Just got a copy today and will be giving it a thorough test tonight!!
[360, PS3] Bioshock 2
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Bioshock 2, My (Spoiler-free) Impressions...
Disclaimer: These are my spoiler-free thoughts after spending 3-4 hours with the game.
For me, initially the idea of heading back to Rapture 10 years after the events that took place in the original Bioshock were facsinating, though I was have to admit that I was also leary of the experience. And not because of the sometimes talked of "quick corporate cash-grab" from 2KGames that gamers talk of--I try to not concern myself with that stuff--but because Bioshock seems to be a complete story unto itself. Afterall, wouldnt making a sequel to Bioshock be similar to making a sequel to Pulp Fiction--not necissary?
It turns out my suspicions were probably illconceived.
By now everyone knows you take control of the very first prototyped Big Daddy in Bioshock 2, and from the initial moment that happens the game makes it incredibily apparent how massive and powerful you are. With the heavy pounding of your feet as you lumber through about, the loud "Swoop" of your massive melee attack thudding someone across the head, or even the chest-deep grunts you let loose when you're attacked--it sinks in that you're truely massive. But that doesnt mean you're not susceptible to damage or that you perform things and slower than any other protagonist in a game.
Actually, to me it just highlights the greatness of his design. The collosal heaviness is translated to you completely by sound and not the controls. Infact there is almost a certain melancholy to the implication of how cumbersome your life is in Rapture now.
I have to admit, for me, the very first hour of the game was slightly awkward. Walking around was a confusing expereince as I tried to take in everything Rapture was designed to show me. The environments, though the same in essence, had changed a bit due to the lapse of 10 years, the writting scrawled across the walls didnt make much sense to me and the suit I was wearing felt cumbersome making me feel claustrophobic--I just totally felt out of place! But after putting some thought into it after playing last night I realize that perhaps what I was experiencing was a natural. Perhaps these elicited feelings were intentionally by design? I doubt it, but it did manage to augment my experience by connecting me to the protagonist, as I imagine he was most likely experiencing the same emotions.
By the time I hit the second area in the game
I was full on, 100% drawn into the game. I knew what plasmids I wanted to use in certain situations and what weapons were most effective against certain foes. But what was really interesting was playing through this particular area because the day before I was listening to the lastest Game Informer Podcast where they visited Irrational Games and talking to Ken Levine. Most of the conversation centered around inspirations for video game ideas and one of the things he brought up after movies was Walt Disney and it's theme park rides. He stated that theme part rides like Pirates of the Caribean is an experience where you never know where the audience is going to look and video games sometimes face the same dilema when trying to tell a story in the game. The issue is resolved, in both places, by the use of strong lighting and in dark rooms. While playing through this particular level you can see these techniques used--it was fascinating!
But there are some other minor annoyances in the game. One of them includes the odd default placement of the quick save and quick load keys--F12 and F11 respectively. Why on Earth would you flip the--mostly industry standard-locations around? They put the quick save on the right and the quick load immediately to its left. Often in PC games you will find the quick save key to be either F5 or F6, and the quick load key will usually reside on F9 or F10. Keeping the all important and sometimes frantically hit keys seperated by a few other keys adds a bit of insurance from gamers fumbling a wrong key press. I learned the hard way, in game, that they traditional setup was now configured by default. In one particular area in the game I died and was immediately resurrected in a Vita Chamber. I wanted to restart the game where I had saved it--which was right before I died so I wouldnt have to run back--but unfortunately my instinct forced me to hit the right-most key to laod it, but all it did was save my game where I was standing--in the Vita Chamber. It took me a few seconds to realize what had just happened--I overwrote my quicksave slot! It was frustrating losing the 15 minutes of game time, and I still dont understand the logic behind this design. Also, shouldnt a quick save be done...quickly? If you are taken out of the game for the process to happen (dialog:"Quicksaving, please do not turn your computer off!") then it kind of defeats the process doesnt it?
Also, having seperate keys to hack AND open things seems a bit cheap and a blatant offer at "choice". I can't see into everyones Bioshock game but I would be willing to guess that 99% of the people playing Bioshock 2 are hacking just about everything that can be hacked since it offers benefits (free items, lower prices on items, by pass alarms)--so why do we need seperate keys to hack and open things? Does anyone not want to hack something and bypass cheaper prices on items?
