demagogue on 20/6/2023 at 15:02
Bioshock always felt like the Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade of gaming to me. It's like the last game trying to stand in a tradition that'd stretched over the last ~15 years (a decade offset speaking of game vs. movie series) while also marking a departure into the new order, having the trappings of the old order but not really the spirit of it anymore, but already having the spirit of some new thing. (Then that new spirit was driven by some other hit around the same time, I think the game-movie analogs would be Half Life 2 and maybe Batman).
The image that Bioshock most left me with was the idea of set-pieces, a little too designed and choreographed for my arrival, while still having the trappings of an open world and some non-linearity. I still liked areas where you were fighting across multiple rooms in a really open way, so it had some of the old spirit, but it's a really different image than the one I had for Thief & System Shock, which were actual places in this world. I guess I'm saying the same thing Malf was saying when he noticed Bioshock 2 did away with even the non-linearity. I thought it was already going off the rails in BS1.
This is a post for circa 2008 though. Kind of weird to still be talking about it in 2023. XD
Sulphur on 20/6/2023 at 16:12
Quote Posted by Thirith
Not so much a hot take as just the truth, I'd say. It definitely didn't help that they kept pointing to that imsim-shaped mask and saying, "Spiritual successor, see? See?" I went in with the wrong expectations (and by
Bioshock 2 I'd adjusted those expectations enough for the game to have a better chance with me) - though I think that the setting would've lent itself to a proper immersive sim, more so perhaps than the straight shooter we got. But you're right: I don't think there's much reason to think they would've done a good immersive sim.
I wouldn't mind seeing a proper Deus Ex take on Bioshock, honestly. It'd be nice if that's what we got in the end, but at least we have some more interesting imsims these days, even if they're not as full of Levine's showmanship.
@dema - just goes to show that while Bioshock may not be timeless, decent critique can be. :p
Pyrian on 20/6/2023 at 16:21
Quote Posted by Malf
Where you could revisit almost the entirety of Rapture up until the very last moments of the first game...
There was little to no
reason to, though.
heywood on 20/6/2023 at 21:16
I'd say that's true about a lot of things in Bioshock 1. Like why would you harvest little sisters? It offers you a lot of choices, but most are empty or superfluous. Given how many gameplay elements they took from System Shock 2, it surprised me just how different it played.
Obviously they found a market for set pieces, which took the sequels further in the opposite direction from an imm sim.
Jason Moyer on 21/6/2023 at 00:32
Quote Posted by Sulphur
I wouldn't mind seeing a proper Deus Ex take on Bioshock, honestly.
It would be cool if they did that, but instead of an underwater city they set it on a spaceship. Hell, 2 spaceships.
Sulphur on 21/6/2023 at 01:43
But we already have Alien: Isolation.
Yeah yeah, Sevastopol's just one big stationary spaceship if you squint.
Yakoob on 21/6/2023 at 02:20
Underwater spaceship
Pyrian on 21/6/2023 at 03:57
Quote Posted by Yakoob
Underwater spaceship
...Adapt Michael Crichton's
Sphere to a videogame! ...Kinda challenging honestly...
demagogue on 21/6/2023 at 04:02
Earth is basically a largely underwater spaceship if you get right down to it.
Sulphur on 21/6/2023 at 04:31
I hear that some dudes went and made Iron Lung into real life.
(Sorry, I hope the Titan submersible guys are found before something truly awful happens.)
