Bioshock Reviews

Any reviews that the G3AR team publishes will go in here.
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Steyn82
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Bioshock Reviews

Post by Steyn82 »

I'm resurrecting this thread, just because I can. Plus I want my 2 cents in on this Bioshock hype.


Bioshock VS System Shock 2.

I'm an avid fan of System Shock 2, which is actually a bad thing when I played Bioshock. When I first read that System Shock 2 will have a "spiritual sequel" I was as giddy as a catholic schoolgirl who accidentally saw something through an open door of the boy's restroom. Unfortunately that giddiness didn't last when I finally got my grubby paws on the game. I was sure my PC met all of the minimum requirements for it, but Mr. PC just fizzed and said "Hell no, I ain't touching that game with a ten foot power cable."

And so a week later, and about R 6 000 less in my bank account, (hey, I had to upgrade this four year old thing one of these days), I installed Bioshock again, giddiness returning while I wait for that whopper to finish installing.

And then I played it, and it was good, at first.

You start out completely confused. It automatically plays your character when he's underwater drowning, and the moment you breach the water, you sit and wait. It took me a minute before realizing that it was my turn to play. There was no flashing lights saying, "Press W you idiot, move the mouse, move it!"

Hmm....the fact that you start out right after an explosion reminded me terribly of System Shock 2.

As I went further in the game it hit me like a church made out of stone and mortar. This game is almost EXACTLY like System Shock 2! The only difference is that System Shock 2 had the decency to give you an inventory.

Bioshock did not. Anything you picked up, like chips, smokes or drinks were instantly used. You couldn't save them for later. Which brings me to the next thing about inventories.

System Shock 2 made it so that you could only carry a certain amount of things on your person, for example. You have ammo, upgrades, ICEpicks, chemicals, hypo's, and of course weapons. Sounds like a lot, but it wasn't, you were still limited to the amount of things you carry.

Bioshock has this incredible world where space and time bends around weapons, making them so small that you could pick them up and keep them, carrying them all wherever you went. Wow this game is realistic!

Oh look at what we got next. Plumbing! I'm sorry, I meant Hacking! Yes, like System Shock 2 you got to hack the turrets and vending machines and whatnot. Unlike System Shock 2, this one requires no upgrades to hack, no money to hack and no intelligence to hack. You just click like a spastic idiot and drag pipes. Yes, I said it. Pipes. Why they called it hacking, I don't know. After every hack I felt like I had to eat a mushroom and get a fire-flower while yelling "You going down Koopa!".

Here's an idea, why didn't they make an inventory, so that you had to have a choice of carrying a wrench, which you later find out is necessary to actually "hack" something.

They didn't think everything through. How can it be the mid fifties, when you got underwater cities, computers that you can hack and genetic manipulation!? They should have made it a futuristic game with a retro feel, or a fifties style game with magic (I know, sounds stupid, but how else do you explain shooting fire and electricity from your fingertips) and lose the way advanced technology.

What this game really lacked was a good badguy. I miss SHODAN. With her, you actually felt like a worthless little worm as she barraged you with insults while telling you what to do. Yeah you cyberwitch, you need me and you're too proud to admit it!

Around now some of you readers will probably be getting sick of me referring to System Shock 2 so much, but it can't be helped. That's what Bioshock tried to be. A basic console first person shooter ripoff of System Shock 2.

I give it a 7/10. And why so high you ask? Well, it's pretty. Yes, it's only redeeming feature is that it's pretty. Beautiful graphics, beautiful effects, but it still felt like a console game they converted to PC.

And now I feel a bit glum as I put this R 400 game away in my cupboard to collect dust next to Deus Ex 2. And I feel worse as the Big Daddy figurine on my desk stands there, mocking me for buying the collector's edition.

If you want a pretty shoot'em up, buy the normal Bioshock version. The extras in the collector's edition is not worth it. If you want a great replayable RPG-like shoot'em up with great atmosphere and great characters talking to you... tough cookies, you'll have to find an old copy of System Shock 2 by yourself, because I'm installing and replaying mine, and you can't have it.

- Steyn de Kock
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Post by halo »

Hmm... Reading your review reminded me of something a good friend of mine told me ages ago... in life you get loves and hates... you my friend fall squarely in the hates...

Bioshock is a good game... alot better than your 7/10 makes it out to be... Its very rare to get a game thats has all the right components in place.. it has action, a great story, a rather shocking, unexpected plot twist, kool plasimids and yes amazing graphics. Add the sound, the voice acting, the environments, the charcters, and so on and you have a great game...

