[Hostile_18]

With me and @BFNoise playing it at the moment I thought it would make a great look back at the first entry in the Bioshock series.

What is everyone's opinions on it... master piece or over-rated? Of course there's *that* twist... perhaps one of the greatest in all of gaming? Might be a bit different now where we are use to taking nothing at face value.

Good games have great gameplay but just like movies the very best transport you to a time and place that captures your imagination. Rapture is a great location and it's hard to think how Bioshock 4 can top it (though In my opinion 3 came close). Bioshock also pioneered audio recordings... still games to this day games still make you stop everything when you get a collectable. They should of followed this games example.

I must have played though the game about 4 or 5 times now over the years. Pretty sure I had the Plat on PS4. It does have flaws though. Killing the children should give you more Adam than saving them. The presents you get for saving them eventually make been "good" just as viable. Alot of people have beef with the end boss but I don't mind it. Vita Chambers are controversial, I must admit I did have more fun playing with them off. Death has to mean something.

Let's try to focus on the first game and be vague with spoilers just in case someone reads this and is inspired to play it for the first time. I've been working on making @regawdless play it for the the best part of a year lol. We will look at the follow up games in the coming weeks if there's interest.

 

[Arkam]

I thought it was a great game at the time. The atmosphere and themes were delicious. Sure it did a control a bit clunky IMO, but the design of the world and enemies made it so you never needed to pull a "360 no scope head shot".

I still remember the first time I booted it up and an being impressed with the water and fire effects.

Overall I think the game absolutely deserved* the fanfare it received at the time. Was one of the big games of the HD era to move the needle (in may ways).

The sequel never did much for me and I skipped the third entirely.

Edit: *Making a full and coherent sentence

 

[J-Roderton]

Got that HD collection. It's definitely on my to-play list this year.

 

[TaySan]

Nothing will ever top seeing Rapture for the first time.

 

[HE1NZ]

It's vastly overrated, but still pretty good. I didn't care about story and world building a bit. The "twist" is some pretentious bullshit that can only impress Kotaku. Low framerate rag dolls and animations look quite bad. Maybe fans fixed it already, not sure. Bioshock 2 was more focused on System Shock style gameplay and I enjoyed it more.

 

[Hostile_18]

I'm pretty sure it was a 360 exclusive for a good while? I think it gets forgotten now it that respect but it was one of the first truly great games on the 360. I remember getting the game in a stealbook on launch.

Pretty sure the games been maintained well on the consoles as well with the last been a 4k Patch for the whole trilogy(?).

Playing on PC now and it's still holds up great just just a handful of other favorites. The surround sound was a bitch and a half to get working but it's got a mix that puts modern games to shame. My room shakes as the Big Daddy's plod along the corridors . Sound is very often over looked in games but here it really adds to the experience.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

I thought Dark Messiah of M&M (2006) revived the Thief/Deus Ex/system Shock style better, but Bioshock wasn't bad at all. It was definitely a breath of fresh air on consoles (also came out around Oblivion, another excellent PC-style game that was fresh to a lot of console gamers). The art style and vibe were AAA, unquestionably. The world and lore aren't flawless but there was nothing like Rapture back then, and it inspired many copycats in other genres, and helped revive the "technosteampunk"aesthetic, for sure.

There are flaws and it's no System Shock. The entire Bioshock franchise lacks the same depth of emergent, behavior-driven experiences of System Shock. I still think Arkane does that better, if we're talking about successors.

I should probably go get the remaster and replay on PS4.

 

[TaySan]

I'm pretty sure it was a 360 exclusive for a good while? I think it gets forgotten now it that respect but it was one of the first truly great games on the 360. I remember getting the game in a stealbook on launch.

Pretty sure the games been maintained well on the consoles as well with the last been a 4k Patch for the whole trilogy(?).

Playing on PC now and it's still holds up great just just a handful of other favorites. The surround sound was a bitch and a half to get working but it's got a mix that puts modern games to shame. My room shakes as the Big Daddy's plod along the corridors . Sound is very often over looked in games but here it really adds to the experience.

It launched as a 360/PC title. PS3 got a decent port a year later

 

[Rock And Roll]

I loved it at the time despite the obvious flaws. What makes it a masterpiece in my opinion is the influence it had on games directly after. Bioshock wasn't the first game to let you move around during cutscenes, or the first to have world building through logs, but almost everything that came after Bioshock started taking cues from it. Gaming was in such a rut with bloated unskippable cutscenes at the time (most of which weren't good anyway) then Bioshock came along and showed Devs how to tell a story while keeping the player in the game. For that reason alone I think it deserved all the praise it got.

 

[ManofTwo]

I think its an over rated game but with a good storyline. Gameplay felt too linear.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Linear compared to the corridor-shooters of that day? Bioshock let you visit optional side-areas, re-visit old sections to unlock things / kill Big Daddies, and explore certain "hubs" in any order you wanted. Don't get me wrong. As a PC gamer who had played System Shock, Deus Ex, Thief, Strafe, Elder Scrolls, Ultima Underworld, and various other exploration first-person games, I also thought it was "linear", but it was more open than a lot of other first person games available on console.

For context, most people were introduced to Half Life 2 and Portal for the first time via Orange Box, also released in 2007. And Half Life 2 was considered pretty "open" compared to contemporary console shooters even though it has a strict level-based design.

