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"BioShock" is a variation of "System Shock," an old-fashioned term which refers to what is now known simply as "shock." Shock is, medically speaking, a sudden drop in blood pressure typically brought about by intense physical trauma (such as a large bleeding wound), sepsis, a severe allergic reaction, or a spinal cord injury. Shock can also be brought on psychosomatically; if you are, for instance, frightened beyond all understanding, your brain might end up giving your heart an overdose of adrenaline, sending it into an abnormal rhythm which can quickly lead to shock. Shock is extremely life threatening and can easily lead to death if untreated. System Shock is also the name of a cyberpunk/horror game made in 1994 which was born into the muddy period between 2.5D and proper 3D first-person action games. Its evolutionary path did not diverge from iD Software's Wolfenstein/Doom/Quake line so much as it ran parallel: the developers at Looking Glass Studios cut their teeth on the Ultima Underworld series which actually beat iD to several first-person milestones while at the same time maintaining an interesting story and RPG elements. The first System Shock included such things as the rogue AI SHODAN yelling at the PC during gameplay, a plot which the player steadily uncovers by reading logs and emails, an upgrade system, and more weapons than the player can actively carry. System Shock 2 built upon this with audio logs of surprisingly decent quality, a more robust skill upgrade system, a full menu that provided inventory, research, and even minigame options, and a method of respawning which cost money rather than the time it takes to reload a save. And while Warren Spector would later snatch up a number of Looking Glass alumns to work on Deus Ex 1 and 2 and Thief 3, other members left a bit earlier and founded Irrational Games, which would go on to create Freedom Force, a squad-based superhero game; SWAT 4, a first-person police procedural game; and then finally BioShocks 1 (but not 2) and Infinite. These days Irrational no longer exists, although the core team is still with 2K Games; evidently while Infinite may have been a commercial and critical success, 2K did not appreciate Ken Levine's seat-of-his-pants development style and so he is now in charge of smaller story-driven games.  While BioShock Infinite's gameplay is entirely a refinement of Irrational's previous works, the setting is an almost complete departure from anything they did before. The basic BioShock formula is the same, mind you: there is a city in the [sky/ocean] based around the principles of [American Exceptionalism/Objectivism] and the natives can use special powers thanks to [quantum physics/genetic manipulation]. The story, however, is significantly more important, and the main character is not only a real person rather than a silent protagonist but he also has an AI companion who provides both mechanical benefits and conversation throughout most of the game. There are even stretches in which the protagonists are able to interact with peaceful crowds of civilians and NPC's, something rather lacking in previous titles in the series. BioShock Infinite was an immediate hit upon release, receiving not only exceptional critical praise but also outstanding sales, distinguishing it as very possibly the best Shock game of them all. That said, the game is not perfect, and so after its initial success Infinite went through a period of backlash once the hype levels inevitably surpassed the game's actual quality. The plot has some issues, after all, such as important characters making seemingly irrational decisions (pun not intended), decisions made more for gameplay or (protagonist) character development purposes than because the characters would have considered them the best possible options. The themes themselves are hamfisted at times, and I wouldn't really call Infinite an open text, but I feel I should point out that BS:I is downright subtle compared to other video games with a Message and the racism is if anything less cartoonishly horrible than it actually was in 1912. The ending is also...esoteric, and I'll be getting into my analysis of what all it means and doesn't mean when the time comes. As for the gameplay, while I must say it's the most fun I've had playing a Shock game, I will admit that there are way too many weapons for just two slots and I don't really appreciate how half of them are weird variants of the other half which need their own ammo and upgrades and only appear long after you've started to invest in the normal versions. So is BioShock Infinite a perfect game that lives up to all its praise? No, but neither would I say that it's a bad game that got mysteriously popular. Either way, though, it does feature plenty of references to history, science, literature, and philosophy, and if you'd care to join me I'd like to take some time and explore these themes in detail. Spoiler Policy: Go Hog Wild! As I've said in the past, I believe an informed audience is a more appreciative audience, so allow me to state what is both an advisement and a warning: please do not bother tagging your discussions of BioShock: Infinite for any reason. If you are unspoiled and believe it best to remain that way, then I suggest you limit yourself to reading this OP and the table of contents. Finally, in case you were wondering: yes, I will be playing through the Lost at Sea DLC once the main game is finished. PS: Debate is fine, but please keep in mind that no matter what your opinions are and no matter what the other guy's opinions are, 
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May 25, 2015 17:03
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 00:50 |
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Bobbin Threadbare fucked around with this message at 22:19 on Mar 21, 2016 |
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May 25, 2015 17:03
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I liked this game when I first played it. Then I watched my girlfriend play through it again and my opinion of the game fell to earth.  I wonder what seeing it here will do to my opinion of the game. I am also glad that the lecture structure will live on in another LP, as Deus Ex was truly excellent.
