Bioshock Infinite - the $200 million 6 hour literally on rails interactive movie with guns thread

[grotsnik]

Well, yeah, The Sun! But hopefully nobody was expecting scrupulously honest or intellectually rigorous journalism from them in any category.

 

[Sodafish]

Not really. Like that dude from Reuters before, he can afford to tell the unvarnished truth because their salaries don't depend on filthy games industry advertising lucre.

The disappointing thing is that it so rarely seems to work this way with the mainstream press, though. Take the Guardian; in the same very, very general ballpark as the New Statesman, it's broadsheet press, skewing relatively left, young, sophisticated and trendy, with a hefty branch dedicated to culture criticism, including a good few respected ivory-tower types who come and write columns for them about Art N Shit. Clearly it's not going to care if EA gets pissed, clearly it should be able to take a half-intelligent stab at game criticism. Its gaming coverage is, however, much the same tired churnalist shite as everywhere else. Articles discussing trailers. Enthusiast reviews that are too busy overusing superlatives and blandly listing all the game features to actually apply any in-depth analysis. Bioshock Infinite, its reporter declares, "could fuel a dozen or so pHD dissertations". (Fuck off. Fuck off, it could not. He also calls the mechanics 'sublime' without getting around to explaining why) Dross previews that add nothing to anything.

In general, going by what I've read, the mainstream publications just don't seem to be harbouring the right kind of 'outsider' journalists who can really take their subject matter by the scruff of the neck, probably because the publications (rightly?) don't really care about it, and it's easiest from an outsider's point of view to hire freelancers who've already drunk the Kool-Aid who are already well-travelled members of the gaming press and just leave them to get on with it in their little sub-section. (Although I'd love to be proved wrong in this.)

Oh I agree, most reviews published in such sources are dreck too. I merely meant to convey that non-servile points of view on games are at least possible in such publications, for the reasons I previously stated. Those publications' views on their own bread and butter topics are another matter entirely, of course.

 

[ohWOW]

http://www.explosion.com/27625/bios...tm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_52949

 

[DeepOcean]

http://www.explosion.com/27625/bios...tm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_52949

Do you think a hipster is going to miss the chance to be a hipster?
He liked the sex with those barbie dolls too:
http://www.explosion.com/28617/top-5-erotic-video-game-moments/
I guess, when he imagine Miranda's ass, he forgets about all this sexyism thing.

 

[Genma:TheDestroyer]

Fails in the first point he makes; there were female enemies. None unique, but there were female peacekeepers and also the 'special forces' with the masks had females. You can sometimes hear them doing little prayers before they attack.

 

[Azarkon]

http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2013/04/end-epic-why-success-bioshock-infinite-bad-gaming

...

First, and most obviously, it’s a first person shooter and it’s a conspicuously bad one. Everything takes place in a series of arena battles, with the plot occurring in the times between them. This is a really bad sign. It tells us that the story is written and the game, that bit that you’re paying for, the bit that really anything calling itself a game ought to be focused on, that’s just filler. That’s the stuff you do to pad the running time out. That the actual game part of the game has been relegated to the fringes of the experience is evidenced by just how below-par the combat actually is. The mechanics, the arbitrary limitations, the repetition of it all . . . on a mechanical level this is the sort of thing that was done better in Half Life back in 1998.
...

But here’s the thing. All this said, Bioshock: Infinite has been wildly applauded by critics. This blood-spattered series of fetch quests, arena fights and pseudo intellectualism is being talked about as one of the best games in recent years. Mathematics departments around the world have been struggling for weeks to find a new whole number above ten but less than eleven just to use for reviewing this game. The team at the Oxford English Dictionary are in the process of removing the existing definition of the word airship from the dictionary to be replaced by the term ‘wonderful floating thing found in Bioshock: Infinite’. This game is, as far as most of the gaming press and public are concerned, the greatest thing ever.

That should worry fans of video games because when something as completely wrongheaded and primitive as Bioshock: Infinite is lauded as a masterpiece, the fallout can only be toxic.

...

This article is incline? All the writer does is say that the gameplay sucks - which is fine, but how is that quality criticism when all you do is state it - that it's too scripted - which is par on course for all modern games, of course - and that the gaming industry needs NEW IDEAS - ie the old days when games were INVENTING ENTIRE GENRES.

Never mind the low hanging fruit effect, never mind the bulk of old school games being incredibly bad even by poppamole standards, and how easily we forgive them because they were games of their time...

The nostalgia waxing, the failure to see the space between turd and masterpiece, the inability to understand the height of hanging fruits, all the while ignoring indie games because they are not important... This too is responsible for decline.

 

[Infinitron]

New sea article: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/Eric..._the_Importance_of_the_Authorial_Contract.php

BioShock Infinite is a game that was able to achieve an incredible amount of success in the gaming community, not necessary in terms of raw sales, but as a cultural phenomenon. For weeks, it was just about the only thing the gaming world seemed to be talking about. What does the ending mean? Did you notice all those new things upon replaying it? Is there deeper symbolism at work?

Yet for me, personally, the story of BioShock Infinite was not one which inspired much wonder, whimsy or intrigue. Indeed, it was quite the opposite: I found it frustrating, awkward, poorly paced, and ultimately it took a lot of willpower for me to even finish the game, so frustrated was I with how it played out. This puts me in the minority. I think it's fair to say that most people will agree that Infinite's ending overshadows the rest of the story; a much more interesting question to ask is exactly why that is in the first place.

 

[Toffeli]

Good stuff as always.

