Hi All,

Is BioShock as good as the reviews say? This might be the first X360 exclusive that pushes me over the edge, and makes me buy a console. I really like the theme, and the concept of gameplay. I am not to great at these types of games usually, but this sounds like one I could really enjoy.

Opinions?

IMO yes, its that good.

I played through it and loved it.

Great game

yes, it's great.
but it's NOT a 360 exclusive, it's also available for PC.

It is truley an amazing games

Visual amazing

Great inventive varied gameplay

Soundtrack is great

Story is cool

That, Halo 3, Forza, ETC are just a few of MANY reasons to get 360. Did I mention xbox live?

It is truley an amazing games

Visual amazing

Great inventive varied gameplay

Soundtrack is great

Story is cool

That, Halo 3, Forza, ETC are just a few of MANY reasons to get 360. Did I mention xbox live?

Yes, I have been drooling over Halo3 too. I was planning on getting a PS3 first, since my kids like those titles better; however, most of those exclusives are yet to be released. I might get the X360 first for myself.

I guess I will have to add this one to the list of lies we all tell:
The check is in the mail.
No, I don't think she is prettier than you.
Honey, I swear, this is the last piece of AV equipment I will buy this year!

It's a great game, not life changing however.

Bioshock isn't a game, it's an experience. You will walk away from it and you will say "Wow".

BioShock is a great game. The first game that I can remember where as soon as I finished it I started a second playthrough. The second game I've done that with is Mass Effect, another great game.

Yes it is a great game.. if you end up getting the 360 I also recommend Gears of War. Very detailed lush graphics and excellent gameplay.

Bioshock isn't a game, it's an experience. You will walk away from it and you will say "Wow".

With all due respect, that was pretty corny.

Bioshock cured my ED - now my wife loves me again.






seriously though - it really is a great game.

It is great. Full of incredible visuals and a KICK ASS soundtrack. The replay value is high as I think it has 3 different endings.

Certainly in this forum you will find some slanted opinions. But why would you want a ps3?----- Bioshock, Halo3, Gears of War, Mass effect Xbox Live-- Forgetting some things I am sure.
I fully expect this year the ps3 to "catch up" in some manner but other than Metal Gear Solid there is little to sway one to that side of the fence. My very biased opinion for sure .

With all due respect, that was pretty corny.

Funny it wasn't meant to be, it's the truth. I haven't been that deeply engrossed in a game since I played Deus Ex, and those were the days when I still had an imagination.

It is great. Full of incredible visuals and a KICK ASS soundtrack. The replay value is high as I think it has 3 different endings.

Certainly in this forum you will find some slanted opinions. But why would you want a ps3?----- Bioshock, Halo3, Gears of War, Mass effect Xbox Live-- Forgetting some things I am sure.
I fully expect this year the ps3 to "catch up" in some manner but other than Metal Gear Solid there is little to sway one to that side of the fence. My very biased opinion for sure .

Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy Versus XIII
Folklore
God of War III
Gran Turismo 5
Heavenly Sword
Heavy Rain
ICO 3
Infamous
Killzone 2
L.A. Noire
LittleBigPlanet]
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Resistance: Fall of Man
Resistance 2
Star Ocean 4
Tekken 6
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
White Knight Story
Yakuza 3

That was a list put together by someone on the PS3 forums and with a few exceptions those are my best arguments for the PS3.

Yes.

I didn't think I would ever want to buy Bioshock when I first saw it. I played the demo and was converted immediately. This is one of the best games on the 360...which has become a fairly long list.

The best thing about Bioshock IMO, is the atmosphere. The art and sound of the game. The little jingles at each of the vending machine... It's a classic. Not to mention it has a great story, and great gameplay.

Certainly, some excellent games on that list!
Like I said, I am completely biased. I wish we had a few of them coming our way.

If you're looking for a reason to finally pick up a 360, Bioshock is as good a reason as you're likely to get. Very much worth it.

Bioshock is the reason I bought a 360 back in late August. It is a decision that I look back on and smile. :)

Definitely one of the best games of the year, if not the best. . .

Bioshock is currently in my top 5 games of all time and I have played alot of games :), it is really good though.

Hi All,

Is BioShock as good as the reviews say?
Opinions?

No. It was way overhyped. The story and combat get old about half way through. I still have yet to finish it. It's a solid 8.5/10, but mostly do to the plasmids and atmosphere. AS your character gets more powerful the game really never changes gears and thus gets easy. You will stomp big daddies with little effort.

A few hints:

1. Skip most of the hacking, it ruins the atmosphere and gets old fast.
2. Don't get bogged down in opening boxes, etc. Keep the pace going by moving to the next part of the story, there is little pay off for exploring and backtracking is ruined by respawning bad guys.
3. Turn on sub-titles and hit the menu button during the audio playbacks.

"1. Skip most of the hacking, it ruins the atmosphere and gets old fast.
2. Don't get bogged down in opening boxes, etc. Keep the pace going by moving to the next part of the story, there is little pay off for exploring and backtracking is ruined by respawning bad guys.
3. Turn on sub-titles and hit the menu button during the audio playbacks."

1) The hacking adds to the environment, plus mixes up the gameplay a bit. Also, it is a fun minigame!
2) Searching out "madd lootz" is why World Of Warcraft has 10million subscribers. Humans like scavenging.
3) Why ruin the environment with subtitles?