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May 25, 2015 17:22
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I found Infinite to be a very fun FPS game with a story that goes completely insane in its second half and this is the point where I lost interest in the story completely, everything else was still good however. Though not as good as Bioshock 2, which I much prefer.
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May 25, 2015 17:24
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Screw the haters, this is the best Bioshock game. 1 had a really good story but the gameplay and graphics have not aged well. 2 played better but the graphics weren't much better and the story was bad fanfiction with an antagonist that made no sense. The game doesn't have a story quite at 1's calibur, and gameplay not quite as good as 2's, but overall is a better experience than both of them.
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May 25, 2015 17:36
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A Shock franchise playthrough, with Bobbin threadbare at the helm?  I love the bait and switch they pull with the pistol, like a Bioshock game would ever let you start with a gun.
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May 25, 2015 17:37
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Hadn't noticed till now how much that room leading up to the priest is... foreshadowing? theming? With the identical men wandering down the identical pools and the seeming hall of mirrors effect going on. Only fault I had with the story was that it felt like the rules of Elizabeth's powers changed or weren't well explained. also  Bobbin Corners!
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May 25, 2015 17:57
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Those were lobster buoys hanging on the boathouse at the beginning. A buoy is attached to a lobster trap via line, and is used to mark the trap's location. The markings on each buoy are unique to the trapper who set the lobster pot.
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May 25, 2015 18:20
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You know, it's really cool that this LP has started - I just finished reading a book about the alteration of the definition of 'White' to encompass non-Anglo-Saxons, and have just started a book on the history of Asian populations within the U.S.A., so it'll be interesting to see this game again with that info directly to hand. Edit: Good choice of music for the lecture corner.
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May 25, 2015 18:37
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I could not beat this game. It was fun at first, but after a little while it felt like all the enemies were just sponges absorbing my bullets while I had to reload eight times to kill one. There's one boss fight I literally could not tell that I was beating it the correct way since it took almost 10 minutes of constant fire into it before it died. Maybe I'm just bad at games, iunno
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May 25, 2015 18:38
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kalonZombie posted:Screw the haters, this is the best Bioshock game. I still loving love this game. The intro is one of my favorite bits of world establishment.
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May 25, 2015 18:38
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Those two characters, the Lettuces (I think that's their names), are the best thing about this game. But I'm excited to see Bobbin's adventures through Trash Cake land.
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May 25, 2015 18:42
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Good sir, you have my undivided attention. I'm curious to see how many people get mad at your lectures for the wrong reasons, but I'm really happy to hear you talk about these things. e: Happy isn't exactly the right word, but you get my meaning I reckon.
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May 25, 2015 18:49
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kalonZombie posted:Screw the haters, this is the best Bioshock game. I tend to agree. I only recently finished it (somehow managed to remain unspoilered) and I loved it, both gameplay and story. Haven't done Burial at Sea yet, but I'm really happy that Bobbin is doing this LP.
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May 25, 2015 19:11
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This game was hot garbage. A story so convoluted it ruins any fun with the game you could possibly have. I'm glad the company went out of business.
