Bioshock Infinite

[Hoodie]

I don't wan't to sound all down on the game, because it's pretty good. And I'm starting to enjoy it a whole lot more.

 

But I don't understand how this game can receive almost perfect review scores everywhere. It's nowhere near that good, and It's one of the rare cases where the original is way better than the sequel from a gameplay perspective. I think some people that have reviewed this, might have been caught up in the hype a little too much .

 

And am I supposed to feel anything for this Elizabeth character?.. Because I don't. And I prefer it when the protagonist don't talk in first person games.

 

people play video games for different reasons. some people like gameplay that makes them think and involves a lot of strategy (devil may cry series is a good example of this). others like the story aspect and watching characters go through these ordeals.

 

i don't think there's a right or wrong way to interpret a video game. a company might've had a certain vision for a game so i could say, for instance, yeah, you're supposed to sympathize with elizabeth. but you really don't have to sympathize with her. of course you won't get the same thing out of the game as when you do, but that's your choice. someone who isn't quite sympathetic to the characters of a book or a play might not get the same feeling from the play as someone who is. and, in any case, i don't think you can fully state your feelings on a character until their development is over (i.e., the end), so i would refrain from commenting until then. lots of good stories where i have been totally unsympathetic to a main character have made me change my mind when i got to the end (i remember thinking this in "the awakening" by kate chopin).

 

but again, this doesn't have to happen. you might just be playing the game from a different perspective, which i think you are, considering you mentioned you don't like voiced protagonists. that's very old school gaming and those games do focus more on challenge. they are, quite literally, more game-like than many newer video games, where things like combat are increasingly less polished as more attention is being paid to graphics, level design, story, etc. i think the divide between icewind dale and planescape torment show the split between these two types of design. icewind dale had a fantastic combat system, but less focus on story elements, while torment had a fantastically retarded combat system with walls of pretty text to compensate for it. you are not required to like either one, although you should understand that reviewers will certainly approach a game from one perspective or another which may disagree with yours.

[syd syside]

well said hoodie, im about to borrow my friends 360 and rent this so I can play it lol. Can't wait and good to know its not like 25-30 hours minimum as I am annoyed by linear story driven games that take quite long to complete as they also typically have a pretty basic story. 12 hours sounds perfect.

[747Music]

Very good points there Hoodie.

 

 

I just picked this game up today for PS3. I can't wait to dive in. I really enjoyed both Bioshock and Bioshock 2. I have a good feeling I'll like this one too.

I saw the torrent for the PC version but there are waaaay more leachers than there are seeders. I grabbed the torrent file anyway and the download was gonna end up taking a looong time. So I read a whole bunch of reviews and finally decided to purchase it right away, instead of trying it out first.

[Npoess]

I'm not playing Bioshock: Infinite for it's gameplay alone, I'm primarialy playing it for the story and the setting.

 

I prefer playing story-based games, and that was the reason I was excited for Bioshock: Infinite. But the story in Bioshock: Infinite just ain't doing it for me. It was less than a half year ago I completed the original Bioshock, and I was way more emerged in that universe.

 

And the reason I don't like Elizabeth is because she is just kind of a boring of character to me. There have been tons of games with great sidekicks: Alyx in Half-Life, Garrus in Mass Effect for example. hell.. I even cared more for my dog in Fallout 3 than Elizabeth.

 

And the reason I mentioned I don't like protagonists talking, has nothing to do with me preferring old-school approach to game-design. If you are playing from a first person perspective, I simply prefer it when the protagonist is not talking. If not, It just kind of pulls me out of the experience. First person perspective gives you the illusion, that it is "you" that is player in the game. The best story-based FPS's in my opinion, usually have silent protagnists and great and developed characters around them, instead of the main character development being centered around the protaganist. Had it been a third person game, it would probably have been a different story. But that's just a personal thing of mine, so I guess I can't really criticize them for taking this approach.

