BioShock Infinite (Burial at Sea - Episode One)

[Positive Touch]

next gen devs that makes games that have random looting/item pickups (ESPECIALLY in crates/barrels/boxes) need to be blacklisted from the industry forever.

[cool breeze]

better yet, we need next gen looting mini-games.  use irritating stick as the foundation.

[mjemirzian]

People love Bioshock scavenger hunts.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

PLOT SUMMARY (spoilers)

spoiler (click to show/hide)

A gruff male with the pleasantly old-timey name of Booker DeWitt travels by rocket chair to Columbia, a flying city where people make 20 second recordings of their deepest secrets and leave them lying around in cupboards. He has been sent to retrieve a woman named Elizabeth, who has the magical ability to summon a box full of first aid kits from an alternate dimension.

Booker wanders around in awe, observing the racist population as they throw machine gun ammunition in the trash and stare silently at nothing. But his sightseeing is cut short when a policeman tries to grab him and he's forced to explode 1000 heads with a giant rotating hook in self-defence.

After exploding enough heads, Booker is taken to an alternate reality where the underclass of Columbia has risen up in rebellion. "These revolutionaries are as bad as their racist oppressors," says the deadliest serial killer in the history of human civilization, "because they are violent." Fortunately, the entire setting is erased from existence and nothing of consequence ever happens. Metacritic rating 95 (94 on Xbox).

[close]

[Raban]

PLOT SUMMARY (spoilers)

spoiler (click to show/hide)

A gruff male with the pleasantly old-timey name of Booker DeWitt travels by rocket chair to Columbia, a flying city where people make 20 second recordings of their deepest secrets and leave them lying around in cupboards. He has been sent to retrieve a woman named Elizabeth, who has the magical ability to summon a box full of first aid kits from an alternate dimension.

Booker wanders around in awe, observing the racist population as they throw machine gun ammunition in the trash and stare silently at nothing. But his sightseeing is cut short when a policeman tries to grab him and he's forced to explode 1000 heads with a giant rotating hook in self-defence.

After exploding enough heads, Booker is taken to an alternate reality where the underclass of Columbia has risen up in rebellion. "These revolutionaries are as bad as their racist oppressors," says the deadliest serial killer in the history of human civilization, "because they are violent." Fortunately, the entire setting is erased from existence and nothing of consequence ever happens. Metacritic rating 95 (94 on Xbox).

[close]

I haven't (nor will I ever) play this game, and I'm convinced I had more fun reading that than I would've playing the game.

[demi]

Featuring voice acting from Nolan North

[Joe Molotov]

PLOT SUMMARY (spoilers)

spoiler (click to show/hide)

A gruff male with the pleasantly old-timey name of Booker DeWitt travels by rocket chair to Columbia, a flying city where people make 20 second recordings of their deepest secrets and leave them lying around in cupboards. He has been sent to retrieve a woman named Elizabeth, who has the magical ability to summon a box full of first aid kits from an alternate dimension.

Booker wanders around in awe, observing the racist population as they throw machine gun ammunition in the trash and stare silently at nothing. But his sightseeing is cut short when a policeman tries to grab him and he's forced to explode 1000 heads with a giant rotating hook in self-defence.

After exploding enough heads, Booker is taken to an alternate reality where the underclass of Columbia has risen up in rebellion. "These revolutionaries are as bad as their racist oppressors," says the deadliest serial killer in the history of human civilization, "because they are violent." Fortunately, the entire setting is erased from existence and nothing of consequence ever happens. Metacritic rating 95 (94 on Xbox).

[close]

So did you enjoy playing your first videogame?

[recursivelyenumerable]

So I haven't played the game, but what I'm getting from these descriptions is Bioshock is basically this generation's Final Fantasy 7?

[Rahxephon91]

Video games have gamey things in them, who knew?

[Brehvolution]

Video games have gamey things in them, who knew?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[Rahxephon91]

Video games have gamey things in them, who knew?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Huh?

