toblix

BioShock Infinite

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On one hand I'm really interested in this game because of the design (esp. visua). On the other hand, from the trailers all I can see is COMBAT COMBAT COMBAT, HUGE BATTLES, and I think: meh, do I really want to play this? I probably do at some point, but I think I'm going to skip preordering or even buying it early and wait for Chirstmas or something.

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It's not that the trailers are so violent, it's that they're so focused on gunplay that we've all seen before (save for increased verticality). It's been two years since I saw this trailer:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=H0fDEA0BFSM

 

which is miles above (gameplay wise) anything i've seen since. obviously much of its content was scripted or very tightly orchestrated as I can't imagine any interactive experience proceeding as smoothly as this demo portrays. i'm just wondering if they actually figured out how to do this stuff. (NPCs interacting with you from miles away, autonomous NPCs acting in various ways, sometime violent sometimes not, different crowd and mob behaviors and so on). it's just so rich and alive and importantly: substantially iterative to Bioshock in ways I had never seen before. So my worry is that particular vision has been shelved in favor of a more straightforward shooter with some increased freedom of movement. Which we've seen several games nail pretty well already.

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Oh and there was this trailer in 2011 that had some pretty interesting NPC interaction starting at 5:46. That's the stuff that gets me excited for this game, not the gunplay. And from what I've heard, that's the stuff that's the hardest to implement. Really hoping they pulled it off.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_227007&feature=iv&src_vid=1kRKEusQzz0&v=Bbf2L62I6g8

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Yeah, one of the questions I'd love to see answered by reviews is whether the game would be better off with less/no combat.

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Bioshock 1 is essentially 100% combat -- it's a shooter.  At least in this one it looks like there is SOME interaction with NPCs that isn't shooting them.  Bioshock 1 felt so damn lonely.

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Remember that Irrational have been very open about how they're willing to present it as a combatty shooter to mislead uninformed consumers into giving it a try. In an ideal world, Bioshock could be open about what it is and sell itself on its merits, but we do not live in that world: we live in a world where a significant portion of the consumer base treats Call of Duty multiplayer as the gold standard to which all else must aspire. Irrational have taken a gamble - another gamble, as they did the same for Bioshock 1 - that the consumer who wants something with some thought and character interaction is an informed consumer, and so would probably know that's on offer even if they see advertising that doesn't specifically mention it.

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Yeah, one of the questions I'd love to see answered by reviews is whether the game would be better off with less/no combat.

 

I really am waiting for reviews on this, is it some sort of vertically gifted Halo, or a bit more Deus Ex-ish in it's stuff? I've been burned by far too many FPS's lately (Halo 1 is still the best pure co-op shooter ever made, Halo 4 is boring) and I'm just tired of it as a genre. Give me something different please, even something like Far Cry 3 with it's crazy animals and wacky driving is preferable.

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BioShock was really well balanced in my opinion, in terms of being a shooter (which only highlighted what I see as unbalance in SS2). But the stories and atmosphere were also fantastic. Very much like SS2 -- although maybe not quite as gripping.

I played it for writing, but I also enjoyed the gameplay.

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BioShock was great, but I do like more NPCs and safe zones to casually explore in my games. I was really enjoying the game for a while, but after I got some way past Neptune's Bounty I started getting really fatigued by the routine of killing splicers, neutralising cameras, taking down big daddies, and scavenging like a rat. I felt like by that point I'd experienced just about everything the game had to offer and the extra powers weren't doing much to keep me interested.

 

In some ways Dishonored reminds me a lot of BioShock (and Half-Life 2), and I think a large part of why I like it so much is because it's very generous about giving you sections with plenty of NPC interactions and the ability to explore safe havens, plus loads of books/notes/letters to discover and read. If they can deliver excellent shooter mechanics like in BioShock but with a bit more of that I'll be very happy indeed. :tup: Of course BioShock already did some of this as it did have the odd NPC and it did have the recordings. I just want more, damnit!

 

I just love discovering more about a game world through the environment. Dishonored does this incredibly well, I guess working with both Valve and Irrational did them some favours in that respect. A particularly potent memory from Dishonored is when I found my way into some out-the-way apartment a few stories up in an abandoned plague-infested area, and I found a woman sat in a chair and slumped over a table, recently deceased. There was fresh food and drink there, plus a note.