 

But like I said.. My biggest complaint about this game, is that I'm simply not as sucked into the world, as I was with Rapture.

 

And I feel like this game is lacking in terms of weapon and power upgrades. That was what made the original game so much more addicting. And in this game I feel like I am only fighting standard soldiers with guns, and a couple of heavy types of enemies. The enemies were more challenging, varied and fun to fight in the original, as far as I remember.

 

It probably sounds like I hate the game, but I don't. I'm just a bit disappointed with it so far. Or maybe I'm just getting kind of tired of gaming. It's been a long time since I've played a truly amazing game, and Bioshock: Infinite isn't one of them (so far).

 

[ambermonk]

Finally beat it. 17 hours for me (including credits).

BOOKER KILLS COMSTOCK. KIND OF.

 

[Guest Gary C]

Enjoyed the ending. The few choices kind of made sense in the end.

 

 

I picked the bird necklace, so I guess that meant I kept the giant bird and destroyed the tower/cage. Next time I'll play I expect that when I choose the cage necklace, I'll have to destroy the bird and keep the tower. Right?

 

The tear stuff got better throughout the game as well. In one tear, before the Fink factory, I heard modern music*, by our standard and I was expecting there'd be a tear to our modern world. I guess there could be, we simply didn't open that door.

 

*Not the cover of Tainted Love that plays on the radio, but it was definitely modern and played for about 5 seconds.

 

Anyway, the whole alternate-infinites thing is a pretty insane idea to visualise, but they did pretty well. Could've played with the duality of existence a bit more and seen more of the alternate Booker's wandering around at the end, but it was well handled.

 

 

 

Good game. It has low points, the action can become formulaic, but the little touches and the developing mystery of a storyline make it utterly worthwhile.

[Guest Gary C]

Wait,

 

 

Gonna have to pay close attention to what Cornelius Slate says when I play it through again, as he clearly knew Booker before and after becoming Comstock. I didn't notice anything particularly revelatory at first.

 

Also, just realised how clever it is that Comstock is a prophet, and he can predict the path of Booker so correctly, because he's already seen it played out through alternates.

 

 

 

This game could be even better on a second playthrough.

[ambermonk]

Christopher Walken reviews Bioshock: Infinite! (Spoiler Warning)
[youtubehd]S0reqx2tV34[/youtubehd]

[Npoess]

Well.. the ending was quite good. It actually made up for a lot of the game's shortcomings.

 

And they couldn't really have made the game without the protagonist speaking, so scratch that previous complaint of mine.

 

 

Is it ever explained why DeWitt/Comstock become a ultra-nationalist i that tear/universe where he created Columbia?

 

[Hoodie]

Enjoyed the ending. The few choices kind of made sense in the end.

 

 

I picked the bird necklace, so I guess that meant I kept the giant bird and destroyed the tower/cage. Next time I'll play I expect that when I choose the cage necklace, I'll have to destroy the bird and keep the tower. Right?

 

The tear stuff got better throughout the game as well. In one tear, before the Fink factory, I heard modern music*, by our standard and I was expecting there'd be a tear to our modern world. I guess there could be, we simply didn't open that door.

 

*Not the cover of Tainted Love that plays on the radio, but it was definitely modern and played for about 5 seconds.

 

Anyway, the whole alternate-infinites thing is a pretty insane idea to visualise, but they did pretty well. Could've played with the duality of existence a bit more and seen more of the alternate Booker's wandering around at the end, but it was well handled.

 

 

 

Good game. It has low points, the action can become formulaic, but the little touches and the developing mystery of a storyline make it utterly worthwhile.

 

 

the bird/cage necklace is more symbolic. your first intuition is that the bird represents freedom and that the cage represents imprisonment, but it's actually the opposite. songbird is what keeps elizabeth imprisoned and the cage (i.e. the notes C-A-G-E, which allow her to control songbird) are what give her freedom. it doesn't change the gameplay at all.