I just think it's kind of dumb to complain about Booker or any video game character killing tons of people. Yes I get it, it's a problem and has gotten a lot more attention as games go through their growing pains, but I just don't care. Maybe you shouldn't have to, but I have a separation of gameplay and story and you have to are all video games will crash down. "how can so and so die here in this cutscene but take this much damage in game blah blah". "Just use a Phoenix Down on Areith". It's just a useless complaint to me thats gotten even worse this year with Tomb Raider when it's all everyone could talk about. And the alternative games like Heavy Rain haven't shown me a better game where I'm not fighting through tons of things.

My problems with Bioshock in the end are, well what was the point of this game? The ending is cool, but kind of superficial.

[Positive Touch]

i hate when videogames try to tell me things because it reminds me that videogame developers are stupid

[chronovore]

For me, the biggest offender in this category is still GTA IV. Nico has such soul-searching angst about whether or not to kill this one individual who so deeply wronged him, but at the same time, he has no trouble killing 100 people on the way to the airport to find that individual.

I haven't played BioShock Infinite yet, so it may be even worse here. But the GTA problem really made it stand out more than any other game I've seen.

[Great Rumbler]

I haven't played BioShock Infinite yet, so it may be even worse here. But the GTA problem really made it stand out more than any other game I've seen.

Booker's not preachy at all. He kills people because people gotta be killed, simple as that.

[recursivelyenumerable]

Video games have gamey things in them, who knew?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Huh?
 Maybe you shouldn't have to, but I have a separation of gameplay and story and you have to are all video games will crash down. "how can so and so die here in this cutscene but take this much damage in game blah blah". "Just use a Phoenix Down on Areith".

I wonder if there's some kind of uncanny valley effect here with relatively realistic visceral combat that's seamless with the exploration and cutscenes, vs. being teleported into another dimension for every battle with totally different character models that take turns performing stylized actions etc.

[Rahxephon91]

Video games have gamey things in them, who knew?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Huh?
 Maybe you shouldn't have to, but I have a separation of gameplay and story and you have to are all video games will crash down. "how can so and so die here in this cutscene but take this much damage in game blah blah". "Just use a Phoenix Down on Areith".

I wonder if there's some kind of uncanny valley effect here with relatively realistic visceral combat that's seamless with the exploration and cutscenes, vs. being teleported into another dimension for every battle with totally different character models that take turns performing stylized actions etc.

There is and while your posts was meant to be sarcastic it's not like these questions aren't thrown at games like say FFVII. Hell when fans do their distinguished mentally-challenged fellow character battle stuff they try to compare character's rpg stats like it's a real thing in the game's actual narrative.

And either way I don't see the difference here. While in Bioshock of course there's no transition away from gameplay, but I'm not going to hold it against Booker because he's killing lots of people in a FPS. This isn't like GTAIV where the story tried to make a big statement about the character wanting to move away from violence only for the actual game to highlight how that clashes with the game. Bioshock here gives the simple excuse of "these people are trying to stop me an need to die" and Booker is even made out to not be a saint. As long as a game dosen't go the GTA route I have no problem making the separation of what happens in the gameplay and the story.

 

[Joe Molotov]

Video games have gamey things in them, who knew?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Huh?
 Maybe you shouldn't have to, but I have a separation of gameplay and story and you have to are all video games will crash down. "how can so and so die here in this cutscene but take this much damage in game blah blah". "Just use a Phoenix Down on Areith".

I wonder if there's some kind of uncanny valley effect here with relatively realistic visceral combat that's seamless with the exploration and cutscenes, vs. being teleported into another dimension for every battle with totally different character models that take turns performing stylized actions etc.

There is and while your posts was meant to be sarcastic it's not like these questions aren't thrown at games like say FFVII. Hell when fans do their distinguished mentally-challenged fellow character battle stuff they try to compare character's rpg stats like it's a real thing in the game's actual narrative.

"Why didn't Cloud just use a Phoenix Down on Aeirth??  "

[Stoney Mason]

If the meat of your game involves you mowing down hundreds of characters before the game is over then there will always be some dissonance between the message and the game unless the message is kill tons of people. Ever since Uncharted this sort of argument has been tossed around more and more frequently to the point where its not an especially interesting thing to say anymore.  The meat of what you do in a game will always devalue moral messages if most of your game is killing unless you set up an extreme situation of pure evil and pure good.