 

[DalekFlay]

I don't think the gaming media was even capable of thinking Infinite was anything less than amazingly important. And that has nothing to do with being "on the take." It's all about peer-pressure, expectations and close ties to PR departments.

 

[Tzaero]

 

[Gelbvieh]

BSI made me play Dishonored, and Dishonored made me go back to Deus Ex: HR. Now my hatred for contemporary video game design has mellowed far too much to make worthy posts on Codex anymore.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Can't remember if I've made a comment on this game, so I'll just summarise my opinion of it.

Dull, dull, dull. So boring. So repetitive. Felt like a complete waste of time.

 

[Taxnomore]

Game would've been an awesome point and click adventure though, instead of a shitty shooter.

It would have made an even better Deus Ex clone. Can you picture wandering in the city shops, hubs at your own will ? Interacting with the NPCs at your own pace ? Ingame books and more detailed lore ? More time to spend on the background of Columbia and gameplay making use of the so called powers that could have been diversified into something else than weapons ?

I keep saying that. Good universe, wrong genre. What's next ? Someone buys the Blade Runner license and makes a Golf game out of it ?

 

[DemonKing]

Finally finished over the weekend.

I actually thought the combat wasn't too bad, at least until the end 1/3 where you could spam vigors with impunity if you'ld done a few upgrades.

The stupid voice recorders left all over the place that put me off Bioshock in 2007 are still around in 2013. How is it that in 2004's Half Life 2 it was possible to tell a reasonable story without cut scenes or voice recorders left everywhere but Irrational still can't manage it almost a decade later?

Art direction was ok, with a few very striking scenes. I liked it better than Bioshock overall which ran out of creative juice about half-way through. The number of carbon-copy characters through got a bit draining - it seemed like most of the population was cloned in a vat. There's also tons of art assets reused over and over (particularly statues) but maybe lit slightly differently to try and create the illusion of diversity.

Voice Acting was mostly good, and the way Elizabeth tagged along for most of the game wasn't too distracting as far as NPC characters go.

The story was completely linear which is kind of weird where one of the themes seems to be about C&C. Many times the game pops up with an option to click to do something giving the illusion of choice but given that unless you click you ain't going anywhere further in the game it seems kind of pointless. Don't want to be baptised? Tough - you have to if you want to progress. Wouldn't give up your child for the world? You will if you want to finish the game. The story was explained so poorly that the last 30 minutes of the game is basically a non-interactive cut scene info-dump to try to play catch-up for the player. I can't help feeling that the game could have been a lot better if the whole concept of tears and multiverses was introduced a lot earlier and better incorporated into the gameplay.

Overall I would rate it as worth playing if you want to keep up with the gaming zeitgeist but only a marginal improvement over the original Bioshock otherwise.

 

[Sodafish]

So I checked this out for a bit (just beat the crazy general guy for the shock vigor). The art direction is very nice as people have said, but almost everything else sucks. For starters it's ridiculously easy. I'm playing it on the hardest setting and haven't died once so far. The amount of health, food, salt, weapons etc is ludicrous; even without her throwing you stuff there's about 3x as much as you need just lying around. The gameplay thus far has been boring as shit.

And the glowing "this way" arrows for navigation . The Fuck? How could anyone possibly get lost in this game?

 

[Luzur]

So I checked this out for a bit (just beat the crazy general guy for the shock vigor). The art direction is very nice as people have said, but almost everything else sucks. For starters it's ridiculously easy. I'm playing it on the hardest setting and haven't died once so far. The amount of health, food, salt, weapons etc is ludicrous; even without her throwing you stuff there's about 3x as much as you need just lying around. The gameplay thus far has been boring as shit.

And the glowing "this way" arrows for navigation . The Fuck? How could anyone possibly get lost in this game?

the new generation of players?

 

[Sodafish]

So I checked this out for a bit (just beat the crazy general guy for the shock vigor). The art direction is very nice as people have said, but almost everything else sucks. For starters it's ridiculously easy. I'm playing it on the hardest setting and haven't died once so far. The amount of health, food, salt, weapons etc is ludicrous; even without her throwing you stuff there's about 3x as much as you need just lying around. The gameplay thus far has been boring as shit.

And the glowing "this way" arrows for navigation . The Fuck? How could anyone possibly get lost in this game?

the new generation of players?

Everything is shit.

 

[Minttunator]

Everything is shit.

One day, even the current generation of gamers will see the light.

 

[ohWOW]

The Fuck? How could anyone possibly get lost in this game?

I've seen "exploration guides" to this game. That's how much everything is shit novadays.

 

[Minttunator]

The Fuck? How could anyone possibly get lost in this game?

I've seen "exploration guides" to this game. That's how much everything is shit novadays.

Yep, they're going for $24.99: http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Infinite-Limited-Strategy-Bradygames/dp/0744014603

 

[ohWOW]

“​

Beautiful cover and illustrations inside. ”

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

 

[sea]

 

[Sodafish]

The Fuck? How could anyone possibly get lost in this game?

I've seen "exploration guides" to this game. That's how much everything is shit novadays.

Yep, they're going for $24.99: http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Infinite-Limited-Strategy-Bradygames/dp/0744014603

 

[Behelit]

The Fuck? How could anyone possibly get lost in this game?

I've seen "exploration guides" to this game. That's how much everything is shit novadays.

Yep, they're going for $24.99: http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Infinite-Limited-Strategy-Bradygames/dp/0744014603

Strategy guides are still valid for this guy.
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