Bioshock First Impressions

[Dr.Finger]

Eurogamer (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=77488) had a chance to sit down with Irrational Games head Ken Levine and get some hands-on time with his upcoming thriller Bioshock. We've been tickled, teased and tantalised by Bioshock for what now seems an age; it rocketed up toward the top of our Eurogamer's Most Wanted list immediately after Kristan emerged slack-jawed from last year's E3 presentation. "Game of the show!" lots of people gushed, despite not having got within harvesting distance of a joypad. The story should be familiar to anyone who has followed the game's progress since then.

Set in the mid-20th century, post-WWII, Rapture is a utopian fantasy made real by Andrew Ryan, a renowned industrialist and capitalist who desires to create the perfect society on Earth, populated by the greatest human minds, to escape the corruption and poison of ordinary humanity. Rapture will be his apotheosis.

Unsurprisingly, it all goes wrong. As Levine notes: "The trouble is philosophies are these ideals and people are not ideal. And what happens when people mix up with these ideals? That's what Rapture is - really interesting ideas screwed up by the fact that we're people." I'm going to give a mild spoiler warning for this article, as it discusses how an action early in the game can have consequences later on, but nothing terribly vital is revealed. The preview does however really make me want this game

[Serapth]

This game cant get here fast enough. Steam Punk System Shock. Damn im excited.

Wonder how long it will be though?

[Yeti2005]

This game cant get here fast enough. Steam Punk System Shock. Damn im excited.

Wonder how long it will be though?

The latest EGM said 25 hours at a "holiday pace".

[menage]

This game is in my top 5 of most wanted games this year. Hope it will live up to the hype. It looks so atmospheric!

[Cupelix]

This game is going to force me to upgrade my PC. I know its coming out on 360 too, but something just tells me it will feel much more natural on a PC.

[Serapth]

The latest EGM said 25 hours at a "holiday pace".


Thats encouraging, I had honestly expected much less.

[kimosabe71]

This game is going to force me to upgrade my PC. I know its coming out on 360 too, but something just tells me it will feel much more natural on a PC.

I agree with you there. Time to start saving so I can go hit up Newegg for some upgrades.

[Roc Ingersol]

Thats encouraging, I had honestly expected much less.
Yeah, anymore it's a surprise when they cross the 10 hour mark.

And to be totally honest, I wouldn't even complain if it was a sub-10-hour game, so long as it was a proper successor to System Shock 2.

[Shodan2020]

This game is one of the main reasons I bought a 360. Yay for pre-ordered collector's edition! :D

[mulligan]

YES! sign me UP!

[digitalErich]

I'll be picking this up day 1 for the 360 and then, in a year or two when I feel like another play through and I have a computer that blows the recommened specs out of the water, I'll grab it for $15 for another go on the PC.

[Voodoo]

Hopefully this game does very well or it has been stated by the developer that this will be the last of its kind by them.

[Metal Jesus]

This is one of the very few games I plan on getting as a "Special Edition". I can't freakin' wait!!

[Mattism]

When is the release date on this?

[Rook34]

I'm disturbed by the game, yet drawn towards it at the same time. I will buy it on day 1 also, collector edition, but I am horrified at the prospect of hurting children even in a videeo game. Oh, the morality!

Suprised Jack Thompson isn't all over this one yet. Must be too busy with GTA4.

Heh, can't stop 'em all, Jacky-boy..

[Ksy]

This guy's pimping his game out pretty hard core - not that I mind - the game looks gorgeous and from what I've seen of how it plays it should be a blast. System Shock 2 was absolutely fantastic (and freaky >.>) and I'll definitely be picking up this piece of software. I wonder though how well it's going to lend itself to multiple playthroughs.

[Serapth]

I'm disturbed by the game, yet drawn towards it at the same time. I will buy it on day 1 also, collector edition, but I am horrified at the prospect of hurting children even in a videeo game. Oh, the morality!

Suprised Jack Thompson isn't all over this one yet. Must be too busy with GTA4.

Heh, can't stop 'em all, Jacky-boy..


Yeah, the game is supposed to be designed entirely around forcing the player to make moral decisions.

On the bright side, I am complete amoral, so I should have no issues with this game. Besides... after watching The Ring and playing FEAR i have no issues with offing scary little children!

[JazGalaxy]

I'm the kind of player who gets momentarily depressed when I love a support guy in Half Life 2.

I can't wait to see what this game has in store.

[IrishWhiskey]

Words cannot express my excitement for this game.

743hc)@90q$8-4098w43#a-pes-(&lpd@#saf@!mxlkajy!2#2s49-28ncar@!#)$@(!

See?


From the preview the stuff about morality and making disquieting choices makes me very stoked. However the part about ammo starvation doesn't. Not being armed to the hilt is one thing. Having to constantly sneak around fights desperately looking for ammo and health is another. The part about fighting groups of enemies with a wrench because you can easily run out of powers and ammo doesn't sound fun. I want to spend my time thinking, exploring and fighting, not desperately going from recharge station to recharge station.

[Bumbuliuz]

I will be picking this one up for the 360, and mabye I´ll pick it up on pc also to show my support for theese kind of games. System Shock 2 is my favorite game of all time.