After the quicksave debacle I modified the default keyboard configuration to my liking only to find out a little later in the game that the text in the game didnt reflect my changes. For instance, I changed the binding of the F key and the Spacebar and in one particular instance, where you get to make a moral decision, the options were essentially "Press F to be a good guy and Press B to be a monster!" Well, I knew that I changed my F key bindings so I hit the Spacebar instead to be a goody-two-shoes and nothing happened. Y'okay, so it just didnt register my change, I thought. I then hit the F key and--not only did it not work--it choose the morally evil decision--what?! Fortunatley I had saved the game 5 mintues before this event took place so it wasnt a problem, but it does make me wonder how something like that slipped through testing.
Graphically speaking the game is very very much like the first one, but with slightly more detailed textures. I'm playing on the PC with all settings maxed out (DirectX 10) and it's never even hickuped. It's a really goregous game that's very aesthetically pleasing. I will say that I think, so far, that the level design is a step up from the already well done's first game.
Now back to Rapture...I've got some little sisters that need me!
Disclaimer: These are my spoiler-free thoughts after spending 3-4 hours with the game.
For me, initially the idea of heading back to Rapture 10 years after the events that took place in the original Bioshock were facsinating, though I was have to admit that I was also leary of the experience. And not because of the sometimes talked of "quick corporate cash-grab" from 2KGames that gamers talk of--I try to not concern myself with that stuff--but because Bioshock seems to be a complete story unto itself. Afterall, wouldnt making a sequel to Bioshock be similar to making a sequel to Pulp Fiction--not necissary?
It turns out my suspicions were probably illconceived.
By now everyone knows you take control of the very first prototyped Big Daddy in Bioshock 2, and from the initial moment that happens the game makes it incredibily apparent how massive and powerful you are. With the heavy pounding of your feet as you lumber through about, the loud "Swoop" of your massive melee attack thudding someone across the head, or even the chest-deep grunts you let loose when you're attacked--it sinks in that you're truely massive. But that doesnt mean you're not susceptible to damage or that you perform things and slower than any other protagonist in a game.
Actually, to me it just highlights the greatness of his design. The collosal heaviness is translated to you completely by sound and not the controls. Infact there is almost a certain melancholy to the implication of how cumbersome your life is in Rapture now.
I have to admit, for me, the very first hour of the game was slightly awkward. Walking around was a confusing expereince as I tried to take in everything Rapture was designed to show me. The environments, though the same in essence, had changed a bit due to the lapse of 10 years, the writting scrawled across the walls didnt make much sense to me and the suit I was wearing felt cumbersome making me feel claustrophobic--I just totally felt out of place! But after putting some thought into it after playing last night I realize that perhaps what I was experiencing was a natural. Perhaps these elicited feelings were intentionally by design? I doubt it, but it did manage to augment my experience by connecting me to the protagonist, as I imagine he was most likely experiencing the same emotions.
By the time I hit the second area in the game
Andrew Ryan's Amusment Park
But there are some other minor annoyances in the game. One of them includes the odd default placement of the quick save and quick load keys--F12 and F11 respectively. Why on Earth would you flip the--mostly industry standard-locations around? They put the quick save on the right and the quick load immediately to its left. Often in PC games you will find the quick save key to be either F5 or F6, and the quick load key will usually reside on F9 or F10. Keeping the all important and sometimes frantically hit keys seperated by a few other keys adds a bit of insurance from gamers fumbling a wrong key press. I learned the hard way, in game, that they traditional setup was now configured by default. In one particular area in the game I died and was immediately resurrected in a Vita Chamber. I wanted to restart the game where I had saved it--which was right before I died so I wouldnt have to run back--but unfortunately my instinct forced me to hit the right-most key to laod it, but all it did was save my game where I was standing--in the Vita Chamber. It took me a few seconds to realize what had just happened--I overwrote my quicksave slot! It was frustrating losing the 15 minutes of game time, and I still dont understand the logic behind this design. Also, shouldnt a quick save be done...quickly? If you are taken out of the game for the process to happen (dialog:"Quicksaving, please do not turn your computer off!") then it kind of defeats the process doesnt it?
Also, having seperate keys to hack AND open things seems a bit cheap and a blatant offer at "choice". I can't see into everyones Bioshock game but I would be willing to guess that 99% of the people playing Bioshock 2 are hacking just about everything that can be hacked since it offers benefits (free items, lower prices on items, by pass alarms)--so why do we need seperate keys to hack and open things? Does anyone not want to hack something and bypass cheaper prices on items?
After the quicksave debacle I modified the default keyboard configuration to my liking only to find out a little later in the game that the text in the game didnt reflect my changes. For instance, I changed the binding of the F key and the Spacebar and in one particular instance, where you get to make a moral decision, the options were essentially "Press F to be a good guy and Press B to be a monster!" Well, I knew that I changed my F key bindings so I hit the Spacebar instead to be a goody-two-shoes and nothing happened. Y'okay, so it just didnt register my change, I thought. I then hit the F key and--not only did it not work--it choose the morally evil decision--what?! Fortunatley I had saved the game 5 mintues before this event took place so it wasnt a problem, but it does make me wonder how something like that slipped through testing.
