Bioshock - Reviews @ Eurogamer, Games Radar

[Dhruin]

"Staggeringly beautiful", "the work of true visionaries", "a living painting", "a game that's landed fully formed from a couple of years in the future". 10/10.
That's Eurogamer's take on Bioshock in their 3-page review (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=81479):
So to have any shred of doubt surrounding BioShock comprehensively swept away within the first ten minutes, well, you feel like dancing. You want to tell people about this game who you know won't even care, just because it makes you so giddy inside. Before we get into the nitty gritty, here's the deal: Bioshock doesn't just meet your expectations, but completely redefines them forever in ways you never even expected - in ways that games used to in the past, routinely. The hours spent playing this masterpiece were the perfect encapsulation of why videogaming is such a favourite waste of time for so many of us. Thrilling, terrifying, moving, confusing, amusing, compelling, and very very dark. BioShock isn't simply the sign of gaming realising its true cinematic potential, but one where a game straddles so many entertainment art forms so expertly that it's the best demonstration yet how flexible this medium can be. It's no longer just another shooter wrapped up in a pretty game engine, but a story that exists and unfolds inside the most convincing and elaborate and artistic game world ever conceived. It just so happens to require you to move the narrative along with your own carefully and personally defined actions. Active entertainment versus passive: I know which I prefer.
...and Games Radar (http://www.gamesradar.com/us/pc/game/reviews/article.jsp?releaseId=20060426172718471012&articleId=2007081595653768046&sectionId=1000&pageId=2007081595737169023) says it masters "narrative, emergence, a sense of place" and that any one of these would qualify for classic status. 10/10:
Your skirmishes take place in an environment bristling with manipulable elements. Drones, turrets and security cameras are the most obvious, but there are also fuel puddles that can catch fire, and water that any burning Splicer can be counted on to run towards - which can then be electrified. Detritus, grenades, missiles and even fireballs can be sucked up and flung, and your enemies themselves can be subverted to do your work - directly or otherwise.

Only a handful of the standard weapons are really interesting or satisfying when used alone, but mix them with a generous menu of Plasmids in an environment like this and they become spectacular. Even with an element as familiar as the grenade launcher’s proximity charge, the scope for impishly inventive violence is overwhelming. Clump five on a barrel and propel the resulting super-bomb at a crowd of victims with Telekinesis. Chuck one in the nearest pool of water then set your prey alight. Stick one on the ceiling directly above a Cyclone Trap - an invisible springboard that catapults unsuspecting enemies hilariously into the air. The AI for a befriended drone even has some ideas of its own: bolt a proximity charge to the little guy and he’ll divebomb the next enemy he sees.
More information. (http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/newsbit?newsbit=6027)

[Sir Markus]

I'm going to be standing outside my local Gamestop, money in hand, when they open the doors the day it comes out. This game sounds like a serious winner.

[Bateman]

I'm going to be standing outside my local Gamestop, money in hand, when they open the doors the day it comes out. This game sounds like a serious winner.

That's what people did when Oblivion came out, too.

And I hope you're aware of the fact that most of the immersion is due to the high-end-graphics, lightning, detailled environment. I wouldn't dare play this with my old machine. If you have a brand you PC, you should get it indeed.

[curiously undead]

yeah this game shares so much in common with oblivion




its a video game

[Moriendor]

I think it has now officially surpassed Oblivion as far as hype is concerned. PC Gamer print gave Bioshock "only" 95% but it got perfect scores in every net review so far and also in the official Xbox mag AFAIK.

[curiously undead]

its inevitable that great records will be broken. whether or not it becomes the highest scoring game ever is irrelevant i think. what matters is if it becomes the game that someday warrants a spiritual succesor of its own. having a spirit at all in a game is a worthy feat. regardless of who thinks oblivion is a great (or even best) game or doesn't i can't imagine oblivion ever having a spiritual successor

[Brother None]

I think it has now officially surpassed Oblivion as far as hype is concerned. PC Gamer print gave Bioshock "only" 95% but it got perfect scores in every net review so far and also in the official Xbox mag AFAIK.

Yip, the hype is what I dislike most about the product so far. Though it seems more "people"-hype and less "press"-hype, which is good. Love the way they treat fans.

If the game is close enough to what it is hyped to be to fool people, it'll survive (like Oblivion). If not, the backlash might burn it (probably not, though).

