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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.
I recently gave in and finally gave Bioshock a go. To give me some gaming cred, my favourite games include, amongst others, Quake III, Civilization 2, Oblivion, Deus Ex, STALKER, XCOM, Half Life (1, not 2), Goldeneye, Grand Prix 2, Total Annihilation and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. In other words, if the game is good I don't care if it's a shooter, strategy game, adventure game, whatever.
I had heard that this was "the best game of all time", "revolutionary", etc etc ad nauseum, so I had high expectations. Those expectations were not met. Not even close. This is not the best game of all time. In fact, it's not even the best game of the year it was released.
Graphics - generally good, sometimes, a bit clunky looking (full detail, running smoothly at 1280x1024), occasionally amazing (some of the water effects, in particular).
Story - interesting for a while, but pretty one-dimensional. Man tries to build perfect civilization. Man fails. Yes, I know there are twists.
Style - unquestionably incredible. I am a big fan of art deco and art nouveau, and I thought the actual art design in the game was stunning. The creepy 1920s-30s music, the architecture, the weird statues and sculptures, this stuff is all amazing.
So what's wrong with it? The gameplay stinks. Really, really, really stinks. 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.
But all of that would be forgivable if the actual combat was any good. Instead, it is pathetically dismal. The weapons feel clunky and are difficult to aim and use. The enemies basically either run straight at you or straight away from you. Fighting Big Daddies is a ridiculous grind of run... zap... shoot... run... The actual magic... er, sorry, nano-... sorry, "plasmid" powers are boring and generic, and the 'customization' adds nothing of note.
It's not scary. It's not clever. It's amazing looking, stylish, boring, so imprecise it feels like it's on rails, and repetitive. COD4 had similarly stunning graphics, but at least it's gameplay was addictively, compellingly fun. It is also clearly not a 'spiritual successor' to System Shock 2 - the closest to that has to be Deus Ex 1. It obviously had a great marketing campaign, but I'd be happy to never hear about it again.
End rant. I just love PC gaming, and I hate for this to be held out as a great PC game. If you believe this to be true, for god's sake go and play a patched up version of STALKER to see the kind of thing you're missing.
Read Pynchon.
Here's a good summary.