- Joined
- Feb 22, 2009
- Messages
- 772 (0.13/day)
| System Name | Lenovo 17IMH05H |
|---|---|
| Processor | Core i7 10750H |
| Video Card(s) | GTX 1660 Ti |
| Audio Device(s) | SSL2 |
| Software | Windows 10 Pro 22H2 |
| Benchmark Scores | i've got a shitload of them in 15 years of TPU membership |
I have this tradition of replaying old legendary games after many years (5 to 10 or even 15 to 20) to fully immerse myself once more and beat them on harder difficulties as well. I've been doing this tradition every year now with a specific game franchise. The goal is to replay at least one franchise per year. For example two years ago i did that with the whole FEAR series, last year replayed all the ''original'' Silent Hill games and just recently all the Bioshock games. So i knew i had to come back to Rapture and Columbia eventually. Seeing as there are no official Bioshock forums anymore, and since TPU is my nr. 1 forum for all things "PC master race", i might just spill it here.
Some time ago Bioshock games got their "remastered" versions, which as you remember were rather poorly received simply because they did not fix the technical problems of the original games nor did they improve the graphics, simply changed them to a new look. For me this was an opportunity to buy these games legally on steam, because let's face it, back in those days (2000 - 2010) you either have gotten a relatively cheap CD/DVD from game store or would have downloaded the game from FTP/torrent. And so i bought the whole Bioshock pack just for several EU not that long ago.
Some folks who have played the original games in the past, but did miss on the remastered versions might have missed something extra as well, and this is why i am writing it as a reminder.
First surprise - Bioshock remastered did get 3 new short semi DLCs called : "A shocking Turn of Events", "The I in the Team" & "Worlds of Hurt". These are more like individual single player levels, in which you must accomplish a specific objective, but in reality these 3 custom levels are targeted for speedruns. And this is the mini stuff i adore in games - bring out challenging, artistic and interesting content, that is not boring. These 3 levels are highly recommended. Bioshock 2 also incorporated similar mini challenge levels, but hey are way more mandatory and repetitive (survive hoards of mobs and get maximum points - the boring type of stuff). However, the biggest surprise was that Bioshock 2 remastered came out with a totally new fully fledged add-on called Minerva's Den, which came as shock to me. I am a huge fan of this franchise and to have missed it in the first place? WTH? Minerva's Den is a very well made add-on, a self-contained story, which left me impressed with it's mind twisty narrative, new tools and weapons, being optimal length and keeping all the best from Bioshcok 2, while not discarding anything. From what i have seen in the internet, this add-on is FAR SUPERIOR to Infinite's DLCs "Burial at Sea", to which i agree.
I respect the people who made these games and marvel the games themselves for nr. 1 reason - which is STYLE. To me, Bioshock's strongest selling point always has been it's stylistic approach to everything it touched; other things seemed forgivable. This is why i could forget it's flaws like poor sound design, constant crashes, messy controls and menu selection, flaws in gameplay (mostly applies to Infinite). I don't think there ever has been made such an artsy game prior and i could hardly think of one similar these days - i give these praises most to Bioshock 1 ^ 2, not Infinite. Artsy does not mean atmosphere - it is a totally different definition that should not be confused.
I have changed my opinion which game is the best and worse after all these years almost ''upside-down''. After replaying every game and DLC (on hard) and totally exploring everything i could i now say with 100 % conviction that Bioshock 2 is the best game in the franchise and Infinite is the worst (yet it is still amazing). Everyone has got their opinion, so instead of them i will bring actual critical arguments why.
WHY BIOSHOCK 2 IS BETTER THAN BIOSHOCK 1 --->
1. Little sister dilema is poorly implemented in Bioshock 1, because from the narrative point of view You playing as "Jack" and having no attachment to them girls whatsoever could not care less about harvesting or saving them. In Bioshock 1 the little sisters serve no more than a tool for beefing up you Adam one way or another, because you are not supposed to either care for them or not. But in Bioshcok 2 the girls actually have a meaning, since You playing now as ''Johny Topside'', the Alpha series Big Daddy, have an emotional logical attachment to them, which is VERY WELL executed in the narrative of the game through own daughter Eleanor, The Big Sister, who observes your interactions with them and based on that the ending is much more variable than in the original game. You, being The Big Daddy ''should'' be saving little sisters, but if you salvage them, this has a significantly deeper and more elaborate change in the way the narrative goes.