As for your difficulty issues, you might just be crazy. :) On the hardest mode the game is ungodly hard. If you found it easy, then maybe you should have gone into the options menu and cranked up the difficulty a notch or two.

Bad hints!

No. It was way overhyped. The story and combat get old about half way through. I still have yet to finish it. It's a solid 8.5/10, but mostly do to the plasmids and atmosphere. AS your character gets more powerful the game really never changes gears and thus gets easy. You will stomp big daddies with little effort. I agree and disagree here.

I don't think the game is overhyped. It's really a high-quality game, and you'll have a hard time finding a game that equals it in terms of art design, writing, and overall atmosphere.

However, my one major critique of the game is its difficulty, or the lack thereof. Even playing through on hard, Vita Chambers make the game way too easy, even from early on in the game. When you die, you get more Eve, and anything you've killed or collected since the last load is still dead and collected. This makes Big Daddies particularly easy to defeat. I was severely disappointed the first time I beat one. "That's it?" I asked myself.

But the game just feels and looks so great that I could forgive that one major drawback. I just wish it were a bit more challenging.

The game is very good in all respects...definitely NOT "overhyped."

Maybe I'm just a fraidy cat or something, but as cool as bioshock is, I just don't have the passionate love for it that most do. In fact, it's hard for me to make myself put the disk in the xbox. I know it's a good game. The visuals are excellent, the atmosphere is creepy but wonderful. The storyline is compelling. But there is something about it that I also find tiresome. I think it's a very good game, but nothing is really pushing me to finish it at this point. Nonetheless, it's an interesting experience and the 360 overall is an excellent console.

Maybe I'm just a fraidy cat or something, but as cool as bioshock is, I just don't have the passionate love for it that most do. In fact, it's hard for me to make myself put the disk in the xbox. I know it's a good game. The visuals are excellent, the atmosphere is creepy but wonderful. The storyline is compelling. But there is something about it that I also find tiresome. I think it's a very good game, but nothing is really pushing me to finish it at this point. Nonetheless, it's an interesting experience and the 360 overall is an excellent console.

I've played it about three times and it's just sat there since.

Rockband, GH3, and COD4 are all taking up my gaming time.

the experience is unmatched..the only other game that comes close (right now) imo is Assassin's Creed.

Phenominal game. The sound is incredible.

Great game but once you beat it twice you will be done

Hi All,

Is BioShock as good as the reviews say? This might be the first X360 exclusive that pushes me over the edge, and makes me buy a console. I really like the theme, and the concept of gameplay. I am not to great at these types of games usually, but this sounds like one I could really enjoy.

Opinions?

Excellent game........theres no way you will regret it. On my list of one of the best all time SP games.

"Great game but once you beat it twice you will be done"

I don't see how that is a "but" statement. 15-20 hours for the first play, plus 10 more for the second play sounds like a lot of time to spend on that game. I don't see how you are implying that that is too short! :)

Hi All,

Is BioShock as good as the reviews say? This might be the first X360 exclusive that pushes me over the edge, and makes me buy a console. I really like the theme, and the concept of gameplay. I am not to great at these types of games usually, but this sounds like one I could really enjoy.

Opinions?

Great game! Big Daddy awaits you... :cool:

I agree and disagree here.

I don't think the game is overhyped. It's really a high-quality game, and you'll have a hard time finding a game that equals it in terms of art design, writing, and overall atmosphere.

However, my one major critique of the game is its difficulty, or the lack thereof. Even playing through on hard, Vita Chambers make the game way too easy, even from early on in the game. When you die, you get more Eve, and anything you've killed or collected since the last load is still dead and collected. This makes Big Daddies particularly easy to defeat. I was severely disappointed the first time I beat one. "That's it?" I asked myself.

But the game just feels and looks so great that I could forgive that one major drawback. I just wish it were a bit more challenging.

The new patch gave you the option to turn off Vita Chambers, so now difficulty is no longer an issue.

This is the game that made me buy a 360 (already had a ps3). No regrets, this and COD4 are alone worth the price of a 360.

The new patch gave you the option to turn off Vita Chambers, so now difficulty is no longer an issue.Dang! Missed that in the menu. I'm on a second play-through now, so I think I might just start over from the beginning. :mad:

Well, if none of the other amazing titles have coerced you to buy a 360 yet, I don't know what to say. Bioshock is a decent game with some cool elements, but play through 2-3 times and you're done. I rented it and sent it back after my first play through. The mechanics are really repetitive and the story isn't that great.

/rain down the hate

I also was a bit underwhelmed by Bioshock. No doubt it's a high quality game and I liked how they went for a unique visual style and atmosphere. The duality of the plot and the gameplay itself both being about the illusion of choice was clever.

I felt that it fell short in the actual gameplay. The typical encounter with enemies just wasn't that much fun. Dare I say it was reminiscent of Doom 3?

I think Halo 3, COD4, and Gears of War are all more fun.

jeff

I'll be a dissenter, but I haven't finished it yet.

I only have a few hours each week to play, and so far it's been pushed aside for Crackown, then Orange Box. Then pushed aside for COD4. It's currently pushed aside for Mass Effect. I fully expect it to be pushed aside for GTA IV.

