How Bioshock should have ended
Alright, you’ve got *massive* spoilers here, but the only person I know who intends to beat Bioshock and hasn’t yet has already read this article.
Hit ‘More’ for the link to “How Bioshock should have ended”.
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Phokal
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Phokal
Bioshock – Quote of the Day
“The Wild Bunny, by Sander Cohen. I want to take the ears off, but I can’t. I hop, and when I hop, I never get off the ground. It’s my curse, my eternal curse. I want to take the ears off, but I can’t! It’s my curse, it’s my fucking curse! I want to take the ears off! Please! Take them off! Pleeeeeeease!”
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Phokal
Bioshock – The rich man's Stubbs the Zombie
Bioshock – The rich man’s Stubbs the Zombie
Something has been bugging me since I finished Bioshock a few weeks ago. I realized that, while I enjoyed the environments, I hadn’t found them quite as interesting as everyone was saying. The outside vistas were amazing (the one time you got to see them at the beginning of the game, and the occasional look outside a window), but the inside’s art deco setting just was not as jaw dropping pretty as I wanted them to be.
…
I have just realized: I played this game before. Outsider interloper from the past enters a Utopia built by a single man with a dream. Innate characteristic of foreigner brings change to society and pits character against enigmatic city founder. It a 1959’s retro/futuristic setting.
“But wait, Phokal. Bioshock takes place in 1960.”
“Your right, sir, but Stubbs the Zombie is placed in 1959.”
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zazzman
This may be a non sequitur, but I’m going with it anyway. I don’t know if you have seen anything about this, but George A. Romero has a new zombie flick coming out—Diary of the Dead. Check it out: http://www.myspace.com/diaryofthedead
Speaking of our mutual love for zombie movies (well, and Graphic Novels, Video Gaems, etc.)…have you ever seen Romero’s Day of the Dead. I know critics say it is the worst of the “Dead” flicks but I really want to see it. We may need to have a zombie film fest. :)
What do you guys think…is Day of the Dead any good?
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phokal
you should just make a ZombieFest – Dawn, Day, third? of the Dead post to cover all that. pick time(s), movies, etc.
I’ve seen the first remake, and most of the original night of the living dead years ago.
And I think I saw some of the original dawn or day…something where they were in a silo or cave. then the zombies broke out of the experiment cells.
oh, and then there’s the awful one where the guy zombifies his dead girlfriend on purpose. he has access cause his dad works at the military and is running experiments on the zombie gas. very, very bad.
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Phokal
I finally beat: Bioshock
I finally beat: Bioshock
Well, I may have finished it after all my friends, but I have finally beat Bioshock. It is definitely game of the year material. It certainly has flaws, but for every flaw it does two things right. (More …)
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mattlindh
That’s a nice picture. Whoever recommended it must have pretty good taste.
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phokal
Not entirely originally for a blog post, so it would seem.
http://www.kotaku.com.au/games/2007/12/andrew_ryan_was_times_person_o.htmlGuess we are just a little late to the party.
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mattlindh
Not everyone can be a rockstar.
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detnap
The game is good. I liked the presentation of Call of Duty 4 better and the gameplay of Portal better, but I liked the story of this game better (at least in terms of video game stories).
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MIKA
this game has every right to be game of the year. the cutscenes, the storyline, the graphics, the ending, the weapons, and the characters made this game what it is. i completely didnt see the andrew ryan bit coming at me. it was a complete shock, and it delighted me. there are a few negative things i can say about the game though. the boss fight SUCKED! it was boring boring boring. a bit challenging, but just monotone. another thing is that the splicers say the same thing over and over and over. gets a bit annoying. otherwise 5 stars 2k.
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Phokal
Bioshock Progress Report #2
Bioshock Progress Report #2
Okay. I now have motivation. There was a great story revelation partway through. Bioshock has a PLOT and characters beyond what they initially portray. Sure, some aspects of it are predictable, but others most certainly are not. And the conversation with the twist revealed is excellently acted. The voice actor/s do an outstanding job, and the entire scene is just directed well.
Anyway, the game is still easy, and perhaps even getting easier; it is hard to tell when everything dies with 2 hits of a wrench. Still, I am motivated to make it through now. They have gotten me interested in Rapture beyond looking at pretty architecture. I just hope the ending can hold up after such a cinematic chapter.
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mattlindh
A man chooses, a slave obeys.
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Phokal
Bioshock Progress Report #1
Bioshock Progress Report #1
I got past the Vegas sequence. That lasted a bit longer than I would have liked, but at least I was collecting something more interesting than chemicals. My character’s wrench is a bit too powerful. With stacking plasmids, my wrench does far more damage than my fully upgraded shotgun at close range. I don’t even have to use any shock+smack combo; the smack kills them in 1-3 hits. The game’s plot is picking up again, but I know I can’t be that close to the end yet.