Or unless your game is mostly solving puzzles, navigating an environment, or doing stuff ala a David Cage game then that's the only "pure" solution. Or to have no story at all or a story that always has you playing a remorseless robot. None of those options are viable for the majority of games.

Like all the other mind tricks gamers play on themselves, this just seems like another in the line.

[recursivelyenumerable]

Video games have gamey things in them, who knew?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Huh?
 Maybe you shouldn't have to, but I have a separation of gameplay and story and you have to are all video games will crash down. "how can so and so die here in this cutscene but take this much damage in game blah blah". "Just use a Phoenix Down on Areith".

I wonder if there's some kind of uncanny valley effect here with relatively realistic visceral combat that's seamless with the exploration and cutscenes, vs. being teleported into another dimension for every battle with totally different character models that take turns performing stylized actions etc.

There is and while your posts was meant to be sarcastic

Didn't mean to be sarcastic at all, just thinking. Don't have any animus whatever about this particular discussion.

[Positive Touch]

If the meat of your game involves you mowing down hundreds of characters before the game is over then there will always be some dissonance between the message and the game unless the message is kill tons of people. Ever since Uncharted this sort of argument has been tossed around more and more frequently to the point where its not an especially interesting thing to say anymore.  The meat of what you do in a game will always devalue moral messages if most of your game is killing unless you set up an extreme situation of pure evil and pure good.

this was where the story in infinite got on my nerves. early on it was just a dumb story about this dude who happens to be reluctantly killing everyone who created this brutal oppressive society - typical videogame trash. then halfway thru rebels in the story start winning and the main character starts commenting on how theyre so fucked up and evil. nevermind that the first part of the game was showing them to be a bunch of comically heartless kkk murders and requiring me (the player) to snap their necks, burn them, rip out their eyes, etc - now youre gonna interrupt my gameplay to make me feel sorry for them? nah, levine; you made a story that is SO STUPID yet SO SERIOUS it gets on my damn nerves and makes me walk away.

[Great Rumbler]

Video games have gamey things in them, who knew?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Huh?
 Maybe you shouldn't have to, but I have a separation of gameplay and story and you have to are all video games will crash down. "how can so and so die here in this cutscene but take this much damage in game blah blah". "Just use a Phoenix Down on Areith".

I wonder if there's some kind of uncanny valley effect here with relatively realistic visceral combat that's seamless with the exploration and cutscenes, vs. being teleported into another dimension for every battle with totally different character models that take turns performing stylized actions etc.

There is and while your posts was meant to be sarcastic it's not like these questions aren't thrown at games like say FFVII. Hell when fans do their distinguished mentally-challenged fellow character battle stuff they try to compare character's rpg stats like it's a real thing in the game's actual narrative.

"Why didn't Cloud just use a Phoenix Down on Aeirth??  (Image removed from quote.)"

Fixed.

[chronovore]

Started playing this today. It's Bioshock. In the sky.

I feel like I've already played this twice before: Bioshock, and System Shock 2. The levels are, so far, more linear than either of those previous games were.

I am curious where the story will take it, but I'm not actually having much fun in the gameplay itself.

[chronovore]

http://crypticsea.com/twined/bioshoot.html

Pretty awesome.

[Stoney Mason]

http://crypticsea.com/twined/bioshoot.html

Pretty awesome.

Here's a pretty good critique of the game. Don't watch until you finish as it contains spoilers. I thought the complaints about the combat were dead on in it though.

I liked Bioshock Infinite but I think both it and the Last of Us will suffer a lot of backlash from the over enthusiastic press reviews that really hailed both games as best of gen instead of honestly pointing out some of the glaring flaws in both titles. The gaming press is so eager to reward "art" that its completely ignoring actual gameplay.

