Cockney morons talk for like three minutes, then you get the atmospheric stomping, and you basically wait around and sit through a cutscene that's filled with nothing but rambling, dead air and lame attempts to look epic or spooky.

The only positive thing I can say is that the Plasmid puzzles feel pretty good. Melting ice with the fire Plasmid and lighting up oil slicks felt really good, and it was cool how you could electrocute enemies by shocking all these pools of water they have laying around. Otherwise, Bioshock felt like an over-produced waste of time. The weapons feel mediocre at best, the writing felt flowery and over-emphasised, the game feels kind of linear, and in the years since its release, anything special or amazing about it has been cut-up and force-fed to gamers in top 10 lists along with all of these comment about how groundbreaking or amazing it is. A newcomer can conceivably know the whole game before they even play it, because people broadcast everything good about it so they can jerk it off. And for all I know, its innovations were taken and used in much more mechanically sound games in the future - making this one big "Seinfeld is Unfunny" moment.
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MrMallard posted...

I'm not a big fan of the setting

how dare you
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Though I will say - I'd be down to play System Shock 1 and/or 2. The setting sounds a lot more fun to me. I never got too into Portal, so it's not like I'm going to see SHODAN as a proto-GlaDOs and rip the series a new shitter for that. And I'm sure Bioshock is a decent enough game for its time. But nothing about it hits for me. Borderlands hit me with the audio diaries, and I played Fallout 3 which had the dated setting and crazy chaotic evil enemies (as did Borderlands) with much tighter controls. There was nothing new or entertaining for me when I got into Bioshock, and it was an unfortunate and frustrating disappointment.
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Bioshock was great outside of the gameplay. If you don't like it you're wrong.
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I'm not saying the game is bad, I'm saying I didn't like it. The production values are there, but it's far from perfect in the story or gameplay department - partially because of age, and partially because I feel like later games might have used Bioshock's best elements better than Bioshock itself did.
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MrMallard posted...

Though I will say - I'd be down to play System Shock 1 and/or 2. The setting sounds a lot more fun to me. I never got too into Portal, so it's not like I'm going to see SHODAN as a proto-GlaDOs and rip the series a new shitter for that.

Okay, I forgive you. SHODAN and GLaDOS have nothing in common aside from being female AI btw. I mean, this is nothing like GLaDOS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXPn6wcsUmk
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I think the setting is the best part tbqh, but I do agree that the level design isn't as open as in other "immersive sims" / first-person RPGs / RPG-"lite"s. Also, the game goes really downhill after the "twist".

I much prefer System Shock 2 all-round. I'd definitely recommend that.

Zurkon posted...

I'm not reading all that I just want to say Bioshock was fucking fantastic

this. whatever TC said is wrong. game was amazing. dunno how anyone could hate it unless they just don't like good games.

You are saying that bioshock was derivative of fallout 3 even though it was released almost one year earlier?

Am I being trolled? I feel like I'm being trolled.
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So basically, you think the plot sucks because you had it spoiled. Which is both your own fault (it's been out for a decade already, ffs) and a stupid opinion. The plot is pretty much universally regarded as fantastic.

I really have no idea what you're even referring to about the framerate, because I don't recall the game really having any significant framerate issues to speak of. The weapons all feel unique, and none of them really seem useless. They all have their own niches where they become really powerful. But you can easily play through the entire game with nothing more than a couple plasmids and the wrench if you want (and it's actually a lot of fun bashing Big Daddies into submission with the wrench, tbh).

The voice-acting was top notch, too. There's really nothing else to say. You may have quite possibly the worst opinion of all time.
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pegusus123456 posted...

MrMallard posted...

Though I will say - I'd be down to play System Shock 1 and/or 2. The setting sounds a lot more fun to me. I never got too into Portal, so it's not like I'm going to see SHODAN as a proto-GlaDOs and rip the series a new shitter for that.

Okay, I forgive you. SHODAN and GLaDOS have nothing in common aside from being female AI btw. I mean, this is nothing like GLaDOS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXPn6wcsUmk

I've heard the comparison that SHODAN is proto-GlaDOS because they're both female-sounding megalomaniacal AIs and stuff. SHODAN sounds much more like my sort of thing, while GlaDOS' humor has been regurgitated too much for me to really enjoy it.

C7D posted...

You are saying that bioshock was derivative of fallout 3 even though it was released almost one year earlier?

I'm saying I played Fallout 3 first, and already went through the whole post-apocalyptic 60's nostalgia wave (even though Bioshock's "apocalypse" is contained to its watery depths, and Fallout's 60's stuff is actually from like 2080-something). The setting did nothing for me, because I played Fallout 3 first and I felt that Fallout wore it better.
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Zurkon posted...

I'm not reading all that I just want to say Bioshock was fucking fantastic

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Aristoph posted...

So basically, you think the plot sucks because you had it spoiled. Which is both your own fault (it's been out for a decade already, ffs) and a stupid opinion. The plot is pretty much universally regarded as fantastic.