 

So I read it, and it was her diary detailing her husband first coming home a little ill, then him being destroyed by the plague, then her two children showing symptoms, her efforts to keep them comfortable by singing to them and stuff, her belief that her strongest daughter would pull through because she has such a character, then them both dying individually, and of course she had died too. I looked around the room and found three bodies wrapped in sheets on the bed, and next to them a book of children's stories she'd been reading to them (which you could also read).

 

Anyway, total tangent there but that was a properly effecting moment created by great use of environment and readables — the game is full of them. Hopefully BioShock at least has readables, they're even better than recordings IMO as there's a certain sadness to reading (rather than hearing) the last thoughts of a woman losing her family. Something about the lack of voice and acting makes these things more immersive for me.

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^ I think we can expect lots of moments like this. I'm favourite part of Bioshock was when you first met the teleporting splicer (was he a dentist?) You was chancing him and finding audio logs about his history and you finish by looting his safe and when you turn around he standing right fucking there. soiled pants

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This is why I hope one day as much money and effort will be put into a first person game without any shootings in it. Could be fun!

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This is why I hope one day as much money and effort will be put into a first person game without any shootings in it. Could be fun!

That's a very interesting idea. Hasn't it been done anywhere?

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Perhaps you could explore a humorous but dangerous underground facility staffed entirely by robots. You'd go through doors and solve puzzles. We could call it Door!

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If Mirrors Edge 2 ever sees the light of day i don't think they'd dare put guns in it, people would be so disappointed. Its the biggest criticism the first game gets, but to be honest i can't even remember firing a gun in it, obviously wasn't impactful enough to stick in my neurons 

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That's a very interesting idea. Hasn't it been done anywhere?

 

Perhaps you could explore a humorous but dangerous underground facility staffed entirely by robots. You'd go through doors and solve puzzles. We could call it Door!

 

Oh, right. Portal! (or Portal 2, if we're talking big budget..)

 

That and Mirror's Edge are the only examples I can think of of a big budget non-shooty first person game.

 

Hopefully after Gone Home is the mega-success it most surely will be, Gaynor will get piles of money to make a BIG version of a similar thing.

 

There's a couple of indie games out there that do this, but it would be nice to see someone really put some money and marketing behind such a thing. See how well a broader market would react to such a thing. I think there's potentially a lot of casual gamers who would love an immersive first person game experience, where you don't necessarily have to have fast reactionary skills and whatnot.

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That and Mirror's Edge are the only examples I can think of of a big budget non-shooty first person game.

 

Myst? Also, lots of flight sim/driving etc games.

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Yeah, one of the questions I'd love to see answered by reviews is whether the game would be better off with less/no combat.

It's an interesting question, but it's important to remember that Bioshock would probably never have been very popular if they hadn't screamed "WE SWEAR ITS A SHOOTER" during the run up to release about a million times.

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Big budgets are cool and everything but they're not what make games great and I doubt a "walk around and look at stuff" game is ever going to sell well enough to merit AAA money just like a more understated movie won't make as much as Transformers. Thirty Flights of Loving, Dear Esther, Gone Home, Myst (which did sell a ton but largely because of its puzzles, not its narrative, I'm guessing) and so on are more than enough to satisfy me though, assuming we get more like them. Who cares if the graphics aren't as nice as Infinite?

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Not to mention plenty of beautiful games are released every year on relatively modest budgets. As tech gets better, good artists are doing more with less. Fidelity is not as important as aesthetics to me. Journey is still hands down the most beautiful game I've ever played, and while its budget was probably bigger than most indie games, it still goes to show that a small team with skilled artists can make games that stand far above the arbitrary photorealistic standards that AAA games are measured by.

 

I just want to reiterate, my point wasn't about being appalled by the violence, I think it's fine that there's violence. I just am hoping that the gameplay videos of two years ago are still an accurate representation of how the game will play (as opposed to the commercials of today).

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The most interesting FP games for me in the last couple of years have been Amnesia and Miasmata. I'm already pretty sure BioShock Infinite won't qualify as such, but I'm still interested in playing it just to explore the awesome world they have created. And if it's anything like Dishonored more than BioShock 1, maybe I'll even enjoy it enough to not play on the easiest setting.

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If you liked Amnesia and Miasmata, you're gonna love Asmemtiam.

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This time tomorrow we will have seen the IGN review :owned:

 

count down to :cry:

 

if it doesn't get a 9.9 :finger:

 

:nuts:

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They've already said it'll blow us away. Only thing left for them to point out is that it's Far Cry 3 in the sky with guns.

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