Bioshock

[BrokenButterfly]

Is anyone else geared up for this game's impending release? Quite a few people seem to be totally oblivious to this game, and I'm worried that it's going to get nowhere near the reception it has the right to. (Although I can only judge from one review, which gave it an exceptional score nonetheless.)

I just think that this is a really imaginative game concept. The environment looks stunning, your foes certainly seem eerie enough, and the style and presentation of this world appear top-notch. I haven't looked forward to a horror game this much before, and I'm curious to see what other people's feelings are. If this thread plummets without trace I think it's likely no-one is interested, which would be a real shame.

[Ranis]

I don't think there's anyone who's not geared up for it's release. It's going to be amazing.

[Tengu]

This game will be more fun than a CD in a microwave oven!

[Stoneburr]

If my 360 didn't get the Red Rings of Doom, I would be crapping my pants right now. :smallfrown:

[Demented]

I'm not geared up for it.
In order to be anything close to the games it is honoring, it'll have to be far and away superior in gameplay to anything I've seen in various gameplay vids. Then again, most (but not all) of those were older vids, so maybe more recent ones have been released.

[BrokenButterfly]

I'm getting a new graphics card this week simply so that I will be able to play Bioshock upon release. Since it comes out with a while to go in the summer holidays, I get quite a bit of Rapture time :smallbiggrin: before I'm back.

In terms of reviews this has a 95% and a 10/10 from PC GAMER and OXM Magazine. They're the only reviews I've seen so far, but I've been terrified that Irrational weren't going to quite live up to phenomenally high expectations.

I suspect that the Splicers could well turn out to be my favourite game enemies of all time. They look so creepy, recognisably human but with the raging insanity and worrying masks. Since I'll be off, I reckon I'll pick this up on release day. I can pass for 18...*fingers (at least) crossed*...

[Destro_Yersul]

WANT. That is all. :smallbiggrin:

Bioshock, from what I've seen, is going to be a truly amazing game.

[Tom_Violence]

Hmm, a very good review from PC Gamer means I shall be instantly wary of this game now. They're not exactly a source I trust.

[Jibar]

I'm buying an X Box 360 just for this and Assassin's Creed.
Soon enough, Rapture is going to see a guy running away shocking stuff into Oblivion with lightning powers that could kill everything in the sea.
No longer will I be Jibar, I will become Thor himself, and I shall strike down my foes with such contempt that Zeus will come down and challange me!
Bwahahaha!

[Tengu]

Is it wise to literally shoot lightnings from your arse when you're underwater?

[Jibar]

Yes.
Yes it is.

On an unrelated note, I wonder if there's a passive power that will make me immune to electricity.

[hanzo66]

I played a demo of the game. 'Tis awesome. Zapping enemies when they're standing upon water and taking headshots on them is indeed a cool experience.

[The Evil Thing]

Since I'll be off, I reckon I'll pick this up on release day. I can pass for 18...*fingers (at least) crossed*...
Mail order, FTW. (http://shop.gameplay.co.uk/webstore/advanced_search.asp?keyword=bioshock&platform=ALL&ref=HOMEPAGE)


Hmm, a very good review from PC Gamer means I shall be instantly wary of this game now. They're not exactly a source I trust.
It's true they tend to be very generous of games they get exclusive reviews of, but they can't go too far wrong. My own estimated score is enough to warrant buying it. (That, and that Big Daddy figurine too, naturally)


I'm buying an X Box 360 just for this and Assassin's Creed.
You do realise that Irrational are supposedly providing a "PC Only" set of options? Wouldn't the money be better spent on a new graphics card? :smalltongue:

[Jibar]

You do realise that Irrational are supposedly providing a "PC Only" set of options? Wouldn't the money be better spent on a new graphics card? :smalltongue:

I'm having to uninstall a bunch of stuff just to get Dawn of War onto my computer right now.
It'd cost quite a bit to get my computer capable of playing Bioshock. Plus, I get a 360, I can maybe dip into some of those XBox titles I missed.

[The Evil Thing]

You're going to have to upgrade eventually, compadre. Start with an extra Hard drive. :smallsmile:

[blackout]

:smallamused: Gonna kill me some bad guys!

[Belteshazzar]

If Bioshock gets people revved up about these types of games, then maybe some friendly game company will pick the System Shock franchise that inspired it out of the ashes of it's broken company and return to me the glory and the terror that is SHODAN. However in the meanwhile I am going to lay some serious hurt on some splicin fools. Oh yeah plasmid needle come to papa mmhh, yeah.

[The Evil Thing]

Given the current track record for sequels made in the era where PC games are merely console ports (cross-platform is a lie! :smalltongue:) - Deus Ex 2, we're looking at you - I'd much rather they left the System Shock series well alone. Actually, I'd prefer it if they created some method of reliably running both games on modern operating systems rather than forcing players to tinker around for hours on end.

[Deleran]

Just played the demo off live. Awesome.

[ufo]

Post #9 to #11 of this thread is made of pure win in context...

Well, people yell all these fantastic things about BioShock. Sadly, I'm not into horror. I almost crapped my pants while playing the first chapter of HL2, and I was horrified while watching mah friend play FEAR.

[Demented]

Post #9 to #11 of this thread is made of pure win in context...

Well, people yell all these fantastic things about BioShock. Sadly, I'm not into horror. I almost crapped my pants while playing the first chapter of HL2, and I was horrified while watching mah friend play FEAR.

First chapter of HL2?
But that was just the trainstation! ???

[Hermit]

You know I'm really hating this recent trend where game demos turn up on Live a week before they're on my PC, and I'm forced to wait :p

As for the cross platform business, reading the PC gamer review it sounds like it's not just a port. Things like the hacking mechanism were changed in the PC version to be mouse driven, for example, and the PC has a load more bindable buttons for plasmids, weapons and the like.

And I still dream of the day System Shock 1 and 2 turn up on Steam, fully functional. They seem to be putting more and more classic oldies on it, though I'm not holding my breath. Would be nice though.

[BrokenButterfly]

Everyone hails System Shock as a stunning example of the horror gaming genre, and I've had a demo for a few months now. Unfortunately whenever I tried to boot it up and actually try the game it tended to go "Not Responding" after one minute, if that. So I uninstalled it. So I would also love it if SS2 could become easily availabe, as long as I knew that it worked.

I don't think that it's fair releasing BS as a demo for the 360 yet not for the PC. I wouldn't get the demo for the PC anyway, since I don't want anything spoiling this game for me (I've seen more than enough gameplay footage to know this is for me). But this is as much a PC game as a console game. Arguably more in fact, since there are more options available on the PC that not only make it more playable on the format, but I reckon make the game more enjoyable.

[Ranis]

You know I'm really hating this recent trend where game demos turn up on Live a week before they're on my PC, and I'm forced to wait :p

There's a simple solution, my friend.

Buy a 360.

And stop pretending you're gaming on a PC. :smallbiggrin:

[Triaxx]

As soon as you stop trying to pretend you're gaming on a 360.

[keeganknorr]

there's a demo on the 360? Why am I not downloading it? *runs*

[Hermit]

There's a simple solution, my friend.

Buy a 360.

And stop pretending you're gaming on a PC. :smallbiggrin:

Oh hush. My brother has a 360, just hasn't got it connected to the net, and has no Live subscription. And my PC handles games far better than a console anyways. :p Also I hate with a passion trying to play FPS games with a pad. Mouse and keyboard is much more sensible.

[Jibar]

Gametrailers stuck up some new trailers, and I swear on the Plasmid Powers one, he uses telekinesis to catch one of the fireballs a Splicer throws at him.
If that's what actually happened, I am even more impressed with this game.

Edit for Raaaaaanis: I knew you could catch grenades, but the fireballs too? Holy crapping Monkey Fist.

[Ranis]

Yeah, that's what actually happened, JIbar. You can catch the grenades people throw at you as well. And just about anything else.

[Archonic Energy]

excuse me....


NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!1!ONE!!1

my laptop just died & i doupt my desktop can handle it... :smallfrown:

[Hermit]

excuse me....


NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!1!ONE!!1

my laptop just died & i doupt my desktop can handle it... :smallfrown:

Ouch, that sucks. Upgrade time by the sounds of it.

Also just found out that when/if the PC demo is released, it'll be a Fileplanet exclusive, so no way I'll bother downloading it before the game is released (On the 24th in Europe).

[....]

Comes out this Tuesday, right?

I have it marked on the calender at work and everyone kept asking me wtf "Bioshock" was, if maybe I needed to go to the doctor that day.

So I wrote, "will be awesome" next to it.

And I can't wait, been looking forward to this game for almost a year now. One of the reasons I got a 360.

[Jibar]

That reminds me. I was gonna buy my 360 from reward money for my GCSE results.
Crap. Now I really am worried about that.
Bad results = No Bioshock...

:eek:

But... but Thor must live. He must destroy all life.

That's a point, how many already know they're gonna brutalise every Little Sister possible?
*raises hand*
Daddy needs himself some Adam.

[....]

Will you actually be able to harm Little Sisters? Ever video I've seen has just shown the guy advancing on them menacingly.

It'd be really ballsy for Bioshock to let you main/kill children. First mainstream game I've ever heard of doing it.

[Saint George]

You could murder kids in Fallout 2. It was a bad idea though. Branded you as a child killer forever.

But oh how I really wanted to shoot those little brats in the Den.

[Mysticaloctopus]

You're going to have to upgrade eventually, compadre. Start with an extra Hard drive. :smallsmile:

Being forced into a new hard drive by a dead old one is the reason I can't upgrade anything else. You can only shave a bit off the price by massively lowering the capacity, so at the moment the most economical place to be when buying a new HDD is 750 gigs.

Still, that's plenty of space to burn bandwidth on. As we say, "Zomg, sauce! Rapidsh*t plox!"

Oh, and yes you do kill the little sisters, by "extracting" the ADAM from them. Screen blacks out when it happens, you only get sound. This is a reading from the Book of Wikipedia.

[Archonic Energy]

Ouch, that sucks. Upgrade time by the sounds of it.


i doupt i'll get a new laptop in time for Bioshock... the earliest delivery time is late september... i've had it for about a year & a half... and this is the third time it's died...

time to spend £2000 on a Rock laptop me thinks!

i hate playing 1st person games with joypads...

[Hermit]

Will you actually be able to harm Little Sisters? Ever video I've seen has just shown the guy advancing on them menacingly.

As I understand from the PC Gamer review, you can't shoot them (There's a lore-based reason given, likely some sort of genetic shield), but if you take out their Big Daddies you can grab the Little Sister and either kill it for it's Adam, or perform some sort of Brain Slug removal/Exorcism. You get a lot less Adam this way, but you do save them.

[Mr._Blinky]

Checking their site, GameInformer also gave Bioshock a 10. While I don't always agree with them on everything (they only gave Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, one of my favorite games ever, a 7.5), I've found that they're generally withing an acceptable margin of my own thoughts. So if they gave it a 10, which they don't do often, I expect it'll be at least very good, if not excellent.

[Neon Knight]

I hope they get that PC demo out soon. I have a 360, but it went red ring of death on me.