[Rahxephon91]

My friend was replaying the 1st Bioshock and we were talking about it. It's been a while since I played it and I really forgot many things about it. We basically talked about the same stuff in that video, Bioshock 1 really had much more involved gameplay. Enemy encounters in that game really did have you thinking on the fly with what systems were in play. It's kind of amazing how much Infinite stripped away from the 1st. Really in Infinite, most of my encounters involved me wailing away with guns with little thought or variation in tactics. The rail system being the one brighside here, where at least I could think of where I would want to be in the environment. It really kind of was just a regular olde linear FPS when it came to gameplay.

[Stoney Mason]

The thing that video does for me is it concentrates all the little things (and occasioanlly big things) I found annoying in Infinite that I couldn't coherently put together myself but that you noticed when you played.

Like the hitscan weapons on the enemies and the health system that lessen how fun the combat could have been. How looting around is so much more boring in this game, stuff like the poorly designed sentry turrets, etc. And then you think wow it took them 6 years to make this.

It feels like it should have been a much better game and it has flaws that seem like they shouldn't exist and it's mechanically a much simpler game than I think most people probably expected.

Which is not to say that ultimately I didn't enjoy the game. I did. But when you play a game that receives almost universal acclaim from the media and a random youtube video made by just a dude does a much better job of discussing it than the actual media that is paid to cover it does then you feel a little annoyed.

But then none of this is new. The gaming media has been bad for a good long time now.


Also I've been playing Resident Evil 4 and its sort of amazing how well designed that game was compared to this game. Odd comparison to make but its just a little weird to realize mechanically RE 4 does nearly everything better than a modern game hailed as a masterpiece.

[Positive Touch]

Also I've been playing Resident Evil 4 and its sort of amazing how well designed that game was compared to this game. Odd comparison to make but its just a little weird to realize mechanically RE 4 does nearly everything better than a modern game hailed as a masterpiece.

because as we already know the mainstream gaming writers are usually dudes who are desperate for validation of their hobby and will latch on to any game that seems meaningful, yet they lack the ability to critically analyze the story and properly tear it apart. so thats why infinite is mediocre as fuck but gets praised to the heavens while re4 is a classic but took hits in reviews because lol moar zombies.

[Great Rumbler]

The final boss battle was probably one of the most disappointing things this entire generation. Seriously, they spend half a decade and tons of money and they can't come up with something better than that? smh

[chronovore]

Thanks for the review AND the warning, Stoney. I'll peek after I finish up.

The thing about "stripping away" is that it was also true for Bioshock, from System Shock. There was no need to specialize your character, as there wasn't really a rock-paper-scissors relationship for damage, as there had been in SS2. Also, you could have it all by the 2/3 point in the game anyway.

Here, they're feeding you the powers at their own pace, there is no choice, and so far there is not much difference. Hell, the Possession Vigor "only affects machines" for about 10 minutes, until they provide a well-priced addition which adds "affects humans as well."

[Sho Nuff]

The final boss battle was probably one of the most disappointing things this entire generation. Seriously, they spend half a decade and tons of money and they can't come up with something better than that? smh

Ghost Boss was garbage and the final shebang was sheeeeeeeit

[Howard Alan Treesong]

the one good thing about the critical reaction to Bioshock Infinite is it made me SO MAD I am relaunching the GIA just so I have a place to tell game journalists to go fuck themselves

[Stoney Mason]

Thanks for the review AND the warning, Stoney. I'll peek after I finish up.

The thing about "stripping away" is that it was also true for Bioshock, from System Shock. There was no need to specialize your character, as there wasn't really a rock-paper-scissors relationship for damage, as there had been in SS2. Also, you could have it all by the 2/3 point in the game anyway.

Here, they're feeding you the powers at their own pace, there is no choice, and so far there is not much difference. Hell, the Possession Vigor "only affects machines" for about 10 minutes, until they provide a well-priced addition which adds "affects humans as well."

It will be interesting to hear your take after you finish. I do like the game. I was glad I played it. And story wise, character wise, even combat wise there are some really fun moments. I'm not just sure why reviewers have suddenly decided to almost universally praise it and the Last of Us as modern miracles without any real criticism. It's just been a slightly weird thing I've noticed. The hyperbole is just out of control.

