The art is unbelievable, just everywhere you look there is something amazing to look at. The lighting in particular is greatly improved. It's a slow burn to start. It leads you in and and gets more and more wild as you get deeper in.
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The art is unbelievable, just everywhere you look there is something amazing to look at. The lighting in particular is greatly improved. It's a slow burn to start. It leads you in and and gets more and more wild as you get deeper in.
Just noticed that the game has an instruction book! In color no less!
Also the cover is reversible! With new art for both sides and the spine.
Looking forward to playing some more. Must be good if I'm thinking about it when I'm not playing it.
I'm loving this game.
Just amazing.
Played this game on 1999 mode for about an hour, and I'm stuck.
Right after the raffle. I have no idea WTF I need to do. I'm on some kind of boat. I can't latch on to the rails with the skyhook.
This. Is. Stupid.
Latch onto the hooks.
I really like this, but I have to say, this game sort of highlights what's wrong with games as an artistic medium for me. It has a great story to tell, but it seems unfortunate that it has to tell it through the prism of the FPS genre.
In the first Bioshock, the gameplay mechanics and story were inextricably linked. Plasmids and self-modification was the core concept on which the story hinged, and the violence too was a huge part of the story. It was about how this circumstance created monsters out of Rapture's citizens, including you. It was a pretty brilliant marriage of gameplay, theme, and story that created something very coherent. It told its story in a way that was arguably more effective than a non-interactive medium.
In Infinite, you're coming into a living city, but you just end up shooting everyone. It isn't clear how people know who you are from 100 feet away, and it's somewhat frustrating not to be able to interact more naturally the way you do in the first half hour. The violence doesn't feel like it's as central to the themes or the story that the game is telling, and maybe even takes away from that. Vigors, too, aren't really that well explained, and don't seem that widely used by 99% of Columbia's citizens. It gets stuck back in that old problem where gameplay and art are in competition rather than complimenting each other.
This game improves upon Bioshock in almost every way from a gameplay standpoint.
1999 mode is a pain in the ass though. I will never be able to afford upgrades.
I think it's more a symptom of not rethinking the elements from the original Bioshock. I think they could have incorporated violence, and even powers, in a way that better suited the narrative, but instead they stuck with what they had already done. There's something extremely excessive about the violence in this game, to the point where a little fist fighting would have made more sense. It's too eager to spill blood in the most gory way possible.
"T'was Yellow skin and slanted eyes that did betray us with their lies. Until they crossed the righteous path of our Prophet's holy wrath."Quote:
Originally Posted by Chux
That's from the Hall of Heroes museum, the Boxer Rebellion exhibit.
This game is incredible.
This is all true, although I have to say, the world really makes me want to explore, rather than just murder my way through it. It's not so much the fact that there's violence, but I'd really like more chances to interact with the people in a non-violent way like and RPG, just because well... it seems like that would be fun.Quote:
Originally Posted by AaronChance
I wish the social and political commentary in this game was replaced by sky hooking dudes in the face.
Everything about this is awesome. Trying to find flaws is just grasping at straws like a dickhead.
You have to try and walk onto Monument Island to trigger something first.Quote:
Originally Posted by sleeve
Thanks, I figured it out I think. I still haven't made it onto Monument Island. Still have to make it past that Fireman.Quote:
Originally Posted by dave is ok
1999 mode is hard!
I just played it on regular hard first run. Challenge is decent, but there are too many consumables all over the place.
I think it was a mistake to use the same currency to pay for upgrades and revives. They should have separated the two, kinda like System Shock 2.
I'm also going to try playing with a 360 controller tonight. I find it hard to juggle vigors and guns and iron sights using just the mouse buttons and k/b.
Weird problem with that. Unlike vigors, you don't have a radial menu with guns AFAIK.
This game is awesome! If it gets better, it's the GOTY so far. The gunplay is good, the enmeies don't respwn all the time (so far), 1999 mode forces you to explore
I don't like having to choose between two guns all the time.
360 controller works great on PC.Quote:
Originally Posted by sleeve
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Originally Posted by Frogacuda
Things don't need Story to be Art. Just ask any asshole who's smeared shit on a canvas and sold it to a gallery.Quote:
story to tell
I think the only way that games can be Art is if it it finally embraces what it does unique to its medium - gameplay - and filters all other things (narrative, theme, emotion, etc.) through it. But the only games I see even try that are smaller games like Braid, Cart Life, etc. and some larger ones like XCOM.
In short, XCOOM is more Art than a Bioshock or Assassin's Creed or other story driven game. Yet you ask a Gamer, and they whine about XCOM being good, but lacking story and therefore art. They miss the point entirely.
