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

[Hoaxmetal]

Most of the traveling is done by rails so

 

[chestburster]

I still think the best story in a shooter was FEAR. Until they ruined it in the sequels by making Paxton Fettel a villain (listen to him, and look at the guys he kills - he isn't indiscriminately murdering, he is taking precision strikes on guys who repeatedly raped a 14 year old, literally ripped her two infants from her arms to turn them into brainwashed supersoldiers, and so Fettel is trying to take out only the guys responsible with minimal civililian casualties while trying to trigger his brother (the main character) into remembering who they both are. Even when he releases Alma (and even Alma isn't pure evil in the first game - she wants revenge just like Fettel, but after you jog her memory via a few bullets to her zombified head the last thing she does is reach out to caress you (as opposed to the instakill touch if you don't fire at her) while saying 'my baby'. And Fettel isn't evil under any interpretation - though he certainly starts off looking that way due to his ability to read a person's memories by eating their brain (and you don't know at first that the guy he is eating is a complete rapist monster). When Fettel gets the choice between dying or fighting his own little brother, he simply gets down on his knees and lets you shoot him (even though he has several heavies as backup if he wanted to defend himself). The player character is way more morally ambiguous that Fettel is on that point.

Yeah there's that cheesy helicopter ending, but that just reeked of 'publisher wanted to keep things open for a sequel so we'll have zombie-Alma AND point man survive an explosion that should have incinerated both, and have her jump on the helicopter for a cheap scare that is never referenced again'. Ignore that part, and you've got a great slow-burn story where it's not just the false memory thing (though the 2nd time I played it I face-palmed at the start when Fettel knocked me out, could easily have killed me, but instead says 'what's the 1st thing you remember?' - once you realise the significance of that it becomes so obvious that he's constantly pulling troops away from you so you don't get hurt, but are given just enough opposition to lead you to the evidence of the fucked up things the corporation did.

I wish I could brofist this.

And that rusted industrial/ghetto environment is unrivaled in terms of art direction. Fits the story perfectly.

Fear 2's story is not so bad either. They just fucked up the art direction with generic sci-fi style.

 

[Metro]

This is basically the whole story (cutscenes, dialogues, audiologs and a little combat) without the unnecessarily long/boring bits. If anyone is interested in the sroy alone I guess it is better than the average Let's play.
Had this come earlier I might have not bothered with the game :D

This is basically all there is to this 'game.' AAA getting closer and closer to Dear Esther... just with $200 million budgets.

 

[Jaesun]

If people keep buying this, yes it will.

 

[Metro]

Well you have a decent portion of the Codex doing that and even a larger portion playing it through other means... just for 'informational/academic' purposes I guess?

:declining:

 

[Raapys]

They were smart to include the companion stuff though. I'm pretty sure that aspect of the game alone took what would have been considered an average 7/10 game by the gaming media up to a fantastic/majestic/revolutionary 9/10 or 10/10 game.

 

[aris]

I still think the best story in a shooter was FEAR. Until they ruined it in the sequels by making Paxton Fettel a villain (listen to him, and look at the guys he kills - he isn't indiscriminately murdering, he is taking precision strikes on guys who repeatedly raped a 14 year old, literally ripped her two infants from her arms to turn them into brainwashed supersoldiers, and so Fettel is trying to take out only the guys responsible with minimal civililian casualties while trying to trigger his brother (the main character) into remembering who they both are. Even when he releases Alma (and even Alma isn't pure evil in the first game - she wants revenge just like Fettel, but after you jog her memory via a few bullets to her zombified head the last thing she does is reach out to caress you (as opposed to the instakill touch if you don't fire at her) while saying 'my baby'. And Fettel isn't evil under any interpretation - though he certainly starts off looking that way due to his ability to read a person's memories by eating their brain (and you don't know at first that the guy he is eating is a complete rapist monster). When Fettel gets the choice between dying or fighting his own little brother, he simply gets down on his knees and lets you shoot him (even though he has several heavies as backup if he wanted to defend himself). The player character is way more morally ambiguous that Fettel is on that point.