[Demented]

Considering that Steam is making a big deal about being able to pre-order Bioshock, the demo might be featured on there when the time comes.

[Mysticaloctopus]

I hope they get that PC demo out soon. I have a 360, but it went red ring of death on me.

Didn't M$ extend the warranties on 360s because of the storm of red rings? Can't you send it back?

[....]

Comes out tomorrow. Zomg.

[Jibar]

I have been presented with a conundrum. First though, a musing based on this conundrum.

I'm wondering quite how people will approach this game. The varied gameplay, wide marketability, deep plot and unqiue storytelling lends itself for many different people.
For example, fans of the FPS genre will treat the game as one. Bypassing some of the deeper elements of the plot and only just adsorbing the basic details, they will pick up the guns and plasmids, and blast their way through.
Fans of the FPRPG will approach the game as one, experimenting with plasmid builds and using them to their full possibilities, setting up complex traps and turning security systems to their side.

Now, I'm going to be on the Roleplaying side. I'm going to be making a character from the blank slate that is Jack, and trying to fit all my experiences in game around this character, which is where my conundrum arises.
Harvesting Little Sisters will give you more ADAM, but saving them will grant you better Plasmids in the long run.
Jack is a very short term driven man, giving in to base... lusts, and as a part of this wants to harvest as much ADAM as he can. As a player though, I'm far more interested in these long term benefits. I don't want to comprimise my Jack, but I also want to get those bigger Plasmids (Super Electro Bolt! :smallbiggrin: )

My conundrum. part Tycho-esque musings on the playing of games, part actualy problem.

[....]

I wonder if the main character will talk, or be more like Gordon?

[Dr._Weird]

Didn't M$ extend the warranties on 360s because of the storm of red rings? Can't you send it back?

Yeah, they did, and since mine just went RRoD on me (:smallmad: ), I'm gonna send it in. I guess my gaming is restricted to PS2 and computer for the next few weeks.

*fires up FFIX*

[Destro_Yersul]

I'm buying a 360 on Thursday. I would buy it sooner, but sooner is not payday. I will be getting this game, preferably limited edition. (6" Big Daddy! WOOO!)

In summary: WANT

[Saint George]

Awesome, I just bought the game for the PC and I successfully spent 50 bucks on a coaster.

Thanks 2K! I appreciate it.


Edit:

Oh, heads up for anyone buying the PC version. It comes with its own free trojan horse. Isn't that exciting?

[Elidyr]

Everyone hails System Shock as a stunning example of the horror gaming genre, and I've had a demo for a few months now. Unfortunately whenever I tried to boot it up and actually try the game it tended to go "Not Responding" after one minute, if that. So I uninstalled it. So I would also love it if SS2 could become easily availabe, as long as I knew that it worked.


Get the Win 2000/XP patch for SS2, it fixes the compatibilty issues with Win XP. Works just fine for me.

[Cubey]

Harvesting Little Sisters will give you more ADAM, but saving them will grant you better Plasmids in the long run.

Really? If so... I really do not like this change. The game used to be designed in a way that saving Little Sisters gave you only a little ADAM and nothing more, and as such was an interesting play on the concept of utility vs morality. If you get better Plasmids by being "good", it kinda negates the point - and more than that, it actually moralises, showing off evil actions (killing Little Sisters is nothing but evil, let's face it) as giving short-term rewards but hurting you in the long term.

EDIT: Not that I mind morality, but the game was *supposed* to be so as to let you literally get away with being as evil as you can on the way, to see how much of morality and humanity the main character will throw away in order to survive and overcome difficulties in such an extreme condition.

[Jibar]

Well, I'm not sure there's that much of a difference. Your better Plasmids are a reward in the future, but you use Adam to buy Plasmids anyway, so getting more at the time will let you buy better Plasmids then.
I think... this is just me musing, as I won't get the game until Saturday at the earliest, but I think that you're gonna end up the same level of power anyway. Think about it, those better Plasmids are balancing out the higher number of them us Sister-Bashers are gonna be collecting.
So, in the end, Good and Evil are balanced.

[Snipers_Promise]

Im in the medical pavilion and so far it is the best game i have ever played.

[Cubey]

Well, I believe that the game's premise wasn't for good and evil to be equal, but for evil to provide greater benefits, as when following the good path you not losing your morality/humanity would be a reward of its own.

I'm disappointed on that, BUT I am sure the game will be awesome even so.

[Jibar]

Making it balanced though does add to the conflict.
If evil is clearly better off, people would jump straight to it, but by balancing it out, you really are only faced with the options, kill the little girl, or save her? Now people actually don't have anything to sway them. Now it really boils down to murder or a rescue, as they hoped for when it began. The KoToR games made the mistake of making Evil characters generally better off, so many people just naturally went that way. But now Bioshock presents nothing but your own code of ethics and a little girl with something you need.

[Setra]

I really need to get this game.

I downloaded (and completed) the demo.

I'm getting set-zombiethings-on-fire withdrawls.

On another note, anyone else find hacking fun?

[Snipers_Promise]

I do. And i even got a big daddy avatar.

[Dragor]

Saving up money for Bioshock. Sounds like the most original thing to have come out in recent years- shame I have no money. :smallfrown:

[Captain van der Decken]

Making it balanced though does add to the conflict.
If evil is clearly better off, people would jump straight to it, but by balancing it out, you really are only faced with the options, kill the little girl, or save her? Now people actually don't have anything to sway them. Now it really boils down to murder or a rescue, as they hoped for when it began. The KoToR games made the mistake of making Evil characters generally better off, so many people just naturally went that way. But now Bioshock presents nothing but your own code of ethics and a little girl with something you need.


Being evil to people in general and killing little girls are two different barrels o' fish. I'd expect less people will jump at the idea. Slightly less, at any rate.

[Jibar]

Being evil to people in general and killing little girls are two different barrels o' fish. I'd expect less people will jump at the idea. Slightly less, at any rate.

I dunno. I hate to admit it, but people's morality does seem to change as soon as they hit a video game. I've got friends who are absolute asses all the time, but are as Light Side as possible on a game.

[Ranis]

Bioshock is by far the best game I have ever played.

Ever.

It's totally immersive and gives you 5-10 ways to evade or blast through any given situation. You can make traps or use stealth as your ally. The storyline is simply genius and I'm going to get more replay value out of Bioshock than I did Oblivion, and that's saying something.

[Leliel]

Really? If so... I really do not like this change. The game used to be designed in a way that saving Little Sisters gave you only a little ADAM and nothing more, and as such was an interesting play on the concept of utility vs morality. If you get better Plasmids by being "good", it kinda negates the point - and more than that, it actually moralises, showing off evil actions (killing Little Sisters is nothing but evil, let's face it) as giving short-term rewards but hurting you in the long term.

EDIT: Not that I mind morality, but the game was *supposed* to be so as to let you literally get away with being as evil as you can on the way, to see how much of morality and humanity the main character will throw away in order to survive and overcome difficulties in such an extreme condition.
Hate to burst your bubble, but during the game, you find out that a guy named Atlus wants you to kill the Little Sisters so that you can save his family with your superpowers-an action I would call the "high road" at the very worst. True, you meet the scientist who created the Little Sisters too, but she's a Nazi. That one fact alone tends to make saving them "morally ambiguoious"at best. Would you help out the Third Reich?:smallwink:

[Deleran]

Hate to burst your bubble, but during the game, you find out that a guy named Atlus wants you to kill the Little Sisters so that you can save his family with your superpowers-an action I would call the "high road" at the very worst. True, you meet the scientist who created the Little Sisters too, but she's a Nazi. That one fact alone tends to make saving them "morally ambiguoious"at best. Would you help out the Third Reich?:smallwink:

You haven't gotten far in the game yet, obviously, and you'd do well to avoid spoilerizing stuff. But I'll just say everything isn't as it seems. My note: this game is really intense.

[Leliel]

Actually, I haven't played it: I just read the articles about it and read that bit of information, and I just felt the need to set the record straight.

Then again, my information is incomplete, as you just pointed out, so don't mind me.

[Captain van der Decken]

I dunno. I hate to admit it, but people's morality does seem to change as soon as they hit a video game. I've got friends who are absolute asses all the time, but are as Light Side as possible on a game.

Werrrrl, the thing about video games is how much you can disassociate it with real life. People's true leanings can show, and at the same time people can be completely different. It depends on how immersive it is, too. I probably wouldn't give murdering on a game like BG a second thought (apart from the game enforced drawbacks), but a first person game, unlikely. Less likely, anyway. :smalltongue:

[Destro_Yersul]

Well, I now own both Bioshock and a 360. Let me just say this: it is awesome.

That is all.

[Actana]

This really isn't fair. Bioshock came out today where I live. And I'm stuck at home, sick, and with my super-powered computer being repaired... Life just isn't fair... :smallfrown:

[Hermit]

Got the PC version yesterday. Runs like a dream and the game is pure class. Still a bit pissed off about all the SecuROM and Limited installations nonsense, but thats more down to 2K's rediculous attempts at Anti-Piracy. The Irrational folks deserve all the praise they've been getting, and then some.

[Archonic Energy]

ok... i got it!


now can someone lend me a pc that'll run it?

[Ranis]

ok... i got it!


now can someone lend me a pc that'll run it?

Or you could just get a 360 and not worry about whether or not you have to upgrade software every time you get a new game. :D

[Pwenet]

I just beat it.

Easily one of the best games I have ever played. I feel no regret trading in Oblivion to help pay for it.

I was "light". I plan on playing it again, going "dark".

Very well done, and it easily sucks you right in.

10/10 here.

[Meeeeebit]

Oh my god you guys stop making it hard for me!
My b'days in 4 days and cant decide wether too get bioshock or Oblivion.
Grrrr.:smallmad:

[Ranis]

Oh my god you guys stop making it hard for me!
My b'days in 4 days and cant decide wether too get bioshock or Oblivion.
Grrrr.:smallmad:

Bioshock. Oblivion will go down in price sooner so you can pick it up for cheaper.

Also, your signature is entirely too large.

[Setra]

Oh my god you guys stop making it hard for me!
My b'days in 4 days and cant decide wether too get bioshock or Oblivion.
Grrrr.:smallmad:
Ha! I've been trying to decide that for a while now. I want Bioshock, but I have the feeling Oblivion would get more playtime. It's a tough choice.

Also, try to shrink your sig.

[Mysticaloctopus]

Well as far as computers go, Oblivion is, I believe, less demanding. However, right now I'm waiting for those nice media pirates to strip the DRM out of Bioshock. Yep, according to /. it's got a boop boop boop fnord rootkit stuck inside the PC version. I'm quite happy to buy it, but once I have the right to play it, I'll choose to install it from a source that won't be, in my eyes, malicious. What really bugs me about this is that even the demo (which I never downloaded, I've already used too much bandwidth this month) installs it. Putting copy protection/tracking inside of a demo that doesn't need registering is just downright creepy.

[Archonic Energy]

Or you could just get a 360 and not worry about whether or not you have to upgrade software every time you get a new game. :D

read page 1/2 for my problem...

i have a system capable of running BS but it's not working at the moment.
also (as i have stated) i dislike using control pads in FPS games.

as for BS/Obl.... i'd go with Ranis, the price for oblivon will drop soon or it'll be in a 2 for £25 deal...