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May 25, 2015 19:19
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kalonZombie posted:Screw the haters, this is the best Bioshock game. I like this installment's gameplay, but I prefer the others because I personally find their societal issues easier to swallow than the near-comical levels of racism this game offers. Also the rube-goldberg antics you can get into with trap setup in 2. I really can't wait to see what Bobbin has to say about the science-shenanigans later. 
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May 25, 2015 19:21
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I was waiting for this  I never played this game, and I heard mixed things about it. There are people who say it's really good, and people who say it's really bad. I guess I'll see.
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May 25, 2015 19:25
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This game's delivers story with the subtlety of a pneumatic jackhammer to the face. There's no tact or elegance to it. That being said it's a fun game. Also more proof that no one can write a good story that revolves around time and space/dimension hopping
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May 25, 2015 19:27
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Bioshock: Infinite is the Citizen Kane of video games!
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May 25, 2015 19:28
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This is one of those games where I think I took a completely different theme from it than a lot of the players. I figured, from the racism and other things that come up, the complete idealization of the Founders and their incorporation into religious cults, and the absolute focus on the redemptive and rebirth aspects of Baptism, this was a game about the dangers of whitewashing the past and forgetting the wrinkles and complications of history.
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May 25, 2015 19:31
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Rigged Death Trap posted:Also more proof that no one can write a good story that revolves around time and space/dimension hopping I was going to say Chrono Trigger, but Chrono Cross ruins that.
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May 25, 2015 19:34
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Your DX LP was incredibly informative and perceptive; this is gonna be a treat. I personally thoroughly enjoyed Infinite as an experience, but I can get that the story has a ton of holes in retrospect. It's still a great game, and I'm looking forward to what you'll talk about.
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May 25, 2015 19:37
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Hitlers Gay Secret posted:I was going to say Chrono Trigger, but Chrono Cross ruins that. Chrono Trigger did it well primarily by not really giving a gently caress about the 'rules' of time travel and having it run on plot. The time periods were different set pieces/settings, nothing more, that sometimes interacted in fun ways, and the focus remained on other things.
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May 25, 2015 19:37
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Rigged Death Trap posted:Also more proof that no one can write a good story that revolves around time and space/dimension hopping Legacy of Kain has some words for you. Lots and lots of words.
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May 25, 2015 19:38
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The Lutece twins entertain me endlessly, so hooray for this. Anyone who thinks the racism in this game is over the top really needs to go look at some examples of actual racist bullshit from the time.
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May 25, 2015 19:39
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Hitlers Gay Secret posted:This game was hot garbage. The only fun that could possibly stem from the gameplay is mangled before the story even touches it, with arbitrary limitations on equipment, AI that makes playing a computer in Tic Tac Toe more interesting, and level design that really illustrates the problems this game had in development. The game was CONSTANTLY changing major elements of design until several months before release, and the result is a muddy mess that doesn't do anything well, or even manage to make the trip interesting. Infinite is a roller-coaster ride without the thrill. I question how you might glean anything from this game Bobbin, but don't let anyone stop you from trying.
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May 25, 2015 19:40
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Brainamp posted:Legacy of Kain has some words for you. Lots and lots of words. As a big fan of the LoK series I can say with the utmost clarity that, that series is plagued with plot holes and paradoxes not only from a time travel plot but also from the writing staff changing hands so much. They some how managed to make something semi coherent out their patchwork, but it does suffer from all the same things typical to a time travel plot. And not just Blood Omen 2.
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May 25, 2015 19:44
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Anybody who thinks the racism in the game is over-the-top by 1912 standards should probably open a history book.  Lynchings, for instance, were hardly unheard of throughout the 1910s.
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May 25, 2015 19:45
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Brainamp posted:Legacy of Kain has some words for you. Lots and lots of words. Legacy of Kain has lots of words, but it does have its fair share of loops, holes, loopholes, and inconsistencies. And Blood Omen 2. That said, I still absolutely love it and I know I'll love this LP too 
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May 25, 2015 19:58
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When it comes to the quantum corner, let me know if you need some fact checking - I've taken a couple of masters courses in quantum computing, which makes me worse informed than any actual physicist but probably better informed than most people. (Caveat: I know the maths, but I have no clue about the real-world interpretation.)