Then again this is probably how most of you felt about GTA 4 which I like (Not as much as San Andreas) but was also over-reviewed for its time.  So maybe I'm just late to the party on spotting some of this.

[Great Rumbler]

Bioshock Infinite was a game I enjoyed, but there were stretches of it that were really plodding and dull and some of the boss fights were just absolutely terrible. To say nothing of how it barely improved on the first Bioshock in most respects.

[chronovore]

I'm just stunned at how long it takes to get to the action!  I feel like I was walking around for over an hour before I was trapped into activating American Murder Machine mode.  The game gives out Health and Salt where unnecessary, to the point where I was wondering if I would increase my max health through fruit, because otherwise why would the designers put in THIS MUCH useless stuff?

[Human Snorenado]

Bioshock Infinite is not, per se, a "bad game."  It's probably a solid 8 or so, run of the mill museum shooter.  It's really pretty and the combat is at best average. 

The critical wankfest over the story was embarrassingly awful and made me transfer some of that hate to the game.

[Rufus]

One more reason to ignore reviews entirely.

[fistfulofmetal]

It's most definitely the best shooter of the year. Has some of the best mechanics in a shooter in a number of years. The genre has been pretty much static and dead for like, 5 years? The usage of weapons + powers + skyline makes it incredibly dynamic. I have absolutely no idea how anyone can call Infinite run of the mill.

[Stoney Mason]

Has some of the best mechanics in a shooter in a number of years.

I like the parts of the combat quite a bit but I honestly don't see how its much different than what was offered in either of the Bioshock games. Jumping on rails is cool and all but its not like the greatest evolution offered up in a shooter or anything.

But to each his own.

[Positive Touch]

It's most definitely the best shooter of the year. Has some of the best mechanics in a shooter in a number of years. The genre has been pretty much static and dead for like, 5 years? The usage of weapons + powers + skyline makes it incredibly dynamic. I have absolutely no idea how anyone can call Infinite run of the mill.

 

debuff-stun-shoot debuff-stun-shoot debuff-stun-shoot
for 20 hours

[fistfulofmetal]

Reduce it all you like, it's still a better shooter than anything released for the last few years.

[fistfulofmetal]

Really the only other FPS that competes with Infinite on a purely mechanics standpoint is Syndicate.

[Human Snorenado]

Borderlands 2 is better, because loot.  Go fuck yourself, pedo.

[Great Rumbler]

Reduce it all you like, it's still a better shooter than anything released for the last few years.

RAGE was better as a pure shooter. FACT.

[Rahxephon91]

The Crysis games have been solid semi sandbox/linear games.

Metro games have been good atmospheric stealth/shooting games.

Far Cry 3 is one the best open world FPS. The 2nd one while problematic was pretty interesting at least.

Bulletstorm was a great arcady/skill based FPS.

There's stuff like Deus EX Human Revolution, Dishonnerd, and Singularity. There's been a good amount of FPS that aren't CoD. I'm not saying these games are better. They certainly aren't the high concept game that Bioshock is, but they aren't bad games at all.

[Stoney Mason]

I think fistful is just speaking mechanically regarding the fps and avoiding any military based fps games or mp games. (Cod and Battlefield are very tight mechanically which is why they have big mp followings but its a little easier to do when you are just using military style weapons without any "magical powers" ala Bioshocks vigors.)

I think the part where you shoot and throw vigors around is very tight mechanically in Infinite although redundant with the powers. I don't like the health system or the part where you are getting hit. I would argue that with such a focus on straight combat, they lost the focus on some other things and aspects of the game. It's a very linear story focus shooter. I'm always happy to play one of those. I just wouldn't necessarily call it GOTY material.

[Rahxephon91]

I don't think Bioshock is a bad game or anything and I'm not going to lie and say I'm privy to nuances of mechanics or anything. And I don't really care about story and gameplay clashes, because I don't think that deeply about video games. And I enjoy shooting stuff, hell I like CoD single player campigns.

