Game News Fallout 3 rips off BioShock, franchise now like FIFA

[denizsi]

The great thing about high school girls is that no matter how old you get, they stay the same age. Coincidentally, that is also the most depressing thing about game reviewers.

Give them a few beers and they are great fuck holes too.

The whole point is to get to that point without beers. It's much more rewarding.

 

[denizsi]

Witness and tremble: Hivemind is under gay invasion. Move the server to Iran (there are no gay people in Iran).

 

[shihonage]

I just don't see it. Are you talking about large areas or pathway structure? Doom had alot of levels that were interconnected, sometimes going for a more oval approach, or having a central section that became the chokepoint for exploring the rest of the level, with the cityscape level being one of the few level where you were actually walled in on a big plane, with buildings in the middle of the level, some allowing non linear exploration (most not). IIRC there was a Castle-level as well, based on the same premise, but more linear.

Bioshock started off with a linear decent into the facility, with the only deviation being several optional areas, but after getting to the medical section it practically adopted the level design straight out of Doom, obviously without providing any enormous fields (because that would be queer in an underwater facility). From then on it was Central Hub -> Areas of interest -> Pipelines between areas (sometimes not). In fact, I remember thinking "Sort of reminds me of Doom." when I played it. The park-like area in Bio, for instance, is an interconnected maze, where the sections often connect via alternate routes, a central hub connects to all sections and a water-walkway flows via the central section into several areas.

I still believe Doom levels had far more roaming possibilities and were generally more intricately detailed in path-finding sense. I spent a LOT of time with that game, made levels and utilities for it. But I don't care to keep splitting hairs on this. I concede that yes, Bioshock's level design was on par linearly with Doom, a 1993 FPS.

Not really. For example, there was no revisiting old levels at whim in HL2, by use of a system implented within the gameworld. Or the Dooms for that matter.

I am pretty sure that HL2 allowed you to go back. Even if it didn't, HL1 did, and so did Quake 2 and Hexen, a 1996 FPS based on Doom engine.

Besides, extensive backtracking does not decrease linearity of either the game's architecture, or the player's path through it.

I believe it made a difference. It allowed the player to experience a particular fight from a different angle, in most cases, and made a minor alterations to the cinematics (such as one group avoiding a fight by going left, while the other was pushed into the fray from the get go, by going right, and the left group only hears the fight from behind a wall without taking part).

Does it change ANYTHING in the grand scope of things? Not a thing; it's still a linear, limited level. Then again, so is every level, in every game. It has 1's and it has 0's; can walk -- can't walk; collision -- walkway. And if you have a place to go, you'll either go there straight, or deviate, which is about as important (in the majority of all games) as is choosing left or right.

If we distill every game to 1 and 0s, they will all be the same. This sort of distillation is pointless. It's like using the phrase "why can't we all just get along" in every Internet argument.

As I said, the only non-linear thing about Bioshock was the way in which you killed monsters. Of course, in my book, that doesn't count as non-linear.

What? Why would you even bring it up, you dumb shit? What game has you killing monsters in the exact same way through the whole game, and why did you even bother installing it?

Asides from your foaming at the mouth I don't even understand what you're trying to say here. You might want to get that mouth washed, and likely your reading glasses as well.

It's certainly not the pinnacle of open world gameplay, but it's not a rail-shooter like CoD4 or script-triggering-corridor-fragfest like HL2. It had a reasonable indoorsy design and made up for the numerous times my primary route was blocked by fancy cinematic effects, by allowing me to choose the preffered method of approach as many, if not more, times.

It was not COD4, but it was definitely the script-triggering-corridor-fragfest much like HL2. Except, HL2 followed the enlightened design method which never took control away from the layer to do cutscenes. In that, too, Bioshock was a step backward.

 

[denizsi]

iran is made up of nothing but gays

Lies. His Greatness Ahmedinejad himself said so.

 

[St. Toxic]

I still believe Doom levels had far more roaming possibilities and were generally more intricately detailed in path-finding sense. I spent a LOT of time with that game, made levels and utilities for it. But I don't care to keep splitting hairs on this. I concede that yes, Bioshock's level design was on par linearly with Doom, a 1993 FPS.

Mission accomplished.

I am pretty sure that HL2 allowed you to go back. Even if it didn't, HL1 did, and so did Quake 2 and Hexen, a 1996 FPS based on Doom engine.

Ah, but did any of those games allow you to travel from lvl C directly back to lvl A without crossing through the otherwise compulsory B? I can speak, in the negative, for HL2/HL1/Q2; not sure about Hexen doh.

Besides, extensive backtracking does not decrease linearity of either the game's architecture, or the player's path through it.

A dynamical travelling system set up between all otherwise linear levels is a non-linear gameplay element.

If we distill every game to 1 and 0s, they will all be the same.

Hahaha, no.

Asides from your foaming at the mouth I don't even understand what you're trying to say here.

Second take then: Why would you bring up a feature that has nothing to do with non-linearity, to first call it non-linear, and then point out that it doesn't actually count as non-linear?

It was not COD4, but it was definitely the script-triggering-corridor-fragfest much like HL2. Except, HL2 followed the enlightened design method which never took control away from the Player to do cutscenes.

I'll think of something later (time for work). Suffice to say, there's little "enlightment" to be seen in HL2.

 

[shihonage]

Ah, but did any of those games allow you to travel from lvl C directly back to lvl A without crossing through the otherwise compulsory B? I can speak, in the negative, for HL2/HL1/Q2; not sure about Hexen doh.

Hexen allowed to jump all around the place. As a matter of fact the textmode shooter I made that year also had that functionality.

A dynamical travelling system set up between all otherwise linear levels is a non-linear gameplay element.

I guess I find Hexen more memorable because there I didn't feel like I was constantly following a trail of breadcrumbs.

Second take then: Why would you bring up a feature that has nothing to do with non-linearity, to first call it non-linear, and then point out that it doesn't actually count as non-linear?

I anticipated your follow-up argument about how Bioshock is so deep because it has stats and plasmids which makes it non-linear. Apparently you were not stupid enough to make it, kudos.

I'll think of something later (time for work). Suffice to say, there's little "enlightment" to be seen in HL2.

This is not so much about comparing overall quality of the game, but analysis of features. Some things HL series did were pretty enlightened. Anyway, I think I completely lost track of what we were arguing about at this point.

Oh yeah, that the reviewer is an idiot.