Your Favourite Game Was Rubbish

[Genma:TheDestroyer]

I enjoyed Invisible War, and thought it a pretty decent and worthy sequel.



But better than the original Deus Ex?




Uh...no. Too many little things got changed or removed for it to get near that.

 

[Zeus]

Author is clearly trolling - no sane person can claim that Bioshock > SS2. Maybe except Volly.

BATTLE OF THE SHOCKS!

Metacritic:
- System Shock 2: 92%
- BioShock: 96%

GameRankings:
- System Shock: 88.33%
- System Shock 2: 92.00%
- BioShock: 94.99%

The votes are in, and critics collectively agree, BioShock > System Shock.

Now help me round up a good ol' fashioned transylvanian greeting for Castle Criticstein. You bring the torches, I'll bring the pitchforks.

 

[spekkio]

BATTLE OF THE SHOCKS!

Metacritic User Score:
- System Shock 2: 9,2
- BioShock: 8,0

GaySpot User Score:
- System Shock: 9,0
- System Shock 2: 9,2
- BioShock: 8,8

Still BioShock is 6-7 tops in my book.

 

[Zeus]

Still BioShock is 6-7 tops in my book.

It was a game with like, what, two enemy types?

Freaking Blake Stone on my old 386 had more variety of enemies than BioShock.

BioShock had a great atmosphere, but that was about it. It's like a movie with really good sets and costumes but it's so dull you wind up checking your watch midway through.

 

[shihonage]

Bioshock had one area you could access ahead of time, that had the Plasmid required for passing another area.

If you accessed this area out of sequence, the plasmid WASN'T THERE YET.

That game was as linear as any COD title, only more repetitive.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

SS2 and bioshock are both shit.

 

[Genma:TheDestroyer]

Still BioShock is 6-7 tops in my book.

It was a game with like, what, two enemy types?

Freaking Blake Stone on my old 386 had more variety of enemies than BioShock.

-Thuggish Splicers (pure melee, later on their weapons were electrified, which upped the damage and made them immune to Electro Shock)

-Leadhead Splicers (ranged that started out with a pistol, later upgraded to a tommy gun)

-Houdini Splicers (teleported around and threw fireballs, later versions were ice-based with an obligatory power-up)

-Nitro Splicers (threw little makeshift explosives, later upgraded to molotov cocktails and grenades)

-Spider Slicers (crawl on the ceilings, throw large hooks, etc, they don't really have any significant upgrades)

-And then of course Big Daddies


So that's six. Character model wise, they routinely swapped character models for the Thuggish, Leadhead, Houdini and Nitro Slicers. Only the Spider Slicers and Big Daddies had unique enemy models.


Edit: I take it back, in the initial area they appear in (Fort Frolic), Houdini Splicers do have a unique appearance. They dress up like a weird mix of a scientist and a hippie, with a wicker mask on their face. After that level though the other enemy types character models start getting used again.

 

[DraQ]

*Headdesk*

Each time I see someone saying 'UR BLINDED BY TEH NOSTALGIA' I feel like beating them to death with a golf club.

Me too.

I first played Frontier somewhere around 2006, 13 years from its release, it hasn't stopped me from drooling on my keyboard from the awesomeness overload.

I played Daggerfall after Oblivion, and it didn't change the fact it rocked while OB sucked.

As for Deus Ex, I complained about devs' inability to use the engine to it's full potential from the day one.

Still, doesn't change that it rocked, from the day one, unlike some of the "hurf durf modern ex-pear-iences" discussed. And no way I remember it as actiony bloomy shit, as doctored shot would indicate.

 

[Zeus]

I played Daggerfall after Oblivion, and it didn't change the fact it rocked while OB sucked.

I played Arena after I played Oblivion. :D

Bought a nice boxed retail copy of Arena back in the 90s, before I'd heard of Bethesda, but it was missing one of the floppies, so I wasn't able to install it until after they released Arena as freeware.

I actually liked it a lot. Being able to roam around the whole world, instead of being confined to a single province like in Morrowind or Oblivion, really impressed me. Every time I see rumors about TES:V being set in Skyrim or something, I can't help but think that Arena has all the locations, while the sequels just focus on one and ignore the others.

Grand Theft Auto, same story. The original had, IIRC, Liberty and Vice City as well as San Andreas.

 

[Burning Bridges]

 

[Genma:TheDestroyer]

Guy in front with the pony-tail probably has black hair, and is the calm, cool emotionless one of the group. Amazingly, all the women they know take this to mean he needs mothering, and he gets the chicks. But he never pays any attention.


Spiky headed kick is blond-haired, and has a 'never say die' attitude. Most of the same girls that like 'emotive as a rock' guy think this one is a loser, because he's nowhere near as suave as *insert name here*-sama. But every once in awhile he breaks preconceptions and shows his blazing potential.


The guy in the back's hair is most likely some unusual color. Blue or purple, and he's the laid back, yet dependable type. Only a few things can actually get him riled, but someone messing with his friends, or abusing family are included. Hides a great deal of his skills just because he doesn't want to deal with the hassle that comes with being recognized as talented.






And there, that's pretty much the gist of every single male group-oriented manga...ever. Ever.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Doom3 should be compared to Doom2 and Doom. On that front its a deferred success. Also, author is great troll, though needs more vitriol.

 

[Angthoron]

In System Shock 2 there’s literally no exploration of who or what you are and SHODAN hogs the limelight greedily, though somewhat deservedly.
BioShock, which was actually designed by some of System Shock 2’s principal talent, addresses this flaw directly, deliberately and diligently by making the player an active and important part of the plot, not merely a tool for exploring it.