Yeah there's that cheesy helicopter ending, but that just reeked of 'publisher wanted to keep things open for a sequel so we'll have zombie-Alma AND point man survive an explosion that should have incinerated both, and have her jump on the helicopter for a cheap scare that is never referenced again'. Ignore that part, and you've got a great slow-burn story where it's not just the false memory thing (though the 2nd time I played it I face-palmed at the start when Fettel knocked me out, could easily have killed me, but instead says 'what's the 1st thing you remember?' - once you realise the significance of that it becomes so obvious that he's constantly pulling troops away from you so you don't get hurt, but are given just enough opposition to lead you to the evidence of the fucked up things the corporation did.

I wish I could brofist this.

And that rusted industrial/ghetto environment is unrivaled in terms of art direction. Fits the story perfectly.

Fear 2's story is not so bad either. They just fucked up the art direction with generic sci-fi style.

Art direction in F.E.A.R was shit and generic, and consisted 90% of grey corridors, except for the last couple of levels. Story was pretty interesting though.

This is basically all there is to this 'game.' AAA getting closer and closer to Dear Esther... just with $200 million budgets.

What on earth are you talking about? Infinite isn't any closer to Dear Esther than Half life 2 was (none of them are close).


What did I tell you earlier, mr hipster man, about at least trying to inform yourself at least vaguely about the subjects you voice your inane opinions about?

 

[chestburster]

Art direction in F.E.A.R was shit and generic, and consisted 90% of grey corridors, except for the last couple of levels.

They were trying to recreate a run-down industrial district, with the rusty machines, generic offices and the ghetto houses with wood planks boarding up the windows.

It reminds me of the year I lived in Baltimore.

Not every game can benefit from a colorful and varied environment. Especially not for a game like FEAR.

 

[Jaesun]

Art direction in F.E.A.R was shit and generic

FEAR is 1000 times a better shooter than this game could ever hope to be. Oh OK I get it. If it has better Art it is a better game.

Got it.

 

[DeepOcean]

A game with FEAR as name with bright colors, cartoony characters , bright eviroments would would really work well...

 

[waywardOne]

It's not a game if you can't lose. I can't get lost. There's no quest items to misplace. There's no critical NPCs to kill accidentally on purpose.

This is not a game.

 

[chestburster]

A game with FEAR as name with bright colors, cartoony characters , bright eviroments would would really work well...

Unfortunately, that's FEAR 2.

 

[Blaine]

It's not a game if you can't lose. I can't get lost. There's no quest items to misplace. There's no critical NPCs to kill accidentally on purpose.

LOOK, I JUST WANT TO TAKE A LOAD OFF AND RELAX AFTER WORK. I DON'T WANT TO WASTE TIME GETTING LOST, LOADING A SAVE, OR TO HAVE MY MINDLESS COMA SPOILED BY THE EXPENDITURE OF BRAINPOWER OR EFFORT. ALSO I HAVE KIDS AND A JOB SO THE GAME SHOULD ONLY BE THREE HOURS LONG, I THINK THAT'S A GOOD LENGTH.

 

[agentorange]

A game with FEAR as name with bright colors, cartoony characters , bright eviroments would would really work well...

Eh, just because something is colorful and cartoony does not make it superior. Look at all the terrible TF2 and WoW clones out there, using it as a crutch for lack of talent and creativity. Thief, Deus Ex, , Pathologic, Silent Hill series, and others all have fairly drab and muted color pallets yet they know how to use those colors to effectively build an atmosphere. FEAR may have had a lot of gray corridors but at least chose a style and stuck with it, and the lack of vibrancy made the player feel isolated. Bioshock Infinite seems to throw a million different bamboozles and whizzwhams in your face at every turn, so much so to the point where the special effects become tedious.

 

[deuxhero]

Deus Ex [...] muted color pallets

What?

The colors are VERY distinct in Deus Ex (and not as an art choice, but due to tech limits).

 

[agentorange]

Deus Ex [...] muted color pallets

What?