That's not to say it's not a good game, and I'm not sure what it is about it that makes me not that interested in finishing it. The game is ok, the atmosphere and graphics are great, the story seems good, but I guess it just never sucked me in the way the other games have. So it sits on my shelf....maybe 1/3 played.

I'll finish it someday. Maybe after I finish my second playthrough of Mass Effect and before GTA IV comes out.

I am the polar opposite of the majority here on AVS. While I enjoy Halo, Rainbow 6 and others like this I couldnt get Bioshock out of my player fast enough. So if your asking..by far the dumbest game I have ever purchased..

It was a great game, but the fact that I haven't touched it since I beat it is an issue I think most have with it. Replayability=low. This is a shame in this generation of online DL content and multi-player longevity. For $60 I wish I had a reason to play it again.

It was a great game, but the fact that I haven't touched it since I beat it is an issue I think most have with it. Replayability=low. This is a shame in this generation of online DL content and multi-player longevity. For $60 I wish I had a reason to play it again.

My thoughts exactly. The first play through is AMAZING! But there really isn't any reason to play it over again, IMO. Still, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again since the game rally is that good.

Absolutely loved it. Actually, its the game that made me buy a 360. I'm on my third play-through.

Bioshock isn't a game, it's an experience. You will walk away from it and you will say "Wow".

I agree 100%, It truly was an experience. One of the best games I've ever played!

I just finished the game today...and you will walk away saying WOW. This game is so different that it was hard to put it down at night because you kept wanting to play! Don't think twice, get the game!!! It is one of the creepiest games I have ever played, I even dropped the controller once!!! I got most of the achievements, I probably will not go back to get the few I missed....I have CoD 4 waiting for me. But for anyone who hasn't played the game, you are really missing out...that being said..."Would You Kindly go out and get a copy of this game..."

In my opinion Bioshock was a good game but really isn't GOTY material and certainly not the pinnacle of first person gaming. The gameplay is pretty much the same from level to level, many of which are little more than simple fetch quests while you kill or avoid enemies. The underwater setting doesn't really factor into the gameplay all that much; I counted maybe a handful of events that were actually influenced by the enviromnet. There really is no variety to the gameplay - every level is straight FPS with the same Pipe-Dream inspired mini-game used for hacking items. I would have welcomed a level where maybe you go outside in a sub or something a little different, but no such luck. Only a three or four of the plasmids are really fun to use and even necessary to finish the game. I found the endings very short, quite hokey (especially the "good" ending) and hardly satisfying after trudging along for so long. The game has great atmosphere and very good art design. It's a pretty long game but offers very limited replay value; once I finished my first playthru I had absolutely no desire to go thru it again and actually sold it back. It also doesn't look like we'll be getting any meaningful additional content via XBL either. The developers released a couple of very forgettable plasmids a while back but pretty much ruled out any new single player levels. So, while it is a good game, I wouldn't expect some genre redefining experience because it really isn't that at all.

Another dissenter here . It's an excellent story wrapped up in yet another FPS setting. I don't know about the rest of the responders here, but I tired of the old "run around until something jumps out at you, kill it, and then move on until the next baddie jumps out at you" style of FPS a looooong time ago.

As others have pointed out, many of the 'missions' are "fetch this stuff for me (or yourself)", and are much better played out in a 3rd-person perspective action game, if at all.

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy Bioshock enough to do 2 playthroughs, but I rented it from GF, I wouldn't have bought it, and I can't recommend it as a system seller.

Then again, I'm one of those heathens who thought that Halo 3 wasn't a particularly great game either.

this and COD4 are alone worth the price of a 360.

Agreed:cool:

It sure doesn't hurt that are a ton of other great games too;)

Some of you guys obviously don't play too many pc fps's. I'm going to echo Tonydp really. It has wonderful graphics, an atmosphere when most games these days simply do not have one at all. However, it's just a traditional fps that has been done many times before on a PC. The levels are repetitive, the story is a little flakey at times, AI is repetitive and probably the worse ending since halo2. they never used the underwater environment at all and after the hype they made about the water....what was all the fuss about?

It is something that a fps should experience, but top game of all time? nope not for me. it is good, well put together, they deserve their money, but it wasn't goty for me.

I loved it. Gears of War is what sold me on the 360, but BioShock has been my favorite game of this gen by a good margin.

addicting..

Amen. I haven't felt compelled to play a game in such a long time. I couldn't wait to get back to BioShock.

The storyline was amazing, its climax was the most brilliant sequence in videogame history, and the combat was fast, frenetic, and dynamic. The art design was by far the finest yet seen in gaming history as well. Bioshock was, beyond just the nuts and bolts of its gameplay (which was all quite superb), one of the all too few games to make a concerted and full-hearted attempt to go beyond the conventions of the medium everyone else is quite happy to occupy. It was perhaps not totally successful, but it hints at better things to come. But even if you don't care about, and just want to shoot bad guys and look at pretty pictures, it was quite good at that too (but if that's all you care about, you aren't getting the full picture).

addicting..

The new patch gave you the option to turn off Vita Chambers, so now difficulty is no longer an issue.I don't see the option anywhere. I found a copy of the PC version patch that claims to have this addition, but nothing for the 360 version. Am I missing something obvious?