I never said they did, but story is certainly one kind of art, and when gameplay is interfering with a story rather than complimenting it (which is very frequently the case, but wasn't in Bioshock), that seems to undermine its artistic intentions.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hero
In any event, I'm like two hours in, so my opinion might change. It was just a thought.
I feel like the violence is going to have some form of payoff. Those melee kills are brutal and they purposely make you do them at first. I expect there's a reason for it. Vigors def seem bizarre. Hey drink this thig and have super powers. Where did it come from? Why would we tell you.
But it's very possible the late game makes sense of everything. Elizabeth's powers just started getting really crazy for me so I'm curious to see how they explain it all
I really, really love the story and the setting. Especially the "twins" that make cameos throughout the game.
It is hard for me to hear Booker and not immediately think of Kanji Tatsumi.
THAT'S WHAT IT IS!
Really? So far that goes to Tomb Raider for me. I've just barely started on this though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Joust Williams
You're probably playing the worst version:
LinkQuote:
Originally Posted by Digital Foundry
Typical Yoshi post. Exact same post rewritten and posted over and over.
It's true though. This game looks incredible on a good PC
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Originally Posted by bbobb
IBTNQuote:
Originally Posted by EvilMog
My mouse is giving me some choppy and REALLY sensitive tracking on this game. Anyone else having this problem?
The default mouse settings are way too sensitive. Look for the file called XUserOptions.ini. For Windows 7, the default location is <windows drive>\users\<your user account>\Documents\My Games\BioShock Infinite\XGame\Config
There's all sorts of useful stuff in the files here.Quote:
CTRL-F: MinMouseLookSensitivity. It’ll be at 0.100000. Change it to about 0.05. Below it MaxMouseLookSensitivity is at 4.000000. Change the higher value to something lower. Aim for 1.0, but you can go up or down to help with the range.
Ooh neat.
Thanks!
Wow. There are PS Move settings in that file, too.
I wasn't aware the PS Move worked with a PC to begin with. Intriguing...
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/8349/fycn.gifQuote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
They're probably husband and wife since I'm pretty sure they're a direct reference to Nick and Nora of the Thin Man series of books and movies.Quote:
Originally Posted by sleeve
I'm hitting a groove in 1999 mode now. Maxing out the Shield track seems to be doing a good job.
I thought we agreed...Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
I shot that bitch in the face the second time I seen them. She then says "You missed!"Quote:
Originally Posted by AaronChance
Speaking of shooting people, does killing civilians change the ending?
That wasn't intended to be a PC post. The second paragraph was the key. People traded frame rate for v-sync among the console versions, because they claim to like the controller better, which is idiocy.Quote:
Originally Posted by icarusfall
I have the 360 version and I'm slowly regretting not going PC. I am slowly moving into the PC gaming all the time crowd (Hi Yoshi!). The things that annoy me is the frame drops (already discussed) and the constant pop-in of objects. I don't mean when Elizabeth has a tear and calls forth whatever. I mean I see the outline of the object and it pops-in. I thought that was over with after the PS2.
Overall though I love the game and I kinda see where they are going with the story.
This story just keeps getting wackier and wackier. I'm curious to see if they'll be able to tie it all up
Console wise I usually try to avoid versions that screen tear because that annoys me more so I'd rather take the hit in framerate as long as it's not slide show level and playable.
Where you at, Bbobb? I just left Shantytown. Having Elizabeth sing was pretty neat. Hearing "Girls just wanna have fun" in the vein of Vaudeville was hilarious.Quote:
Originally Posted by bbobb
The wait for this to drop to $40 at the most will be painful D=
GMG had it for $45!
A bit past that. In Emporia now which is a gigantic area with a shit ton to explore. Pretty sure I'm nearing the end now but I won't be able to finish it till FridayQuote:
Originally Posted by Advocate
There is a ton of tearing in this game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Will
NewEgg indirectly had it for $38. You just had to apply a coupon. And my wait will be over any time now!Quote:
Originally Posted by Tain
lolQuote:
Originally Posted by dave is ok
I see what you did there.
On the Xbox version?Quote:
Originally Posted by dave is ok
*cough*Quote:
Originally Posted by Will
I'm not a big fan of the theme so far. When you have to even bring baseball into it to make sure you attack everything that is American, it's a bit of a stretch. I also find it ridiculous that so many things are portrayed as evil, but the guy who steals from offering plates, decapitates policemen, and shoots women without a second thought is the good guy.
Well that was quite the zinger.Quote:
Originally Posted by AstroBlue
It's not really attacking America, it's attacking that segment within America that thinks they're too American for America.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
And Booker may be the protagonist, but he's certainly not portrayed as a hero. He's a degenerate gambler who's sold his soul to highest bidder. He's meant as a deeply flawed character independent of the gaming tropes you just mentioned.