2. Bioshock 2 has more thoughtful and developed endings - 6 in total, compared to just 2 (or 3 for some) in the original. The most important thing to notice here, that small moral choices and changes in the way you play Bioshock 2 result in different outcomes, while in Bioshock 1 it all comes down in the end to one simple selection - either you kill at least one little sister or not.
3. Bioshock 2 has SIGNIFICANTLY improved gameplay features from the original.
3A. You can now carry weapons and plasmids at the same time, thus the game simply becomes faster, less draggy and more fun.
3B. When hacking stuff, instead of the nonsensical and time consuming water pipe mini game, you now get a much more convenient and faster mini game with moving needle, timings etc.
3C. The photo camera has been replaced with video camera - makes combat faster, saves a big amount of time, does not disrupt the pace of battles, allows for better concentration.
4. Bioshock 1 has an underwhealming end level (the Little Sister escort mission) and an antiquated gameplay wise and rather boring final boss battle with Frank Fontaine. Bioshock 2 learns the mistake and instead puts up a final battle with many mobs at the same time - a much more entertaining and dynamic alternative battle, which was more challenging.
SOME THINGS ARE BETTER IN BIOSHOCK 1 THAN IN BIOSHOCK 2 --->
1. Bioshock 1 features the best level in all of the series - Fort Frolic. The second game did not have any ''outstanding'' levels.
2. Bioshock 1 features a HUB level system (old school FPS stuff) where you can return to any previous level, up until the final escort mission.
3. Bioshock 1 story is less predictable with an actual twist of events (for the good), but both games have an equally great story.
All in all, Bioshock 2 is a slightly better game simply because it fixed the gameplay issues that were slowing the first game way too much, that is it. I also like it slightly more personally. If you want to dwelve deeper, have and take a look at this video: WHY BIOSHOCK 2 IS THE BEST BIOSHOCK.
RANT/ADORATION ON BIOSHOCK INFINITE
After replaying Bioshock Infinite, i have dropped my opinion much lower on that game. The only thing supreme that Infinite had and still has is the wonderful story - the narrative is not just the best in the series, it is among the greatest in the history of gaming. It still blows my mind how deep and complex the developers went with Infinite & Burial at Sea. I adore this type of mind-fuck. It is unfortunate, that this game has such a piece of shit gameplay elements and bad controls: all the weapons fell less significant than in Rapture (even though they look quite artsy) while all the vigors feel simply like shit and don't hold a candle on Rapture's plasmids - i only used possession constantly, other vigors were useless compared to the unimpressed weapons. There is no custom selection for weapons, only for vigors! You can only carry two weapons at the same time while in the original you had all the Duke Nukem style controls - WTF? There is no such thing as ''next weapon" and ''previous weapon", only ''change weapon''. I honestly suffered a lot due to the two weapon selection limitation in certain boss battles (playing on hard mode), only because i lacked ammo and had to expose myself and "run to stupid places" to get some additional ammo - this never happened in Bioshock 1 or Bioshock 2. Bioshock Infinite and Burial at Sea - a 2013/2014 year FPS game with such degradation on gameplay? Even when it comes to style and level design - Infinite has dropped the ball compared to the first two games... Columbia does look amazing, yes, perhaps some people like it more than Rapture, hard to argue. I myself enjoyed spending time there looking at stuff! But the level design has got worse, less sophisticated - what do i mean? No longer do we see little specific artistic details, elements or objects of the world, which tell their own story and add heavy to the atmosphere - there is nothing like that in Infinite, just the same repeating patterns over and over again! In Rapture many of the audio messages were "in tune" with a specific place in Rapture you could find - hearing the audio you so often could explore the scene of which it was spoken, while in Infinite all those audio voxaphones would tell a story with almost no link to what you actually could explore - things like that are what ''elevates'' Rapture above Columbia (insert a sarcastic face here). After all was done and dusted i eventually found out about this: THE BIOSHOCK INFINITE WE NEVER GOT. In the end i still enjoyed Bioshock Infinite - but i have no intention of returning there even after 20 years, while i will definitely be returning to Rapture! It is absolutely crazy how Bioshock Infinite got these high scores of 9-10 when it came out! Seems like all the reviewers were so fascinated by the level design of Columbia, amazing graphics and amazing story, that they simply just ignored the poor gameplay implementation!
WHAT ABOUT BIOSHOCK INFINITE BURIAL AT SEA?
