You can tell we have dumbed down gamers now by how many people call Fallout a ‘Shooter-RPG’ just because it uses laser guns instead of swords! Did anyone ever call Oblivion a ‘Sworder-RPG?!

Also many reviewers of Dragon Age talked about the combat as being action based, and called Dragon Age an Action-RPG. 15 years ago,in a more intelligent age, we talked about whether combat in RPG’s was ‘realtime’, ‘step-time’ or pausable realtime. If it was Fallout, we called it a ‘post apocalyptic RPG’, if it was Daggerfall, we called it a ‘fantasy RPG’. There was none of this ‘Action-RPG’, ‘Shooter-RPG’, etc! 15 years ago games like Borderlands would have been called shooters, Jade Empire, Mass Effect and Bioshock ‘Action-Adventures’, and wouldn’t even know how to categorise games like ‘Dawn of War II’ or the soon to be released ‘Alpha Protocol’ (according to the publishers a ’25 hour gameplay RPG’!!!)

Is it any wonder retro PC gaming is growing by leaps and bounds,you knew your genres prior to 2003,and you had gamers that knew their stuff!

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There is basically no narrative in the present. Nothing happens. From the get-go your objective is to kill Ryan, then at the end your objective is to kill Fontaine.

I think the game was too much of a shooter. SS2 had very different gameplay and I think that gameplay lend itself more to a more atmospheric experience. I didn’t like the combat in BioShock very much and by Fort Frolic I totally stopped having fun.

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I really require a saved game of Bioshock the stage that is preceding the smugglers hideout/ the bulkhead is not opening for me unfortunately.

I have mailed some of the user but if anyone could help me with this queer problem of mine i would highly appreciate it/ the weekend is up and i am dying to complete the game//please help. Please send me the saved game for the next stage ” return to arcadia ” to my mail ID sandeepkrdhir@yahoo.com or sandeepkrdhir@gmail.com

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(I mean, when writing for a youthful X360 mag, as I did my review of Bioshock, I namechecked SS2 but clearly wouldn’t stress how it’s all been done before because – really – they’ll have never played anything like Bioshock before. Hell, some of them may not even have been alive when Shock 1 came out.)

I carefully gritted my teeth and decided to not even recognise your mention of the NGJ thing. As the FAQ on the site says “Don’t mention the War”. :)

KG

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Then again, as someone who does some side writing for RPG Codex (I suspect that in the videogame journalism circles we roughly translate into something like “bloody buggers”), my jaded outlook of things maybe clouded what would actually be a competent or informative review from other sites. Or maybe I just read the wrong reviews or met with all the talentless hacks. Maybe.

Just so you don’t think you were typing for some random jerk who uses the power of the internet to bother journalists though, I sincerely appreciate the reply. I didn’t mean to drudge NGJ into the fray or criticize it in my previous post as well, it just popped up.

I’ll stop blathering on then, and come back at some other time. Until then!

~DR.

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When they’re not capturing whether or not to buy it. Deus Ex and Bioshock’s failings aren’t actually ones which a straight buyers guide review would pick up on – they’re in the top 5% of games released, however you cut it. The point is pretty much *any* game you can write a list of reservations for.

(I mean, name any sacred cow and I’ll write 1000 words about why it’s shit right now)

What’s important in a buyers guide review is capturing the overall picture, etc. To get an accurate picture of a game, you choose examples both positive and negative to give an overall picture of the game’s merits, with them balanced according to your overall opinion of the game.

I mean, yes, you’re going to get a more indepth discussion of a game’s merits here. This article and the comments thread must be getting on for 5000 words. Space matters.

Thanks regarding the column. Looking forward to seeing my copy. I won’t be able to READ it, but I look forward to actually seeing it. GO TEAM GAMES JOURNALIST PORTUGAL.

KG

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I haven’t yet had the chance to play Bioshock even as a shortcut to it sits comfortably on my desktop. I know I’ve spoiled myself silly on several aspects by reading the text and the comments so now I really need to get to it, but my post is actually directed at the concept of scoring a game, Bioshock or otherwise. Doesn’t the fact that finding problems in a game would suggest a more reserved score?

Take Deus Ex which – as pointed out – could elicit a similar list of problems. Unfortunately, many of these said problems at the time were glossed over but are now being criticized by many gaming journalists as they find them in other games. Bioshock’s apparently erratic reading of the player’s intentions or proper consequences for choices was recurring in Deus Ex – as the game could, for instance, chide you for waltzing into the women’s restroom but couldn’t tell whether you’d stun or killed all the NSF troopers on Liberty Island – but these were also made trivial in the face of the game’s novelty. Criticism of this at the time was fairly light, if any. At what point does a review, as something analoguous to a “buyer’s guide”, does a disservice by telling people they should buy a game when clearly the author has several reservations or solid points about how it falls short of greatness?

My understanding from reviews is that Bioshock is akin to a “lonely 21st century monument of true next-gen design” when in fact, most gamer input I’ve seen on the internet delegates it to being an upgraded System Shock 2 which succeeds in improving on its design just as often as it fails. It may be a great game compared to contemporary titles but isn’t telling them that, quoting Alec, Fontaine’s a shitty villain and the wrench is too powerful also important? Aspects like those may not detract from the experience to some, but will to others.

I’d quicker point acquaintances to this page and subsequent comments than most reviews I’ve seen of it anyway, since they’re made with a much more critical component of the game, one I appreciate more than, say, most NGJ.

(By the way Kieron, nice first article for that portuguese magazine. The translation seemed a bit iffy and I’m guessing some of it got lost anyway, but kudos. Small trivia for the day: I’m thanked on page 19 for having contributed to the mag’s creative process. Me and you man, going places!)

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Tell the player that Fontaine has all the Adam they could want and that’s why you’re out to kill him and (based on their LS treatment) they’ll agree. Same levels, just without Tenenbaum in your ear – maybe you find Suchong and threaten him into helping you piece together the plasmids you’ll need to kill Fontaine. Oh, and alter the game ending so that you really do become 100% Big Daddy and that way you’ll sacrifice your humanity either way. Tie it up nicely.

I just think having Tenenbaum help you after you’ve slaughtered every Sister you met is a bit… daft.

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I’m surprised I’ve not seen anyone mention the splicers disguised as statues that would appear every now and then (especially in the waterlogged room near the casino). They scared the life out of me!

Overall, I was most impressed with the way storyline was constantly drip fed to you throughout the game, via the diaries. It was a shame that it ended the way it did, but it has been a hell of a long time that a game has told a story so well.

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As I tell anyone with a face: a 10 doesn’t mean it’s perfect.

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