[Captain van der Decken]

:smalltongue:

That's a .. nice acronym for it.

[Archonic Energy]

:smalltongue:

That's a .. nice acronym for it.

i did think that but concidering we are on a thread dedicated to it i thought "they'd understand"
:smalltongue:

[Hermit]

Yeah, the whole rootkit, limted number of install nonsense I'm hoping will be hacked out of the game soon enough. I had no problems buying the game (Beat it today on the good path, brilliant from start to finish IMO), but hopefully the crack will come out before I'm left with a CD with as much use as a coaster.

They also dropped the ball on SM3 as well. One of my mates is thoroughly pissed, as the box says all you need is a 3D card with 128mb of memory, and no mention of it requiring SM3. Needless to say, it won't run on his x800.

[Archonic Energy]

They also dropped the ball on SM3 as well. One of my mates is thoroughly pissed, as the box says all you need is a 3D card with 128mb of memory, and no mention of it requiring SM3. Needless to say, it won't run on his x800.

now i know you're not talking about Super Mario 3....

SM3?

[Hermit]

now i know you're not talking about Super Mario 3....

SM3?

Shader Model 3.0. Basically a more powerful shader system only really on cards from the last 2-3 years or so. So there's a fair number of people with Shader Model 2.0 cards who are rather angry that the requirement for Shader Model 3.0 wasn't on the box.
Still, guess it just forces them to upgrade, really.

[The Evil Thing]

I have bought the Special Edition. Now I am the proud owner of a (scaled-down) Big Daddy figurine. Yipeee! :smallbiggrin: (It also comes with this really cool game called Bioshock, but I haven't done much with that yet.)

Also, Dx10 settings FTW.

[Mysticaloctopus]

Shader Model 3.0. Basically a more powerful shader system only really on cards from the last 2-3 years or so. So there's a fair number of people with Shader Model 2.0 cards who are rather angry that the requirement for Shader Model 3.0 wasn't on the box.
Still, guess it just forces them to upgrade, really.

Bugger, I hadn't heard that. Guess I won't be buying it after all. Well, this box of mine isn't getting any younger

I need to replace the processor, which means buying a new motherboard at the same time, which may also mean I need new RAM, then I'll need a new graphics card soon enough too... And I don't have that kind of cash, not at all.

[Jibar]

There are some guys in the community who are working on a fix for the Shader Model 3, but I don't know if you're gonna get anything official on the subject.

[Meeeeebit]

Bioshock. Oblivion will go down in price sooner so you can pick it up for cheaper.

Also, your signature is entirely too large.

What makes you thin my signature is too big?:smallsmile:

[Hermit]

What makes you thin my signature is too big?:smallsmile:

Official Forum Sig guidelines (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/announcement.php?a=39)

You're well outside the limits :p

[Meeeeebit]

Ha! I've been trying to decide that for a while now. I want Bioshock, but I have the feeling Oblivion would get more playtime. It's a tough choice.

Also, try to shrink your sig.

Soz for double post but i just gotta say this...

Why again do you people think my sig is sooo big i cant see anything?:smallbiggrin: Though i have'nt actual looked at it either really...

[Kiren]

get bioshock, oblivion needs alot to run good, bioshock runs awesome

[Setra]

get bioshock, oblivion needs alot to run good, bioshock runs awesome
What if a person can run anything?

My computer can <_<

Well pretty much anything, it might not work well with older games.


Soz for double post but i just gotta say this...

Why again do you people think my sig is sooo big i cant see anything?:smallbiggrin: Though i have'nt actual looked at it either really...

Well your sig is like...

~
~
~
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`

`
`
`
` That big.

[Actana]

I'd say get Bioshock, even though I don't have it yet. (I so hope they have Special Editions left tomorrow!)

Oblivion is well... Quite meh... Don't take this the wrong way, it is a great game, but its just... Well, boring after a time, especially on the 360, where no mods are available. It just boils down to run, kill, fast travel, talk, fast travel, kill etc. Its fun though, but Bioshock just has the feeling with it. And while Oblivion's graphics are great, the environment is quite boring. Its forests, grasslands, forests, snow and forests, swamp and forests, forests and forests, snow, mountains, mountains and forests. You get the idea.


As I said, I haven't played Bioshock yet, but my hopes are very high.

Hope that helped. :smallsmile:

[Corvus]

Just finished in on the good path. Had to turn the graphics down a bit to avoid repeated CTDs and BSODs unfortunatley.

Went the good path 'cause, even though it is just a game, I couldn't really harm a little girl. The good path's end is touching.


During the course of the game you find out you have been artificially aged, so that at 1 year old you appear 18. From the good paths cut scene at the end, did anyone else think you continued to age rapidly? The little sisters are woman, but still apparantely young women

[Ranis]

I seriously think it's going to be a war between Bioshock and Halo 3 for Game of the Year this year. Nintendo may outsell them, but as far as quality goes, Microsoft definitely has the bag, especially with Mistwalker Studios now with them, a Banjo Kazooie game in the works, and well...uh...Bioshock.

BIG DADDY SMASH!

[Destro_Yersul]

Yes, but when big daddy smashes near me, big daddy is shortly dead or on my side. BWAHAHAHAHA!

*watches big daddy smash enemies*

[Actana]

I just got my copy today morning. And now I'm just waiting for my computer to arrive. The box looks so cool! I'm dying to get to play it.

[Mr._Blinky]

Just killed my first Big Daddy.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! *BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!* AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! *BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!* AAAAAAAA-!!!!!! *CRUNCH!*

[Jacob_Gallagher]

I hate the copy protection. You can only ever have it installed on two computers. And, SecuROM installs such that it is nearly impossible to remove, and seems to have Ring 0 access (To put it simply, it can play God with your PC).

I also dislike how it's just a shooter. The devs promised it would be a successor to System Shock 2- gone is the inventory, the skills, everything that made SS2 an RPG. Bioshock is just a glorified shooter.

But it's a damn good one. I'm just not going to buy the PC version- I'll buy a 360 with the holiday price drop, and find Bioshock cheap.

Also, does anyone else find the total lack of penalty for death disturbing? Whenever you die, you just respawn at a Vita-Chamber for no cost. Why the hell don't the Splicers use them? In SS2, it had a cost to use, left you with very little health,and if you hadn't activated it yet on the level, you'd simply die. In Bioshock, they're always on, cost nothing, give you half health and Eve, and there's so many that it's never more than 10-15 seconds back to where you died.

[The Evil Thing]

It probably a combination of the realisation that people are just going to hit the quickload key if they die. The penalty for death was negligible to begin with, so why not simply make dying as inconvenient as possible. If you think it's cheap, then whenever you die, simply restart the level (or just end the game if you're playing Ironman).

[Hermit]

Also, does anyone else find the total lack of penalty for death disturbing? Whenever you die, you just respawn at a Vita-Chamber for no cost. Why the hell don't the Splicers use them? In SS2, it had a cost to use, left you with very little health,and if you hadn't activated it yet on the level, you'd simply die. In Bioshock, they're always on, cost nothing, give you half health and Eve, and there's so many that it's never more than 10-15 seconds back to where you died.

My guess was it was put in because the 360 has no quicksave option. While it might have been interesting if they'd penalised you a bit more. Maybe most of your items could be left at the spot where you died, meaning you'd need to go retrieve them relying only on your plasmids. Or possibly some sort of temporary weakening of your character (perhaps for 10 minutes health and eve can only stay at 50%, or you can't use plasmids or something), thus not overly penalising you, but still making it less exploitable. I found that with a couple of the Big Daddies near the end there was no need to waste medkits on the fights - Just fight by a Vita-chamber and dying was a non-issue.
But then, there's a few things which feel like they've been simplified due it's multi-platform nature. Nothing that really bothers me, but it's a little annoying that you can't see what components you've got without finding a U-Invent, for example.
That said it's still a fantastic game. Hopefully they'll release some tools to the mod community soon, I'd love to see what others could do with the game.

[Archonic Energy]

I hate the copy protection. You can only ever have it installed on two computers.

for starters it's been upped to 5.
for seconders do you have more than 2 PCs capable of running it?
for thirders if so can i borrow one?

[Hermit]

for starters it's been upped to 5.
for seconders do you have more than 2 PCs capable of running it?
for thirders if so can i borrow one?

I think most people's complaint with it was that initially SecuROM's software didn't refund the install properly, and as such after two installs it was unusable.

To add insult to injury emails to SecuROM gave a response blaming 2K, and vice versa. Still, it's sorted now which is the main thing.

Also, I can run it on both my main PC and my laptop, does that count?

[Kain_Tempest]

Just finished in on the good path. Had to turn the graphics down a bit to avoid repeated CTDs and BSODs unfortunatley.

Went the good path 'cause, even though it is just a game, I couldn't really harm a little girl. The good path's end is touching.

Indeed, I teared up a bit at the end. Found the final boss to be downright disappointing, as compared to my first Big Daddy, or some of the splicer ambushes.

Later on the game felt a little too easy, this was because I managed to land the covetted chameleon tonic. Stop moving, and you are invisible to nearly all enemies. Made killing patrolls a snap, and gave more than enough reason to upgrade the pistol to get those nice and easy headshots or to snap a picture. (Though for some reason, Leadhead Splicers still seemed to be made of titanium with the amount of bullets I put in them as compared to others.)

After you get the chemical thrower, Big Daddy's are a snap thanks to Electric Gel. Just get behind one and push down the trigger. Coarse, if you want to save some gel, have the shotgun handy to nock the last few bits of health to bring that bad boy down.

Is it just me or did anyone else not give much play time to the crossbow or felt the machine gun was underpowered?

Now I want to play the game over again as evil, but also to find all of the tapes.

As for the protagonists aging, I think it was more of a convenience issue plot wise. The character quickly grows up to be 18 in a years time simply so that the antagonist gets his Christmas present a little sooner. Either that was ignored for the ending, or the character was intended to age normally after that.

[Archonic Energy]

I think most people's complaint with it was that initially SecuROM's software didn't refund the install properly, and as such after two installs it was unusable.

To add insult to injury emails to SecuROM gave a response blaming 2K, and vice versa. Still, it's sorted now which is the main thing.

Also, I can run it on both my main PC and my laptop, does that count?

yes.
my gaming rig died recently... can i borrow your laptop?

please send it to:

Archonic Energy
123 Fake street
London
UK
Earth
Sol
The milky way
the universe
SW1a 4XX

i take no responseability if you actually decide to send it to this obviously fake address,

[Destro_Yersul]

Is it just me or did anyone else not give much play time to the crossbow or felt the machine gun was underpowered?

The Machine gun is only good if you use the proper ammo for the job. If you don't, it is a bit weak. The crossbow, on the other hand, is the greatest weapon ever. One hit headshots for splicers, and it takes huge chunks off the health of everything else.

[Hermit]

The Machine gun is only good if you use the proper ammo for the job. If you don't, it is a bit weak. The crossbow, on the other hand, is the greatest weapon ever. One hit headshots for splicers, and it takes huge chunks off the health of everything else.