I only enjoyed the second DLC - EPISODE 2, the Elizabeth part - stealth actually meant something for the first time in Bioshock series and it was a nice change of gameplay. The atmosphere was awesome and the artistic style of unspoiled Rapture was captured very well. Specific places like the Manta Ray Lounge were almost Fort Frolic esque. However, i did not like the initial DLC - EPISODE 1, the Booker part - after an amazing intro level walking around peace time Rapture, it all went to quite a boring chore, even unbalanced gameplay and uninspired level design, offering nothing new that i have not seen before. However the endings of both campaigns, Booker's and Elizabeth's ended on a high note, particularly in the narrative part.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you return to Rapture/Columbia too and find whatever leftovers are left there for your pickings!
Some time ago Bioshock games got their "remastered" versions, which as you remember were rather poorly received simply because they did not fix the technical problems of the original games nor did they improve the graphics, simply changed them to a new look. For me this was an opportunity to buy these games legally on steam, because let's face it, back in those days (2000 - 2010) you either have gotten a relatively cheap CD/DVD from game store or would have downloaded the game from FTP/torrent. And so i bought the whole Bioshock pack just for several EU not that long ago.
Some folks who have played the original games in the past, but did miss on the remastered versions might have missed something extra as well, and this is why i am writing it as a reminder.
First surprise - Bioshock remastered did get 3 new short semi DLCs called : "A shocking Turn of Events", "The I in the Team" & "Worlds of Hurt". These are more like individual single player levels, in which you must accomplish a specific objective, but in reality these 3 custom levels are targeted for speedruns. And this is the mini stuff i adore in games - bring out challenging, artistic and interesting content, that is not boring. These 3 levels are highly recommended. Bioshock 2 also incorporated similar mini challenge levels, but hey are way more mandatory and repetitive (survive hoards of mobs and get maximum points - the boring type of stuff). However, the biggest surprise was that Bioshock 2 remastered came out with a totally new fully fledged add-on called Minerva's Den, which came as shock to me. I am a huge fan of this franchise and to have missed it in the first place? WTH? Minerva's Den is a very well made add-on, a self-contained story, which left me impressed with it's mind twisty narrative, new tools and weapons, being optimal length and keeping all the best from Bioshcok 2, while not discarding anything. From what i have seen in the internet, this add-on is FAR SUPERIOR to Infinite's DLCs "Burial at Sea", to which i agree.
I respect the people who made these games and marvel the games themselves for nr. 1 reason - which is STYLE. To me, Bioshock's strongest selling point always has been it's stylistic approach to everything it touched; other things seemed forgivable. This is why i could forget it's flaws like poor sound design, constant crashes, messy controls and menu selection, flaws in gameplay (mostly applies to Infinite). I don't think there ever has been made such an artsy game prior and i could hardly think of one similar these days - i give these praises most to Bioshock 1 ^ 2, not Infinite. Artsy does not mean atmosphere - it is a totally different definition that should not be confused.
I have changed my opinion which game is the best and worse after all these years almost ''upside-down''. After replaying every game and DLC (on hard) and totally exploring everything i could i now say with 100 % conviction that Bioshock 2 is the best game in the franchise and Infinite is the worst (yet it is still amazing). Everyone has got their opinion, so instead of them i will bring actual critical arguments why.
WHY BIOSHOCK 2 IS BETTER THAN BIOSHOCK 1 --->
1. Little sister dilema is poorly implemented in Bioshock 1, because from the narrative point of view You playing as "Jack" and having no attachment to them girls whatsoever could not care less about harvesting or saving them. In Bioshock 1 the little sisters serve no more than a tool for beefing up you Adam one way or another, because you are not supposed to either care for them or not. But in Bioshcok 2 the girls actually have a meaning, since You playing now as ''Johny Topside'', the Alpha series Big Daddy, have an emotional logical attachment to them, which is VERY WELL executed in the narrative of the game through own daughter Eleanor, The Big Sister, who observes your interactions with them and based on that the ending is much more variable than in the original game. You, being The Big Daddy ''should'' be saving little sisters, but if you salvage them, this has a significantly deeper and more elaborate change in the way the narrative goes.
2. Bioshock 2 has more thoughtful and developed endings - 6 in total, compared to just 2 (or 3 for some) in the original. The most important thing to notice here, that small moral choices and changes in the way you play Bioshock 2 result in different outcomes, while in Bioshock 1 it all comes down in the end to one simple selection - either you kill at least one little sister or not.
3. Bioshock 2 has SIGNIFICANTLY improved gameplay features from the original.
3A. You can now carry weapons and plasmids at the same time, thus the game simply becomes faster, less draggy and more fun.
3B. When hacking stuff, instead of the nonsensical and time consuming water pipe mini game, you now get a much more convenient and faster mini game with moving needle, timings etc.