I wasn't into the game because I knew all the plot beats from different videos over the years. Watching those videos and getting spoiled? My fault, sure. But it still bugs me how openly some people will spoil Bioshock's big moments just for the chance to fellate the game for how immersive and groundbreaking it was.

I didn't buy a PS3 until 2014, so I never played Bioshock. I did own Fallout 3 and Borderlands on PC, but I never thought to play Bioshock until the trilogy was on sale for peanuts on PS3. I wasn't particularly excited for the game, but I was open-minded towards the game when I booted it up and I was hoping to have a good time.

The plot might very well be good. I'm not saying it isn't. I'm just saying that knowing what I know, experiencing the story feels like pulling teeth. I'm not into it.

I really have no idea what you're even referring to about the framerate, because I don't recall the game really having any significant framerate issues to speak of. The weapons all feel unique, and none of them really seem useless. They all have their own niches where they become really powerful. But you can easily play through the entire game with nothing more than a couple plasmids and the wrench if you want (and it's actually a lot of fun bashing Big Daddies into submission with the wrench, tbh).

This could be an issue with my TV. Everything looks kind of blurry and the colours just mush together. The splicer movements, and even the scenery as I move, feels kind of blurry and hokey - an issue I've experienced with older games like this and Red Faction: Guerilla, but not in newer games like Diablo and MGR with higher framerates. Regardless, it's the only TV I own, and it's how I experience games.

The weapons were interesting enough, but the controls as far as looking around and aiming go felt really cheap and floaty. Could easily be that my sensitivity is too high, though I also feel like there's a second of delay between me hitting the analogue stck and the camera actually moving. Same with hitting buttons. This delay isn't present in other games, though it could be an issue with my controller I guess, whatever.

The voice-acting was top notch, too. There's really nothing else to say. You may have quite possibly the worst opinion of all time.

The voice actors gave it their all, I agree. But I feel like there were VAs who oversold their lines. Again, that Big Daddy drill reveal cutscene with the two splicers was just there, and I hated it. The audio diaries do a good job of selling the setting, but that doesn't matter when I don't give a toss about the setting.

I don't mind if you think my opinion is bad, I posted it to explain why I'm not hot on Bioshock and it's cool if Bioshock is a game that you live by. In a way, it's venting a bit of bile that came with Bioshock being so disappointing for me. For what it's worth, I did go into it hoping to like it - and it really did suck that I didn't like it in the long run. Mostly because I don't like having those edgelord contrarian opinions, but also because I dropped like $20 on the whole trilogy.
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Waiting for Killer Is Dead to download. After that, Bioshock is going down the tubes.
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MrMallard posted...

Waiting for Killer Is Dead to download. After that, Bioshock is going down the tubes.

You played Killer7? The story is a completely mind-fuck from start to finish, and I love it. The gameplay is rather basic, but it's fun enough.

Zurkon posted...

I'm not reading all that I just want to say Bioshock was fucking fantastic

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You keep saying 60's, but you're off by two decades. The music and art styles are both from the 40's, in both games.
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StucklnMyPants posted...

You keep saying 60's, but you're off by two decades. The music and art styles are both from the 40's, in both games.

Aight. I guess I got turned off by another "throwback to another time" sort of dealie. My bad.

luigi13579 posted...

MrMallard posted...

Waiting for Killer Is Dead to download. After that, Bioshock is going down the tubes.

You played Killer7? The story is a completely mind-fuck from start to finish, and I love it. The gameplay is rather basic, but it's fun enough.

I haven't played Killer7. I've seen a review and heard good things, and the art style looks great. That's one of the reasons I've wanted to play Killer Is Dead for the longest time, I know it's not a direct connection but apparently the games are pretty similar in tone and art style.

Though apparently the Gigolo Mode of Killer Is Dead is excessive and dumb, and was prioritised by the publisher. I read that Grasshopper Manufacture were planning to add some more mature DLC, going along a more romantic feel, but the publisher was like "lol no, add more tits".
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Bump
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Irony posted...

Bioshock was great outside of the gameplay.

So...it sucked?
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I uninstalled Bioshock, but I still did't have enough room. Probably going to have to bite the bullet and finish Ratchet and Clank and Spyro 3, because aside from ME1 (which I want to have a constant presence on my hard drive) there aren't many other expendable, might-never-play-again games on there.
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The problem with Bioshock is that it forgot how good it was like halfway through. It's a completely different game after a point. It starts out with great atmosphere, you see shadows move, you've got the music, the record players, creepy baddies, etc. And then it just turns into a bad FPS and they stop building that atmosphere. The mechanics aren't strong enough to work solely as an FPS, and instead of adding variety to the enemies they just turn them into bullet sponges, especially the big daddies. And the final boss was awful.

decent story tho.
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Garbage opinion. Bioshock is one of the best games of all time.
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