BioShock Infinite

[chummer]

I'm about seven hours in and there's a lot of video gaming going on. Sigh. I wish this game was about me being a tourist instead of being an actor, as there's a lot of gorgeous things I want to look at but often the game is putting a gun in my hand. While I'm enjoying it, I think this is just getting me more pumped for Gone Home.

[melmer]

I think we've all bought a 'Doom' game in disguise

And im already sick off all the looting. Why didn't the hotdog seller say anything when I ate a hotdog from right under his nose without paying?

Anyway, other than all that the games fantastic

[elmuerte]

I also picked ball 77 and I murdered a bunch of people. I hope they have enough of them to keep these islands floating because I'm planning to murder even more people.

 

And what's up with lighthouses?

[Frenetic Pony]

Guess I'll buy this eventually, a good story is good. Already got Bioshock the Subtitle (3rd) lined up for Levine though: http://patternbank.com/nasa-space-colony-art-from-the-1970s/

 

1970's Nasa Spacy Colony concept stuff.

[LazerBeast]

Guess I'll buy this eventually, a good story is good. Already got Bioshock the Subtitle (3rd) lined up for Levine though: http://patternbank.com/nasa-space-colony-art-from-the-1970s/

 

1970's Nasa Spacy Colony concept stuff.

Awesome link.

[tronhound]

What's all this about review scores on the Idle Thumbs forums? The word score should be banned like ********* and bacon.

 

Oh wait, for some reason bacon isn't banned.

 

What's wrong with review scores? I don't care for reviews, I don't want to have someone describe their playthrough and experience with the game. I can see what kind of game it is, I just need to see the number at the end to determine if it's worth my time or not.

[Brannigan]

In true spring break fashion, I did nothing productive all day and beat this game.

[Lu]

I too, beat this game! What a thing of beauty they made! Absolutely gorgeous. 

 

Got an excellent taste of the world they had created and kind wish they pushed for more interactivity with Booker and the world itself. Suddenly got the intro exchange as well. "I suppose he does, but there's no point in asking" "Why not?" "Because he doesn't row." "He doesn't row?" "No, he doesn't row." "Ah, I see what you mean." And now I do too!

[Brannigan]

I too, beat this game! What a thing of beauty they made! Absolutely beautiful. 

 

Got an excellent taste of the world they had created and kind of wished they pushed for more interactivity with Booker and the world itself. Suddenly got the intro exchange as well. "No point in asking, he doesn't know." "Why not?" "Because he doesn't row." "He doesn't row?" "No, he doesn't row." "Ah, I see what you mean." And now I do too!

Yea the intro bit was fantastic at just looking at things.

The story increasingly reminded me of Fringe, ESPECIALLY towards the end.

[chummer]

So, how about that diegetic music?

 

I've caught six instances of contemporary music done up in early 20th century style.

• God Only Knows at the fair
• Girls Just Want to Have Fun at Battleship Bay
• Tainted Love at the Shantytown bar
• Fortunate Son done a cappella as you head out of Shantytown
• Everybody Wants To Rule The World in the ruins of Albert Fink's house
• Shiny Happy People as you pass the Luteces on the gondola

If anyone spotted any others, point them out as I'd love to catch them.

[chummer]

The ending is a bit of a head scratcher. Here's my understanding of the bigger points:

 

After realizing there are multiple universes, DeWitt learns that he is Comstock. Comstock is what DeWitt would've turned into if he had gone through the baptism. Comstock took advantage of DeWitt's hard luck and got the daughter he never had in his own universe, who turned out to be Anna. To destroy all the Comstocks in all the iterations of the universe, DeWitt has to die, which is why he let Anna kill him in the scene before the credits. The post-credits scene seems to imply that a universe is created where DeWitt didn't lose Anna, no Comstocks exist, and DeWitt will get the opportunity to raise her.

 

I think my biggest criticism of the ending was that it dove hard into the multi-universe thing which it only used lightly throughout the game and then tries to explains the rules of it right at the end. It felt stuffed and I didn't enjoy it. I think its a symptom of the game, as it feels like its trying to cover lots of things and never exploring any one of them very deeply.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Loving this so far! Just hit Soldiers Field. What an incredible experience!

[tronhound]

I'm probably 5 or 6 hours in and I think it's great. So far the pacing has been excellent and while I prefer the concept of Rapture (I think I just have a thing for underwater cities) I'm having a great time strolling around Columbus, I actually find myself walking around a lot as opposed to most games where I sprint wherever I can. I've seen comments from people about how it is more linear than the original Bioshock with less exploration, I've found it's the exact opposite and I'm spending ages exploring. Elizabeth is excellent, the best AI companion I've ever seen in terms of personality and making herself useful; the way she explores on her own is great and such a nice touch in making her feel like an actual character rather than just a tool.

 

On top of all that the story is interesting, the combat is surprisingly fun, I can see why IGN were "blown away".

[Argobot]

Wow, people have already finished it? I'm only about 3 hours in, but am absolutely loving the world of Infinite. All the religious iconography is beautiful, even though it doesn't make any sense that a society based on white supremacy would go with a heavy Catholic influence (those groups tend to dislike Catholics almost as much as they dislike other races).

[Scipio]

This game needs a no UI screenshot key.

 

 

 

 

 

[ThunderPeel2001]

LOVING this so far! (I just got to Soldier's Field.) Everything feels so alive and fluid.

[syntheticgerbil]

Here's a basket of apples in the game:

[ThunderPeel2001]

Ha! I think the PC version might look a bit better?

[I Saw Dasein]

It does not. A lot of the foliage and scenery is pretty lo-rez and 2D even on higher-settings. It's still an absolutely gorgeous game though. I'm only a couple hours in, and while I'm not sold on the actual gameplay, the art direction and world-building is absolutely stellar. Cool soundtrack too, though some of the gospel and folk standards they picked are a bit obvious. For example, "Old Time Religion" is playing almost as soon as you start the game, which IIRC is featured prominently in Inheriit the Wind--isn't that a bit on the nose, Mr. Levine? 

[Brannigan]

I never saw anything that low-res on the pc version. All my apples were 3d!

[Argobot]

Speaking of the music, I went into the game knowing that there would be modern songs redone in a turn-of-the-century style, and feeling very apprehensive about that fact. But then the first time I heard a barbershop quartet version of 'God Only Knows,' I wasn't that bothered by it and actually kind of enjoyed it.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Speaking of the music, I went into the game knowing that there would be modern songs redone in a turn-of-the-century style, and feeling very apprehensive about that fact. But then the first time I heard a barbershop quartet version of 'God Only Knows,' I wasn't that bothered by it and actually kind of enjoyed it.

 

I wasn't sure if it was leading to some big twist where everything is actually set more in the future than you think... Guess not.

[Argobot]

I just assumed that was a red herring, since it was a widely announced feature in the lead up to the release of the game.

[elmuerte]

I played it for 2 hours yeasterday. I actually just wanted to install it, see the intro and then go to sleep (because I was tired as shit).

I don't get the plasmids in this bioshock, why do they even exist? Or the handy man for that matter, I saw one during the non combat intro, but he feels out of place. It's a worker that it not really needed anymore?

 

Mouse sensitivity sucks on the PC. I can select between slow as hell, just a bit too fast, and various degrees of faster than "a bit too fast".

[ThunderPeel2001]

I just assumed that was a red herring, since it was a widely announced feature in the lead up to the release of the game.

 

Yeah, I've been avoiding announcements, so I didn't get that one.