I should have mentioned that I'm about an hour in, so I was hoping the story would take Booker down that path. However, I disagree with your first statement. It covers an awful lot of America even in that first hour, unless you look at it solely as hitting the intersection point of all of the caricatures instead of the union.
I don't really think the game is critical of baseball and hotdogs, man. Not everything about these people is demonized, just because it exists. I think you're looking at it as a more cardboard kind of thing than it is.
That may be. It goes without saying that I'm going to keep playing, so we'll see if my impression changes as I go.
It's easy to look at the game as just an ugly portrait of American conservatism, but I think it's really more about history than anything. This is a game set in 1912, and at that time, dehumanizing minorities, opposing basic worker's rights, and even being pro-slavery and demonizing Lincoln really WAS a part of the cultural fabric. Even though it's played up for dramatic effect (much like the city in the sky setting), none of it is really that ridiculous in the context of the time.
Like, yes it seems like a left-leaning game, but you're not way to the left of the world of 1912, you're pretty much a monster. It isn't about now.
The thought of it breaking on political lines never really crossed my mind, since all of caricatures exist on both sides of the aisle in 2013, but your point about when it's set is a key one to keep in mind.
If anything, the attitudes in BioShock Infinite are actually somewhat less ridiculous than what many people really believed. Try reading The Writing on the Wall, a hilarious 1921 novel about the evil alliance of Japanese and Chinese who will eventually take over Canada.
curious. Did you beat the game?Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogacuda
I actually don't think Infinite is judgemental in its storytelling in the same way that Bioshock was. Whereas Rapture was destroyed by its objectivist ideology, life is actually pretty good for white people in Columbia. It isn't a dystopia at all, it's a beautiful, grandiose place. I really respect the extent to which Infinite has broken away from the horror genre.
Despite the fact that they share some obvious DNA, Infinite really isn't a sequel at all, but that's a very good thing. I had no interest in a true Bioshock sequel; it told its story already.Not yet! Maybe halfway.Quote:
Originally Posted by Advocate
Then you don't know ... oh boy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogacuda
Yeah, ummm, beat the game first before you start thinking you know what the game is saying and judging.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
Well that's certainly something.
This game pretty much rocks my anus. It actually delivers on the trailers...which is like...what?
I love the flow of it immensely. Bioshock was awesome but I hated looking at maps over and over and backtracking etc. Only if I'm going to be hanging around in a place for a long while will I internalize the geography, and Bioshock moved forward from area to area too often for me to ever get the hang of the maps without studying the pause screen over and over. This game I don't even worry about it. Sure the arrow pointing towards your objective helps, but each area is designed well to have a definite flow that the action just runs smoothly. It's linear for sure, but that's good. It helps maintain the pace. I have to compare my experience so far to the first time I played half life 1. Like half life for a new generation.
The action is spot on, though I wish I could carry more than 2 guns. And shields are whatever. I could take or leave them. But it definitely keeps the pace high. Elizabeth works great but I wish "Accept ammo/coins" wasn't default mapped to the same button as reload. (Playing PC with xbox controller). The game looks beautiful. The voice acting is wonderful. It's really difficult to put down. I just wish the story progressed a little faster. The same lines are starting to get hit on over and over about 5 hours in.
The game is absolutely amazing thus far. I'm only at Battleship Bay, but I think everything else will have a tough time topping this as GOTY.
I have mixed emotions when exploring Columbia. All of the racism is horrible, but I really love the art and automata throughout the city. It's basically an idealized vision of the art, architecture, and science from the Gilded Age mixed with all the really terrible stuff from that same time period. Like a mashup of Scorcese movies: "Hugo" and "Gangs of New York".
So far my only real complaint is that the enemy AI at a distance is pretty bad. They can be crack shots but they can also be oblivious to what's going on, so if you have something to deal with them, you're good to go.
But make no mistake, this is a superior game to Bioshock in almost every respect and people that got burned by the hyperbole would be doing a disservice to skip this game based on that. I can't wait to go home and finish it this weekend.
All of you playing on 1999 mode good luck with the final battle. I found it to be brutal on hard it's going to be horrific on 1999
Yeah that's what I am afraid of.
Yeah me too. Although I wouldn't mind playing through the game again on Hard, if that's what it came down to.Quote:
Originally Posted by Joust Williams
Right now the toughest part of 1999 mode is lack of respawns.
He might be. It takes more than a badge to be a good guy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
There are lots of ways cops can be bad guys, but I've never seen a realistic scenario where killing one made anyone a good guy.
Although during that dream-ish sequence, Booker has a badge on his desk as well.