The colors are VERY distinct in Deus Ex (and not as an art choice, but due to tech limits).

Didn't say they weren't distinct, I said they were muted; the two are not mutually exclusive.

 

[deuxhero]

1. (of a sound or voice) Quiet and soft.
2. (of a musical instrument) Having a muffled sound as a result of being fitted with a mute.

Sure looks like they are mutally exclusive.

 

[agentorange]

1. (of a sound or voice) Quiet and soft.
2. (of a musical instrument) Having a muffled sound as a result of being fitted with a mute.

Sure looks like they are mutally exclusive.

We are talking about colors and you quote definitions of sound? Put a muted blue next to a muted red and tell me they are not distinct. I will do this for you.

 

[deuxhero]

Nowhere listened a definition for colors and as far as I could tell, the use was methaphorical instead of standard use (I'd use "dull color pallet").

Besides, as the screens hot shows, Deus Ex had colors that where not only distinct but bright.

 

[Blaine]

I became curious about this myself, and in the process learned that "muted colors" are synonymous with "desaturated colors". I then found this:

The saturation of a color is determined by a combination of light intensity and how much it is distributed across the spectrum of different wavelengths. The purest (most saturated) color is achieved by using just one wavelength at a high intensity, such as in laser light. If the intensity drops, then as a result the saturation drops. To desaturate a color of given intensity in a subtractive system (such as watercolor), one can add white, black, gray, or the hue's complement.

So essentially, bright colors = high saturation and "pure", and muted colors = the "pure" color with poop on it.

Seems legit. I think agentorange has the edge here, at least insofar as the definition of "muted color".

I will now take that screenshot, put it into Photoshop, and test the RGB/saturation/color curve values of various colors in it.

 

[Blaine]

WHAT NOW, DEUXHERO? HUH? SOMETHIN' TO SAY? IS THAT SHIT MUTED OR WHAT?

Yeah, I know, the one on the left looks shitty. But it provides a decent reference by which to discern whether the original is muted or not.

 

[deuxhero]

"low saturation" would also work.

WHAT NOW, DEUXHERO? HUH? SOMETHIN' TO SAY? IS THAT SHIT MUTED OR WHAT?

Yeah, I know, the one on the left looks shitty. But it provides a decent reference by which to discern whether the original is muted or not.

Jokes on you. Deus Ex actually will look similar to that if you turn your light aug on directly in front of someone.

 

[DeepOcean]

A game with FEAR as name with bright colors, cartoony characters , bright eviroments would would really work well...

Eh, just because something is colorful and cartoony does not make it superior. Look at all the terrible TF2 and WoW clones out there, using it as a crutch for lack of talent and creativity. Thief, Deus Ex, , Pathologic, Silent Hill series, and others all have fairly drab and muted color pallets yet they know how to use those colors to effectively build an atmosphere. FEAR may have had a lot of gray corridors but at least chose a style and stuck with it, and the lack of vibrancy made the player feel isolated. Bioshock Infinite seems to throw a million different bamboozles and whizzwhams in your face at every turn, so much so to the point where the special effects become tedious.

Sarcasm detection fail. Someone could say that the art style of FEAR is boring, but I don't know if it is more of a problem of art style or is more of a problem of they cutting/paste assets because they didn't had the budget. Still, you raid an office building, so it makes sense that the building was full of offices.

 

[Blaine]

Jokes on you.

Says the guy who used the aural definition of "muted" to make his point.

I'm just messing around. I doubt that 100% pure, fully saturated colors are a good yardstick by which to measure "mutedness" anyway, since games would look ridiculous in such a color scheme. Nearly all games probably have color schemes that are desaturated to some technical degree or another, except for World of Warcraft, which looks like Skittles.

 

[agentorange]

Sarcasm detection fail. Someone could say that the art style of FEAR is boring, but I don't know if it is more of a problem of art style or is more of a problem of they cutting/paste assets because they didn't had the budget. Still, you raid an office building, so it makes sense that the building was full of offices.

Ohhh, sorry, I had read it as "A game like FEAR". Made picking up on the sarcasm more difficult.