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Phokal
don’t tell me the ending to: Bioshock
don’t tell me the ending to: Bioshock
I’m part way through Bioshock. It is starting to get a little dull with some fetch quests. At the same time, it is becoming a bit too easy.
This is a problem many RPGs face. In order to give a sense of progression, your character must gain new abilities and become more powerful. Despite new trials arising to challenge you, your character steadily becomes better than these enemies to instill that sense of progression. This leads to the game becoming easier the longer you play, without needing to increase skill. Combined with learning a combat systems patterns, this can turn a game into almost an automated process. Most great RPGs make this progression very slight, almost unnoticeable. They also have excellent presentation, to make sure that as the experience transitions from a game you play to a game you watch, it becomes more interesting to watch.
Bioshock so far lacks the extra “umph” other RPGs express by making you look extremely cool while you bowl over the average bad guy. The extra abilities are fun to use, but are not exciting to behold. Instead, it is exploring the exquisite, changing environment and engaging characters propel you forward. While that is certainly enough, I have played RPGs that have gotten all of these aspects correct <cough>Baldur’s Gate (2, especially)</cough>. Missing any particular part of this equation (exploration/environment + story/characters + progression/combat) will stick out.
One aspect I should mention is I love the steampunk influence on weapon upgrades. A new weapon upgrade sufficiently increases its visual appeal even if its actual use does not. I find it fun to simply look at a recent upgrade’s idle animation awhile.
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zazzman
Without giving away too much, where are you in the game? I’m just curious because I would like to know, more specifically, what you find boring.
I finished Bioshock and absolutely loved it. I didn’t find myself getting bored anywhere in the game. For me it was quite different from what you said in your post. I found that as my abilities expanded it became more challenging to figure out different, sometimes more efficient (sometime not), ways to eliminate my foes. With there being so many options for weapons I didn’t actually get close to using all of the different combinations. With all these options, I don’t quite understand how you are bored. Please enlighten me, sir.
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phokal
I am currently in “vegas” about to meet a new character. And I’m not “bored.” Just a particular aspect of the overall experience is boring.
Specifically, it is the combat. New abilities open new strategic ways to confront enemies, but they lack the visual punch necessary. An upgraded wrench hit decreases from a life bar until the life bar is empty and the enemy falls over.
Action Games like FEAR, Half-life, Gears of War give new weapons that pack a large visceral impact, while increasing the skill needed to survive your encounters.
RPGs like Final Fantasy begin by making the attacks look more powerful and spectacular as you level up and progress through a story (either linear, or by your design).Bioshock does not require more skill as you progress. The once deadly enemies begin to fall with ease after you’ve acquired offensive and defensive boosts.
My fully upgraded shotgun hits enemies the exact same way as it did unaltered early in the game; it just decreases their life bar a little faster.It certainly isn’t a bad game. It is still easily game of the year material. It is, however, certainly not perfect. I will probably go into greater detail on what I liked after completing the game (the story is still on going). These are just initial impressions and nagging aspects as I’m playing.
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Phokal
First Post
First Post
Alright, Let’s test some of the waters with a Mission Statement of sorts.
Why do I need a Mission Statement? I don’t. There’s only a committee of one here. But it may give you an idea of what I plan for this to become. This is a place where you and I can talk about things that other sites don’t talk about, where I can rant without being banned, and (most importantly) chat about aspects of the games, movies, etc. without necessarily spoiling it for everyone.
Sure there will be spoilers here and there, but I will try to maintain discussion threads for general and vague review, rather than always citing specific instances. I don’t believe I need to beat the game in 4 days in order to be able to talk about it on the internet and not have the ending ruined or twist revealed.
I believe we can talk about Bioshock’s wonderful art design and somewhat bland levels without talking about the ending.
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phokal
What kind of content would people like to read about or talk about? Any opinions on whether I should try to keep this specific to gaming, or spread out to other subjects?
Also, anyone interested in also being a poster/contributor? You get fame (= a couple people may see it) and fortune (= $0 per hour).
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Hsuan-Yun Pi
First time commenter, long time reader…
I think you should stick with what you know, i.e. Video Games. Commenting on subjects that you are less versed in (such as skiing or driving) will likely cause accidents, lawsuits, and other misfortunes.
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Hsuan-Yun Pi
Ted wrote the last comment…but I agreed…
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phokal
Well, Ted should log in as his own account. That way, if I want to upgrade him to a status to leave his own posts, it’ll be easy :)
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Matt lindh
mal·ice
–noundesire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering on another, either because of a hostile impulse or out of deep-seated meanness: the malice and spite of a lifelong enemy.
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phokal
just desire, eh? Cite your sources.
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mattlindh
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.If you want another source,
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.says that it means:
A desire to harm others or to see others suffer; extreme ill will or spite.
So there.
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phokal
I’m replying! so far. a pain in the ass.
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