Post by Seraph on Feb 19, 2008 10:11:35 GMT -6
So I got Bioshock yesterday (yarr!) and knowing the big FPS guys we are we're even bigger MMOers so FPS sometimes take a back seat. So, I decided to write a small small humble review of Bioshock, to enlighten those of us who haven't played it; to not miss out on a very fun game.
I'll start off saying this: PLAY IT.
The game runs flawlessly with all things maxed out on my old P4 8800GT. 8800GT is a badmofo card but I'm way behind the power curve with an old P4 so I expected slightly..less. AA, Ansio up, 1680X1050, everything on highest, DX10 VISTA and the game runs 60fps no stops. It uses the newest Unreal Engine so maybe I'll turn my sights towards UT next. In short, I'm pleasantly pleased at how well it runs.
Graphics. This game takes on a new theme, underwater meltdown with a 1950s(?) theme. In short the environment looks awesome lots of pipes, Rocketeer 50s style stuff, tons of water, broken pipes water running places, lots of neon lights, detail, it's refreshing and "fun". Great use of shadows, great usage of lights to set the mood etc.
Sound. Lots of voice over dialog from the genetically twisted humans to the guys directing you and pushing the story.
Gameplay. Now this is where the meat and potatoes of the review stands. The gameplay is nothing new, but what it does it does well and most of all it's fun. I don't know if it's because of the higher than standard graphic violence or the whack job baddies you take down, but it's fun. With the plasmids the game almost takes on a Hexen style of combat. Blast a guy with lightening or ice and then run up and smack them with your monkey wrench. With ice they shatter, lightening you can hit mutiple dudes if they're in water, etc.
The badguys themselves are humans who through psychotic plastic surgery and genetic splicing...fucked themselves up. Some look a lot like the people in Total Recall, Mars. Either way they're highly animated, they scream, they have dialog on the lines of how twisted their world is now and they look like people out of Pleasantville so it's hilarious to see some chick you'd expect in a Frank Sinatra movie run up and pull a pipe out on you. Not to mention they're usually pretty bloody from killing others. Oh and did I mention the game's ragdoll effects add that much needed "booyah"? Pretty much every person I've killed I've crouch and looked over their body, the detail is pretty high and I'm always thinking "damn you fucked your body up!" You almost feel sorry for these people.
Lastnight Kendra actually said something a long the lines of "Games like that promote violence". If she had a gamer card, I'd set it on fire for saying that to me while I played Bioshock. You can't dismember corpses like Soldier of Fortune, but you can bash the crap out of them and turn their entire bodies red while their body bounces all over from the attacks. It's definitely a bit more bloody than your standard FPS, the sprites for blood, gush and everything.
You have customization in your plasmids or "special powers" from fire, static discharge, lightning blasts, telekinesis, ice, boost your health, damage you do, armor, how much hp first aid kits give etc. You also can hack stuff like turrets and security drones, the hacking itself is fun as you put together various pieces of a pipe together to get the water flow from one end to the next. You gotta do all of it as the water flow slowly makes it's way through the pipe so you gotta move fast sometimes.
I've rescued 4 Little Sisters fought 5 Big Daddys...these fights are on the rough side as the Big Daddys are heavily armor, do heavy damage, can stun, and dash. You spend most of your time hiding behind a wall and shooting but expect to die and use a lot of first aid kits at each encounter. In short, gimps they are not from toughness to damage output to AI.
I HIGHLY recommend you guys download or buy this game and play it. It does try to scare you but after playing Penumbra, you just can't SCARE someone when you have the offensive edge. Lights will go off and when they're back on some surgeon dude will be in your face but one good shotgun blast and the guy goes soaring back 10 feet into a wall. It's hard to scare the player when you're in no danger of dieing.
Play it and have fun, I see why the game got so much praise now.
I'll start off saying this: PLAY IT.
The game runs flawlessly with all things maxed out on my old P4 8800GT. 8800GT is a badmofo card but I'm way behind the power curve with an old P4 so I expected slightly..less. AA, Ansio up, 1680X1050, everything on highest, DX10 VISTA and the game runs 60fps no stops. It uses the newest Unreal Engine so maybe I'll turn my sights towards UT next. In short, I'm pleasantly pleased at how well it runs.
Graphics. This game takes on a new theme, underwater meltdown with a 1950s(?) theme. In short the environment looks awesome lots of pipes, Rocketeer 50s style stuff, tons of water, broken pipes water running places, lots of neon lights, detail, it's refreshing and "fun". Great use of shadows, great usage of lights to set the mood etc.
Sound. Lots of voice over dialog from the genetically twisted humans to the guys directing you and pushing the story.
Gameplay. Now this is where the meat and potatoes of the review stands. The gameplay is nothing new, but what it does it does well and most of all it's fun. I don't know if it's because of the higher than standard graphic violence or the whack job baddies you take down, but it's fun. With the plasmids the game almost takes on a Hexen style of combat. Blast a guy with lightening or ice and then run up and smack them with your monkey wrench. With ice they shatter, lightening you can hit mutiple dudes if they're in water, etc.
The badguys themselves are humans who through psychotic plastic surgery and genetic splicing...fucked themselves up. Some look a lot like the people in Total Recall, Mars. Either way they're highly animated, they scream, they have dialog on the lines of how twisted their world is now and they look like people out of Pleasantville so it's hilarious to see some chick you'd expect in a Frank Sinatra movie run up and pull a pipe out on you. Not to mention they're usually pretty bloody from killing others. Oh and did I mention the game's ragdoll effects add that much needed "booyah"? Pretty much every person I've killed I've crouch and looked over their body, the detail is pretty high and I'm always thinking "damn you fucked your body up!" You almost feel sorry for these people.
Lastnight Kendra actually said something a long the lines of "Games like that promote violence". If she had a gamer card, I'd set it on fire for saying that to me while I played Bioshock. You can't dismember corpses like Soldier of Fortune, but you can bash the crap out of them and turn their entire bodies red while their body bounces all over from the attacks. It's definitely a bit more bloody than your standard FPS, the sprites for blood, gush and everything.
You have customization in your plasmids or "special powers" from fire, static discharge, lightning blasts, telekinesis, ice, boost your health, damage you do, armor, how much hp first aid kits give etc. You also can hack stuff like turrets and security drones, the hacking itself is fun as you put together various pieces of a pipe together to get the water flow from one end to the next. You gotta do all of it as the water flow slowly makes it's way through the pipe so you gotta move fast sometimes.
I've rescued 4 Little Sisters fought 5 Big Daddys...these fights are on the rough side as the Big Daddys are heavily armor, do heavy damage, can stun, and dash. You spend most of your time hiding behind a wall and shooting but expect to die and use a lot of first aid kits at each encounter. In short, gimps they are not from toughness to damage output to AI.
I HIGHLY recommend you guys download or buy this game and play it. It does try to scare you but after playing Penumbra, you just can't SCARE someone when you have the offensive edge. Lights will go off and when they're back on some surgeon dude will be in your face but one good shotgun blast and the guy goes soaring back 10 feet into a wall. It's hard to scare the player when you're in no danger of dieing.
Play it and have fun, I see why the game got so much praise now.