EDIT: nvm. found it.

It was a fun play-through, but I really had zero desire to play it through again because the ending was so bad, and because I absolutely hate when a game won't let you you re-play it with all the skills you acquire after you beat it. I know it doesn't make as much sense to the story, but I hate that regardless. I'd say rent it, but only buy it if you can find it really cheap. I don't re-sell game much at all, but I did so immediately with Bioshock.

It is the best experience so far on 360. I think it and Uncharted are the best games of this generation so far.

It is the best experience so far on 360. I think it and Uncharted are the best games of this generation so far.


No doubt, Bioshock and Uncharted are two of the best games in recent memory. I would have to rank Bioshock as the best game I've played probably since Half Life 1 on the PC back in the late 90's. Better than any game I've played since Halo 1, and I actually like it better than Halo 1. I just think the gameplay experience is deeper, the atmosphere more transfixing, and the sound design out of this world.

Uncharted is fantastic as well, but I don't think Uncharted is breaking as much new ground as Bioshock. Uncharted is just one of those games that is so freaking solid in every category. Absolutely outstanding action/adventure type game.

I still think Bioshock is the clear cut game of the year for 2007, and I actually think it's the best game so far in this decade. Part of my love for it, is that it looks so freaking amazing on my 124" screen, and sounds so fantastic on my 7.1 sound system. No other game takes so full advantage of my audio/video system. Even though Uncharteds visuals are simply stunning, and it actually features true discrete 7.1 sound, Bioshock actually sounds better. The dolby digital 5.1 soundtrack matrixed to 7.1 sounds even better than the discrete 7.1 of uncharted. I know that fly's in the face of logic, but my ears don't lie. Uncharted technically has better graphics, but the art design of Bioshock trumps it.

incredibly impressive; though i found the gameplay to be a bit disappointing after awhile, especially with all the re-generation, and the guns felt terribly weak; but the presentation is absolutely and without a doubt the most immersive and impressive thing i've ever seen; and that includes gta4; i've never been so drawn into the world of a game, nor seen such impressive art design

.....however, a big problem for me was how shallow your "heavy moral choice" in the game turned out to be; i wish there was more to it, that actually made a difference; i find this lacking in games in general; in order to get you through the game without getting pissed off, it's difficult to really **** things up or drastically change things; with the regenerators this is more so

........all that being said, this game is unparalleled and a great example of what gaming has to offer....go get it, it IS that great

It was a great game, but the fact that I haven't touched it since I beat it is an issue I think most have with it. Replayability=low. This is a shame in this generation of online DL content and multi-player longevity. For $60 I wish I had a reason to play it again.

Same here. I played through it once and that was it. I didn't have any urge or inclination to play it again at all. While the game is nice to look at, the game got old and tiring for me unfortunately as I progressed through it. I was happy when I finished the game but not exactly sure for which reason.

Despite the fact that the replay value is lower, this is the only game that my fiance has actually found interesting enough to watch me play. she really got into the story. As a note, she couldn't stand it when I played through HL2.

I didn't get all that far into Bioshock (I played on the PC, FYI), but while the atmosphere was great, mostly it just felt like another FPS. As for the story, there didn't seem to be all that much of it. All the really interesting story had happened a long time ago, and you were just walking through trying to survive.

I didn't get all that far into Bioshock (I played on the PC, FYI), but while the atmosphere was great, mostly it just felt like another FPS. As for the story, there didn't seem to be all that much of it. All the really interesting story had happened a long time ago, and you were just walking through trying to survive.
Well, you kind of have to play it to get to the "story". Its an interesting story so I guess thats why they are making a movie of it. Though I am not sure how well it will translate.

I only played it once as well, compared to COD2 which I played twice, GoW which I played 3 time and Mass Effect which I played 4 or so times. On the other hand COD and GoW were both short and Mass Effect is not as "intenese" lots of time to relax. So if an intense FPS is more on the long side, the less chance I will replay it. Odd... do I get more value from a Long game I play once or from short games I play multiple times?

Same here. I played through it once and that was it. I didn't have any urge or inclination to play it again at all. While the game is nice to look at, the game got old and tiring for me unfortunately as I progressed through it. I was happy when I finished the game but not exactly sure for which reason.


I think with a single player experience like Bioshock, you only really need to play the game once. I'm not sure why somebody would want to play it again. Sure, you could try playing it opposite to how you originally did (either killing or saving the little sisters), but that wouldn't really be that big a deal.

Still, I think a game should be judged by it's original experience. The original playthrough of Bioshock is absolutely amazing, and should be judged as such. Just because one doesn't have the desire to go through it multiple times, shouldn't really have any bearing whatsoever on the experience it delivers the first time. Some movies are the kind of movies you can watch over and over again, and some are the kind that are better just to see one time. It doesn't mean the ones that you watch over and over again are better movies. If Bioshock was a really short game, like the single player portion of COD4, then I think you could criticize it a bit for it's length, but I don't consider Bioshock to be too short. I think just about everything about Bioshock is pretty freaking spot on, and I would have no regrets. If you paid $59.99 for it, plus tax, and you beat it in one week, and you're totally done with the game, never to play it again, I'm sure you had a helluva week, on the week that you played it, and you should have sold it on Craigslist or Ebay and gotten half your money back. I'm not bothered at all by games that don't have online play, or games that are considered short, per se. If it's that short, then when I finish it, I'll just sell it off to somebody else, and get nearly half of my investment back, and I'll be perfectly happy with that.