Yeah, the machine gun is quite powerful if you've got your damage boosts from photos and enough of the Antipersonnel or AP rounds.

And Trap Bolts are godly. Tripping up Big Daddies FtW.

[Tom_Violence]

Quick query about this game - I was thinking of getting it for PC but then I heard about all the horrible horrible issues surrounding doing that, so I figured that perhaps the 360 version would be a better idea. What's the real difference between the two?

[Ranis]

Umm....you'll never have to worry about upgrading your 360 to play Bioshock? Or any games that come out for it, for that matter? You also don't have to use a mouse. That's a plus.

[Archonic Energy]

Quick query about this game - I was thinking of getting it for PC but then I heard about all the horrible horrible issues surrounding doing that, so I figured that perhaps the 360 version would be a better idea. What's the real difference between the two?

erm... the control interface.

[Jacob_Gallagher]

The 360 graphics are slightly inferior to the PC ones- but I mean the middle settings for PC. Most people would be running with the graphics at or lower than the 360's level. There is no quicksave, the game is made easier because it's harder to get headshots with a controller, and some plasmids that are disabled in the PC version will be available as a content download for 360 (and, hopefully, PC as well somewhere down the line).

I'm getting the 360 version, just to avoid all this BS on the PC one.

And I REALLY hate the Vita-Chambers. You can easily kill a Big Daddy by running up to him, wrenching him a few times, die, respawn, repeat. You don't need strategy, you don't need tactics, you just need the Big Daddy to stay reasonably near the Vita-Chamber so you don't get bored running back to him each time.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CBEJ2v-74gw

Look at that video! Even on hard, all he has to do is shoot, respawn, repeat.

[Ranis]

game is made easier because it's harder to get headshots with a controller,

I could never, ever hit anything with a mouse. I don't see how anyone can.

Also, I always load my save when I die. The vita-chamber nonsense makes the game far too easy.

[Morrandir]

Well, I could never hit anything with the dumb little joystick, but give me a mouse, and it's a headshot extravaganza.

I do plan to get this game at some point, but I'm going to hold off until the installation issues are covered.

[Deleran]

Well, I could never hit anything with the dumb little joystick, but give me a mouse, and it's a headshot extravaganza.

I do plan to get this game at some point, but I'm going to hold off until the installation issues are covered.

As someone with quite a bit of experience with each, the mouse is way easier. I'd say my overall review of Bioshock is this: from a gaming perspective, it had some flaws. I felt it peaked around the middle of the game and fell off from there for a couple of reasons (plot and difficulty). However, I think it has much more to offer than a gameplay experience, which saves it from being more than just a pretty good shooter.

[The Evil Thing]

Quick query about this game - I was thinking of getting it for PC but then I heard about all the horrible horrible issues surrounding doing that, so I figured that perhaps the 360 version would be a better idea. What's the real difference between the two?
DirectX 10

For those of us still living in the past (:smallwink:) there are also a greater variety of difficulty options. There's also a combat 'menu' of sorts which allows you to quickly select a plasmid and ammo/weapon combination rather than faffing about with mouse wheel and the various number and function keys. (Of course, you can still do that as well.)

[Mysticaloctopus]

I find in general, mouse and keyboard give me much much more control, but then again I use a razer copperhead mouse - so I can adjust the sensitivity on the fly to allow for a fast movement or real sniping precision, but even before I had this thing I found that mouse > joystick for accuracy.


DirectX 10

Eew, vista! I like my network to run at full speed when I have music playing, thankyouverymuch.

[Morrandir]

DirectX 10


I prefer my computer to actually run, thank you.

Can't believe I can run Oblivion on max settings while fighting dozens of creeps, and starting Vista causes slowdown...

You are attempting to badmouth Windows Vista, cancel or allow? (Allow...)

Regardless, I notice that it's sold out at a couple of stores I'd buy this from. Must be popular.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Grr....I really want this game...but I'm worried it's gonna be too horror-ish, so I'm gonna try and try it at my friend's house first (any game is much less scary with a friend around).

Still, I really want it...

[Ranis]

It's pretty freaking scary, especially toward the end. Think Resident Evil smooshed into Oblivion smooshed into Portal. You're getting close then.

[Jacob_Gallagher]

...except that there is no scare when you can logically say, 'Ooh! Red eyes in the darkness! I think I'll HIT THEM WITH MY WRENCH!', die, respawn, and go kill it easily,

[Hermit]

...except that there is no scare when you can logically say, 'Ooh! Red eyes in the darkness! I think I'll HIT THEM WITH MY WRENCH!', die, respawn, and go kill it easily,

I in fact think it gets a lot less scary later in the game. on my second play through now, on hard, and I'm again finding that by the halfway point you really are a tooled up killing machine. Got near enoguh max research bonus on everything, and plasmids and gene tonics coming out of my ears. I can kill all types of splicers in one hit using the old 'One-two Punch' lightning-wrench combo.

[Destro_Yersul]

Even those ones that pop up later and seem to be immune to electricity? I hate those ones. Never could get them to... *freezes and bashes with wrench till they kersplode*

It's a lot scarier if you don't use the research cam. Ever.

[Hermit]

Even those ones that pop up later and seem to be immune to electricity? I hate those ones. Never could get them to... *freezes and bashes with wrench till they kersplode*

It's a lot scarier if you don't use the research cam. Ever.

I'm up to Fort Frolic at the moment so I don't think I've bumped into any immmune ones yet. A couple of the boss ones in Fort Frolic were immune, but I just threw their explosives back at them and then charged in with the wrench.

[Leon]

BioWhat

Didnt know about it till i read about it in PC Powerplay

[Ranis]

BioWhat

Didnt know about it till i read about it in PC Powerplay

Doest thou live under a boulder?

[....]

Also, does anyone else find the total lack of penalty for death disturbing? Whenever you die, you just respawn at a Vita-Chamber for no cost. Why the hell don't the Splicers use them?

The splicers and other people don't use them because they only work for Andrew Ryan. Since Jack is Ryan's son, they work for him too. Atlas never expected Jack to come after him, so it makes sense that while Ryan was locked up in Hephastus, he'd hack the chambers and make it so that they only worked for Jack. It cheap, yes, but at least it has a resonable acceptable explanation.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Hmm....so I just played through the demo for the PC, and it wasn't that bad. It was actually kind of funny. Maybe I'm just wierd :smalltongue:

[Cubey]

System Shock 1 and 2 had "respawn stations" too, and it didn't make the games any less scary.

[Hermit]

System Shock 1 and 2 had "respawn stations" too, and it didn't make the games any less scary.

It's really the complete lack of any kind of penalty that I think makes it far less scary. Even the Big Daddies aren't that fearsome when you can just wrench them to death in between respawns. Like I suggested before, temporary plasmid weakening or something would prevent such easy exploits.

And now I'm nearing the end of the game on my second run, and I'm still convinced the wrench is the best weapon in the game when it's powered up with plasmids and research. can't quite one-hit stunned enemies anymore, but got bloodlust now too which means I'm practically invincible hacking away in close quaters unless I'm hit by an explosive of some kind. Only ever break out the guns for the Big Daddies, and this is on hard too. Highly entertaining though. :D

[....]

The game's difficulty could be a bit harder. I was kind of disapointed once I fully upgraded my grenade launcher and could just spam Big Daddies to death with it standing two feet away.

Still, hearing a splicer walk up and down a hall singing, "Jesus Loves Me" is pretty chilling.

[Destro_Yersul]

That and the lighting effects are what make it creepy. And the houdini splicers, and the spider splicers.

Not to mention the little sisters. Those things are creepy as hell...

[Korias]

For those of you with the PC Version, does it come with an option to tone the graphics down? Yes, who would do that, but My computer is crap. Currently, it will be on a computer that can run WOW, B&W II, KoToR, and Halo with ease, but Will it run Bioshock? I dont have full details, but is it possible to play without that intense graphica feel? If I can run those games, can I run Bioshock?

[Vespe Ratavo]

I have the demo, and I know that yes, you can tone down the graphics. Still pretty good (although not great).

I'm getting it for 360 though. :smallcool:

[Korias]

I have the demo, and I know that yes, you can tone down the graphics. Still pretty good (although not great).

I'm getting it for 360 though. :smallcool:

Where can I get the demo?

[Vespe Ratavo]

Linky (http://files.filefront.com/BioShock_PC_Demo_FF.zip/;8363410;/fileinfo.html)

Fair warning though, I've heard it comes with some kind of freaky rootkit or something. Whatever, I say.

Oh, and by the way, this demo is 100% Wimp Certified as being not scary. :smallbiggrin: Tad short though. :smallfrown:

[Hermit]

Also, as I mentioned earlier, you'll have to have a SM3 3D card in your computer, so check yours is before buying it (Most cards from the last 3 years or so should be. IIRC its the Geforce 6 series and newer, and the Radeon X1000 series and newer).

There is a group woring on a fan patch to try and fix it so it'll run on SM2.0 cards, but its a ways off yet.

[Korias]

Linky (http://files.filefront.com/BioShock_PC_Demo_FF.zip/;8363410;/fileinfo.html)

Fair warning though, I've heard it comes with some kind of freaky rootkit or something. Whatever, I say.

Oh, and by the way, this demo is 100% Wimp Certified as being not scary. :smallbiggrin: Tad short though. :smallfrown:

Vespe, it wont run. It keeps having errors when setting up.

Is their another version I can download, or will I have to buy the game to experience it?

[Leon]

Doest thou live under a boulder?

Maybe.
But now that ive read more about it, ive not missed much

[Archonic Energy]

Maybe.
But now that ive read more about it, ive not missed much

BURN THE HERETIC!!!

sorry...
force of habit :smalltongue:


Vespe, it wont run. It keeps having errors when setting up.

that's probably a good indication that your PC won't run the game.

[Ranis]

Maybe.
But now that ive read more about it, ive not missed much

Yeah, well, your loss.

[Jibar]

Speaking of heresy, I have a 360 now, without BioShock.
Why?
Because while staying round my friend's home, we settled down to play some BioShock, and unfortunately my friend did not know how close he was to the end.
:smalltongue:
So, I'm going to wait a while for it to be driven from my mind, and then pick it up.

(For the record, he saved every Little Sister)

[Semidi]

Feelings:

I liked being able to respawn, because I only did it at truly frustrating moments or when I died stupidly. I looked at it like an extension of the difficulty system, if you respawn every time and spam the big daddy you've set the game difficulty to ridiculously easy. However, if you go through it like a normal FPS; it's challenging.

What I did like: (Spoiler free)

Some of the plasmids were just cool--I liked the hornet one in particular. So dang freaky.

A few of the weapons; I liked the chemical thrower, the crossbow, and the wrench.

The splicers being all creepy when left alone.

The ambiance with the music, the architecture, and the general mood.

What I didn't like: (Spoilers marked)

The second half of the game, became too cookie cutter.