Fuck I hate how every designer and every moronic player wants to have "the experience" to be as much player-centric as possible. You're the only survivor on a spaceship infested with all sorts of sick shit, what else should this game do to make you more heroic, offer fellatios every other minute?

There shouldn't be so much "epic" related to the player. This is a whole new problem that the designers have created, the player's like this invincible god in the middle of amusing shit that strokes egococks. So how do you attract the player to the next game then? You add more egocock-stroking of course, until every game is about some fucking unbelievable bullshit epic retardation like it is today already. Live the dream, people.

Fuck, back in the day I thought that HL1 was great bringing interesting story into FP shooter genre. Now I can see it was the beginning of the decline. Now every sad basement-dwelling developer wants to tell us a fucking STORY! GTFO, learn to make proper game mechanics first you fuckin' twats!

Here's a fan of Unreal 1 speaking, but yes, HL1 is very much the beginning of the decline. It's a player-centric game, and it has a whole lot of elements that have been worked upon to bring us the classy console elements that we're so in love with these days. Colour scheme, too, is essentially the legacy of HL1 - green-brown isn't quite that popular until then. Oh, and scripted events instead of an actual AI. There you have it, a recipe for a Modern Shooter.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Fuck I hate how every designer and every moronic player wants to have "the experience" to be as much player-centric as possible. You're the only survivor on a spaceship infested with all sorts of sick shit, what else should this game do to make you more heroic, offer fellatios every other minute?

There shouldn't be so much "epic" related to the player. This is a whole new problem that the designers have created, the player's like this invincible god in the middle of amusing shit that strokes egococks. So how do you attract the player to the next game then? You add more egocock-stroking of course, until every game is about some fucking unbelievable bullshit epic retardation like it is today already. Live the dream, people.

Not to mention that there's plenty of character-related info in System Shock 2 (the origin and nature of the implants, SHODAN's plans towards him etc), it's just that it's mostly behind the scenes and not thrown in your face, so dumbfucks get confused.

 

[bhlaab]

I can see the argument that Bioshock had a more intetresting world and story than System Shock 2
(the article doesn't even attempt to note that the gameplay in Bioshock was much shittier)

But saying that Invisible War is better than Deus Ex is just... Harvey Smith wouldn't even fucking tell you that!

 

[Twinkle]

In System Shock 2 there’s literally no exploration of who or what you are.

Hey, fucking insect, can you try a little bit harder?

back-tracking and minigames. BioShock was right to drop those ideas now in the face of an increasingly cynical audience.

Pipe dream and quest compass are truly innovative.

BioShock which possesses the real depth

Can't argue with that - ocean floor is really deep.

how amazing Alyx Vance’s dialogue is.

Poor job

In the end though it’s the emotional connection formed with the characters which proves that Invisible War was a superior game to Deus Ex, even if interpreted at it’s most basic level. Take IW’s Leo Jankowski as an example; blond, cocky and built like Superman’s big brother, Leo begins working for the cybernetic Omar traders early in the game and his jock-like smarm is a constant annoyance. It’s impossible not to bristle at his charisma or to prevent the swell of smugness when he finally begs for your help. His is by far the shallowest character in Invisible War, but compared to Deus Ex’s cast of indifferent schemers and monotoned wrongdoers he’s of unplumbed depth.

Mancrush? :shock:

At the same time though, nostalgia can be a dangerous thing for hobbyists. It can blind us to innovation and through over-exposure can sap all the enjoyment out of these and the games we compare them too.

Next time try to compare actual gameplay before crying "I like Leo" or "DX1 graphics are shit".

2/10.

But D3>HL2, no contest.

Also, author's paragon of excellence

 

[Angthoron]

To me, Bioshock has exactly one "whoa" moment - when the protagonist offs Ryan. That's a pretty good scene, especially for a modern game, and not just for the "omg he hit teh dudz in teh faec lololoz" factor. Otherwise, nothing terribly special. And I certainly didn't find any mini-games I'd actually want to play, unlike SS2 mini-"rpg" that you could find and play.

Hah, at one point I got so tired of space chimps that I holed up in a corner behind some crates and just spent a good while trying to get as far as possible in that dungeon crawler. Sanity Loss --

 

[masterridley]

For me, Bioshock was a bigger disappointment than Oblivion and that's saying a lot, since I think Oblivion is the worst-designed game ever.

And to be fair, the first 3 hours of the game were amazing. Despite the awful shooting mechanics and the stupidest idea of all time (vita-chambers) that made it more sense for you to "die" and try again than to heal. What made it worthwhile was the incredible atmosphere/setting and the interesting implementation of plasmids.

And then... it all falls apart, when you realize that EVERY GODDAMN ROOM is a fucking mini-game! (I still nerd-rage when I think about it). Every "area" has an ammo/gene/health vending machine, 1 or more Big Brothers to kill, Little Sisters to harvest, the fucking turret mini-game etc. Over and over again. Goddamn it, I'd rather get a real job than play through this repetitive bullshit. And don't get me started on the shallowest moral-dilemma ever (see stupid ending)


FUUUUUU what a wasted potential

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Despite the awful shooting mechanics and the stupidest idea of all time (vita-chambers) that made it more sense for you to "die" and try again than to heal. What made it worthwhile was the incredible atmosphere/setting and the interesting implementation of plasmids.

...Until you realize they could just make some sort of healing plasmid instead of revive chambers.

 

[bhlaab]

Wait maybe I missed that shit the first time I read the article, but did he really say Bioshock was better than SS2 because it had less minigames? WHAAT?

 

[Burning Bridges]

I never even tried Bioshock. Did I miss something at all?

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

nope, it's garbage.