[Reyla]

Hyperbole re-defined.

[Corwin]

Hey, it's still nothing more than an FPS!! It's not like it's an RPG!!!! :p

[Lucky Day]

Can we expect to see System Shock 3 after all the cash Bioshock will be seeing?

[Lord Alex]

Looks like Ken Levine finally hit one out of the park... a critically-acclaimed game that is also going to rake in the benjamins.

[Acleacius]

Damn after reading those, I feel like I just met a great girl, had great sex, and she turn out to be smart, charming and pretty the next morning, anyone have a cigarette? ;)
Oh, wait nevermind I quit long ago.

[doctor_kaz]

Looks like Ken Levine finally hit one out of the park... a critically-acclaimed game that is also going to rake in the benjamins.

Don't count your chickens... Jade Empire got these same early reviews and had a much bigger hype machine, and it was only a moderate commercial success. It has no competition right now, so that's a good thing, but the installed base for the XBox 360 still probably isn't where they would like it. I think that the PC version will do pretty well. At least as well as any of Irrational's games of the past seven years.

These early reviews are so reminiscent of Black and White, Oblivion, and Jade Empire, it's scary. I have absolutely no trust in about 90% of the gaming press nowadays. But I do trust Ken Levine to make a great game, so I've got it pre-ordered. I wonder how many glaring or obvious flaws will be found by 98% of the people who play the game that the media completely ignores, like Oblivion's crap PC interface and level scaling.

[Reyla]

Hey, it's still nothing more than an FPS!! It's not like it's an RPG!!!!

From Gamespot:

Today's #1 Game
BioShock
Publisher: 2K Games Developer: 2K Boston
Platform: PC Genre: Action
Release Date: 08/21/2007
More Info | Add to My Games | Forum | Check Prices


If it is fun then it is fun but I understand what you mean, I would rather play a fun RPG.

[mute]

@Corwin: I shoot people. Its an RPG in my world! :)

[Badesumofu]

Well I pre-ordered today, which means I got the $20 discount, so I only pay $70 for it, which will make it the cheapest new release game I've bought... maybe ever. After reading these two reviews I decided to just do it, by the sounds of it I'll enjoy this as much as a good RPG anyway. It certainly sounds fun, and it sounds like a stimulating, interesting, thoughtful setting. Looking forward to this one a lot. If it was a full-fledged RPG I'd probably be salivating and going crazy waiting to play it, so maybe it's for the best that it's not!

[JDR13]

Every day I thank God that I don't live in Australia. ;)

[Lucky Day]

nwn was hyped pretty bad too and lionheart.

what's the conversion from Australian to US Dollars right now?

[Corwin]

$1AUS=$.85US!! Sorry JDR, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else BUT Australia!! :)

[JDR13]

That doesn't make any sense, if the conversion rate is $1AUS=$.85US, then why are you people paying $80-$90 for pc games?!? Shipping isn't THAT expensive.O_O

[txa1265]

Don't count your chickens... Jade Empire got these same early reviews and had a much bigger hype machine, and it was only a moderate commercial success.
But the inherent audience is much *MUCH* larger for a game like Bioshock - you get the 1% of SS & SS2 fans, and 99% XBOX action gamers ... the ones who have already preordered over a million Halo 3's ...

[CutLunch]

Well I don't know about other Aussies but the high prices means I investigate and buy the best of the best rather than impulse buy. Except for Bioshock perhaps - I'll buy that straight away.

Oh - and Gamespot lists the developer as 2K Boston - nice to see the Oz Irrational getting no recognition at all.

[15th]

That doesn't make any sense, if the conversion rate is $1AUS=$.85US, then why are you people paying $80-$90 for pc games?!? Shipping isn't THAT expensive.O_O

It's... Tradition! We aussies love paying obscene prices for our games. Or so those selling them here tell us.

[zakhal]

Can we expect to see System Shock 3 after all the cash Bioshock will be seeing?

Exactly. Im happy for the hype because it will earn them money to make more great games. System shock 2 sold so poorly. Allthough I cant imagine yet another station infiltrated by computer virus thats about to destroy the world.