[DarkDaY]

I will be picking this one up for the 360, and mabye I´ll pick it up on pc also to show my support for theese kind of games. System Shock 2 is my favorite game of all time.

good man, I'm doing the same , and I'm going to get an elite and give me launch one(works perfectly and is quite*grins*) to my bro and get him a copy,

must support this kinda of thing, yet I think the force is strong with this on and cause its on the 360 I think it will sell like mad anyways.
hope so, love seeing hard word and great products get the recognition and rewards they deserve as they are very few and far between,(that is assuming it is as good as I think it will be)

[Chameleo]

hmmm the writer has kind of a point here:

Vending machines are also susceptible, a successful hack revealing more items and cheaper prices. But while the results of hacking are a multitude of approaches, the actually act of hacking is something of a let down.

The game switches to a mini-game in which pipe sections must be rearranged in a grid to facilitate the flow of liquid. It's reminiscent of The Assembly Line's Amiga puzzler Pipe Mania; and, more recently, the bomb defusing mini-games in Spider-Man 3.

In the context of Bioshock, these serve to, for this writer at least, puncture the illusion and atmosphere, dragging you out of a tense, seamless, captivating gameworld to complete an arbitrary logic puzzle. None of which is particularly strenuous or taxing in the first section of the game; though we'd expect them to increase in complexity at the very least as the game progresses.

that is a really simple way to 'hack'. i was hoping there would be a variety of minigames, or something that felt more like hacking a computer..... something to do with numbers and passwords or... i don't know...

lockpicking has been done right in numerous games, and i figure they could make the jump to hacking... *shrug*

there was a GREAT article about Bioshock linked from Penny Arcade the other day, I'm surprised it wasn't frontpaged here. The last paragraph in particular is a really good read.

http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/32465

[F3nyx]

God, people never learn not to buy until the reviews start coming in. And that goes double for games that are hyped up as an intellectual experience.

[Hemalin]

God, people never learn not to buy until the reviews start coming in. And that goes double for games that are hyped up as an intellectual experience.
Heh, people are actually talking about buying it twice. And people wonder why Square, Nintendo, etc. keep re-releasing their games.

[Stormwatcher]

Words cannot express my excitement for this game.

743hc)@90q$8-4098w43#a-pes-(&lpd@#saf@!mxlkajy!2#2s49-28ncar@!#)$@(!

See?


From the preview the stuff about morality and making disquieting choices makes me very stoked. However the part about ammo starvation doesn't. Not being armed to the hilt is one thing. Having to constantly sneak around fights desperately looking for ammo and health is another. The part about fighting groups of enemies with a wrench because you can easily run out of powers and ammo doesn't sound fun. I want to spend my time thinking, exploring and fighting, not desperately going from recharge station to recharge station.

I thought System Shock 2 was frustrating at first, but then I actually learned how to play. Then it got to be just right.

[Stormwatcher]

I'm the kind of player who gets momentarily depressed when I love a support guy in Half Life 2.

I can't wait to see what this game has in store.

WHAT? :eek:

[DarkDaY]

God, people never learn not to buy until the reviews start coming in. And that goes double for games that are hyped up as an intellectual experience.
meh, its are money *dad* and if we want to save up for it then we can do what ever we want, gasp* even get excited cause thats half the fun sometimes.

O, my short answer is cause I can.

[AboveAvgCharles]

I'm the kind of player who gets momentarily depressed when I love a support guy in Half Life 2.
I can't wait to see what this game has in store.

WHAT? :eek:
I think I'm going to go with he's the kind of player who gets momentarily depressed when they kill off a supporting character that he's fond of in Half Life 2.

Not, you know, consummation.

[F3nyx]

meh, its are money *dad* and if we want to save up for it then we can do what ever we want, gasp* even get excited cause thats half the fun sometimes.

O, my short answer is cause I can.I'm glad you provided that short answer, because it was the only readable part of your post.

[RorschachCCCLX]

to really get in the spirit of the game, I plan on playing it in the bath tub. once.

[Rook34]

to really get in the spirit of the game, I plan on playing it in the bath tub. once.

I hope for your sake the controllers are wireless? Otherwise it may only be once...

[Manzy]

My biggest problem with SS2 and I guess soon to be Bioshock in light of this review is having to kill everything with an effing wrench. The first couple hours of system shock 2 consists of nothing but beating stupid monkeys and human beings with a wrench. Tedious and boring. Luckily the rest of SS2 got better, so I am guessing bioshock will do the same.

[Stormwatcher]

My biggest problem with SS2 and I guess soon to be Bioshock in light of this review is having to kill everything with an effing wrench. The first couple hours of system shock 2 consists of nothing but beating stupid monkeys and human beings with a wrench. Tedious and boring. Luckily the rest of SS2 got better, so I am guessing bioshock will do the same.

Hah!
There is nothing tedious about those first hours. They are tense, immersive and memorable.

You´re the one playing it wrong. It´s not Doom.

[RorschachCCCLX]

I hope for your sake the controllers are wireless? Otherwise it may only be once...
no, that was sort of the thrust of the joke.

[DeathtollWRX]

I'm almost looking forward to this as much as Halo 3. I think i've seen every piece of footage on this game and i'm hyped. System Shock 1 and 2 were soooo great.

I'm hoping we get to see some new stuff from whomever created Ultima Underworld.