Its a slick lovingly crafted atmospheric FPS dungeon crawl.

The actual gameplay is entertaining but as others have stated a little repetative and not half as sophisticated as the various gameplay elements would suggest. Combat feels a little imprecise and nowhere near as refined as the likes of Halo3 and others.

The various elaborate methods of taking down bad guys either with plasmids or enviromental features are hardly any more satisfying than just banging away with a mundane weapon. ( the pistol with the right ammo was about my favorite weapon).

Its quite old school in fact. I could imagine it being a 3rd person or even top down scroller and the actual core gameplay being little different.
I was a little annoyed by the abruptness of the end game scenes: seemed rushed in comparison to the rest of the game, the pay off was a little mean.

However its well worth playing just for experiencing the visuals and story. I'd rate it below other recent classics such as Mass Effect and Halo 3 but its a very enjoyable game nonetheless.

IMHO this game is a must play if you like FPS.

Probably the extreme minority here but I didnt like Bioshock. I remember playing with headphones late at night and this dentist guy snuck up on me and scared the **** out of me. I jumped like 3 feet off the couch and threw the controller at the tv lol. Luckily my tv and the controller made it out alive, I however, never played the game again. If nothing else I will admit it is immersive.

the biggest problem is that EVERYONE calls or thinks this game is a FPS. it's not.

i mean yes, its in the first person, and there are guns, but this game isnt a FPS.

the biggest problem is that EVERYONE calls or thinks this game is a FPS. it's not.

i mean yes, its in the first person, and there are guns, but this game isnt a FPS.

Sure it is. You walk around, and shoot and/or zap everything that gets in your way... that's all there is to the gameplay, besides a hacking minigame, and collecting more abilities. Like I said, the atmosphere was awesome. The game itself, not so much. And to the person who said I didn't play enough to get into the story, I got to the third Big Daddy, so I disagree. Like I said, anything interesting in the story happened in the past, and you're just walking through the remnants of what's left.

I thought the combat in Bioshock was excellent. Its probably why I liked it so much. I loved experimenting with different plasmids and so forth.

The game itself, not so much. And to the person who said I didn't play enough to get into the story, I got to the third Big Daddy, so I disagree. Like I said, anything interesting in the story happened in the past, and you're just walking through the remnants of what's left.

Third Big Daddy is what, Arcadia or something?

If you don't like the game that's fine, but this is flat out wrong. I can't stress this enough - every word of what you said is incorrect. Don't act like you're an authority on the game.

I thought the combat in Bioshock was excellent. Its probably why I liked it so much. I loved experimenting with different plasmids and so forth.



Third Big Daddy is what, Arcadia or something?

If you don't like the game that's fine, but this is flat out wrong. I can't stress this enough - every word of what you said is incorrect. Don't act like you're an authority on the game.

I don't remember exactly... if I'm that mistaken, maybe I'll have to go back to it and give it a try again, the main reason I stopped was I ended up reformatting the PC. As I mentioned, I did like the atmosphere, it was just difficult to motivate myself to get back to it because other games I liked more from the beginning came out.

I don't remember exactly... if I'm that mistaken, maybe I'll have to go back to it and give it a try again, the main reason I stopped was I ended up reformatting the PC. As I mentioned, I did like the atmosphere, it was just difficult to motivate myself to get back to it because other games I liked more from the beginning came out.

i find that its really hard for me to get into ANY game i pirate for PC, i dont feel the need to really play it because i didnt pay anything for it... needless to say, i havent done any "trial downloads" for a while now for this reason...

i find that its really hard for me to get into ANY game i pirate for PC, i dont feel the need to really play it because i didnt pay anything for it... needless to say, i havent done any "trial downloads" for a while now for this reason...

I actually own it on Steam, along with probably 15 other games I haven't finished :p

Despite the fact that the replay value is lower, this is the only game that my fiance has actually found interesting enough to watch me play. she really got into the story. As a note, she couldn't stand it when I played through HL2.


Haha....Mine is the SAME exact way. She actually enjoys playing halo, mario kart and such, but she LOVED the story in Bioshock. I guess it would make sense in that she is an english major. She will actually ask if I will play so she can watch me....no game has ever gotten her to ask to watch before.

I loved it as well. It was one of the first games I got with the xbox, and I don't regret getting it one bit.

Great game. Buy it now.

Great game. Buy it now.



Blockbuster has it used for $19.99, and I've seen it $29.99 new various places. So there really isn't any excuse not to give this game a try.