After Atlas turns out to be a bad guy; I sorta predicted that whole plot twist, which made it less than great

The enemies only came in Two flavors. Though the two flavors have a few subsets:


Thuggish Splicers
Leadhead Splicers
Spider Splicers
Pyro(? grenade guys) Splicers
Houdini Splicers
Tougher Leadhead
Bouncer (only one so he doesn't really count)
Rosie
Elite Bouncer
Elite Rosie


Fights became too easy as the game went on. I hate it when the game actually gets easier, the most challenging part, what? Twenty minutes or so into the game.

The final bossfight was ridiculously easy

General feelings: If this was a run of the mill FPS; it would be “Meh.” The creepy horror aspects in it boost it into the levels of pretty good.

[Hermit]

Fights became too easy as the game went on. I hate it when the game actually gets easier, the most challenging part, what? Twenty minutes or so into the game.


Yeah, this is what I find too. The one thing I think does this is that basically you're using loads of tonics and plasmids by this point, the enemy aren't. I really expected to see some Splicers using a wide variety of powers against you later in the game. Considering all these people are supposed to have spliced up so much that their brains are mush, and considering all these various tonics and plasmids are easily available on any street corner, they don't seem to use them.

Would have been cool to see Splicers undoing your hacking on security cameras by using the security bullseye, for example, or have splicers using the hypnotize big daddy plasmid to forcibly draw them into the fight as well.

Edit: Fancied putting down a few thoughts on the 'Bad' ending, and didn't want to double-post.
Really liked the bad ending. I was worried that it wasn't going to be much different from the good one, as for no explicable reason Tenenbaum still saves you and lets you get help from the little sisters despite the fact you keep killing them, which I thought was odd :p. Still, I have my own splicer army and a nuclear sub now, so its all good :D

Also, discovered today that you can attach proximity mines to your friendly security bots, and then when they swoosh off to attack the enemy they detonate. Genius.

[BrokenButterfly]

I checked this thread yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised to see the surge of posts (I feel bad when my threads fizzle out). I decided to finish the game before posting up on this forum, and I finished the game early today.

My thoughts:

I thought that the game was a graphical marvel, from the opening swim to the architectural style to the water effects. The sounds were stunning, (I always like hearing Splicers whistling as they wander about, or the cute lines from the Little Sisters).

I completely understand what people are saying when they felt that the game peaked midway:
I don't know about anyone else, but Fort Frolic was something I was desperate to play through. A masterpiece of a level, from the first flash of neon signs lighting up, to the piano explosion and the "classical" battle against Cohen's minions. I think when you have the glitz and glamour in one level, it's inevitable that a downer is placed on the rest. Industry and science isn't going to hold as much interest after that, I suppose. Although the Little Wonders Educational Facility was a highlight for me.
EDIT:I forgot Olympus Heights/Apollo Square. They blew me away too. So I reckon it's just Arcadia and Hephaestus that bored me a little.

Weaponswise: I tended to fumble about when it came to switching weapons, and so I went through most of the game wielding the pistol and wrench. I also feel that the tommy gun doesn't feel right, but the crossbow makes the final battle disappointingly laughable. The wrench steals the show for me since it was so satisfying to use, and it could be boosted up to silly levels of power. (I removed the Winter's Grasp tonic because I felt it made the game too easy).

On the issue of death: I only died once, so I didn't really utilise the Vita-Chambers. First-Aid Kits are everywhere, and I was whizzing through it on Easy anyway.
The death was infuriating though, and was a real lowpoint for me, since I felt it was wholy unjustified. Ryan had triggered an alarm, sending a bunch of bots after me. I shocked one and tried to hack it. The hack was one of those impossible (put me off hacking) hacks, so I took so much damage from the short circuit I got killed by a bullet before I could think of first aiding...

I played through the Light way, which I found very enjoyable.
The ending didn't exactly mist me up, but I loved waking up in Tenenbaum's Safehouse and seeing the girls sitting around, playing like little girls for once. That sequence actually made me feel like it had all been worth it, rather than the ending to the game. I wish I could've gone back there after leaving :smallfrown:

So all in all, I enjoyed this game immensely. It's been a while since a game has been able to create such atmosphere and draw me into it's world so effectively (the last one was Shadow of the Colossus I reckon). One of the few "short" games I would wholeheartedly recommend. 9.7/10.

PS. A quick question to the other completists:
I went through the game gathering as many audios as I could, and I liked seeing how certain characters ended up (especially Suchong :smalltongue: ). But I felt that the Diane McClintock story went unresolved. The last tape I got was in Atlas' Headquarters, as she talks about an ADAM raid. Was there another tape after that? And if so, where was it?

[Hermit]

PS. A quick question to the other completists:
I went through the game gathering as many audios as I could, and I liked seeing how certain characters ended up (especially Suchong :smalltongue: ). But I felt that the Diane McClintock story went unresolved. The last tape I got was in Atlas' Headquarters, as she talks about an ADAM raid. Was there another tape after that? And if so, where was it?

There is one more bit of info on her, not a lot though:
There's another tape machine hidden in Atlas' headquaters, which has Fontaine yammering on about how stupid the population is, and so on. At the end, Diane interrupts him and he slips right back into Atlas's voice. The last thing on the tape is him saying something like "Ah, Miss McClintock, please, come in. Let me just... turn this off..."
The implication seems to be that he kills her because he's afraid she overheard him.

[....]

So, the Big Daddies are humans? I wish they had explained a little more on what they were. Did I miss a journal or something?

And did anyone else get dissapointed that when you became a Big Daddy, you didn't get a screw-hand or a bolt gun or even gloves?

And, were those supposed to be chains tattooed on Jack's wrists? It'd make sense.

[Hermit]

So, the Big Daddies are humans? I wish they had explained a little more on what they were. Did I miss a journal or something?

And did anyone else get dissapointed that when you became a Big Daddy, you didn't get a screw-hand or a bolt gun or even gloves?

And, were those supposed to be chains tattooed on Jack's wrists? It'd make sense.

I thought it wierd in the Good ending that I seemed able to go live on the surface again, dispite the fact that Fontaine, Tenenbaum, and the journals from Suchong in the Big Daddy labs all suggested it was a one way process.

As for the chain tattoos, they're supposed to be there, no idea why though. I had some theory that you were an escaped prisoner, but apparently that wasn't the case.

[Destro_Yersul]

I think the chains might just be a way to recognize Jack, seeing as you never see his face. They could also be representative of the "Great chain" you see represented throughout Rapture.

[Korias]

that's probably a good indication that your PC won't run the game.

Well, thats royaly going to suck. It keeps telling me that there's an error in the Bioshock.exe program. and it has to close.

[Hermit]

Well, thats royaly going to suck. It keeps telling me that there's an error in the Bioshock.exe program. and it has to close.

What's your video card, out of interest?

[Tom_Violence]

Got another quick query - is this game just a standard shooter or is there more to it than that?

[Saint George]

Well, thats royaly going to suck. It keeps telling me that there's an error in the Bioshock.exe program. and it has to close.

Welcome to my eternal hell.

[Korias]

What's your video card, out of interest?

I think its "Intell Graphics Media Accelerator 9000".

[Ranis]

Got another quick query - is this game just a standard shooter or is there more to it than that?

In two words,

HELLS YES.

[Annarrkkii]

"Hell Yes," while emphatic, does not in fact answer an "A or B" question...

The game is a relatively standard shooter—reminiscent of Half-Life, if less original, in many ways thematically—but with a few interesting twists to give it increased intensity and intrigue. The foremost twist being the absolutely fascinating NPC interactions and monologues that take place if you just sit and watch a splicer or Lil' Sister for a while—it's the only game I can imagine doing that for.

I, personally, was underwhelmed after all the hype. A friend enthusiastically told me that they hired a whole team to do the graphics for the water alone. After having seen the game, my reaction was to advise that they transfer some of the water graphics designers to slightly more pertinent roles.

Though the water was stunning.

[Hermit]

I think its "Intell Graphics Media Accelerator 9000".

There is no way that card will ever run Bioshock.

You'll need an ATI 1000 series or higher, or a GeForce6 series or higher

[Mr._Blinky]

For those of you complaining about Vita-Chambers, there's an easy solution, which is what I did. Just don't use them. Seriously, I refuse to use the Vita-Chambers, so every time I die I just reload. That simple.

[NullAshton]

For those of you complaining about Vita-Chambers, there's an easy solution, which is what I did. Just don't use them. Seriously, I refuse to use the Vita-Chambers, so every time I die I just reload. That simple.

That.... would be kind of silly. You get penalized more for using the vitachambers than save/loading, because if you went TO the vitachambers chances are that you used up most of your first aid packs, and a lot of your ammo, because of some mistake you did.

[Mysticaloctopus]

I've not played, but I guess vita-chambers are a kind of tradeoff.

They save time and effort - you're often respawning closer to where you died than where you last saved, but you lose EVE, ammo and items.

[Korias]

There is no way that card will ever run Bioshock.

You'll need an ATI 1000 series or higher, or a GeForce6 series or higher

*Slams head against wall*

WHY! Why does this cruel world prevent me of gaming expedition! I must seek out more...

Good thing I'm getting a new computer.

[Ranis]

You know, you could get a 360 and not worry about your hardware becoming outdated every time a new game comes out....

[Archonic Energy]

You know, you could get a 360 and not worry about your hardware becoming outdated every time a new game comes out....

... but you'll have to worry about increased game prices & replacing the console every 6 months because of the red rings of death. :smalltongue:

[Ranis]

... but you'll have to worry about increased game prices & replacing the console every 6 months because of the red rings of death. :smalltongue:

1. Bioshock is the same price for the PC as it is for the 360.

2. Red Rings of Death happen due to people not taking care of their systems. I have literally *never* had a problem with mine because I attack it with a can of compressed air bi-weekly and keep it in a well-ventilated area; I also never scratch my discs. All of my friends who have had to replace theirs have stepped on theirs, dropped it, or some other silliness. Bottom line: treat it as fragilely as you would a real computer, and nothing bad will happen.

[Jibar]

Wahpoomph!
I just realised the answer to all the complaints people had with the ending.
Of course becoming a Big Daddy isn't a two way street, but you never become a Big Daddy!
Big Daddys are genetically altered like the Little Sisters, but you never go through that alteration. All you did was put on a suit, change your voice and make yourself smell funny. Frank thought you were gonna go all the way, that's why he was trying to convince you otherwise.
Gah, see, now it makes sense!

[grimsavatar]

Anyone finished the game and what ending did everyone get? theres three good, evil and a third i don't know bout

[Destro_Yersul]

I got good. I am unable to kill little girls...

[Archonic Energy]

1. Bioshock is the same price for the PC as it is for the 360.

Game
360 = £39.99 (http://www.game.co.uk/ViewProduct.aspx?cat=11299&mid=328591)
PC = £29.99 £24.99 (http://www.game.co.uk/ViewProduct.aspx?cat=11142&mid=328754)
Amazon
360 = £44.99 £39.99 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Take-2-Bioshock-Xbox-360/dp/B000V1VZMK/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4/203-0237088-2163971?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1188897220&sr=8-4)
PC = £34.99 £24.98 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Take-2-Bioshock-PC/dp/B000V1VZNE/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/203-0237088-2163971?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1188897220&sr=8-3)
Play.com
360 = £39.99 (http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/3440268/BioShock/Product.html)
PC = £29.99 (http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/1063383/BioShock/Product.html)
Hmv
360 = 39.99 (http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;-1;-1;-1&sku=695261)
PC = £25.99 (http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;-1;-1;-1&sku=695258)
need i continue?:smalltongue:

as for point 2... i'll take your word on it.

