Forum Overview :: BioShock
 
I've only played the first one, but I would agree that it's excellent. by Jerry Whorebach 01/22/2012, 6:05am PST
sdroa jists wrote:

specifically they are too easy because when you die it just sends you to an invincible spawning tube with literally no penalty, no money taken, no resources of any kind drained, half your health bar regenerated, all enemies lose track of you, they can't get into the tube until you open it, etc etc some other shit that was shameful

they're still fun games


There's an option to disable the respawning chambers, I have no idea why you wouldn't use it. The Xbox version even gives you an achievement for finishing on the hardest difficulty without them ("Brass Balls"). That's how I played, and I'd say the difficulty was comparable to Doom on Ultra-Violence; challenging by modern standards, but still impossible to truly fail thanks to the presence of unlimited quicksaves. Why they didn't give you the option to disable those as well is anybody's guess.

Aside: my introduction to Doom was the Super NES port, which didn't allow game saving of any kind - not even passwords! You either finished an episode in one session or not at all. It still gave you unlimited continues, though, so if you died you just had to run the level over again from a pistol start. It really hammered home to me how incredibly well-balanced those levels are, as every single one gives you exactly the tools you need to do the job at hand, and often no more. Any guns and ammo you manage to carry over from one level to the next are really just a bonus. I read somewhere that Doom was originally supposed to use a lives system like Wolfenstein 3D, but the idea was scrapped when they realized everybody was just going to grind their way through by exploiting the save system anyway. I believe id's decision not to restrict save states, even though it meant compromising their own design, was a pivotal point in the evolution of the FPS genre into the ultra-linear, defiantly unreplayable, listen-to-Alyx-jabber-while-you-wait-for-Captain-Price-to-blow-the-door thrillrides we enjoy today.
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BioShock Infinite: sexier children, more opportunities for exploitation by Jerry Whorebach 08/18/2010, 6:40am PDT NEW
    being made by a totally different game company NT by Sword of Justice 08/18/2010, 11:38am PDT NEW
        different from bioshock 2 I mean wuteva hey here's ken levine by Sword of Justice 08/18/2010, 11:57am PDT NEW
            Why does "has an established history" sound like a euphemism for NT by "is registered sex offender"? 08/18/2010, 12:33pm PDT NEW
                HEY WOW I'M GLAD WE'RE REHASHING JOKES PENNY ARCADE MADE 2 YEARS AGO NT by Mysterious Stranger 08/19/2010, 6:57pm PDT NEW
                    "Can someone run this joke past our Penny Arcade guy, see if we're stepping by on any toes?" 08/20/2010, 1:21am PDT NEW
    ign's rewind theater of the announce trailer by Sword of Justice 08/18/2010, 11:44am PDT NEW
    Re: BioShock Infinite: sexier children, more opportunities for exploitation by Ice Cream Jonsey 08/18/2010, 5:16pm PDT NEW
    Levine fights for his lady's honor by skip 01/21/2012, 12:32pm PST NEW
        I really don't understand the hard mode thing at all. by Worm 01/21/2012, 1:00pm PST NEW
            Yahtzee did his share of bitching over lack of virtual incompetence in Bioshock by Mischief Maker 01/21/2012, 1:13pm PST NEW
    I'm looking forward to senor barborito's game by jeep 01/21/2012, 3:32pm PST NEW
        the bioshock games are excellent, but too easy by sdroa jists 01/22/2012, 3:47am PST NEW
            I've only played the first one, but I would agree that it's excellent. by Jerry Whorebach 01/22/2012, 6:05am PST NEW
                that's in the second game and pc version only by sdroa jists 01/22/2012, 10:08pm PST NEW
                    actually they might have added it to bioshock1pc I don't remember by sdroa jists 01/22/2012, 11:52pm PST NEW
                    Either you're misremembering or I'm misunderstanding what you're trying to say. by Jerry Whorebach 01/23/2012, 12:11am PST NEW
                        you can save anywhere, you can't hit f5 to quicksave by sdroa jists 01/24/2012, 12:13am PST NEW
                            Both games have function keys bound to "quick save". I take it they don't work? by Jerry Whorebach 01/24/2012, 3:55am PST NEW
            I don't get people being angry about not being penalized for dying by jeep 01/23/2012, 1:11pm PST NEW
                You don't get it because you have a job, a life etc NT by Mysterio 01/23/2012, 7:54pm PST NEW
                Re: I don't get people being angry about not being penalized for dying by sdroa jists 01/24/2012, 12:16am PST NEW
                I don't get people being angry about being penalized for dying (try not dying) by Arbit 01/24/2012, 12:09pm PST NEW
 
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