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

[Heresiarch]

Gotta say, this game is challenging on hard. Still haven't finished it because I'm stuck on the ghost fight.

Mind you, I'm going into it without exploiting ridiculous vigor combos. Just playing with a sniper rifle / machine gun duo and using the lift and possession vigors as my primaries. Run out of ammo a lot during set battles. Sure, it's not that bad when you have ammo shops every two rooms, but they're not always around when you need them.

Handymen stomp me. I imagine they stomp everybody who isn't exploiting a combo, but I'm sure there are plenty of bros who think it's ez mode. Those fire dudes used to stomp me too till I figured out they're liftable. Then it was pretty easy.

All in all, the game's balance is not very far off from being about where it needs to be to be enjoyable without being easy / frustrating.

The ghost fight, though, fuck that.

Just managed to beat all three ghost fights. All won in cheap ways.

First fight: Hid in the tomb. A couple of zombies ran over, killed them. The ghost went over and start raising them, and I unleashed everything I got on her.

Second fight: my first few tries were total failures. Some guy suggested to snipe her in side the vault, as the zombies won't come in...which was NOT the case. Got extremely frustrated because even without corpses (lured and killed all the zombies in the vault) the ghost could still summon zombies somehow. Tried to throw fireballs to AoE crowd control + damage but still not effective. Then as I got low in health I hid just behind the edge of the vault door...guess what, in this case, the zombies did NOT come inside. It seems their AI would prefer to keep some distance, so staying close to the door means they won't come in (a couple did but were easily dispatched). So I could take pot shots at the ghost, take a few hits from the zombies and hide back to recharge the shield (see??? even without cover system the game is STILL a popamole). Still took a while and like 60+ carbine + sniper rifle shots.

Third fight: hid in the corner of the three vending machines, sniping all the zombies (because I couldn't see the damn ghost). Health was not an issue because the large distance, and had limitless ammo thanks to the machine. Then suddenly realized that the summonings stopped. Poked my head out a bit and found the ghost bugged out and stood there doing nothing! Then I proceeded with sniper rifle headshotting. Guess what? With max upgrades and the +50% crit gear, each headshot took only 10% of her health down. So I shoot 3 clips into a motionless ghost to bring it down. What will happen if it didn't bug out (like in the other dimension the other me playing this shit game)? HP bloat fuck fuck fuck

As for Handymen, I must say I got extremely lucky to get the Winter Shield gear (jumping off sky lanes and hooks = around 5 seconds of invulnerability) and since every Handymen fight have lanes and hooks, fighting him (or just in general anything) was extremely easy - just keep jumping up and down to grab that 5 seconds of invulnerability time to shoot stuff and repeat.

 

[MetalCraze]

Infinite Bioware Shock.

 

[DeepOcean]

Just stop saying things like "it's good for what it is" or "it's good for a popamole game."

The Darkness 2 vs. Bioshlock Infinite.

Man, The Darkness 2 is a short, completely linear game, 2 weapon limit with an inane story that take itself seriously but have surprising shooting mechanics. I remember that on hard, the shield, whip and light dudes could rape you, you could die in a few hits and there wasn't full regenerative health, you had to consume enemy hearts , you had to expose yourself to enemy fire with low health to consume the hearts of your enemy because your tentacles don't reach long distances. While ammunition wasn't exactly that hard to find, after every fight I was almost without ammunition and there wasn't a convenient NPC giving everything I needed. Hiding behind cover wasn't a sure strategy to win because when you have a shield guy advancing in your position covered by a light guy and enemy fire, things could get tense. It was a good shooter inside a piece of shit Call of Duty level design school and extremely short. I hated and loved it at same time, I guess this is what people mean by "Good for what it is" .

 

[DalekFlay]

Man, The Darkness 2 is a short, completely linear game, 2 weapon limit with an inane story that take itself seriously but have surprising shooting mechanics. I remember that on hard, the shield, whip and light dudes could rape you, you could die in a few hits and there wasn't full regenerative health, you had to consume enemy hearts , you had to expose yourself to enemy fire with low health to consume the hearts of your enemy because your tentacles don't reach long distances. While ammunition wasn't exactly that hard to find, after every fight I was almost without ammunition and there wasn't a convenient NPC giving everything I needed. Hiding behind cover wasn't a sure strategy to win because when you have a shield guy advancing in your position covered by a light guy and enemy fire, things could get tense. It was a good shooter inside a piece of shit Call of Duty level design school and extremely short. I hated and loved it at same time, I guess this is what people mean by "Good for what it is" .

Pretty much.

Infinite is surprisingly similar.

 

[pocahaunted]

Finally bothered to see this turd through to the end.

How the fuck is this shit being praised for having an awesome plot and, specifically, a mindblowing ending? There's so much foreshadowing and so much contrivance that the whole thing just feels like an exercise in hamfisted storytelling. The whole circlejerk around this thing is insane, it reminds me of extreme cultist groupthink.

