if you have played this game and completed it then i guarantee (even though you bash it now) that you will buy the sequel.

and for everyone who is complaining about the respawning enemies-unless you didnt figure this out yet this is a shooting game and you are expected to kill many things during the duration of the game.

I do agree with some – games today do lack the plot-based scope of yester-year. Too often, sub-plots and side-quests are used to fill out a game because the writers couldn’t (for whatever reason – time, money, lack of creativity) advance the plot to full depth. I also tend to think this merit badge achievement system most games have started using is just a cop-out – the artificial creation of replay value where little or none exists.

That being said, you have to take every game for what it is and judge the effect and presentation without every other game you’ve ever played being the yardstick. Diablo 2 was better than Diablo – Fallout 2 was worse than Fallout 1. Restricted Area was worse than both, but amusing in its own right. And don’t tell me everyone on this list doesn’t have a favorite RTS game they’d say is the ultimate in the industry regardless of the age of the game.

The fact is truly innovative games are few and far between. Bioshock was not innovative, but it was a very good rendition of a lot of standard gameplay and mechanics effects set in a gritty world with good writing and much better than average voice acting.

We all want our perfect game. But that doesn’t mean we need to crush anything else that comes along like a beer can. Some people set standards – or create new ones. Some people follow them. That’s as true in gaming as in any industry. Bioshock was a well-followed standard that created an above average title – a monument to those standards, in fact – but it was not new, or innovative, or the greatest EVAR :-P.

I enjoyed it for what it was. I’ve played it several times and will probably play it again. That’s better than most, right there.

And no, ‘angry interweb men’ don’t ‘rage about things’ because ‘the herd is doing the same’ (I’d love to know what makes you think you’re above this alleged ‘herd’). Criticism comes in waves because when the prevailing opinion is overwhelmingly in favour of something, critics (including a lot of professionals, unfortunately) may not feel entirely comfortable airing their dissatisfaction on their lonesome (and vice versa for something overwhelmingly unpopular). Thoughtlessly dismissing praise or condemnation as a momentary whim based on ‘fashion’ is just an ad hominem.

The thing with Stalker is it’s general lack of polish and sloppy code, but I suppose this will be (hopefully) fixed in Clear Sky :)

But sometimes I can’t help but wonder what a bit of a higher budget would do for the game; would it be the same, but with all the code and graphics finely tuned to perfection? Or would it “sell out”?

Also, angry interweb men don’t rage about things because the herd is doing the same? Darn, I’m reading the wrong threads.

Erlam’s point about the NPC interaction does intriuge though and it adds a lot to STALKER (although the same behaviour crops up in Bioshock, not to the same extent, but splicers will attack Big Daddies all by themselves)

It seems the crux of your argument is “shooters innna sandbox >> shooters inna corridor”. Actually, that’s more of an opinion than a argument.

My point is that great atmosphere makes for great gaming. And Bioshock and STALKER both have great atomosphere.

I’m not going to say Stalker is the best game ever, but Bioshock was just a corridor shooter. It was a GOOD corridor shooter, yes, but it wasn’t some fantastical triumph of FPS design. I liked a lot of the art, but I felt like I was literally running down the same corridor over and over. I basically ended up using the same weapon the entire game because the biomods were useless on their own, and I may as well just take less time and headshot the guy.

I hope there’s a sequel, but I’m sad because I know it’ll be on consoles, and I know that in-order processing will again rue my day.

I think it was a good game. Not awful

Bioshock: flawed implementation of a classic genre, few innovations, *nothing* not seen beforein terms of gameplay, semi-botched final third moving away from the strength of the earlier part of the game, magnificent atmosphere. Hated (now) by the in-crowd.

Am I missing something?