Bioshock Infinite

[bVork]

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.

[Advocate]

It's not really attacking America, it's attacking that segment within America that thinks they're too American for America.

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.

curious. Did you beat the game?

[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.

curious. Did you beat the game?

Not yet! Maybe halfway.

[Advocate]

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.

Then you don't know ... oh boy.

[bbobb]

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.

Yeah, ummm, beat the game first before you start thinking you know what the game is saying and judging.

[Chux]

Well that's certainly something.

[Cowutopia]

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.

[sleeve]

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".

[Joust Williams]

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.

[bbobb]

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