[KasperFauerby]

The X360 demo has been running a lot here at the office lately, and from what I've seen it does indeed look very interesting. I'm certainly getting it at release day myself! It's probably not one for the RPG-only guys here, but it does looks like an interesting action game where you have some choices other than simply blasting your shotgun to get past each obstacle. And the graphics looks cool!

Hype is a dangerous thing however. People has to remember that this is still just a game! It might be a very good effort, but it does not magically solve every problem that games have or suddenly look completely photo realistic at 60fps on the same hardware that G3 stutters on. I'm afraid that too much hype might bring the expectations of this game up to a completely unrealistic level. But as long as people remember that this is just the latest computer game - then they might have some serious fun with it..

[txa1265]

And now at EvilAvatar (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34390)there is a discussion "Bioshock best game ever?"

There is a part of me that is repelled by the mega hype ... but another part of me knows that I will at least get a good shooter out of it (as happened with HL2, not up to its' hype but pretty good anyway).

[Acleacius]

Everyone should be jaded with all the BS we gamers have to put up with from the likes of bethseda and m$, but if anyone could/can do it, it would be Irrational.

Their abilty to tell a compelling story, diverse combat, one of the best graphic engines, an adult game and the company prides itself on have old school roots mostly from Looking Glass, sounds like a recipe for a great game.

That's alot of positives, and with most of the potiental console port problems dealt with, ie we have seen and read about the work the Aussie team has done, I am not sure where the game could go wrong.

Personally I don't have a single reason to be jaded about Irrational, hell if they have the game at 90% complete, they beat most games in the last 4 years. :)

[Gorath]

It's... Tradition! We aussies love paying obscene prices for our games. Or so those selling them here tell us.

Of course I respect your tradition ... but why do guys don´t import your games?

[Alrik Fassbauer]

That doesn't make any sense, if the conversion rate is $1AUS=$.85US, then why are you people paying $80-$90 for pc games?!? Shipping isn't THAT expensive.O_O

We used to pay that sum for games a loooong time here in Germany as well, only in D-Mark, not Euros. But the current Euro price here is cabout the same ...

Another example: I terms of Star Wars collecting (which I do a bit), Europeans usually pay double the price than US-Americans do.

This is usually argumented with the high amount of taxes and the overall difference of economical systems of both areas.

[Sir Markus]

Make the flight from Honolulu to Sydney, and you'll understand why stuff is so expensive down there. Holy crap, I had cobwebs growing on me by the time we got there. Australia is an amazing place, but it is definitely in the boondocks.

[Gorath]

What does "in the boondocks" mean? Something similar to "at the arse of the world"?

[Ionstormsucks]

This will be teh bestest game eva because it got a 10/10 at Eurogamer, a 10/10 on games radar, and a 12/10 on Reviewers without Brains!!!

[txa1265]

What does "in the boondocks" mean? Something similar to "at the arse of the world"?

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boondock):
Boondocks or diminutively "the boonies" has since evolved into a more general American slang term for "the country" or any rural/wilderness location in general, regardless of topography or vegetation that is isolated and away from "the action" or the comforts and variety of urban life.

[Dyne]

PC games are probably one of the few things we're not seemingly paying over the odds for in the UK.
Usually £30, so about $60, which I believe is almost the same as what US customers pay. Knock off VAT and it's about $50.

Back to the topic at hand, what a shock. Way back when I thought it was going to be great, then the "It's an FPS, not an RPG" dampened my spirits, and I thought it'd just be an atmospheric, above average shooter. Novel setting, bit of fun, but nothing revolutionary. I reckoned the usual 8/10s from the reviewers, with a smattering of 7s and 9s as is usual for most new releases.

Strong 10s and gushing praise though, a surprise for August. I'd like to think Levine's star is truly in the ascendant and his team's hard work has paid off, but I just don't trust full marks from the gaming press any more.

I'll probably pick it up next Friday all the same. If it's really the Second Coming they're saying it is, my pessimism will reward me with the fuzzy delight that surprise brings.

[Badesumofu]

The Aussie Dollar was down to less than 50 US cents a few years back. Games cost much the same now as they did then. CDs seem to be cheaper now, but I suspect that has more to do with Itunes and other cheap online music download apps.

Anyway, I think it was the Games Radar review that really mad me want it. If the game I get is anything like the game they describe, it'll be money well spent.