I've died about 10 times I guess? So about 800 dollars lost, I think. I am not really upgrading my vigors though, pretty much just guns (heavily on three guns). I think I am probably 40% of the way with about $1K dollars in the bank, so I leave myself a buffer. But exploring, getting all the lockpicks and finding the big $ makes all the difference so far.
Booker is a Pinkerton, a private detective. Pinkertons were widely used to fill the void of a lack of a federal law enforcement agency. The Department of Justice wasn't created until the 1870's, and the FBI wasn't created until 1908. So the DOJ frequently relied on Pinkertons to investigate federal crimes when local law enforcement was unreliable and/or corrupt.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
So a Pinkerton might be perceived as the equivalent of an FBI or US Marshal in 1912 (or strikebreaking thug, depending on one's point of view).
Thanks for that. I got distracted just as he was opening his office door, so I missed what it said. Maybe you found out later as well.
For those playing on 1999, don't forget that you can't buy from vending machines either if you want the achievement.
Elizabeth also asks, it's said a few different times.
What happens if you get to a place where you need a lockpick and you've used all of yours? I mean I have more of them than I can use, but I was just wondering if the game has a way of dealing with that.
That achievement is limited to not buying anything from Dollar Bill, you can buy weapon and vigor upgrades from the other vending machines.
If a door is locked for progression purposes, it needs a hairpin that Elizabeth always has. The others are treasure rooms with gear, money and such which aren't necessary to continue. So it pays to search around for every lock to get all the goodies you can get.
I'm glad you said that. I guess I didn't read it carefully. God knows I don't need to give it any help in being stringent.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rumpy
What? I did now know there was an achievement for that. That sucks
bullshit
"Scavenger Hunt". It's not a secret in the list, it's labeled.
I never read achievement lists. I don't really care that much, but it sucks that my 'hard' run is still not hard enough to get that achievement.
I never read them when I start, but I usually do a quick check an hour or two in so I can see what's feasible for a first play through for me.
Finished the game. Pretty rad. Much denser narrative and more satisfying ending than the original Bioshock.
For the Tapatalk users:
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The ending reminds me of an old Robert Heinlein short story called All You Zombies. The Booker=Comstock thing is an interesting twist, but it's kind of confusing, too. What I can't get is how they ended up living at the same time at different ages. Young Booker couldn't have traveled forward in time because he hadn't met Elizabeth yet, which means Comstock would have had to go back in time, but he couldn't have done any of that without the Lutece's who are contemporaries of Booker's. It's not made very clear.
Check your PM's.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogacuda
there was a vox from lutece towards the end that explained how comstock had aged faster and been rendered sterile due to the amount of time he spent traveling the infinite. So he and booker are actually the same age but he just appears significantly olderQuote:
Originally Posted by Frogacuda
Aha, bbobb wins the prize. I listened to that too, but I only picked up on the latter part and not the former.
I'm really happy with the ending and the narrative. I do hope that the dlc goes into more depth about songbird and how the city actually works though
This is actually my biggest complaint as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Joust Williams
I might have to actually play this twice. I missed a chest right in the beginning and I'm still mad about it.
Wait a second, if Comstock isn't older/from the future then why does the drowning make the Elizabeths disappear?Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogacuda
EDIT:Yeah, I went back and listened to that Voxophone and I don't think it implies that that's responsible for his aging, although it might be responsible for his cancer. I think there's a definite implication that Comstock is an older version of DeWitt somehow, it's the only way for his death undoing Comstock to make sense, but I can't quite figure it out.
Sorry it's a different vox but there is one where lucette specifically says The metastasis has aged him quickly and maybe it's because of the device So yeah it was specifically noted the difference.
As for your first thing He's not booker from the future, he's booker from an alternate universe, one where he accepted the baptism. Two sides of the same coin, going with the idea that each choice made in life creates another universe. So drowning the booker that made that choice makes elizabeth vanish because now anna isn't taking into the alternate universe by comstock
But they didn't drown the Booker that made that choice, they downed Booker 20 years later. How would that affect Comstock's timeline? If you drowned 1890 Booker at his Baptism, that would make sense, but that's not what happens.
I think that's what happens though, remember All of the Elizabeths show up as he talks about his baptism, then the screen goes black.
I don't get it.
She killed a Booker that had not become Comstock yet. I assume she means to kill all instances of Booker.
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But the game is being told in first-person. There's no way that could have been another Booker, it's the Booker you've been for the whole game. Plus, he clearly has knowledge of the game's events, which is why he allows himself to be drowned. 1890 Booker wouldn't.
Oh Tapatalk, you're so terrible. Guess I'll switch back to Safari.