Bioshock 2 - First Reviews

Dhruin

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We won't be covering Bioshock 2 in full detail but IGN seems to have negotiated for the first reviews and it's interesting to see the results. It's a 9.1/10 from IGN and 9/10 from IGN UK, written by Alec Meer. Here's Alec's great intro:
One of my flat mates, not a gamer but drawn to the sound and fury, sits down to watch me play. "Is this Quake?" "No, it's called BioShock 2." "Uh-huh. But it's like Quake, right?" "Um, not really - it's about the nature of man" - BLAM! Aaargh! - "and the effects of trying to create Utopia "BIFF! Aieeeeeeeeeee! "in an art-deco city populated by artists and scientists" CHUDDA-CHUDDA-CHUDDDA-YeaaaaaaaaAAAAAAaaaaAAA-SPLAT" and inspired by the philosophical theories of Ayn Rand and John Stuart Mill." I messily ram my giant drill-arm into the face of a screaming, swearing mutant in a party dress, and then we both fall silent as we watch the blood fade from the screen. He looks at me, brow furrowed. I relent: "Yeah, it's kinda like Quake."

It has become too easy to forget what BioShock is, and too tempting to discuss it purely in terms of the more high-minded ideas behind its narrative, not the practicalities of what happens when we press buttons on the gamepad. It is a game in which you will spend much of your time messily ramming a drill-arm into the face of a screaming, swearing mutant in a party dress. While it's lovely that the voiceovers have a literate backdrop, this is not a game in which you will actively engage in consideration of utilitarianism and objectivism. It's a first-person shooter, first and foremost.
More information.
 
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:lol: That's excellent.

And he's right. Reviewers would wax philosophical about Bioshock, and they (imo) gave it exaggerated praise because of those philosophical features. It came across, to my ears anyhow, as extremely pretentious. Ok, so the distant backdrop is an oversimplified version of an already-oversimplified philosophy. Woop dee doo. The gameplay was basically just shooting and magic powers. I don't recall a lot of philosophizing.
 
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Still, a shooter with an interesting backdrop is more enjoyable to me than a shooter without. In fact, its probably got me as far as I got in BS - the hectical in-your-face combat eventually turned me off, though.
 
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Just replayed the original on a console and I have to say as far as shooters and story/atmosphere goes, I got sucked in way more than I have with ME2. So rpg or not I am looking forward to sequel.
 
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Yeah Bioshock was good, even better than most people give it credit for. As long as you drop the expectations of it being anything like the System Shock games, it's a lot of fun.
 
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I didnt like biosbock. The characters were crazy and unmemorable. Story/background was stupid and dialogue non-existant. Most if not all of the npcs were crazy and just attacked you when they saw you, so there was not much of other interaction except combat with them. It was okay for arcade shooter (nice graphics) but thats about it.

If there were philosophical features in one of the crazy monologues done by the crazy characters I dont remember them.
 
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I didnt like biosbock. The characters were crazy and unmemorable. Story/background was stupid and dialogue non-existant.

I found characters like Andrew Ryan, Sander Cohen, and Frank Fontaine to be quite memorable, and the story was excellent for a first-person shooter.
 
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PC Gamer gave it a 90%, too, saying that the atmosphere and story weren't as good but that the shooter aspects were improved a lot.
 
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B1: Many monsters look the same, the controls are a lot too complicate, you can't avoid shoots (first pleasure in shooters is aim and hit, second is to dodge and avoid), some monsters are a lot too fast, all the undead and crazy stuff is very tedious very soon. Beside that, ton of polishing, elegant graphics, and more. But not enough to keep me in the game I tried play 3 times now. i haven't give up yet.
 
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Does it add anything interesting to the story?
Cause I think Bioshock's plot is very much finished.
 
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Alec Meer's review doesn't read like a 9.1 to me. More like an 8. He has some serious issues with the plot. I didn't have such high expectations, so I cannot say I am disappointed. Since setting and plot made the first part so fun for me, I will wait until I hear more opinions.

I wish 2K had produced a different "smart FPS", and not a sequel to Bioshock. The first part was so unique, and told such a complete story, that a sequel runs the serious danger of diminishing it. It would be very difficult to write a plot for Bioshock 2 that didn't feel tacked on. And while I may be biased due to my expectations, I think that the review supports my point.
 
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I found characters like Andrew Ryan, Sander Cohen, and Frank Fontaine to be quite memorable, and the story was excellent for a first-person shooter.

I dont remember even one character and only small bits of story of underwater nazies doing biological experiments. For me its just not the names, I dont remember anything about the characters. The only character I can sure say existed was somkind of homicidal doctor who tried to kill me. He had an interestingly looking operating theater. I guess the game was simply too bizarre and surreal for me to be memorable.

Since there seems to be polarity here and me been the lazy guy I seached som comments from other players who shared my views:

story, game world and characters were too bizzare and over-the-top te be taken seriously. big daddy & little sister!!!, seriously???…..

-the game is extremly linear and the game world feels confined and small, you never really really feel that you're in a huge underwater city!…

-gameplay gets dull and boring rather fast due to the lack of enemies and enviroments variety, you keep fighting the same few types of enemies in the same small areas the whole game..

-you never run into any friendly npc's that you can interact with!, almost all the npcs in this game are hostile psychos who run straight at you…

I guess its one of those love it or hate it games. Those four things are really spot on what I disliked about the game. I doubt any of them were changed in the successor.
 
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Anyone can search the internet and find negative comments about something. I could easily do that with any game that's ever been made, as if it proves something. :rolleyes:

I could also find many more positive comments, seeing as how the vast majority don't seem to agree with those quoted opinions.
 
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Anyone can search the internet and find negative comments about something, I could easily do that with any game that's ever been made, as if it proves something. :rolleyes:

Lol. I wasnt trying to "prove" anything. The fact that I dont like the game is not somthing that i need to "prove". It just is.

I was just trying to explain what I dislike about the game and looking up comments from others usually speeds that process. The things in the quote are the key ones.
 
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Lol. I wasnt trying to "prove" anything. The fact that I dont like the game is not somthing that i need to "prove". It just is.

Of course you don't, but listing quotes is an obvious attempt to strengthen the perception of one's opinion, whether you want to admit it or not. :)
 
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I also wasn't a fan of the constant flow of undead/psychotic creatures. That is not a flaw in the game, just a preference of mine (I tend not to like dark, creepy, horror-themed films or games).

I remember the names you mentioned, JDR, but I never felt like they were fully drawn personalities. I think it had something to do with the tape-recorder mechanic they used for storytelling. I didn't find that very engaging. I hope they changed that for the sequel.

Only one moment from Bioshock really stands out for me. When I visited the place where the group of girls were hiding, and they backed off from me, calling me a bad man ... that made me feel guilty and kind of sad. I had been eating their sisters, so I can hardly blame them, but I had a real emotional reaction at that point, which surprised me.
 
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I also wasn't a fan of the constant flow of undead/psychotic creatures. That is not a flaw in the game, just a preference of mine (I tend not to like dark, creepy, horror-themed films or games).
/QUOTE]

I dont mind horror and have played many such games in the past including silent hill which was very creepy. The thing about bioshock is somthing more for me.

I remember one of the first battles. Husband and wife were having an interesting discussion. They looked mostly normal. I thought this looks interesting and approached them wanting to know more about them. But the instant they see me they turn from normal to psychotic. I was annoyed from that instant.
 
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