I just simply don't remember anything about Infinite. I'm someone who likes when games force me to think on my feet while I'm in the enemy encounter. In RE4 I'm constantly thinking about where I am in relation to an enemy and thinking about what guns are best used in the situation. It's the kind of game where I use every weapon and am in constant rotation with them. In Bioshock I mostly used the hand cannon and then whatever had ammo. I didn't think what weapon was best for the situation, it didn't matter to me. Keep hitting until the enemy is dead. I don't even remember using powers because it just seemed easier to point and shoot. Maybe I used the possession one and that's it. I hardly used them, because I saw no need, I saw no unique enemy that required a cool combination of weapons and powers. I mean yeah, I liked the open rail environments, but they don't make up half the game.

In the Crysis games I use the powers and how I use them effects my approach. I mean it could be a simple as use boring old stealth and then go loud. In Far Cry 3 I have fun choosing to find a place to snipe out enemies before taking over a base and then I go in an knife before things go loud. In Bulletstorm, I think about how weapons work in relation to the environment.

I think those games have some cool stuff going on and I might have enjoyed them more then Infinite.

[Stoney Mason]

I just simply don't remember anything about Infinite.

I'm the same way, The only parts I remember are mainly non-interactive story bits or specific story beats.

And yeah I completely agree about RE 4. It's a game where the design and tightness of the experience is integral to everything. To be fair that is very rare in games but the way people were praising Infinite or Last of Us you would think both games would be approaching that level.

I keep coming back to Dead Space 2 which is a game I personally really really liked and it got good reviews but nobody made overly crazy claims about what it was doing for the medium. I don't think Bioshock Infinite is any better than Dead Space 2. I don't think mechanically, story wise, presentation wise, or game design wise, its doing anything better. But Dead Space 2 was given the relative proper amount of praise/criticism relative to what it was and Infinite is given more praise relative to what it is and I think that's mainly due to it superficially dealing with things like race or philsophy, etc.

Anyways I've beat on this dead horse of a subject enough for a good long time.

[Human Snorenado]

There's more strategy in Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon than BioShock Infinite, and it has a better story to boot.

[cool breeze]

I just simply don't remember anything about Infinite.

I'm the same way, The only parts I remember are mainly non-interactive story bits or specific story beats.

And yeah I completely agree about RE 4. It's a game where the design and tightness of the experience is integral to everything. To be fair that is very rare in games but the way people were praising Infinite or Last of Us you would think both games would be approaching that level.

I keep coming back to Dead Space 2 which is a game I personally really really liked and it got good reviews but nobody made overly crazy claims about what it was doing for the medium. I don't think Bioshock Infinite is any better than Dead Space 2. I don't think mechanically, story wise, presentation wise, or game design wise, its doing anything better. But Dead Space 2 was given the relative proper amount of praise/criticism relative to what it was and Infinite is given more praise relative to what it is and I think that's mainly due to it superficially dealing with things like race or philsophy, etc.

Anyways I've beat on this dead horse of a subject enough for a good long time.

yeah, it's hard to ignore what the hype did to boost Bioshock Infinite's reception.  Started with the reveal back in 2010 (?) all the way up to rolling Levine out to film interviews at various sites right before it came out.  At one point it won E3 awards for a gameplay demo that was far more ambitious than anything in the final game.  And people think back to how 'important' Bioshock 1 was and that influenced the reception.  And GTAV, Titanfall and Destiny will get the same business.  The reception towards Last of Us is a bit much, but not nearly as bad by comparison.  Uncharted 3 is a much better example of hype blinding press from any sort of critical evaluation.

That said, Bioshock Infinite as a shooter is still pretty fun.  I've seen people say the shooting is no better than the first Bioshock and that I don't get.  But I can think of a half dozen recent FPS games that are as or more fun to play.

And I agree about the memorable parts of Bioshock Infinite.  The shooty parts that stick out have rails and zeppelins but those are oddly rare moments.  I hope that's the focus of the DLC when it's out in 2015, unless it's delayed.

[chronovore]

God-damn, this game has long stretches of BOOOOORING.

I've found Elizabeth, made my way past the beach, and am looking for Shock Jockey in the Hall of Presidents. Er, Heroes.

The hallways occasionally are given up for areas which widen and branch out, but there aren't enemies, and I am looting everything for Salt and Health I don't need, or scraps of money which don't add up to the massive prices for Vigor Enhancements when they're available.