Im not here to tell you that i think your wrong, in the end of it all who am i to tell you that, but what i am telling you is that your review seems rather one sided.. I would like to remind you that some of the greatest FPS games ever made have had a weapons system similar to, if not the same as, Bioshock... Quake, HAlflife, Doom... mind you, these are out and out actions games, but what Bioshock has that those other dont is a mix of action with drama... (not that the other dont have there tense moments, but Bioshock is just the first game in a very long time to grab the player)

no one ever said Bioshock was a RPG, so why should they include an inventory if they could get anyway without having to concern the player with managing something that was unneeded? As a matter of fact, when you do pick stuff up , if it cant be consumed, it is saved in your "inventory" for later use...

anyway, if you dont want the big daddy figurine, ill galdly take it off you hands(and i am being serious), but part of my has a feeling that you might just want to keep hold of that... just incase you're wrong about the game...

Cheers Halo
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Steyn82
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Post by Steyn82 »

:D You're right about keeping the Big Daddy figurine. He's just too cute to give up.

And thanks for replying here, means a lot if people actually say something.

And you were right about the review, I was incredibly one sided with it. I guess I was just so peeved, (yeah, I use the word peeved), to the fact that they used so much of the System Shock game, and twisted it into a normal FPS. You can't even creep around the shadows and sneak up on the baddies so that you can clunk them on the head with that glorious wrench.

So basically, I'm lowering my rating for it to 5/10....as an RPG, seeing that you still have a little choice in how you play the game.

But as an FPS, it gets a 8.999/10
I'm sorry, I just can't push myself to give it a full 9/10, because it still owes most of its game-play to another game. So it's not so original in the end. But it is real pretty. Incredibly pretty.
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Post by Mikdog »

I didn't enjoy System Shock 2. Never finished it. Too creepy.
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Post by psYChowIt »

Well Bioshock gives me the Hiediebiegeebies!!! But I'm trying my very bestest to play it at least once a day. Good review btw! :wink: (I don't agree though - never played System Shock)
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Post by 1080 »

i wouldnt say that bioshock is scary it is though a little unsettling
the slicers cries of pain and torment only make it easier for me to pull the trigger.
though it has been a really entertaining title
not so much a real challenge but at least they attempting to make the game play diverse.



i had to format my pc this weekend so how much more installs do i have left.
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Post by Mikdog »

Dude. I love your DILBERT avatar.
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Post by Druggs »

BioShock starts out exlelent and creepy :D and then becomes ,not boring but not very fun to play. I lost interest 3/4 into the game!! :( :cry:
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Post by psYChowIt »

No, I can handle fear for instance cause that just messes with your head. Bioshock has like crazy people and blood and stuff. I dunno it freaks me out completely! Has anyone seen "Mad House"?
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Post by Archilles »

Bioshock is one of the best games I have ever played. Rated 9.5/10.
Why you might ask ??
Well the story behind The of City Rapture
"God and the salvation of man"
"Men destroy what they did not create"
"Father why have you forsaken me"
"Even in the depths of the sea you are here with me"
Some of you who have completed the game might remember these quotes or payed some attention to them"

Games like Bioshock are very rare, this aint no ordinary FPS like Far Cry or maybe aliens invading earth by combine soldiers like half life 2 or Doom 3 for that matter. I have played system shock and this is no replica. Ignore Graphics and gameplay for now, lets forcus on our characters Jack, or (Atlas) and Andrew Ryan, my favourite character in the Game. Whoever was involved with this characters dialogue i bow down to you my friend..
The climax to these characters especially Andrew ryan, "A slave obeys"
Absolutely brilliant......................
I have too much to say about this game... but i disagree with it been like system shock. This game has substance i tell you..
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Post by psYChowIt »

Druggs wrote:BioShock starts out excellent and creepy :D and then becomes ,not boring but not very fun to play. I lost interest 3/4 into the game!! :( :cry:
OMW I feel exactly the same, I'm guessing I'm 3/4 into it now and I want to finish it but it seems like a hassle...
:?
Steyn82 wrote: You can't even creep around the shadows and sneak up on the baddies so that you can clunk them on the head with that glorious wrench.
Oh yes you can... :twisted:
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Post by LONEWOLF »

Bioshock is easily of the best games I have ever played. When I descended into Rapture it reminded me of the tram ride deeper and deeper into the Black Mesa complex in Half-Life and me thinking to myself: How the hell will I get out of here.

Freakin’ AWESOME game :wink:
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Post by Lithe_Joint »

I played the demo, and got hooked. Now I found the game on k.net for R439...pretty steep but I think it could just be worth it since I never played system shock. Anyway...I enjoy the cold chill this game provides and perhaps the warm glow of an overworked debit card will be the antidote :twisted:
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Post by GreyWolf »

I played system shock 2 a couple of weeks back for the first time. I don't see what all the fuss was about. It was good, and interesting. but no, not that special. maybe it's just me, I don't know, but it never grabbed me.

concerning the point about technology in the 50's. dude, it is fantasy. if you accept a game set in the future, then you should accept a game set in an altered past. personally I love gothic tech.
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