Bioshock. Excited? Dismayed? Frumpy?

[Tydeus]

Originally Posted by Azisien

Yeargh, see, I found the first Halo to be a horribly streamlined shooter, to the post that I was only finishing the last few levels of the game just to say I did, and not because I was having fun...What I can get tired of is "You must do exactly X in exactly Y/Z ways to complete our challenge."

Well, of course preference always intrudes into these things. However, I think one reason Halo was so widely loved, and how I managed to squeez ~500 hours out of co-op, was for the reasons I described.

And, like I said, I don't think it was "Do exactly X in exactly Y/Z ways." I mean, my mom's boyfriend and I played through that game dozens of different ways. Like I said, there was some streamlining from area to area, but within each area, you could branch out.

Now, bigger areas with more baddies would've meant more options, and that would've been nice, but it was, after all, Xbox 1. I think if Halo 3 goes the campaign route of Halo 1 (as opposed to the horribly streamlined campaign of Halo 2, which I got maybe 40 hours out of), you might see the possibilities, because each room -- area, segment, whatever -- will be so much bigger, and therefore it will seem more open, but, again, without getting you lost, and providing good, plot-based direction.

Oh, and I'm guessing you despised CoD 2 -- right? I mean, talk about streamlined! It was like you weren't even playing the game! Move to that cover. Now crouch. Wait. Shoot. Wait. Shoot. Wait. Shoot. Move to the next cover (and there's only one piece of cover that you can actually use, of course!). Crouch. Wait. Shoot. Repeat ad nauseum.

[Tydeus]

Originally Posted by Chipper173

Drusus, I kind of feel like the level of control over yourself and your surroundings is supposed to be denied for the sake of atmosphere...So, the lack of control on the part of the player is meant to add to the game's overall tension and scare tactics.

Well, if you can stand that, then OK. Again, I think the emphasis on atmosphere seperates this from FPSes, and they should have built it from the ground-up as horror.

I mean, atmosphere is nice, but it's only one (relatively small) part of the game. To me, gameplay is paramount. Is the combat fun? That's the most important question I ask myself when playing a rental, or a demo, when I'm considering whether or not to buy.

Because, after all, gameplay is the meat of the game. You don't sell games on atmosphere (again, with the possible exception of survival-horror, but even then you still need good gameplay, and good gameplay gets you noticed. Look at RE4, after all, and how much praise it got for more focus on good gameplay). I might rent Bioshock, and marvel at the wonderful atmosphere for 2 hours, then get bored and take it back.

That's what I should have done with CoD 2 (another game with great atmosphere and piss-poor gameplay). Instead, seeing so many 9.0 ratings, and knowing it had multiplayer, I bought it. BIG mistake.

Atmosphere certainly is nice, and certainly makes a game more immersive. Now, I don't know about you, but, atmosphere still isn't enough for me to shell out $60. I want to get my money's worth.

[Azisien]

Originally Posted by Drusus

Now, bigger areas with more baddies would've meant more options, and that would've been nice, but it was, after all, Xbox 1. I think if Halo 3 goes the campaign route of Halo 1 (as opposed to the horribly streamlined campaign of Halo 2, which I got maybe 40 hours out of), you might see the possibilities, because each room -- area, segment, whatever -- will be so much bigger, and therefore it will seem more open, but, again, without getting you lost, and providing good, plot-based direction.

Yes, as an avid COD fan, it pains me to admit I really didn't enjoy COD 2.

I personally think the reason Halo 1 was such a good game was because it was the only shooter that stood above the rest in the console arena and was a great one to play co-op or with friends. I found all of my "halo" fans much less impressed with Halo 2, but I liked it WAY more (more for the story than the gameplay, and there are exceptions there too). I suppose I like swimming upstream or something.

Anyway, that about sums it up.

[Lockeownzj00]

I bought a game that was advertised as an FPS; I want to shoot crap.

Therein lies the flaw of pretty much all your arguments. It's not being advertised as Serious Sam 3 by any means. I don't know why you would expect BFGs.

Pretty much all your "issues" involve making the game easier. I know there's a breaking point, but what do you expect? How do you deal with challenges? "Enemies come out of nowhere! They're hard to kill!" It's being made by some brilliant people; I have a feeling you'll cope. You're not talking about control at all. You're talking about the extent to which you get your ass kicked.