Blockbuster has it used for $19.99, and I've seen it $29.99 new various places. So there really isn't any excuse not to give this game a try.

that's the price I've been waiting for. Thanks for the heads up

Play this game, alone, at night, in a totally dark room, with surround sound, and I gaurantee you will experience the 'hair standing up on the back of your neck, body tingling, 'fear' you haven't experienced since you were a little kid!
I literally kept the character sitting in the first bathosphere for 5 minutes contemplating whether or not to go ahead with the game. It was that intense right off the bat!
I was hooked, spooked, and intrigued the entire time I played this game. I've also got my best friend hooked on it. I played through rescueing while he is playing harvesting.
Its just as fun to watch this game as it is to play.
I'm fortunate enough to be playing on a 136" AT screen, 1080p front projection, with 7.1surround sound. Total immersion that often scared the @#$* out of me! :)

Play this game, alone, at night, in a totally dark room, with surround sound, and I gaurantee you will experience the 'hair standing up on the back of your neck, body tingling, 'fear' you haven't experienced since you were a little kid!
I literally kept the character sitting in the first bathosphere for 5 minutes contemplating whether or not to go ahead with the game. It was that intense right off the bat!
I was hooked, spooked, and intrigued the entire time I played this game. I've also got my best friend hooked on it. I played through rescueing while he is playing harvesting.
Its just as fun to watch this game as it is to play.
I'm fortunate enough to be playing on a 136" AT screen, 1080p front projection, with 7.1surround sound. Total immersion that often scared the @#$* out of me! :)

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/5/13022342889.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8127911)
Do I really want to buy this game?

Play this game, alone, at night, in a totally dark room, with surround sound, and I gaurantee you will experience the 'hair standing up on the back of your neck...

I totally understand what you're saying here, but I actually thought this game was full of nothing but cheap scares & gameplay recycled from Doom - the first one. The story was neat, the atmosphere was really well done, but good Lord did it get boring fighting the same 3 dull enemies who would jump out of the shadows at you.

jeff

It was okay, I'd like to see the team that worked on it do something Lovecraft-ian, though I don't know they could top Dark Corners of the Earth.

I thought the storyline was interesting. The graphics draw you in to try it out on your HD set. And it looks very nice. But it did remind me a whole lot like Doom 3. I would rent and try it out first before buying it. It wasn't like H3 where I was gonna buy it no matter what.

Well, obviously after posting the OP thread long ago, I did buy the 360 and BioShock (along with COD4 and RockBand). And the game is good, too good! I am lucky if I am 1/4 of the way through; it scares my kids too much to play during the daytime if they are around, and it is so freakin creepy I don't play it too late at night lest it get me to riled up for bed. Be careful what we wish for I guess!!! But I am chomping at the bit to make some more progress on it soon...

Its a slick lovingly crafted atmospheric FPS dungeon crawl.

The actual gameplay is entertaining but as others have stated a little repetative and not half as sophisticated as the various gameplay elements would suggest. Combat feels a little imprecise and nowhere near as refined as the likes of Halo3 and others.

The various elaborate methods of taking down bad guys either with plasmids or enviromental features are hardly any more satisfying than just banging away with a mundane weapon. ( the pistol with the right ammo was about my favorite weapon).

Its quite old school in fact. I could imagine it being a 3rd person or even top down scroller and the actual core gameplay being little different.
I was a little annoyed by the abruptness of the end game scenes: seemed rushed in comparison to the rest of the game, the pay off was a little mean.

However its well worth playing just for experiencing the visuals and story. I'd rate it below other recent classics such as Mass Effect and Halo 3 but its a very enjoyable game nonetheless.

I dunno--the lighting on fire and then electricuting them when they run to a pool of water is pretty darn satisfying. As is hypnotizing a Big Daddy and then watching two BDs fight each other :)

I dunno--the lighting on fire and then electricuting them when they run to a pool of water is pretty darn satisfying. As is hypnotizing a Big Daddy and then watching two BDs fight each other :)

You want satisfying? Shoot a proximity grenade onto the ceiling. Set up a cyclone trap right underneath it. Get splicer's attention. Watch hilarity ensue. :)

The thing I enjoyed most about Bioshock was how you could tailor your abilities to your play-style. I preferred to hack turrets and security bots and let them do the fighting for me. I took down my first Big Daddy by luring him into attacking a cannon turret after I softened him up. My friends specialized in Melee, and his weapon of choice was a frozen wrench. My other friend preferred the shotgun, chemical thrower and plasmids.

And while there were one or two cheap scares in there...there were some legitimate scary bits, especially the audio clips. And unlike Doom 3, you really don't get jacked out of nowhere.

As far as story goes, while others may disagree, I thought the story in Bioshock was one of it's strongest assets. Certainly, the audio records weaved in and out of the story, adding depth and fleshing out details. I can understand the perspective that you are uncovering much of the story rather than interacting directly with it...but every game doesn't have to follow HL2's example (in fact, I'd prefer if some of them didn't).

Nope, not at all......




















It's better :)

it's good

The only award it should have won was worse ending(s) of the year.

It was "good", but I wouldn't call it great. It got a little silly half way through and I had to force myself to finish it. And this is coming from someone who considers these types of games his fav.

Best game I've played in a long time...story was great, AI was fun, there was humor and horror. I do admit the ending was a little lame, but I don't recall any game having a really good ending.

This game will suck you in and you should enjoy the experience, not just trying to finish the game. i actually tried really hard not to rush through it because it was so enjoyable.

i played the demo, then bought COD4 instead, im happy with COD.