[Hermit]

Anyone finished the game and what ending did everyone get? theres three good, evil and a third i don't know bout

I've seen 2 of the endings ingame, spoiler follows on the third one:
The third ending is very similar to the Bad ending, and you get it if you save quite a few sisters but still harvest some at the end. The only difference is Tenebaum's voiceover on the ending movie. She's speaking sadly, rather than angrily, about your decision to go kill the world with your splicer army. Dug a video for it up on youtube because I've been through twice already, and need a bit of a break from Bioshock :p

[Jacob_Gallagher]

That.... would be kind of silly. You get penalized more for using the vitachambers than save/loading, because if you went TO the vitachambers chances are that you used up most of your first aid packs, and a lot of your ammo, because of some mistake you did.

Are you KIDDING ME? With the vita-chamber, you can just spawn, run up to an enemy, wrench him, die, respawn, repeat. If you don't use medkits or eve hypos (since you get both when you respawn) you can just keep fighting without any loss of resources at all. How is that more challenging than save/reload?

[Tom_Violence]

"Hell Yes," while emphatic, does not in fact answer an "A or B" question...

The game is a relatively standard shooter—reminiscent of Half-Life, if less original, in many ways thematically—but with a few interesting twists to give it increased intensity and intrigue. The foremost twist being the absolutely fascinating NPC interactions and monologues that take place if you just sit and watch a splicer or Lil' Sister for a while—it's the only game I can imagine doing that for.

I, personally, was underwhelmed after all the hype. A friend enthusiastically told me that they hired a whole team to do the graphics for the water alone. After having seen the game, my reaction was to advise that they transfer some of the water graphics designers to slightly more pertinent roles.

Though the water was stunning.

You have my thanks. Ranis gets a pat on the back for effort.

The reason for my asking was that I remember hearing stories about it being a 'spiritual successor' to Deus Ex, or perhaps System Shock, with all the slants on the FPS genre that those games so effectively nurtured. It has indeed been incredibly hyped, which is strangely the main lure towards me possibly getting it, but if it really is just a case of running around shooting things while occasionally doing absolutely nothing in order to squeeze some variation out of it then I think I can probably safely give it a miss.

[Ranis]

If you're deciding on going one way or the other, then rent it. You'll be glad you did.

[Pyro]

Hmmm, both games are very good, so either willdo now, but I would get both eventually.

Anyway, this game was awesome! The gameplay was pretty fun. I mean the vortex trap was so much fun. Blowing people into the air then zapping them when they hit the water is so much fun. I think my only gripe about the gameplay was that it was too easy at parts and the devs extended parts too much. There was way too much ADAM/ammo to play around with and some weapons were just over powered. And did you really need to become a big daddy? That just made the climax drag.

My only other note is that I think it lost its creepiness later on, and became more standard shooterish. I think if they limited the ammo more I wouldn't have been so bold. Final thing, did anyone find the plasmid that blew groups of enemies back. I was looking through the video files and saw one like that, but I never saw it in the game.

[Vespe Ratavo]

And did you really need to become a big daddy? That just made the climax drag.

...
Well thanks for spoiling it for me. :smallannoyed:

[theKOT]

Bioshock is more fun to play than Halo 2, Gears of War, or Twilight Princess. It definitely lives up to my expectations (about 6 hours in), although I'm a bit glad I didn't start getting excited about it until July so I didn't get over-hyped.

Buy it, rent it, borrow it, but make sure you play it.

[Scroofy]

I've been playing this game for about a week now, just an hour or so a day, and I think it is definetly one of the best shooters released. The environment is so immersive and being able to do almost whatever you want is really cool. I myself have been doing the not so right thing with the little sisters (H key ftw!:smallamused: ) I'm not that far into it though and I don't want to give anything away, but needless to say it is definelty worth the money I payed.

[Jacob_Gallagher]

...
Well thanks for spoiling it for me. :smallannoyed:

He's wrong, actually. Play it and see.

[EloquentRune]

i havent played the game my self but i watch my roommate and his best friend play it every day. It looks amazing. It has this dark creapy feel that just begs you to play it more.

[Archonic Energy]

need... to... wait... one... week... for... new... Gaming... rig...
must... not... buy... 360...
so... tempted...
must... resist...
must... play... Bioshock...

need... to... find... friend... with... 360... &... Bioshock...


AAARRRRGGGHHH!

[banjo1985]

I've been tempted by this since I bought my 360 earlier this week. Just a dumb question really, should I get this based on the fact I'm not a big fan of First-person shooters?

For the record I don't like Halo, or any of those war sims like Medal of Honour. However I love Quake, Doom and the Unreal games, as well as the old Call of Cthulhu game on the original Xbox.

Which is this game closest to, and based on my preferences, should I get it?

[Freelance Henchman]

Late to the thread, just wanted to add my 2 Euro-Cents:

I got it for the PC, playing on a Core2Duo 6300, 1 GB RAM, with a 128 MB Geforce 6800 non-ultra. It took an evening to get it to run, mostly because I stupidly installed those Beta-NVIDIA-drivers to game recommends, which didn't like my card at all. After reinstalling the old v93.x or something drivers, I at least got to the intro screen. Sound was choppy and GFX seemed slow and "halting", so I updated my sound drivers (onboard Realtek). No dice. Played around with GFX options, turned off everything and set to 800x600 resolution. OK, seems to run now, but looks ugly. Turned on post-processing, looks much better. Turning on high-detail shaders crashes PC massively. Playable now at 800x600 and looks quite good, though not necessarily über-stunning.

So much for the technical trouble. Rather a lot of work to get this running.

The game itself is definitely fun, I played through it in a couple of days on Medium (I just got back from the US, where I bought it on a whim, and had a couple of days vacation left to get rid of the jetlag). I wouldn't say its a revolution in gameplay, but it is fun. The plasmids/tonics give the game a Deus Ex-like feel, but the "What biomod should I install" question is not as final as it was in DE because you can always swap them around later. Stealthy play is apparently possible but I didnt bother with it (unlike for example the Thief games, where I enjoyed it a lot). The story and atmosphere is good, but I didn't think it was revolutionary either apart from the underwater thing. The enemies start repeating their lines fairly quickly. I didnt use the Vita-chambers, reloading instead.

All in all, a good game, but doesn't really live up to the hype. Gameplay reminded me of Doom3 often, but the DeusEx/SystemShock-like elements thankfully make it not nearly as mindnumbing as D3. It certainly is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Is it worth the money? I think yes, there is a lot to see, and the world is very detailed. I will definitely play it through at least one more time.

PS: In summary I would describe Bioshock as a simplified under-water Deus Ex with less emphasis on the stealth element. Fans of shooters-with-a-story like Half-life 1/2 (who also like RPG-like elements like System Shock/Deus Ex had) will most likely enjoy it.

[Hermit]

Stealthy play is apparently possible but I didnt bother with it (unlike for example the Thief games, where I enjoyed it a lot).


I'd like to run through the game again at some point playing it stealthy, but the PC really needs an added sneak key, as otherwise you have to play most of the game crouched down on the floor.
Might be something added with a patch.

[Freelance Henchman]

I'd like to run through the game again at some point playing it stealthy, but the PC really needs an added sneak key, as otherwise you have to play most of the game crouched down on the floor.
Might be something added with a patch.

Stealth seemed a lot less vital than in Deus Ex or Thief though, Bioshock is definitely more a shooter than a sneaker I'd say.

[Hermit]

Stealth seemed a lot less vital than in Deus Ex or Thief though, Bioshock is definitely more a shooter than a sneaker I'd say.

Oh definately. But tonics like Wrench lurker are rather useless when you can't actually move slow enough to quiet your footsteps. Plus, I always like to play games like this in various different ways. I've been through Deus Ex stealthy and utterly trigger happy, for example. I also reckon it'd be interesting to try and get through the game without using unneccesary plasmids (In other words, all you actually NEED to finish the game is Incinerate for a few iced doors, lightning for the locked doors, and Telekinesis for that one blocked door). And if there's any hope of doing this, stealth would be a must :p

[Pyro]

...
Well thanks for spoiling it for me. :smallannoyed:

Sorry, I'm so sorry. But it's different than it sounds. I would say more but it would be like digging myself deeper into a hole.

[Ranis]

need... to... wait... one... week... for... new... Gaming... rig...
must... not... buy... 360...
so... tempted...
must... resist...
must... play... Bioshock...

need... to... find... friend... with... 360... &... Bioshock...


AAARRRRGGGHHH!

Give in! You must! Muahahaha! Get your 360 and enjoy!!!

[The 6th Side]

Wow, just completed it, what an epic game!
however I was a bit dissapointed at how rushed the final cutscene seemed, also beong a big daddy was very un-epic when mixed with the crappy helmet and the annoying little sisters :/ when they were'nt dieing they were standing on your way

[Freelance Henchman]

Wow, just completed it, what an epic game!
however I was a bit dissapointed at how rushed the final cutscene seemed, also beong a big daddy was very un-epic when mixed with the crappy helmet and the annoying little sisters :/ when they were'nt dieing they were standing on your way

Yes, that was basically an escort mission, and everyone just *loves* those, right? *rolls eyes*

[Cybren]

While I find the game enjoyable I can't help but feel its simultaneous console development and release hurt the game the same way it did Deus Ex 2.

[Pyro]

You really felt that way? I thought they spent a lot of making different interfaces for the console and the PC and such. Well I didn't notice anything, but it probably could have been a lot worse.

[....]

I play Bioshock stealthy. Although being 'stealthy' in Bioshock isn't like being stealthy in other games.

Instead of sneaking up on people and one-shotting them, you sneak over and hit several splicers with Enrage, or Security Bullseye, or hack a camera/turret. Or you use the Natural Camo tonic to snipe people with the crossbow (although I really have a tough time making headshots).

Nothing better than laying ambushes with trap-bolts and hacked turrets, though.

[WampaX]

Sound Problems preventing me from playing . . .
no sound or crackling/popping slow sound render the game unplayable.

I am sad.

I would probably be more sad if this was happening on an old warhorse of a computer, but this is brand new (first upgrade in 9 years) and I'm content to wait for patches or a work-around while I borrow games I've missed out on over the past 5-6 years.

[Archonic Energy]

Give in! You must! Muahahaha! Get your 360 and enjoy!!!

#somewhere, beyond the sea, someone's waiting for meeeee#

i upgraded my old desktop...
yes Ranis a 360 would have been cheaper but the PSU on the Desktop was on the way out and while i had it opened.....

new motherboard
new processor
new RAM
new DVD ROM (this too was on it's way out)
new Graphics card. (i spent as much on the GC as i did on the MB & processor! bloody Nvidia)

i installed it to see if it would play it... and it does!
yay!

