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Anyone who thinks this looks like an improvement from the original should have their video game license revoked.

I wholeheartedly agree that its a step in the right direction. (Just look for google query history for Battle of Wounded Knee) Is it a 10/10 step? No. And if you call it a 10/10 step you're saying there's nothing left to be done, and that's what honestly concerns me. The bar has been set so low that anything that isn't about shooting terrorists in a fake iraq is heralded as unquestionable brilliance.

I'm not putting weight on it. They willingly put that stuff in there! They could have just made it a disneyland with an evil villain. (which is arguably, all it is) But they put the race and social struggle elements in there and I'm allowed to not be impressed with how that aspect of the plot played out. And the second point you make is what I was kind of referring to when I first posted the errant signal video. It's like: just because this game attempts to tackle big issues, it's not even conceivable to reviewers and fans that it maybe fails at properly addressing these issues. (hence all the "perfect" "10/10" reviews lauding the game)

I don't think you get to exhibit intense depictions of racism, bigotry and social struggle and then pretend your game is a lighthearted fantasy game. Clearly, they were going somewhere with the first act, and I don't think it's a stretch to say it wasn't developed to the point that an interesting or coherent statement was made.

The problem I come to in regards to Booker's violent nature justifying the gunplay is that the writing still can't help but cast him as an empathetic character. He feels guilty about his past, he feels horrified when Elizabeth hints at wanting to die rather than return to the tower. You can't have those emotions and then go and kill everyone in town. It's an entrenched video gamey dissonance. To the extent that I've grown used to that dissonance, this didn't deeply bother me, but I think it's a fair criticism to make.

This is a pretty damning critique of the game from Errant Signal. Still chewing on it, a lot of interesting points were made. What I came away thinking was... are our expectations of games so low that anything (at least in the AAA sphere) that even tries to be something more, something 'important' is instantly lauded as perfection? Relavent is Jake's comparison to Baz Luhrmann or Zak Snyder. Those directors make beautiful spectacles that contain zero substance. I'm wondering if a large part of why Bioshock comes off as so good, is its art direction alone. Because it does have a huge array of problems, many of which are elucidated here (though I don't agree with all his points, especially his distate for vigors). It's always a tradeoff between what a piece of art does well and what it does poorly. Errant Signal guy clearly thinks the poor outweighs the good. And he makes some persuasive arguments. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GJ2cSKBFBDQ

It seems rather self-fulfilling. Male gamers are the largest demo and thus are the ones primarily marketed to... making them the largest demo. So it must be extremely difficult to turn that boat around, and it's totally rad of them to make the attempt.

As usual, I'll refrain from judgement until the game is credibly reviewed. Outside of the game, I hugely appreciate the way Naughty Dog are handling the marketing end. From refusing to remove Ellie from the cover: (http://www.vg247.com/2012/12/12/the-last-of-us-acting-out-the-end-of-the-world/) to going out of their way to make sure female focus testers were being hired (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123139-Devs-Had-to-Demand-Female-Focus-Testers-for-The-Last-of-Us) Naughty Dog are totally sticking to their guns and making sure the classic demographic of white male gamers are not the only ones who are being spoken to in the lead-up to the game's release. (Looking you, Ken Levine) Which does give me hope for the quality of the content of the game itself.

Disagree with the assessment of hard. What I noticed is that hard requires you to be tactical with what vigors and equipment you use in a battle, especially towards the end. So the battles are actually more interesting and less reliant on guns. (the few times I switched to normal I was able to get by without even using vigors) If you're just hiding and taking potshots you're not getting everything out of the experience.

I agree that hard mode is well balanced, save for this fight (and i agree with everything soggybagel said here). I was able to play the second two iterations on hard only because I just kept running to vending machines for ammo. I think I spent a grand beating the second fight. I bet there's a strategy on how to approach this but I could not figure it out at all.

Tomb Raider does not do last seen position and it really ruins the combat scenarios for me. (The stealthy bits before the combat are good, but once the enemies spot you its a duck-behind-cover-headshoot all the way. Friend just noticed the similarity btw Bioshock and this PBF comic: i lol'd

The disempowering comment was more about Frenetic Pony's assertion that if you're able to kill enemies outside of stealth and aren't afraid to confront enemies, it's not stealth. Sorry if my whole post seemed directed at you, was just using your post as a jumping off point to address the last page or so.

I was just mad for him at being a lazy bones and hitting the snooze button while she ran off. I'm in the stage where I don't know if I like this or dislike BS:I. One thing that's currently killing me is the packrat nature of the game. I feel like it's watering down my experience that I'm constantly searching garbage cans and provisions barrels for pennies and snacks. I do enjoy the audio logs as always, but the gameyness of entering an area, turning around and seeing an obvious treasure laden dead-end is kind of disappointing. I should just stop picking stuff up but it's quite hard not to, its a compulsion I suffer from in games that I wish wasn't being tempted to this extent. I have no problem being a packrat in bethesda games where theres no rush, but the 'get the girl' storyline doesn't sensibly allow for searching every crevice of every area you visit.

I dunno, that just seems to fall into discussions of syntax and definitions which I generally don't think helps matters when it comes to judging the quality of something. Call Dishonored what you will, but the fact that you can complete the campaign without alerting or killing any guards makes it an example that can be used when discussing stealth in games. And I think it's an example of stealth done wonderfully. Stealth can be interpreted as being about disempowerment but really when you think about it stealth is the ultimate kind of empowerment. You are the ghost, the phantom (pain), hiding in the shadows completely unbeknownst to anyone. Some lord falls off a balcony or some jewel gets stolen and no one knows how or why, only that a couple of doors were open that shouldn't have been and a couple of glass bottles kept flying across the room and breaking. That's power that comes without having to exert violence! And Dishonored is excellent at doing this, and its what I love about its version of stealth (along with Mark's). I acknowledge that there's a kind of stealth where its about the panic of being seen. But I think it's myopic to think that's the only kind.

Jeeze guy, I'm not sure if there's a game that can ever exist that will satisfy you if those three are your examples of bad stealth.

*Pours out pint of grog*

Ok that makes me feel better. I've got the game installed and will start tonight so I'm sure I'll get through enough of the content to be able to listen to this tomorrow unspoiled. Can't wait (for either)!

I said the trailer looks unoriginal. I didn't say the game looks unoriginal. I can only comment on what I've seen.

It's amazing how close to the actual gameplay that Dishonored trailer is. What a phenomenal accomplishment. It's disappointing how unoriginal that Thief trailer looks. I guess it's the curse of being the oft-copied originator trying to compete in a much bigger pond (see: Prometheus, Episode 1)

Oh true. I should probably just quit the internet for today.

Hey was away on video game free vacation. Yes, it is! http://www.candb.com/en/artwork/133/mystery-prayer-i-k.html

Man, I hope they do Quackshot next!

Making of Hotline Miami (seen on: Venus Patrol) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PSGWCnFGrj0