I have it looks great but sadly have not really had a chance to play it much at all. Barely got started but I love the atmosphere so far. I'm sure I will enjoy it. Trying to finish Deviol May Cry 4 first

I think 20 years from now, when people are thinking back to the Xbox 360, Bioshock is going to be one of a handful of games that people remember as being the best of the best. As great as a game like COD4 is, because it's another military shooter, I'm not sure it will be remembered as fondly as Bioshock. And I'm not trying to disrespect COD4 in any way, it's just the unique setting of Bioshock, and the nostalgia that people will feel toward the unique experience that it provided, will outweight alot of other 360 games that might have technically been superior games.

i agree, people wont think of COD4 because they'll be playing COD13, and it'll be a treyarch piece of crap. but they'll remember bioshock.

Just finished beating this game and not really feeling all that impressed with the experience. What bothered me most was that it is a first person shooter but the weapons and shooting weren't really much fun. After a few key gene upgrades, I found it best to just stick with the wrench to deal massive damage quickly. The plasmids seem to become pretty worthless during the second half of the game, I don't think I ever dropped below 7 Eves. Since the shooting mechanics weren't all that fun, the game seemed to become more of a chore in terms of getting to the end of each level and searching items - at least for me.

The plot as a whole was alright, but the "tricked by your guide" angle has been used to death in videogames. I chose to save all the little sisters and I found the ending to be way too short and not really tie everything (anything?) up.

Graphics and sound were great, no complaints there.

A decent game worth playing, but definitely not what I would consider a game of the year. I much preferred Halo 3 and Mass Effect.

I really enjoyed it... It had more depth than most games of this type. I also enjoyed COD 4 equally as much.

You can't go wrong with either game although it's too bad there hasn't been a game released since thats worth discussing.

Bryan

MGS4, GTA4, Uncharted aren't worth discussing?

Bioshock is better than all of those 3 IMO.

I thoroughly enjoyed Uncharted (which is the most comparable game type to Bioshock), but Bioshock is a much deeper experience.

MGS4, GTA4, Uncharted aren't worth discussing?

Holy Hell, not even on the same planet, GTA 4 sucks donkey nutz, (wasnt even remotely close to the same catagory as prev. GTA's) Bioshock was an epic game imo. Itll take a lot to beat it for me (graphics, game play, story line, holy crap in yer pants moments etc. (lol))

Just finished beating this game and not really feeling all that impressed with the experience. What bothered me most was that it is a first person shooter but the weapons and shooting weren't really much fun.

Graphics and sound were great, no complaints there.

A decent game worth playing, but definitely not what I would consider a game of the year. I much preferred Halo 3 and Mass Effect.


Completely agree with you.

Finally decided to get back into the game. What does horizontal fov lock do? I am playing on a widescreen tv.

Just finished beating this game and not really feeling all that impressed with the experience. What bothered me most was that it is a first person shooter but the weapons and shooting weren't really much fun [...] Since the shooting mechanics weren't all that fun, the game seemed to become more of a chore in terms of getting to the end of each level and searching items - at least for me.

The plot as a whole was alright, but the "tricked by your guide" angle has been used to death in videogames. I chose to save all the little sisters and I found the ending to be way too short and not really tie everything (anything?) up.

Graphics and sound were great, no complaints there.

A decent game worth playing, but definitely not what I would consider a game of the year. I much preferred Halo 3 and Mass Effect.I'm totally with you until your last sentence. Not a fan of either of those other games.

Bioshock is great. But it isn't "genre-defining" or "revolutionary" or "paradigm shifting" in any way.

The story, as you say, has been done plenty of times before. I also felt that the storytelling method of the voice recordings was a cheap trick. There are much better, more innovative ways of telling a story other than what amounts to a thinly veiled voice-over narrator. They may as well have begun the game with "once upon a time..."

The FPS mechanics (shooting) were sloppy and imprecise. AI is fun, though. The weapons are cool. Graphics are pretty. Plasmids are fun, but no different from spells in any first-person RPG like Morrowind or Oblivion.

The only truly revolutionary aspect of this game was in the attention to art design. Few games depend so much on the art design for telling the story and setting the mood. Bioshock is exceptionally well done in that respect.

What most people ignore, though, is that the game overall feels so much like System Shock 2 that it's essentially just "System Shock 3: Bioshock." My only explanation for everyone's amazement is that since most console gamers never played the PC series, it feels new compared to other FPS games on consoles. But, really, it's just the same thing as System Shock 2, but instead of being in space, it's under the sea.

The setting's great, but they could have done so much more with it. The artist stage was top-notch, but my god the ending sucked. I won't spoil it if you haven't played it, but I will say that it's painfully abrupt. All that build up, and you get next to no pay-off. It's not a cliff-hanger of any kind; it's just really, really abrupt. Once I was done, I said to myself: "Is that it?"

Overall, this is a run-of-the-mill FPS with some fantastic attempts at setting a mood and incorporating more RPG-like elements. But in terms of being a "new" or "revolutionary" FPS, games like Metroid Prime, Half-Life 2, and Deus Ex are much more genre-changing.

Yes, the ending didn't really tie things up. After seeing the super short ending and being redirected to the main menu, I thought for sure something was missing, so I then sat through the credits. Nothing. So then I decided to fight the last boss again and search through the whole level in case there were some tape recorders. Nothing. The last boss is really easy by the way, I was expecting more. I would lose more health to Big Daddy's with rivot guns than I did to the last boss.