Graphically speaking the game is very very much like the first one, but with slightly more detailed textures. I'm playing on the PC with all settings maxed out (DirectX 10) and it's never even hickuped. It's a really goregous game that's very aesthetically pleasing. I will say that I think, so far, that the level design is a step up from the already well done's first game.
Now back to Rapture...I've got some little sisters that need me!
The control scheme is really cumbersome...its awfully awful imo.
This is one of the major reason why I like to run few PC games with my 360 controller.,,but sadly someone at 2K thought it was cool to not include 360 controller support for a GFW live game..uhhh !!
I was right now in a place where we had to hack for the first time & it was asking me to stop the pointer in Green area by pressing F [which is the action key for me] I kept doing it but nothing happened, tried a bunch of other random keys & at the ned I thought of pressing the fire button & it was then that the pointer stopped moving...I was like lolwut ? Why give wrong instructions in the first place ?
This is one of the major reason why I like to run few PC games with my 360 controller.,,but sadly someone at 2K thought it was cool to not include 360 controller support for a GFW live game..uhhh !!
I was right now in a place where we had to hack for the first time & it was asking me to stop the pointer in Green area by pressing F [which is the action key for me] I kept doing it but nothing happened, tried a bunch of other random keys & at the ned I thought of pressing the fire button & it was then that the pointer stopped moving...I was like lolwut ? Why give wrong instructions in the first place ?
RancidLunchmeat
Veteran
Update! Update! Update!
It's very good so far! The beginning sends a very powerful message and sets the tone very well. Rather than just splurge stuff here and risk spoiling anything I think it would be better if you asked what you want to know!!
Why!?
You're supposed to post impressions. [size=-2]... pretty please ?[/size]
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RancidLunchmeat
Veteran
Thanks for your impressions! It sounds to me like the PC game has a bit of control problems. Possibly because it's a 360 port? (I don't know that it is.)
Warcrow - I liked your comments about feeling big, powerful, but melancholy about your interactions with the environment, I would think that would be one of the most important things the designers were trying to get across to immerse you into the game, so I doubt it's by accident.
I will say I've been avoiding reviews because most are riddled with spoilers, and the few others I've read make brief & cryptic comments like 'its almost identical to the first'. Well, I loved the first. One of the most atmospheric and immersive games I've played this generation.
You've just convinced me to spend the better part of my four day weekend playing Bioshock 2, so congrats!
Mods any chance we can get this thread and the other Bioshock 2 thread merged? I almost didn't see this thread and the other one is specifically requesting reviews.
Warcrow - I liked your comments about feeling big, powerful, but melancholy about your interactions with the environment, I would think that would be one of the most important things the designers were trying to get across to immerse you into the game, so I doubt it's by accident.
I will say I've been avoiding reviews because most are riddled with spoilers, and the few others I've read make brief & cryptic comments like 'its almost identical to the first'. Well, I loved the first. One of the most atmospheric and immersive games I've played this generation.
You've just convinced me to spend the better part of my four day weekend playing Bioshock 2, so congrats!
Mods any chance we can get this thread and the other Bioshock 2 thread merged? I almost didn't see this thread and the other one is specifically requesting reviews.
Playing it on the PC here. I haven't noticed any real issues with the controls yet. The only thing that seems a little counter intuitive is that your weapon is in your right hand, but you fire with your left mouse button, while your plasmid is in your left and you use it with your right mouse button.
Everything is otherwise mostly the same from Bioshock. Hacking is way too easy right now and honestly doesn't lend itself to being an actual "role" you can take on, which is kind of disappointing. Ideally I'd like to be able to beat the game on hacking alone, or specializing in plasmids alone.
The game is also too easy on hard; you take more damage but most enemies will fall in 1 or 2 hits to the head.
Everything is otherwise mostly the same from Bioshock. Hacking is way too easy right now and honestly doesn't lend itself to being an actual "role" you can take on, which is kind of disappointing. Ideally I'd like to be able to beat the game on hacking alone, or specializing in plasmids alone.
The game is also too easy on hard; you take more damage but most enemies will fall in 1 or 2 hits to the head.
You get a few token underwater sections but they haven't really made good use of them. My first impressions are that it is very much like Bioshock 1 but with greater emphasis on the shooting.