Honestly, as stated previously, the game excels in its art direction, but does manage to fail as a cohesive and believable environ. It just doesn't feel alive or credible past the first 15 minutes. Due to all the praise the graphics are gettings, I can't help but feel that reviewers are like insects drawn to the game's overuse of light shafts and sunbeams since they seem to ignore the pervalent use of terrible textures and the existence of plenty of graphical artifacts.

Ugh, this is an exercise in pointlessness, I don't even feel like bashing the overly linear design and repetitive gameplay mechanics. The ammo shops at everycorner, accessible during fights, are just ridiculous, as if no-death with ammo regen wasn't stupid enough. Truly an interactive movie, albeit a poor one even in that category.

All in all, GOTY 11/10 HERE'S MY GF'S DRAWING OF BIOSHOX:INFINITE

 

[DalekFlay]

Honestly, as stated previously, the game excels in its art direction, but does manage to fail as a cohesive and believable environ. It just doesn't feel alive or credible past the first 15 minutes. Due to all the praise the graphics are gettings, I can't help but feel that reviewers are like insects drawn to the game's overuse of light shafts and sunbeams since they seem to ignore the pervalent use of terrible textures and the existence of plenty of graphical artifacts.

I thought the game world felt pretty alive and inhabited through to the beach part. After that it seemed to remove all the "actual city" feel for the sake of better shooting environs. The slums and factory area were especially fake feeling for me.

 

[Dexter]

LOL @ all the comments:

 

[Jaesun]

So is Elizabeth basically a new..... quest compass AI? At least that's..... new.

 

[agentorange]

So is Elizabeth basically a new..... quest compass AI? At least that's..... new.

A quest compass/mobile resource vending machine. Can't wait to see Bethduh copy the idea in Fallout 4 and have a Pip-boy upgrade that dispenses stim-packs and ammo.

 

[Jaesun]

Well I'll give credit where credit is due.

That is at least ..... new.?

 

[Jick Magger]

It's hardly the epic game-changer everyone seems to be singing it as, though.

Elizabeth's not exactly the brilliant character I've been hearing about, either. She's basically the "Wide-eyed idealist who's finally getting to see the real world and slowly realizing it's not the place she read about" trope played out to a tee. Say what you want about Clementine, at least she didn't spend most of the game as a glorified fucking supply dump.

 

[Jaesun]

Was Clementine the first Quest Compass AI? (I just bought the Telltale Walking Dead so I don't know yet).

 

[agentorange]

It's hardly the epic game-changer everyone seems to be singing it as, though.

Elizabeth's not exactly the brilliant character I've been hearing about, either. She's basically the "Wide-eyed idealist who's finally getting to see the real world and slowly realizing it's not the place she read about" trope played out to a tee. Say what you want about Clementine, at least she didn't spend most of the game as a glorified fucking supply dump.

I haven't played the game, so maybe it's paced better there, but in that 15 minute sequence we see Elizabeth: do quirky shit like putting on an over sized Lincoln hat and posing! Get over a dead animal. Stand bravely in front of a giant menace that is menacing the man hero. Then cry, with an outstretched arm that almost reaches the man hero. That's 4 outrageously typical character development points in the span of 15 minutes. In the words of MCA: emotional pornography.

Was Clementine the first Quest Compass AI? (I just bought the Telltale Walking Dead so I don't know yet).

Clementine wasn't quest compass AI, at all. The COD games sort of have it, since in a lot of missions you are forced to follow someone who leads you from one cinematic moment to the next, opening doors for you along the way. But those companions are not teenage girls who cry over dead horses and denounce racial segregation, thus they can never hope to be equal to the Citizen Kane of video games.

 

[DalekFlay]

So is Elizabeth basically a new..... quest compass AI? At least that's..... new.

Nah, you have a quest arrow that pops up whenever you hit a key. Which by the way publishers is the way to do it if you're going to do it, no more of this shitty HUD arrow stuff that makes me feel like I'm playing follow the leader. Anyway Elizabeth always follows, never leads.

Anyway, gameplay-wise her function is to toss you health, ammo and salts, but only once per battle in my experience. After one go she always says "I don't have anything" if you run low again. Also she facilitates the tears, which only one at a time bring things into the world like turrets or walls for cover.

In the large open environments it's pretty neat to summon a hook, latch onto it, shoot some dudes from above and then pound back to the ground on top of someone, killing them, and spraying fire all around you killing a bunch of others.

You know, if you're into that kind of thing.

 

[ohWOW]

Haha, yeah Summon a missile turret in the middle of the enemy position. Watch it rape them. In case when destroyed, wait a while and

SUMMON IT AGAIN



multiverse!

 

[DalekFlay]

Yeah that was pretty stupid.

