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"Challenge Room" DLC Doesn't Follow BioShock's Strengths
Kotaku took a look at the "Challenge Room" downloadable content for the PS3 version of BioShock. They came to the conclusion that while the combat is entertaining, it doesn't have the same focus on the story that made BioShock such a good game. Quoting:
"What's really bothering me is the lack of fiction. I'm not asking for a new ending or a tacked-on chapter that somehow changes the fantastic story of BioShock — why fix something that isn't broken, right? It's just that what made BioShock special was the story. Oh, sure, the graphics were spiffy, the art style was cool and the game really does play well (not too glitchy or difficult to manage). But to me, BioShock without its story is like a Twinkie without its filling — still somewhat tasty, but hollow and far less satisfying."
Bioshock ITSELF was written better than that pap. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
Splicers are all virtually identical. Big Daddies are all identical. The game is utterly linear, and plays like a glorified version of Wolf3D in the sense that it's all about "go here to get this key to open this door to get this key to open that door" and so on. As amazing as the art design is, the level design and gameplay are uninspired.
Goldeneye and HL1 - two of your favorite games - are *precisely* like this. Both games are utterly linear, devoid of any way for the player to affect the plot (both are worse than Bioshock in this manner), and both games feature hordes of identical enemies.
for god's sake go and play a patched up version of STALKER to see the kind of thing you're missing.
Ugh, STALKER was tripe. It's a glorified MMOG without the online, and without the social fun-ness. Beyond the myriad of technical failings, the game was pointless meandering just like Oblivion, except that at least in Oblivion enemy mobs don't respawn 5 seconds after you turn your back. The mechanics are stale, the setting was cool, but ultimately its unashamedly RPG-esque elements really do a lot to pull you out of the immersiveness of the world. Not a horrible game, but certainly nothing too noteworthy, not even close to GOTY material. STALKER is best served as a guide for future open-world FPS developers as a case study of the whole being more than the sum of a game's parts.
Um, a book being horribly written is a reason not to read it and get a summary from somewhere else instead.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
I'd be interested to know what you thought was good about SS2 that bioshock didn't accomplish. I mean the gameplay is linear in the same way as is Bioshock's (work hard to open up a level, and then you can roam at will), the Bioshock monsters are pretty much a 1:1 mapping from SS2 with the splicers showing IMHO a bit more visual and auditory variety than the Many from SS2. Even the big daddies have a SS2 counterpart in the rumblers. The splicing is about the same as the cybernetic modules from SS2, the weapons upgrade mechanism is about the same.
It also kept details like the audio dairies and the ghosts, a rich cast of characters (most of whose corpses you eventually find). There's also the motif of a cental all-controlling intelligence. Really - what was it about SS2 that you liked that wasn't in Bioshock?
I dunno, maybe you need to play it a higher difficulty level or something. The leadheads move and circle strafe when I play. The nitro splicers hide, ambush, and hide again. The spider splicers hide on the ceiling and change between melee and ranged attacks. The houdinis teleport for heaven's sake. You sure you're playing the same game as the rest of us?
It was all right. Like you say, I loved the style and the setting, and it was nice to see the SS2 ideas given another spin, even if they couldn't use the name. However, the thing that raised it from "OK" to "great" in my opinion, was the brain candy involved. The examination of Objectivism, its strengths and failings. And at the end of the day, you're left to draw your own conclusions, Did rapture fail because Ryan found an adversary of equal talent in the person of Fontaine? Or was the flaw inherent in the economic system he established? Or was it in Ryan himself when he abandoned his principles rather than yeild control?
I'm sorry you didn't like it, but any game that can make me ask questions like that is going to end up on my all time favourite list.
Don't let THEM immanentize the Eschaton!
I'd be interested to know what you thought was good about SS2 that bioshock didn't accomplish. I mean the gameplay is
linear in the same way as is Bioshock's (work hard to open up a level, and then you can roam at will),
Each place in SS2 had its own distinct feel: some places you had to (re)visit to get upgrades, to buy certain things, to heal, whatever. Some places were creepy, some were dangerous, some were fairly safe.
Moreover, the rather brilliant level design meant that shortcuts opened as the game progressed, so you weren't backtracking long distances but simply revisiting earlier levels that were now easily reachable from almost anywhere.
Contrast this to Bioshock: you visit each location exactly once, and despite the beautiful graphics, there is no difference in *experience* between them: the level of threat is identical everywhere.
In SS2 you make choices: which skills, which weapons, where to go and what to do. Bioshock is a series of levers you need to pull in order, and then you reach the end.
You are right that Bioshock allows you to roam at will. There is just no reason for doing so.
the Bioshock monsters are pretty much a 1:1 mapping from SS2 with the splicers showing IMHO a bit more visual and auditory variety
than the Many from SS2. Even the big daddies have a SS2 counterpart in the rumblers.
The enemies in SS2 are *creepy*: the cyborg midwives with their "must protect eggs", the protocol droids who were apologizing as they came up to kill you, etc.
It is not so much about the number or the variety, it is about character. SS2 had plenty of that, and Bioshock not so much. The big daddy / little sister thing was really overrated by the game designers, in my opinion. Certainly the dynamic never really worked for me, but maybe that's just me.
The splicing is about the same
as the cybernetic modules from SS2, the weapons upgrade mechanism is about the same.
No it is not. In SS2 you made real choices, you couldn't change your mind five times without any consequence. In Bioshock you pretty much can.
It also kept details like the audio dairies and the ghosts, a rich cast of characters (most of whose corpses you
eventually find).
You do? How would you know? I only recall a very small number of recognizable corpses. Not that it matters, I never recognized anybody in SS2 either.
There's also the motif of a cental all-controlling intelligence. Really - what was it about SS2
that you liked that wasn't in Bioshock?
In Bioshock you are on rails, moving from one end to the other. I never went into a bar just to drink a beer, only to shoot the place up and remove any splicers that might be present. Same with every other place I visited. What is the purpose of the tram system (you know, with the submarines) if you never go back to an earlier level anyway?
And once you start seeing it that way, the illusion drops away and the game is revealed to be "House of the Dead" with better graphics and a pretentious storyline.
[...] the thing that raised it from "OK" to "great" in my
opinion, was the brain candy involved. The examination of Objectivism, its strengths and failings.
And at the end of the day, you're left to draw your own conclusions, Did rapture fail because Ryan
found an adversary of equal talent in the person of Fontaine?
Or was the flaw inherent in the economic system he established? Or was it in Ryan himself
when he abandoned his principles rather than yeild control?
I would add the question "why would you care about this while you are following the rails?"
Oh, and for the record: I did like it, but it felt like it could it could have been so much more. And in the end, it didn't really leave a lasting impression.