[Muz]

"Look, Big Daddy! It's Regular Daddy!" --Ralph Wiggum

I'm only through the first (maybe?) third of the game, but here's my experience so far on PC:

Getting the game to run: I've got the minimum requirements on the box, but all minimums are not equal, it seems. GeForce 7800GT with 1GB RAM got me going okay with the demo (if I turned the settings down), but the full game would always crash out of the bathysphere no matter what I tried. Thank the gods of Newegg.com for giving me another GB of RAM for $40, though, because once that was in, the game played just fine (though I still had to turn off ONE of the graphics settings. It would still run but it would get a little choppy...though it'd LOOK gorgeous). Once I put in the RAM I even noticed I was getting more detail in the pre-bathysphere areas without having to change settings.

Oh, and I've heard of people having issues that suddenly went away when switching the virtual memory back to "system managed," if that helps anyone.

Pretty enjoyable game so far. After getting the electroshock and telekinesis plasmids, I felt like Palpatine...if he'd had a wrench. (And on a side note, The Phantom Wrench would make a great movie).

I HAVE encountered something that, while not technically a bug, IS a little frustrating. Essentially it's an issue with having so much freedom I screwed up the game...unless I'm wrong. Those of you who've gotten through Neptune's Bounty, take a look and tell me if I'm just missing something:


After I got the camera in the wharf master's office, I THOUGHT I'd taken a picture of the spider splicer behind the window there in the same room, and then went on where the window is broken (with the security tag plasmid on the ledge), dropping down to go through to the hotel area and such--I forget the name just now. I took the picture of the spider splicer in the hotel, then took the picture of the one across the hall (Jet something?), but discovered I only had two pictures. At this point I realized I only THOUGHT I took the picture of the first splicer--my fault likely due to multiple reloads in there to try different things--so I went back there to get that picture.

The problem is, in the spot right below where the wharfmaster's office window is broken, the door below is still closed--I hear it opens when you've got all 3 pics--and I can't get back up to go back in the window. I can NEARLY get there by jumping on things, but can't quite reach the ledge.

Do I have any choice but to reload the game before I get the camera and do it all over again? As I type this I wonder if I can kill myself right below the window and respawn somewhere on the other side...might try that when I get home, actually. Other thoughts?

Edit: My respawn idea didn't work. :smallsmile:

[Logic]

Game Informer gave this game a 10 out of 10. Rarely done, and usually it warrants attention.

Does anyone agree with this assesment? I will be basing this on how soon I get this game.

[The 6th Side]

Game Informer gave this game a 10 out of 10. Rarely done, and usually it warrants attention.

Does anyone agree with this assesment? I will be basing this on how soon I get this game.

No. No game is flawless. For me it gets a 9. I know this doesnt change much but my reasons for it will go into spoilers so I cant really say why :smallfrown: ma bad

[Logic]

To me, 11 is flawless. Like the unicorn, an 11 will never exist.

[Captain van der Decken]

It definitely gives you a pretty good bang for your buck. Better than most games on the market, and worth buying.

[Archonic Energy]

To me, 11 is flawless. Like the unicorn, an 11 will never exist.

disagree. 10 is flawless. i'm giving it a 9.99999(rec) because nothing can be ferfect... i mean perfect :smalltongue:

i wanna throw a sickie... :smallfrown:

[Freelance Henchman]

Game Informer gave this game a 10 out of 10. Rarely done, and usually it warrants attention.

Does anyone agree with this assesment? I will be basing this on how soon I get this game.

Somewhere between 8 and 9. Its fun, yes, but far from absolutely perfect. If you like this kind of game, you will have fun on at least one run-through, but I can't imagine playing this like a dozen times. It is great eye-candy, but there isnt *that* much substance. I definitely feel less happy about this purchase than with Oblivion, which I played for a huge amount of time (mostly thanks to mods).

[banjo1985]

Yeah I agree, this game is very impressive, but nowhere near a 10. It looks great, it plays well, and is an interesting new take on the genre, but I really don't see anything that's going to bring me back after I've finished it once.

Plus there's no multiplayer, not even co-op, which hits the longevity very badly. Despite how much I'm enjoying on the fors t play through, I really can't legislate giving it any more than an 8.

[Karsh]

I thoroughly enjoyed it, myself. I just beat it about 30 minutes ago.

I started out the game getting the crap scared out of me every time a splicer jumped out, but I think that was because it was before I was a walking armory. Once you reach a certain point in the game, difficulty plummets as your bag of tricks allows you to handily deal with any situation. The scarcity of ammo that the first few levels has disappears, and it turns from a survival horror game to a regular old shooter.

Not saying that I dislike this, but I definitely was far more concerned for my continual survival at the beginning of the game than I was at the end. Of course, part of that is just learning how to do things like dispatch Big Daddies as quickly as possible, knowing when to suspect an ambush, etc. etc.

I was a little disappointed by how easy Fontaine was at the end; I just shot grenades at him until he died. Despite that, however, I got the good ending and I thought it was a very nice way to end the game. I've since watched the "evil" ending online, and am definitely glad I rescued all the Little Sisters. I definitely didn't see the ultimate aim of the game being to rescue the Little Sisters, but in retrospect, that does make sense.

I'd give it about a 9/10.

[The Evil Thing]

disagree. 10 is flawless. i'm giving it a 9.99999(rec) because nothing can be ferfect... i mean perfect :smalltongue:

i wanna throw a sickie... :smallfrown:
9.9 recurring is 10.

[Captain van der Decken]

No, it's slightly less than ten.

[Destro_Yersul]

I've played through it 2.5 times now. I'm currently on hard, just finishing the farmer's market. Curse you, 360 achievement system, for you make me want to collect everything!

Great game. I second the 9.9 recurring rating, mostly because they make it a little too easy to get resources. Even on hard my wallet keeps overflowing...

I like the exploration part of the game. You can finish the story without exploring around half of each level. But if you do that, you miss out on so much cool stuff. Finding out what happened to all the characters, whole loads of detail that got put in because it added depth to the world... Bioshock is not just another FPS. And that's what makes it good.

[Archonic Energy]

would you kindly not read this if you have not completed the game.

i'm a little confused how the evil ending will work...
if you harvest all the little ones who would help you escape from ryan's office?
or for that matter who'll help you get into Fontain's lab?

i gotta play it through as evil now

[The Evil Thing]

No, it's slightly less than ten.

Consider: x=9.9 recurring.
=>10x=99.9 recurring.
=>10x-x=99.9 recurring - 9.9 recurring
=>9x=90
=>x=10
=>9.9 recurring = 10.
QED

[Archonic Energy]

Consider: x=9.9 recurring.
=>10x=99.9 recurring.
=>10x-x=99.9 recurring - 9.9 recurring
=>9x=90
=>x=10
=>9.9 recurring = 10.
QED

proving that you can use matematics to "prove" anything :smalltongue:

2+2=5...

[Freelance Henchman]

Consider: x=9.9 recurring.
=>10x=99.9 recurring.
=>10x-x=99.9 recurring - 9.9 recurring
=>9x=90
=>x=10
=>9.9 recurring = 10.
QED

Heh, this sort of thing always baffles me (and I studied engineering lol). So any number with .9 recurring is simply equal to the next higher number?

[The Evil Thing]

Heh, this sort of thing always baffles me (and I studied engineering lol). So any number with .9 recurring is simply equal to the next higher number?
That's correct, since 0.9 recurring is 1. Incidentally, you can use that method to find the fractional forms of any recurring decimals. The results may not be pretty, but I believe the system always works.


proving that you can use matematics to "prove" anything :smalltongue:

2+2=5...
Would you prefer a less algebraic demonstration? Consider 3.3 recurring. That's 3 and 1/3, or 10/3. 9.9 recurring is 3.3 recurring times 3. If you multiply 10/3 by 3 then you get 30/3, which cancels to 10/1 which is 10.

[Archonic Energy]

Would you prefer a less algebraic demonstration?
no, i'd prefer to get back onto topic thanks.

so BIOSHOCK good huh!

[The Evil Thing]

no, i'd prefer to get back onto topic thanks.

so BIOSHOCK good huh!
Huh... (*hits inner maths nerd with a disproportionately large mallet*) yeah... well, uh, anyway... kudos for getting a new system. What're the specs?

[Archonic Energy]

Huh... (*hits inner maths nerd with a disproportionately large mallet*) yeah... well, uh, anyway... kudos for getting a new system. What're the specs?

*Gives maths nerd a cookie*
they are useful at times.

i went to Maplin & i baught a...
Nvidia 8500 GT
2GB DDR2 RAM @ 533Hz (i think...)
Athlon 4000 X2

and other parts which are too tedious to name here!
i only went into Maplin for a PSU! :smallredface:

i got Vista too, and i can see a slight difference between DX9 & DX10... though certainly not enough to justify the £70 cost!

[Ranis]

You can get DirectX10 to run on XP, btw.

[Muz]

You can get DirectX10 to run on XP, btw.

Explain, please. :smallsmile:
("Twenty dollars can buy MANY peanuts!") :smallbiggrin:

[Hoggy]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation/1394-Zero-Punctuation-BioShock

[The Evil Thing]

*Gives maths nerd a cookie*
they are useful at times.

i went to Maplin & i baught a...
Nvidia 8500 GT
2GB DDR2 RAM @ 533Hz (i think...)
Athlon 4000 X2

and other parts which are too tedious to name here!
i only went into Maplin for a PSU! :smallredface:

i got Vista too, and i can see a slight difference between DX9 & DX10... though certainly not enough to justify the £70 cost!
The way I see it, you'll end up buying Vista eventually, so why not just buy it now? XP Home is about £5 cheaper than Vista Home so I wouldn't expect any spectacular price cuts even after waiting several years. Games like Crysis are supposedly designed around Vista so they will run optimally on that. I'm not sure how that will work, though.

And don't be embarrased about going to Maplin. I got my PSU from them too.

[Archonic Energy]

The way I see it, you'll end up buying Vista eventually, so why not just buy it now? XP Home is about £5 cheaper than Vista Home so I wouldn't expect any spectacular price cuts even after waiting several years. Games like Crysis are supposedly designed around Vista so they will run optimally on that. I'm not sure how that will work, though.

And don't be embarrased about going to Maplin. I got my PSU from them too.

now i just need to convince my boss to let me borrow the office 2007 disks "because sometimes i work from home":smallwink:

i'm not emarrased about going to Maplin... i'm embarased about going into a shop looking for a £50 item and leaving with about £400 of PC components!

oh and Hoggy that link made me urinate myself laughing!
well not literally but you get the point.

[Freelance Henchman]

The way I see it, you'll end up buying Vista eventually, so why not just buy it now? XP Home is about £5 cheaper than Vista Home so I wouldn't expect any spectacular price cuts even after waiting several years. Games like Crysis are supposedly designed around Vista so they will run optimally on that. I'm not sure how that will work, though.

Thing is, right now Linux is *actually* more than good enough for any "real" work (i.e. the occasional letter to write, websurfing), since I can use OpenOffice on it (and all my programming is done in Linux anyway). Unfortunately hardware support is still fairly spotty for some devices.