 

[Regdar]

The shooting part in this "game" is shit because it's repetitive and poorly balanced. The only times you will get stuck, as in unable to progress due to difficulty, is when the game throws a Handyman at you, and then you'll be reloading for a while. After that it's back to disposing of waves of trash enemies with overpowered vigors, watching cutscenes and pressing X to interact when prompted. None of the binary choices presented to the player have any impact on the ending (AFAIK the latest CoD had binary choices which changed the ending, boom). Choose the cage, choose the bird, shoot the guy, get stabbed in the hand and get a cool bandage to wear for the rest of the game - all cosmetic.

Instead of reviewing the plot I decided to just google this for anyone who thinks Bioschlock had any redeeming qualities:

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2011/05/the_most_important_and_enjoyable_time_travel_stories/

I'll say this though: if Ken Levine really wanted to make story about redemption, self-sacrifice and familial bonds he sure as fuck didn't have to spend 200 million on it. Taken literally, the plot of the game is pure uncut shit.

 

[grdja]

The shooting part in this "game" is shit because it's repetitive and poorly balanced. The only times you will get stuck, as in unable to progress due to difficulty, is when the game throws a Handyman at you, and then you'll be reloading for a while. After that it's back to disposing of waves of trash enemies with overpowered vigors, watching cutscenes and pressing X to interact when prompted. None of the binary choices presented to the player have any impact on the ending (AFAIK the latest CoD had binary choices which changed the ending, boom). Choose the cage, choose the bird, shoot the guy, get stabbed in the hand and get a cool bandage to wear for the rest of the game - all cosmetic.

Instead of reviewing the plot I decided to just google this for anyone who thinks Bioschlock had any redeeming qualities:

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2011/05/the_most_important_and_enjoyable_time_travel_stories/

I'll say this though: if Ken Levine really wanted to make story about redemption, self-sacrifice and familial bonds he sure as fuck didn't have to spend 200 million on it. Taken literally, the plot of the game is pure uncut shit.

Wait what. Nothing by Baxter? No "End of Eternity"? Strange list.

 

[Heresiarch]

Finally finished the game. Finished the last battle in the first try too, thanks to someone suggesting putting Back to Senders around the engine to absorb attacks, and thanks to Winter Shield which essentially gave me God Mode.

I liked the ending sequence. Did well at stirring up emotions, and explained things well without going too out of place or trying too hard.

Slap me if you want, but I actually find the plot alike PS:T.

Spoiler

What if TNO could time travel back to the meeting with Ravel and kill himself at that time?

 

[ohWOW]

 

[MetalCraze]

Well I'll give credit where credit is due.

That is at least ..... new.?

There are no limits to innovation of dumbing down.

I liked the ending sequence. Did well at stirring up emotions, and explained things well without going too out of place or trying too hard.

Did it tell why Booker converted to Baptism and became racist and jingoist in a blink?
Did it tell you why would Booker steal his own daughter from himself considering all Bookers had a daughter?
Why Elizabeth has the magical powers?
Why a bunch of blips would pose a threat to a 1984 nuclear USA with its airplanes and AA defenses?
How did Booker manage to build a hugeass floating city in 20 years?

ZOMG but the ending said NO JOHN U R ZE DEMONZ and that was so emotional!

Pretentious writing with random plot tweeests that make no sense != good writing.

 

[dnf]

200 millon budget, seriously? Did this blockbuster beat The Avengers on the box office yet?

I keep seeing this 200 million thing everywhere, but where's the proff? A blog claimed this aumount of money but Ken Levine denied it. So, what to believe?

So is Elizabeth basically a new..... quest compass AI? At least that's..... new.

A quest compass/mobile resource vending machine. Can't wait to see Bethduh copy the idea in Fallout 4 and have a Pip-boy upgrade that dispenses stim-packs and ammo.

Only if you begin gaming in 2010. There is Alix vance and probably a lot more. I guess the officers in Operation Flashpoint count as quest compass NPC's, since you have to obey then when playing the grunt missions.

 

[Angthoron]

Pretentious writing with random plot tweeests that make no sense != good writing.

Ah but you're living in a world where Lost is considered to have a great plot.

 

[pocahaunted]

Stirred up emotions? Likeable ending sequence? it's the most contrived piece of shit there is. Even copy pasta adventure games from the 90s had better and more well executed plots!

Oh, yeah, it's DEEP, cause stars are lighthouses and there's infinite dimensions where u can be a monsta. DEEP!

 

[Angthoron]

Stirred up emotions? Likeable ending sequence? it's the most contrived piece of shit there is. Even copy pasta adventure games from the 90s had better and more well executed plots!

Oh, yeah, it's DEEP, cause stars are lighthouses and there's infinite dimensions where u can be a monsta. DEEP!

Lighthouses are also phallic. SYMBOLISM.