The Kinescopes feel like Levine having a wank about being able to cleverly ape the writing style of a given medium, but don't convey much information on their own. The audio recordings feel pretty hammy as well.

I am curious what the hook is going to end up being. There are a few red herrings in the story so far, but I've got a few ideas about what might be going on.

[Eel O'Brian]

The hook is there's too many hooks. This game shifts gears so much it should have been a racing game.

[AdmiralViscen]

God-damn, this game has long stretches of BOOOOORING.

I've found Elizabeth, made my way past the beach, and am looking for Shock Jockey in the Hall of Presidents. Er, Heroes.

The hallways occasionally are given up for areas which widen and branch out, but there aren't enemies, and I am looting everything for Salt and Health I don't need, or scraps of money which don't add up to the massive prices for Vigor Enhancements when they're available.

The Kinescopes feel like Levine having a wank about being able to cleverly ape the writing style of a given medium, but don't convey much information on their own. The audio recordings feel pretty hammy as well.

I am curious what the hook is going to end up being. There are a few red herrings in the story so far, but I've got a few ideas about what might be going on.

It really doesn't get better

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I am curious what the hook is going to end up being. There are a few red herrings in the story so far, but I've got a few ideas about what might be going on.

The hook is that Ken Levine has your $60.

Would you like to buy the Season Pass? Be the first on your block to play exciting story-based DLC like:

[Purple Filth]

damn I wish I had 30 bucks to see what the hubbub is about  :'(

[Rahxephon91]

The Kinescopes were funny, because it didn't feel like they added any info. It seemed like most of them said stuff you already knew. So they seemed kind of pointless. I guess they added to the atmosphere. I think I read they were a really late addition.

[pilonv1]

I loved the Kinescopes. Got really made when I missed 3 of them at the end of the game because I sure as fuck wasn't going to play it again

[chronovore]

I'm up to 16/34 Kinescopes, and I've played more thoroughly than I'd expected to... so, I'm guessing I'm about halfway through the game?

First Bioshock was better than Infinite.

System Shock 2 was better than Bioshock.

I'll be giving the next one a miss.

[chronovore]

http://www.theastronauts.com/2013/03/game-openings-are-important-or-the-first-180-seconds-of-bioshock-infinite/

http://frictionalgames.blogspot.no/2013/04/thoughts-on-bioshock-infinite.html

Some really good stuff on why B:I doesn't work as well as its predecessors. Basically this is what I was feeling, to a T.

[TakingBackSunday]

Bumping this thread because I finally got around to playing this.

It's definitely my favorite Bioshock game, sorry to have to disagree with folks here.  It can feel aimless at times, but I'm much more invested in the environment of Columbia than I was with Rapture.  I think its just a stylistic preference on what you prefer in these types of games.  As much as I love Bioschock, I did feel somewhat contained.  Infinite at least has a hint of free-roaming exploration.

I fucking LOVE the story and art direction in this game.  Will the Circle Be Unbroken is a great GREAT driving theme for the entire story and gameplay.  I've gotten shivers several times, and its usually whenever that song plays haha.

I find the gunplay in this as ehh as the other Bioshocks, but at least this time vigors seem much more useful.  The introduction of better vigors and the skyline mechanic makes things much more fun.

I really enjoy it.  I'd put it at a 9 right now.  I'm easily impressed though, and the Bioshock series is probably my favorite current gen series.  So, biased I suppose.

[chronovore]

I dunno about "biased" -- if this is your favorite, if this is the high point, then you didn't like the other Bioshock entries as much. It could be said you were either open to liking Infinite, or even biased against it before playing.

I've just freed up my last obsessive game, and am ready to start up another -- and I'm having a hard time thinking about going back to Columbia. It really is pretty, fo' sho' -- but where I felt that Rapture represented its themes quite well, the feeling of unrelenting pressure, the cracks and damage, the darkness... I am left wondering what Columbia is supposed to represent with its open skies, majestic beauty, and segmented, traveling town sections. Does it mean anything, or is it just pretty?