D
DArtagnan
Guest
Unfortunately I was. That isn't too much to expect is it?
Deus Ex 2 interested me more than Bioshock. I wanted to finish DX2 where as Bioshock took a number of restarts and a couple of years to get through.
I was definitely expecting something evolved over System Shock 2 - at first, because the team was Irrational veterans who did SS2 with Looking Glass.
But as development progressed, it became increasingly obvious that Levine's original "big words" - which are evident in early interviews - were mostly just that, words. As release drew nearer, I eventually understood that this would be a simplified SS2 - and as such I wasn't devasted or anything. Levine has demonstrated that his strength is not game design, but story premise and mainstream adaption.
I was somewhat surprised that they ruined replayability by having basically all powers and weapons available on a single run-through - and I was extremely miffed at their design decision to make you immortal through Vita chambers. Oh, and finally, I was gravely disappointed that the story fell apart and basically was nothing but an interesting premise with a lot of suggestive story notions, but ultimately pretty hollow. The two most talked about aspects, meaning the moral choice of rescuing little sisters or not, and the "twist" in terms of player control (should be non-spoilerish) were pathetically weak, if you ask me.
Still, the atmosphere carries the game - and the very first level blew my mind. It was SO engaging in terms of exploring that place and arriving at Rapture - that those aspects in themselves make the game good to great. I also greatly enjoyed the Theme Park level with that other insane figure (level 4 or something) - and I thought it was some of the best level design I've seen in a while. At least in terms of linear structure.
If only they'd called it something without Shock in the title, and made no attempt to touch the System Shock legacy. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more as a simple linear shooter - which is what it was, ultimately.