[BitVyper]

Damn, this game looks really sweet. Is it coming out on some non-360 platform?

[Chipper173]

PC and possibly PS3, last I heard.

[Magus]

This game is more along the lines of Clive Barker's Undying with a lot of RPG elements and puzzles than say Halo. It isn't really breaking as much new ground as you would think, this kind've game has existed. Maybe that was your point, that they're acting like they're breaking new ground and aren't (always an obvious thing with most game developers. OMFG IT IS TEH MOST INNOVATIVE GAME OF TEH PAST TWENTY YEARS, etc).

Also, the basic plot is you enter this underwater utopic city...only to find out the denizens became so obsessed with prolonging their lives they lost all semblance of humanity. Enter disturbing human machine-meld enemies! There was also a civil war involved.

Oh, and the one major gimmick is that there are these small children called Collectors or some crap like that, guarded by these giant guardian fellows (those sea diver guys), and you can kill these children, IF YOU DARE RISK THE EMOTIONAL SCARRING! *DUN DUN DUN* Oh, wait, it's a video game and we don't care. Give me my massive amounts of biofluid-stuff for killing the virtual children, please.

So, yeah, I think the challenge will lie with properly fighting the guardians, not whether or not we can take the lives of innocent virtual children. Really, I think it's just a bad trend to allow you to kill children in the first place in a video game, but if I ever play this I ain't gonna hold back when you get all sorts of goodies for doing it!

Anyway, customizing your character with all kinds of psychic abilities and mechanical parts can't be a BAD thing.

[ZERO.]

Originally Posted by Magus

Oh, and the one major gimmick is that there are these small children called Collectors or some crap like that, guarded by these giant guardian fellows (those sea diver guys), and you can kill these children, IF YOU DARE RISK THE EMOTIONAL SCARRING! *DUN DUN DUN* Oh, wait, it's a video game and we don't care. Give me my massive amounts of biofluid-stuff for killing the virtual children, please.

So, yeah, I think the challenge will lie with properly fighting the guardians, not whether or not we can take the lives of innocent virtual children. Really, I think it's just a bad trend to allow you to kill children in the first place in a video game, but if I ever play this I ain't gonna hold back when you get all sorts of goodies for doing it!

Anyway, customizing your character with all kinds of psychic abilities and mechanical parts can't be a BAD thing.

You know for some reason I feel bad for killing virtutal characters.

I know it's a game and everything, but I can't help but think of their little virtural wife and virtural kids.

I usually can't bring my self to do it..

I get over it soon enough with bloody savage results, but thats usually when I play the second time and my moral fiber has gone out the window.

You know first time playing is my side with the respect for life and what not, even if it's just a game.

The second time its that side that does not give a flying fuck weither some character dies.

I need to get me some bad ass powers to make my foes crap their pants in terror.

[sabredenton]

System Shock 2 is one of the scariest games ever made, even compared to today's newer stuff, and the guy that practically wrote that game is going to be making Bioshock. I dont even have to hear anything else other than that to know it's going to be killer.

It's like when Steven Spielburg (sp probably) releases something, you know it's going to be pretty good, or when John Woo directs something, you know some ass is going to be liberally kicked in good measure.

[Monkeybonk]

Originally Posted by Drusus

Blah blah blah.

So basically you get confused and irritated when you have to use your brain, and you'd rather just eat Ritalin and play Halo clones for the rest of your life?

"OMG I HAEV 2 WACH MY AMO WUT FAGUT GAY QUER HOMO SHIT ASS IS DIS WTF WTF"
"ROFL PUZLES? PUZLS R 4 HOMOS N NERDS IM 2 H4RDKORE 2 SOLVE PUZLS"
"DIS GAEM SUX LOL ALENZ? ALIEZN WERE STOLED FRM HALO 2 TEH BESTST GAM EVR MADE LOLOL"
"WTF WERS TEH SNIPAER RIFFLES N ROCKIT LAUNCER WUT QUEER HOMO MADE DIS GAEM MY NAEM IS "LEET_SNIPER_WOLF_KILLER_GOKU_SAYAN" IN HALO 2 4 A REESUN OMG DIS GAEM SUX"