[chamr]

I dunno about being so leary about the hype Bioshock's getting.... Eurogamer tends to be pretty no-nonsense, so a gushing 10 from them means a little more, imo. I know that I respect their reviews more than the average.

As for "it's just a game", well, yes, of course. But in that context, I don't have a problem with folks gushing, if the game deserves it. After all, video games are arguably the most complex entertainment/art forms (from hence forth called artitainment) ever. What else combines:

Visuals
Sound
Music
Choreography
Intensive audience interaction
Story-telling
Character development
Player determined outcomes (a la sports) that change with each run-through

Nothing. There isn't a single form of artitainment that tries to do so much at once.

[Badesumofu]

The Manual is viewable through Steam as a PDF. I'm not sure if this link will work or if you'd have to load Steam and go to the Bioshock preorder page.

http://www.steampowered.com/Manuals/7670/manual_en.pdf

[txa1265]

The Manual is viewable through Steam as a PDF. I'm not sure if this link will work or if you'd have to load Steam and go to the Bioshock preorder page.

http://www.steampowered.com/Manuals/7670/manual_en.pdf

Link works great - could view and even download a copy.

[Acleacius]

Saw on Blue's, looks like the Street Date has been Broken, by some retailer.
http://kotaku.com/gaming/ken-levine.s-bioshock-advice/save-often-290030.php

Did anyone else notice that one of the negitives Games Radar posted is oppisite of what Levine says happens, bug or did they just miss the secret?
I am thinking the way they worded it they missed the secret and had a much shorter total end game.

[JDR13]

Make the flight from Honolulu to Sydney, and you'll understand why stuff is so expensive down there. Holy crap, I had cobwebs growing on me by the time we got there. Australia is an amazing place, but it is definitely in the boondocks.

I actually will be doing that someday. Me and my girlfriend are moving to Honolulu within the next 2 years. She's originally from there and most of her relatives live there.

Not too mention that I've always wanted to check out Austalia.

[Cormac]

Well, judging by the short demo the game is nothing but a shooter -- but what a shooter. The only thing that annoyed me is respawning after death in one of the vault (can't recall how they're called exactly), and finding the enemy waiting for me on the other side of the glass-door. Aren't there rules against camping respawn points ? WTF ? But I'm sure the full game won't have this sort of issue, as it won't be limited to the demo's constrained location.
I have to say, until I tried the demo I had little interest in the game. Now I might actually get it -- the Xbox version though, as my PC couldn't handle the thing.

And hacking is hard.

[Dhruin]

There are a few reasons why game prices are high in Australia. The primary one (at least, based on my experience from a few years back from retailing software) is that Australian distributors buy at essentially the same wholesale price as major US retailers. In other words, 2K Games wants ~US$36 (or thereabouts - I don't exactly, of course) wholesale. Walmart can just add their margin but down here, the Aussie distie needs to add their margin and then sell it on to retail.

Don't forget we always include all taxes - none of this silly +VAT / GST / Sales tax.

And yes, Gorath, I import nearly all my games. The only game I have bought locally for years was Oblivion, because they were prepared to break the street date by nearly a week. I was just about the organise Bioshock from GAME in the UK when I found out it was on Steam. So, Steamy it is.

[Shagnak01]

So, Steamy it is.
I'm hearin' ya.

It will be around $100 in the stores here in NZ.
Buying through Steam will save me around $30.

[Badesumofu]

Yeah, actually I almost regret my preorder now. Steam would have saved me only about $12 but as far as I can see, it would have let me play the game 3 days sooner. How big is the download? It irritates me that Steam doesn't tell you that in advance.

Edit: it does tell me that I need 8GB of free HDD space, which is a decent indicator. That'd be 80% of my monthly download I think, so probably best buying it from EB.

[Badesumofu]

Hmm the dollar has dropped below 80 cents as a result of the stock market taking a dive, so buying it on Steam would cost me around $63 now. Oh well, maybe these economic woes will at least serve to weaken Howard's economic credentials.

[15th]

I import all books and DVDs from New Zealand and other places, somehow it's cheaper than walking down to the local stores. Games, after time and shipping work out about the same or wth negliable savings.

Steam would be cheaper. But I ended up passing the download cap within the first week of last month because of download stuff off it. I do not want to go back to dialup speeds for three weeks ever again. Mayhaps when it's near the end of the month and it will not matter as much...