 

there's a shitton to see on a second playthrough. i'm not going to start one yet, but from what i've read on forums, there's an amazing amount of symbolism and foreshadowing. the game is solid.

 

 

 

 

Well.. the ending was quite good. It actually made up for a lot of the games shortcomings.

 

And they couldn't really have made the game without the protagonist speaking, so scratch that previous complaint of mine.

 

 

Is it ever explained why DeWitt/Comstock become a ultra-nationalist i that tear/universe where he created Columbia?

 

 

 

the baptism symbolizes forgiveness of booker's sins, which he committed during the battle of wounded knee (look it up if you haven't read about it, it was basically a massacre of native american women and children). one booker decides to refuse forgiveness because he realizes what he did was terrible and chooses to live with it. he becomes the booker who is the main character of bioshock infinite. the other booker decides to accept baptism and forgiveness. he forgives himself for his actions by convincing himself that what he did at wounded knee was right--all the killing was OK because it was for country and those native americans were subhuman anyway. through this, he develops an ultranationalistic mindset. whether this realization came before, during or after the baptism is unknown, but it doesn't matter. all the bookers who have the potential to become comstock are baptized, assuming the name zachary comstock, and thus the baptism is the perfect point at which to end that possibility.

 

[Npoess]

Oh, right... I just automatically processed baptism as being somthing "good".

 

I think I have give the game a 2nd play-through sometime. There were a lot things I didn't catch the first time, and that I had read up on afterwards.

 

I was ready to call the game a huge disappointment before I saw the ending. I've completely changed my opinion of the game, after completing it.

[Hoodie]

Bioshock Infinite movie (all the cutscenes and relevant dialogue without combat)

 

[Npoess]

Could someone explain Lady Comstock's role in the game? I never really understood that.

 

*looks at Hoodie*

[Hoodie]

Could someone explain Lady Comstock's role in the game? I never really understood that.

 

*looks at Hoodie*

 

 

comstock took on a wife to create an heir, but the lutece's machine, which allowed him to see through tears, made him infertile. the exact mechanism is unknown although i assume it's related to radiation and such (he probs should've worn a little lead bib over his balls). so, the luteces agreed to take a baby from an alternate timeline of booker/comstock so it would be a genetic heir. when comstock brings the baby back, lady comstock is pretty pissed. she thinks he's been cheating on her. comstock decides to kill her and the luteces so no one will know about the baby's true origins and he frames lady comstock's death as the fault of daisy fitzgerald in order to get people to hate the vox populi. the details of lady comstock's burial and the whole ghost aspect is still unclear to me. she somehow became split between timelines, giving her powers similar to elizabeth's (as i recall she had something similar to a siphon in her grave). or it is possible that elizabeth's conception of lady comstock was influencing reality (since she basically becomes an omnipotent god figure at the end, this could be related) and the two were unable to reconcile, which sorta split her up, causing her to suffer. it would explain why she's pissed but not why she's a banshee ghost thing. if i figure out why, i'll post here. i think it might also be related to how the luteces are still "alive" after dying, but idk.

 

[Ego]

 

I think she's just a victim that believed in Comstock and his ideals. It's the woman Booker/Comstock married in the Comstock universes while Booker went on to marry and get a child with someone else in the universes where he didn't do the baptism. Because the use of the tear machine made Comstock infertile, he had to get his child somewhere else. This left Lady Comstock disillusioned which probably led to her downfall.

 

ninja'd

 

I love this game. Going to give this another go in a few months. Had some framedrop issues related to asset loading/LOD switching I'd like to see resolved.

[ghOsty]

Beat it on medium the other day, working on a 2nd attempt on hard (not sure if I'll ever attempt 1999 mode or not). There does seem to be some extra enjoyment on the 2nd playthrough because you do understand whats happening more, and the subtle hints throughout the game become more amusing. Did anyone find all 80 voxophones? I only found about 60-something but I think I missed a lot in the museum chapter. Didn't find all the sightseer moments either, so I'm trying to look around even more thoroughly then I did before.