3C. The photo camera has been replaced with video camera - makes combat faster, saves a big amount of time, does not disrupt the pace of battles, allows for better concentration.
4. Bioshock 1 has an underwhealming end level (the Little Sister escort mission) and an antiquated gameplay wise and rather boring final boss battle with Frank Fontaine. Bioshock 2 learns the mistake and instead puts up a final battle with many mobs at the same time - a much more entertaining and dynamic alternative battle, which was more challenging.
SOME THINGS ARE BETTER IN BIOSHOCK 1 THAN IN BIOSHOCK 2 --->
1. Bioshock 1 features the best level in all of the series - Fort Frolic. The second game did not have any ''outstanding'' levels.
2. Bioshock 1 features a HUB level system (old school FPS stuff) where you can return to any previous level, up until the final escort mission.
3. Bioshock 1 story is less predictable with an actual twist of events (for the good), but both games have an equally great story.
All in all, Bioshock 2 is a slightly better game simply because it fixed the gameplay issues that were slowing the first game way too much, that is it. I also like it slightly more personally. If you want to dwelve deeper, have and take a look at this video: WHY BIOSHOCK 2 IS THE BEST BIOSHOCK.
RANT/ADORATION ON BIOSHOCK INFINITE
After replaying Bioshock Infinite, i have dropped my opinion much lower on that game. The only thing supreme that Infinite had and still has is the wonderful story - the narrative is not just the best in the series, it is among the greatest in the history of gaming. It still blows my mind how deep and complex the developers went with Infinite & Burial at Sea. I adore this type of mind-fuck. It is unfortunate, that this game has such a piece of shit gameplay elements and bad controls: all the weapons fell less significant than in Rapture (even though they look quite artsy) while all the vigors feel simply like shit and don't hold a candle on Rapture's plasmids - i only used possession constantly, other vigors were useless compared to the unimpressed weapons. There is no custom selection for weapons, only for vigors! You can only carry two weapons at the same time while in the original you had all the Duke Nukem style controls - WTF? There is no such thing as ''next weapon" and ''previous weapon", only ''change weapon''. I honestly suffered a lot due to the two weapon selection limitation in certain boss battles (playing on hard mode), only because i lacked ammo and had to expose myself and "run to stupid places" to get some additional ammo - this never happened in Bioshock 1 or Bioshock 2. Bioshock Infinite and Burial at Sea - a 2013/2014 year FPS game with such degradation on gameplay? Even when it comes to style and level design - Infinite has dropped the ball compared to the first two games... Columbia does look amazing, yes, perhaps some people like it more than Rapture, hard to argue. I myself enjoyed spending time there looking at stuff! But the level design has got worse, less sophisticated - what do i mean? No longer do we see little specific artistic details, elements or objects of the world, which tell their own story and add heavy to the atmosphere - there is nothing like that in Infinite, just the same repeating patterns over and over again! In Rapture many of the audio messages were "in tune" with a specific place in Rapture you could find - hearing the audio you so often could explore the scene of which it was spoken, while in Infinite all those audio voxaphones would tell a story with almost no link to what you actually could explore - things like that are what ''elevates'' Rapture above Columbia (insert a sarcastic face here). After all was done and dusted i eventually found out about this: THE BIOSHOCK INFINITE WE NEVER GOT. In the end i still enjoyed Bioshock Infinite - but i have no intention of returning there even after 20 years, while i will definitely be returning to Rapture! It is absolutely crazy how Bioshock Infinite got these high scores of 9-10 when it came out! Seems like all the reviewers were so fascinated by the level design of Columbia, amazing graphics and amazing story, that they simply just ignored the poor gameplay implementation!
WHAT ABOUT BIOSHOCK INFINITE BURIAL AT SEA?
I only enjoyed the second DLC - EPISODE 2, the Elizabeth part - stealth actually meant something for the first time in Bioshock series and it was a nice change of gameplay. The atmosphere was awesome and the artistic style of unspoiled Rapture was captured very well. Specific places like the Manta Ray Lounge were almost Fort Frolic esque. However, i did not like the initial DLC - EPISODE 1, the Booker part - after an amazing intro level walking around peace time Rapture, it all went to quite a boring chore, even unbalanced gameplay and uninspired level design, offering nothing new that i have not seen before. However the endings of both campaigns, Booker's and Elizabeth's ended on a high note, particularly in the narrative part.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you return to Rapture/Columbia too and find whatever leftovers are left there for your pickings!
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