The scope of the exploration hasn't advanced by any appreciable amount, the one thing that has changed though is the number of enemies that attack you at any one time. Sometimes it's almost a bit Serious Sam!!
To start with you don't really get a feeling of power, being a big daddy (the big daddy!) and all, but a few power ups in and you're soon standing in dead bodies and feeling all powerful!
The scope of the exploration hasn't advanced by any appreciable amount, the one thing that has changed though is the number of enemies that attack you at any one time. Sometimes it's almost a bit Serious Sam!!
To start with you don't really get a feeling of power, being a big daddy (the big daddy!) and all, but a few power ups in and you're soon standing in dead bodies and feeling all powerful!
You'll go to new locations with the Bioshock architecture you're used to. Maybe it's just me but the game feels a little more claustrophobic than the original; set pieces don't seem as grand nor as spacious.
OK. Impressions.
I didn't feel that I was a big huge Big Daddy. The weight just wasn't there. I certainly felt I was in a massive suit when I was underwater, but when I was walking past other Big Daddys that I was about the fight - their feet would shake the floor, and that would only happen with me when I jumped. I was also much faster than them - though I suppose this a good thing, as it would be annoying to be slow. I do however absolutely LOVE his charge drill attack.
There's something really unique about the BioShock games that makes the shooting gameplay so enthralling - having the plasmids and modding your guns. I just love mixing it up and using my plasmids, whether electricity, fire etc. BioShock 2 doesn't lose that...but you can feel there's a bit too much combat sometimes, making me a little bored of gathering Adam with my little sister. Still I did get obsessed with gathering Adam with every little sister, so that was probably my fault.
The atmosphere is still great, and when a Big Sister comes at you it's truly terrifying. Fighting them is pretty hard...and once I just couldn't kill her (she heals herself)...so I'd run out of ammo, run out of plasmid juice and keep on spawning in the Vita Chamber...but she'd just give me a few knocks and I'd be dead again - then all the other enemies would suddenly respawn, and I'd have to fight all of them as well! I think I died about 15 times...from then on I made sure I stocked up.
Love all the recordings, prefer the hacking this time around, and the AI and voice acting is pretty good. Playing on PS3 and its running very well - no tearing, framerate is just about solid - until there's so much going on on screen that it drops down to 15fps. That's happened only twice. I've read that there's actually more tearing on the Xbox 360 version...so the PS3 version performs better in this regard. Some low-res textures though.
Better than BioShock 1? Maybe. But Rapture isn't new anymore, so it hasn't got that same feeling of discovery...and there aren't enough new environments. (Love the
I didn't feel that I was a big huge Big Daddy. The weight just wasn't there. I certainly felt I was in a massive suit when I was underwater, but when I was walking past other Big Daddys that I was about the fight - their feet would shake the floor, and that would only happen with me when I jumped. I was also much faster than them - though I suppose this a good thing, as it would be annoying to be slow. I do however absolutely LOVE his charge drill attack.
There's something really unique about the BioShock games that makes the shooting gameplay so enthralling - having the plasmids and modding your guns. I just love mixing it up and using my plasmids, whether electricity, fire etc. BioShock 2 doesn't lose that...but you can feel there's a bit too much combat sometimes, making me a little bored of gathering Adam with my little sister. Still I did get obsessed with gathering Adam with every little sister, so that was probably my fault.
The atmosphere is still great, and when a Big Sister comes at you it's truly terrifying. Fighting them is pretty hard...and once I just couldn't kill her (she heals herself)...so I'd run out of ammo, run out of plasmid juice and keep on spawning in the Vita Chamber...but she'd just give me a few knocks and I'd be dead again - then all the other enemies would suddenly respawn, and I'd have to fight all of them as well! I think I died about 15 times...from then on I made sure I stocked up.
Love all the recordings, prefer the hacking this time around, and the AI and voice acting is pretty good. Playing on PS3 and its running very well - no tearing, framerate is just about solid - until there's so much going on on screen that it drops down to 15fps. That's happened only twice. I've read that there's actually more tearing on the Xbox 360 version...so the PS3 version performs better in this regard. Some low-res textures though.
Better than BioShock 1? Maybe. But Rapture isn't new anymore, so it hasn't got that same feeling of discovery...and there aren't enough new environments. (Love the
Amusement park).
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RancidLunchmeat
Veteran
Amusement park?!?!? SOLD!
Should I spoiler tag that?
BTW I never finished BioShock 1...I got to near the end of the bad version of the story...and then wanted to show a friend from the beginning...the game saved over my original save, without requesting for a new save (thankfully BioShock 2 doesn't do this)...so I didn't start it again. No idea how it ends.
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