[Npoess]

Alright, thanks for clarification.

 

The game is one of the rare cases where I wished I played the PC version instead, the graphics on a high-end PC compared to the 360's is like night and day.

 

The graphics on 360 were generally a bit underwhelming.

[lumpenprol]

Ok, so I just watched all of that 3.5 hr abridged walkthrough and I gotta ask - is the story genius, or is just fucking nuts and held together with spitballs and tape? It reminds me a bit of Brazil, which is another piece of art that straddles some line between brilliance and just-plain-overthought and overwrought.

 

I guess it's thought provoking. It's also quite weird, and feels really, really forced. Levine forcing himself to come up with a plot by tying logic in knots?

 

Regardless I guess it's one of the biggest-budget art-house experiments I can remember. Even the other "shock" games - and I was a big system shock fan - aren't nearly this far out. I'm tempted to say it's a huge, epic failure. But on the plus side, it does seem like one guy's creative vision, not a typical design-by-committee fps.

[Hoodie]

the plot is pretty airtight in this story. i found one sorta plothole that bothered me a little (i think i might even be interpreting it incorrectly), but everything else is explained or implied through voxaphones. i'm not sure if the video shows voxaphone recordings or just cutscenes. if you miss the voxaphones, you are missing out on a lot of information.

 

i find it a bit interesting that people are freely tearing into this game for what i perceive as minor issues while critics of mass effect 3 were called "entitled" for pointing out major inconsistencies within the game's plot. i'm not complaining about bioshock: infinite's critics; on the contrary, i'm happy that this game is getting a lot of critical evaluation because it shows what a good game it is. even after all the articles i've read about its flaws, i still come away satisfied with my experience. i'm definitely going to play it again, but i'm waiting to go through it with eleminop so he watch me play.

Ok, so I just watched all of that 3.5 hr abridged walkthrough and I gotta ask - is the story genius, or is just fucking nuts and held together with spitballs and tape? It reminds me a bit of Brazil, which is another piece of art that straddles some line between brilliance and just-plain-overthought and overwrought.

 

I guess it's thought provoking. It's also quite weird, and feels really, really forced. Levine forcing himself to come up with a plot by tying logic in knots?

 

Regardless I guess it's one of the biggest-budget art-house experiments I can remember. Even the other "shock" games - and I was a big system shock fan - aren't nearly this far out. I'm tempted to say it's a huge, epic failure. But on the plus side, it does seem like one guy's creative vision, not a typical design-by-committee fps.

 

and keep in mind that the game wasn't meant to be played as a 3.5 hr movie. it might feel weird and forced because of that.

[skotosa]

Why just 6 Elisabeth to represent infinite multiverses?

[lumpenprol]

The modelers got tired

[Ego]

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ2cSKBFBDQ

 

[funkaholic]

Great design and ideas, lots of 'what the fuck' moments, the gameplay thought did not have as much thought put behind it, very dull and traditional. Also the script is just horrendous & the design of Elizabeth is atrosious, her head is to big, I also can't tell if she's supposed to be a teenager or a woman, acts like a child, looks like a weird adult child thing with a massive head and has the voice of a grown woman. It looks amazing the game, glad theres lots of day light and bright colours. None of this trying to hyper realistic brown and greens. Shame the play is a bit boring. What happens when you play the 3 bells in the begining is something I will remember forever.

[Guest jasondonervan]

Completed it yesterday, had a blast. Would probably just be echoing previous posts with my thoughts, so decided to put up some of my screenshots instead (my F12 key is down to a nub). Best viewed expanded, give 'em a click!

 

Spoilers within - you have been warned!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[data]

just completed it. in awe of the world and story, gameplay was ok. one of the coolest little details i read about it (dunno if anyone's mentioned it in the thread before) is how at some point during bioshock 1, you can hear the death cry of songbird as it dies in bioshock infintie. meaning, i guess, kevin levine had everything planned out right from the start?