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May 25, 2015 20:01
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So going into this having heard controversial opinions on this game, but not knowing anything about it these are my first impressions from the video: The literal second person you hear speak after getting control talks of how the city "purged the orient" and "expelled" the voice of the people from their city, which given that it's flying sounds just as lethal.I bet the people here are super friendly  Oh hey look they're venerating America's founding fathers as saint figures, that means their sect seems to have split off from a catholic group. Oh, and they're batshit crazy. Barbershop quartet/church choir renditions of the beach boys? Booker, this town needs burned to the ground right this instant!
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May 25, 2015 20:11
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FoolyCharged posted:...that means their sect seems to have split off from a catholic group... Uh... I'm not sure what Catholic churches are like in America, but this looks nothing - NOTHING like any Catholic church I know of, it looks a hell of a lot more like either a Protestant sect, or in my mind more like some form of Mormonism.
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May 25, 2015 20:29
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Samovar posted:Uh... I'm not sure what Catholic churches are like in America, but this looks nothing - NOTHING like any Catholic church I know of, it looks a hell of a lot more like either a Protestant sect, or in my mind more like some form of Mormonism. I thought the whole praying to saints for representation was a catholic thing? The prophet guy and his story definitely parallels my limited knowledge of the origins of the Mormons though.
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May 25, 2015 20:32
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kalonZombie posted:Screw the haters, this is the best Bioshock game.
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May 25, 2015 20:35
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FoolyCharged posted:I thought the whole praying to saints for representation was a catholic thing? The prophet guy and his story definitely parallels my limited knowledge of the origins of the Mormons though. There is a reason they call themselves the Church of Latter Day Saints, after all. That said, Colombianism (might as well call it that since they never attach a formal name) is more a riff on American Christianity in general than Mormanism in particular. And, naturally, I'll be getting to that Corner in due time.
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May 25, 2015 20:51
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I always felt that (apart from the DLC which we will get to) Bioshock Infinite got overly maligned simply due to being overshadowed separate by 1 and 2, 1 had a more cohesive world and story and 2 had (in my opinion) better combat game play (barring the far too sparse air rail segments) so it was too painfully  for some so it got the hype backlash. It also commits the sin of any game with RPG elements by making you get less stuff to get powers in the harder difficulties if my memory isn't betraying me.i'll personally never forgive the gutting of 1999 mode, or the later vox uprising chapters Fake Edit: kalonZombie posted:The game doesn't have a story quite at 1's calibur, and gameplay not quite as good as 2's, but overall is a better experience than both of them. As for the tipping your seat, maybe its to get rid of any loose elements that might jostle about and cause injury during the flight?
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May 25, 2015 20:59
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Stormgale posted:As for the tipping your seat, maybe its to get rid of any loose elements that might jostle about and cause injury during the flight? Nah, the true reason is that the lead designer's boss made him build it in because the boss decided that everyone should be able to look at the rocket engines because it would be cool.
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May 25, 2015 21:04
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I've never played or seen this game, but I have played the first Bioshock. I'm hoping to get to at least the same level of  but if not the lecture is always good.
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May 25, 2015 21:04
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I enjoyed the hell out of this game, hated BioShock 1 and 2, and enjoyed this game even more when I moved from hard to 1999 mode. The difficulty really brought out how clever a lot of the encounter design was, and I feel like this is the best designed shooter I've ever played, with great difficulty progression and an interesting (if flawed) story. And I'm really interested in reliving the experience through an LP.
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May 25, 2015 21:05
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FoolyCharged posted:Nah, the true reason is that the lead designer's boss made him build it in because the boss decided that everyone should be able to look at the rocket engines because it would be cool. My backup answer was "Put the fear of god into the Pilgrim".
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May 25, 2015 21:07
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