Literally the only thing that I would need Vista for is games. Considering that Vista seems to be, from all I've heard, an absolute hog in the system requirements department, I will gladly wait until a game comes out that absolutely requires Vista and that I absolutely must have until I get a PC that can run it right (even though my current machine runs even Bioshock fine at 1280x1024 TFT resolution). F*cking Crysis is not one of those, the hype alone is putting me off that game for years to come.

PS: And as I said before, Bioshock is simply a good, but far from perfect game. In fact, I may play it again once or twice, but not much more than that. Serves me right for believing the hype.

[Muz]

I'm thankful I didn't see anything about Bioshock until it came out--I hadn't even heard of it. (Go figure, right?) It just looked entertaining, so I got it, without getting myself hyped up about it. Without hype, it's a fun game. :smallsmile:

You know, come to think of it, when has ANYthing lived up to any hype it's got from a marketing engine? It's rare, in any case. I'd suggest that if we all ignored hype and didn't make up our minds about anything (or let expectations get high without the caveat that we've yet to actually play and judge it ourselves), we'd all enjoy games/movies/Daisy Buchanan more. ...I'd suggest that, if I didn't think it was impossible for people to do, myself included. :smallsmile:

[The Evil Thing]

There's nothing inherently wrong with hype. Just take the adverts with a pinch of salt and have a look round the interwebs for reviews and whatnot. The only times where this approach failed me was with Black & White and The Movies. The first time was because everyone was utterly wowed by the AI and creature behaviour. The second time was because nobody who wrote the reviews ever used Windows 3D Movie Maker. For shame.

[....]

I'm thankful I didn't see anything about Bioshock until it came out--I hadn't even heard of it. (Go figure, right?) It just looked entertaining, so I got it, without getting myself hyped up about it. Without hype, it's a fun game. :smallsmile:

You know, come to think of it, when has ANYthing lived up to any hype it's got from a marketing engine? It's rare, in any case. I'd suggest that if we all ignored hype and didn't make up our minds about anything (or let expectations get high without the caveat that we've yet to actually play and judge it ourselves), we'd all enjoy games/movies/Daisy Buchanan more. ...I'd suggest that, if I didn't think it was impossible for people to do, myself included. :smallsmile:

Hype really does kill games.

Take the Halo series. They are fun games. The storyline is better than 4/5ths of all other FPSes, and the gameplay, while reptitive, is solid and enjoyable.

But the sheer amount of hype it gets makes people hate it. Hell, I want to play Halo 3, but everytime I turn on the TV or go to a website I see ads for it everywhere. Its really starting to get on my nerves.

[Tekar]

It's not the hype that's stupid but it's the huge amount of people that just keeps swallowing it without even realising it.

[Myatar_Panwar]

So, my 360 just came back from the dead after getting the Red Rings of Death, and I want to play Bioshock, BAD. But from what I hear, its kind of short, and I was thinking about just renting it to save money so I could have enough for Halo 3.

So, should I just rent it? Is it too short? Does it have any replay value?

[....]

So, my 360 just came back from the dead after getting the Red Rings of Death, and I want to play Bioshock, BAD. But from what I hear, its kind of short, and I was thinking about just renting it to save money so I could have enough for Halo 3.

So, should I just rent it? Is it too short? Does it have any replay value?

It does have replay value. You'll want to complete both endings, good and bad; and if you get into the storyline then you'll probably want to explore all of the areas of Rapture and get every audiolog you can.

I think I've gotten them all, but not on the same playthrough. Some of the ones I missed the first time I got the second, but missed some I got the first time. (Completely missed the "Would you kindly" room the second time)

[Muz]

I've been playing it about 11 days so far and haven't reached the end. (On the other hand, I haven't been playing it non-stop since I've been going to work and doing various other things, so take that with a grain of salt.)

Andrew Ryan's a jerk. :smallbiggrin:

[Hann]

I'm sure people has noticed this, but have you seen that Andrew Ryan is an anagram of Ayn Rand? just throwing it out there.

[SmartAlec]

Not quite an anagram, but nearly. But yes!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_%28Ayn_Rand%29

(Should have called the 'Big Daddies' Randroids. Heh heh.)

[Muz]

And Atlas is an anagram of...er...Atlas!
*shrugs* :smalltongue:

[Jacob_Gallagher]

I'm sure people has noticed this, but have you seen that Andrew Ryan is an anagram of Ayn Rand? just throwing it out there.

A. Ryan? Aryan?

[SmartAlec]

That too, but the Ayn Rand connection has some basis.

Influences
In response to an interview question about influences on BioShock from the gaming website IGN, Levine said, "I have my useless liberal arts degree, so I've read stuff from Ayn Rand and George Orwell, and all the sort of utopian and dystopian writings of the 20th century, which I've found really fascinating."

(from the wiki entry on BioShock. Yeah, it seems all I'm doing in this thread is quoting Wikipaedia.)

[Archonic Energy]

and in the ongoing saga of AE's PC problems...

my Vista Hard Drive just died... :smallfrown: (Hardware wise)
if i wasn't dual booting i may have been more annoyed at this!
but i've lost my save games... Grrr!

so back to DX9 then.
well at least till i can pop into Maplin & buy a replacement HDD...

*goes back to harvesting slugs*

[Muz]

Would you kindly tell me (without spoiling me on plot) how much more game I have to go once I make it to Olympic Heights? Am I 80% through? 90%? :smallsmile:

[Semidi]

I've almost finished Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, and it's almost impossible to not see the glaring Randian references in Bioshock. Rapture resembles

Atlantis in Atlas Shrugged

The rhetoric with the parasites is almost directly quoting from parts of Atlas Shrugged.

It think a few character's names are actually the same, I'm trying to think of a few, but as I was reading Atlas Shrugged I was like, "Oh, he was in bioshock, I think I killed him with a wrench

To get the most out of the story I’d recommend reading Atlas Shrugged… However, it is one of the worst books I’ve ever read and its over a thousand pages long—so maybe I wouldn’t.

[Destro_Yersul]

Would you kindly tell me (without spoiling me on plot) how much more game I have to go once I make it to Olympic Heights? Am I 80% through? 90%? :smallsmile:

Lessee... Olympus Heights... I think that puts you at around 85-90%

[MrEdwardNigma]

I've just played the first five minutes of the game, and I have to say it absolutely rocked! I haven't even encountered any enemies yet, but the feel sure is there.

The sweat on your brow
The man in the white house says it belongs to the state
The church says it belongs to god
Communism says it belongs to everyone
I wanted a different way

Lovely:smallsmile:

[BrokenButterfly]

Heheheh...that game really does have an excellent opening. When I first got it my PC was having problems over-heating with the new graphics card I bought (a problem I eventually solved by opening the side of the machine and keeping a desk fan trained on the innards).

This meant it tended to restart abruptly after a few minutes of game time. So I ended up playing through that opening plane crash a staggering amount of times. But when you first surface, and I realised that I was in control already, swimming about the flaming water, that definitely impressed me.

When the squid jetted in front of the bathosphere at the Rapture sight-seeing tour, that blew me away.

[Ranis]

There is new DLC coming out for Bioshock for free! It is adding new plasmids and a harder difficulty setting that turns off many of the Vita-Chambers, actually making the game hard! :o

[Arang]

Was I the only one who thought dying was very easy in this game? I mean, there's plenty of ammo and Vita-chambers, but it seems I can take more than about two hits before dying no matter what I do. On Easy.

[Hermit]

There is new DLC coming out for Bioshock for free! It is adding new plasmids and a harder difficulty setting that turns off many of the Vita-Chambers, actually making the game hard! :o

Just saw this myself actually. I'll no doubt end up reinstalling and running through the game again. New toys are always fun.

One of these days I still intend to try and play through the game using only the wrench. I also reckon playing through the game with as little ADAM as possible could be fun too :p

[Ranis]

I would love to see an acheivement to beat the game using no plasmids at all. That would be Haaaaaaard.

[Hermit]

I would love to see an acheivement to beat the game using no plasmids at all. That would be Haaaaaaard.

No Plasmids isn't possible, but it almost is. As I recall when I was thinking about it you'd have to use the Lightning once on the stuck door right after you get it, the fire to melt a few doors blocked with ice (In the Medical Pavilion, Fisheries, and Fort Frolic iirc), and Telekinesis once to destroy the blockage with the grenade (Although I've sometimes wondered if you could somehow get the splicer to bounce a lucky grenade close enough to it to destory it). But other than that I don't think you're required to use them.

[Destro_Yersul]

No Plasmids isn't possible, but it almost is. As I recall when I was thinking about it you'd have to use the Lightning once on the stuck door right after you get it, the fire to melt a few doors blocked with ice (In the Medical Pavilion, Fisheries, and Fort Frolic iirc), and Telekinesis once to destroy the blockage with the grenade (Although I've sometimes wondered if you could somehow get the splicer to bounce a lucky grenade close enough to it to destory it). But other than that I don't think you're required to use them.

That's pretty much it. I've tried the grenade bouncing thing, and it doesn't work. So you're stuck using plasmids at least.. 5 or 6 times. There might be another door that you open with lightning. Thing is though, Telekinesis is pretty powerful. Starting around halfway through, that was the only one I ever used.

[Hermit]

That's pretty much it. I've tried the grenade bouncing thing, and it doesn't work. So you're stuck using plasmids at least.. 5 or 6 times. There might be another door that you open with lightning. Thing is though, Telekinesis is pretty powerful. Starting around halfway through, that was the only one I ever used.

See I never really used it. On my hard mode run I just always used Lightning and then wrenched the buggers. If they were invulnerable the key was to lead them to some water or just burn them :p

Also patch is now out here (http://www.2kgames.com/cultofrapture/home.html)

Some little tidbits from the list of changes:

- Added the following plasmids and gene tonics: Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom 2, Eve Saver, Machine Buster, Machine Buster 2, Vending Expert, Vending Expert 2
- Added an Option to disable the Vita-Chambers for added difficulty
- Added support for a walk toggle keybind
- Added Horizontal FOV Lock option
- Re-added the Human Inferno tonic

as well as a fairly substantial list of bugfixes for both PC and 360.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Dang, I was kinda hoping they were gonna put in the Teleportation plasmid. You see a flyer for it early in Rapture, but you never get to use it. I was hoping that it would work like Shadowrun's teleport thing (you run to a wall, use it, and your on the other side of the wall sort of thing). But Im sure that trying to put that in would require ALOT of work so that you dont end up going inside of walls or places your not supposed to.

[Destro_Yersul]

Thing is that throwing objects at people with telekinesis does almost as much damage as the crossbow. The difference is that you get Telekinesis in, effectively, level 2 as opposed to level.. 5?

Lightning and the wrench combined doesn't do as much or last as long as one well thrown heavy object. On hard mode in particular.

[SmartAlec]

But Im sure that trying to put that in would require ALOT of work so that you dont end up going inside of walls or places your not supposed to.

Not to mention coming up with a rationale of why you couldn't teleport through a wall/window into the ocean, and die.

Or hey, why not...?

[Eakin]

I believe there are glitches that let you get outside the walls of rapture and walk around in the ocean.

And of course I managed to rent and complete the game the week BEFORE the new content. Not enough replay value to warrant a full-fledged purchase, in my view.