I just don't get what the big deal is. Good game yes, AAA game no. No real replay value either.

I was also a little disillusioned with the game once I finished it as the endings were all incredibly short, disappointing and oddly sentimental - a very strange way to wrap things up.

Even worse however was the fact that the game's underwater setting so rarely factored into the gameplay. There was that section in the first level (and also in the demo) where the plane's fuselage smashes thru the tunnel you're traversing, and maybe a couple of other areas where you can use the water to your advantage. I was expecting more interaction with the underwater environment, but that was it. You never got to go outside the buildings, you never traversed areas where you had to swim or hold your breath, you never get to use any underwater vehicles - in terms of actual gameplay, the story could have just as easily taken place in the middle of the desert.

Most of the plasmids and weapons were utterly useless as well; other than the Big Daddies you could get thru 90% of the game with just the wrench and electrobolt. It also didn't help that the game often devolved into tedious fetch quests.

The game had a great premise, lots of atmosphere and an interesting art design but in terms of gameplay, it never really took advantage of its setting. Once I finished it, I quickly sold is as I had zero desire to play thru it again and the developers made it clear that they wouldn't be releasing any significant add-on content (just a couple of utterly forgettable plasmids).

You never got to go outside the buildings, you never traversed areas where you had to swim or hold your breath, you never get to use any underwater vehicles - in terms of actual gameplay, the story could have just as easily taken place in the middle of the desert.

UGH. Has there ever been a good swimming section in the history of FPS games? And the underwater vehicles? What would it be like, those garbage sections in Prey? What would you do, fire some missiles at sharks or something? Hell no.

UGH. Has there ever been a good swimming section in the history of FPS games? And the underwater vehicles? What would it be like, those garbage sections in Prey? What would you do, fire some missiles at sharks or something? Hell no.

The whole point of Bioshock is that you're trapped at the bottom of the ocean. It would kind of kill the atmosphere if at some point you jumped into a minisub, and you were like, "sweet! time to escape! oops, invisible wall, guess I'll just hang out here and get shot at some more by these genetic freaks!"

The game had a great premise, lots of atmosphere and an interesting art design but in terms of gameplay, it never really took advantage of its setting. Once I finished it, I quickly sold is as I had zero desire to play thru it again and the developers made it clear that they wouldn't be releasing any significant add-on content (just a couple of utterly forgettable plasmids).The unfortunate truth is that a game really only has to sell its "premise" in the first 30mins-1hr. After that, it's all about pacing (balancing action and storytelling).

You're totally right, other than the first little bit, this game could just as well have taken place in a space station (System Shock series), the savanna (Far Cry 2), a government facility (Half Life), etc. The "underwater" element disappears quickly. You may as well just say "once upon a time, there was this underwater commune..." and leave it at that.

Worth experiencing, but not worth coming back to. The first time through, you're having fun. You reach the end, you're like: "so what?" And if you try to play it again, you realize it's ultimately pretty hollow.

But the art design is soooooo good. If nothing else, I hope the success of this game convinces developers and publishers that art design is worth investing time and money into. Even if just a few more games a year had the same art sense that this game has, I'd be beyond ecstatic.

UGH. Has there ever been a good swimming section in the history of FPS games? And the underwater vehicles? What would it be like, those garbage sections in Prey? What would you do, fire some missiles at sharks or something? Hell no.

FarCry had some great underwater and swimming sections in it. And even though they're 3rd person action games, I thought that the last couple of Tomb Raider games had some nice underwater sequences in them (there's no reason you couldn't have shifted to a 3rd person view for part of the gameplay). I could be wrong, but didn't even Duke Nukem 3D have a few underwater sequences?

As to what you could do underwater, I could imagine some water based puzzles where you have to flood or empty specific chambers to proceed, or maybe temporarily going outside or at least underwater to bypass a blocked section of a level you must traverse. You could have had some timed puzzles where you have to escape a section of a building as the water pressure gradually cracks the glass around you away. Maybe the final boss encounter could have been in a different structure and instead of firing on a shark or whale, maybe you could have hitched a ride on one to take you there. You could have had a minisub or other vehicle section in an underwater tunnel (thereby neatly bypassing the invisible wall problem).

There were all kinds of ways to better exploit the game's underwater setting and make the gameplay more varied than what we were given. For a game which prided itself on being so different things got pretty routine after the first hour or so. And for a game that takes place under water its pretty ironic that you're almost never in danger of drowning.

I think the game is great, much more immersive than other recent offerings. Other than Oblivion there hasn't been a game that's really convinced me that I'm in it's world more than Bioshock. There's obviously the cheap gameplay moments like in pretty much every game but I've really enjoyed it so far and have to find time to finish it lol.

"It was not impossible to build Rapture at the bottom of the sea. It was impossible to build it anywhere else."

It also didn't help that the game often devolved into tedious fetch quests.

Yeah. Looking back, the only stage I really liked was with Cohen the eccentric.

I enjoyed Bioshock and definitely liked the premise and setting, but I agree that there was a lot of untapped potential. I would really have liked more role playing game elements, like NPCs. Did every single person in Rapture have to be crazy and immediately try to kill you?

The ending was abrupt, but the boss fight was even worse. It was like something out of a different game and showed a complete failure of imagination.