 

[bork]

Playing this at release was glorious. Absolutely loved it

 

[Epic Nemesis]

Gameplay was fine, the story and setting took it to the next level.

I think it belongs on an all time list. It's not 1990 any more, a game's worth is more than just the mechanics of the control.

It's not just the story/setting but the way it turns story based games on its head. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary with the storytelling.

 

[Neil Young]

One of my favorite games of all time. So much so that I ALWAYS use "Would you kindly" in work emails. The opening of the game is magical and does such a fantastic job of making you feel like you're in this world.

I thought Infinite was great also. Awesome music.

 

[OuterSpace]

Thought it was great at the time and I'm kinda grossed out it's been so long that thinking back to it makes me a little nostalgic. I remember I got my very first RROD right before the demo came out and I was pissed.

Don't know how well the game holds up as I never replayed it after my first completion. I can say I didn't like part 2 enough to finish though I did beat Infinite despite that game not being all that great.

Spoiler

And you bet your ass I harvested all the Little Sisters

 

[HE1NZ]

Hostile, check out this mod

 

[Hostile_18]

Hostile, check out this mod

I'm playing at 120fps but does that mean individual items are still rendering at 30 without the mod?

 

[HE1NZ]

I'm playing at 120fps but does that mean individual items are still rendering at 30 without the mod?

Yes. All physics and animations and even blood splatters are in 30 fps and it looked bad even in 2007

 

[TaySan]

I'm playing at 120fps but does that mean individual items are still rendering at 30 without the mod?

Yeah, i think they fixed that with the remasters.

 

[Hostile_18]

Had great fun tonight. Got to the end of Fontanies Fishery. Ended on a sour note though hard crash (first one) that sent me back about 45 minutes . Kind of my own fault for not making use of the manual save enough.

Playing on Hard so took down all the Big Daddy's with quite a bit of effort and now its all reset.

Glass half full this will make the game even longer lol.

 

[Epic Nemesis]

Ended on a sour note though hard crash (first one) that sent me back about 45 minutes

I've stopped playing games because of this.

 

[Hostile_18]

I've stopped playing games because of this.

Apparently the Epic version is more stable. The saves can be transferred over if needed, I'll see how it goes. I love regular auto saves, I don't like Save scumming or anything that takes me out of the experience. I think the Vita Chambers made me forget to save... that's what I'll blame it on lol.

 

[gameragodzilla]

Bioshock 2 is better.

 

[Kadayi]

I thought it was atmospheric, however, the environmental design really irked me. Not so much in terms of the styling but with regard to the organisation of the spaces. They felt like combat arenas masquerading as environments, with little in the way of rhyme or reason to their functional relationships with each other. Not the sort of thing that I expect most people would pick up on, but I've gotta admit it triggered my design sensibilities something fierce and really dragged at immersion for me at least. Bummer really, because I liked the rest of it.

 

[HeresJohnny]

I replayed Bioshock 1 and 2 on Switch recently and had a blast. I think the game suffered a little unfairly due to the heap of praise it got on it (some acted like it was the best game ever made) but to me, Rapture felt like a real place, and that is rare in a game. I really, really enjoyed it, and I'll play them again (maybe even get around to trying out Infinite again, which I've heard really mixed things about).

 

[teezzy]

It's awesome. Still awesome. Love that HD collection

 

[BFNoise]

Still think the first Bioshock is the best Bioshock.
Looks great in 4K/120, no crashes yet, but I've just started the game.
Played with controller first, but switches to m+k and it became so easy on normal. Hacking is night and day compared to controller.

And as @Hostile_18 noticed, the sound is incredible in the game.

The game is special to me. It was my second game on PS3 after Fallout 3 back in the days and I was impressed a lot, especially with a sound. I've sold my PC and stopped playing games altogether for several years since 2003 before buying PS3 in 2008 and was mighty impressed how far games developed for five years. Also, I played on PC with shitty speakers before, but this was the first games I experienced on wide screen TV with home theater 5.1 speakers. The shit was real!

 

[BFNoise]

Apparently the Epic version is more stable. The saves can be transferred over if needed, I'll see how it goes. I love regular auto saves, I don't like Save scumming or anything that takes me out of the experience. I think the Vita Chambers made me forget to save... that's what I'll blame it on lol.

I hate repeat things in the games, my finger automatically presses quick save after every encounter. Too bad, this games doesn't save in the background, always shows the saving screen - it's annoying.

 

[Hostile_18]

I did a quick test with my SSD it takes 2-3 seconds a save. It's more so just the screen that pops up that's annoying.

Had to tear my self away for work. Just defeated Peach Wilkins. It is oddly satisfying melting the ice with the flame skill lol.

 

[Bullet Club]

Played and finished it on the 360. Loved it. Also loved 2, even though it was more of the same.

Haven't played it since then but did pick up the new version trilogy for the XSX, so will play them again eventually.

 

[Hostile_18]

Anyone looking to pick up the games the trilogy is £7.99 on Epic at the moment. I'm so jealous of anyone that would get to experience these games for the first time.

 

[Bonfires Down]

I like it, but... I never managed to finish it despite playing a few times. Kinda feel like only some of the plasmids are particularly useful and others are novelties that just take up the space of useful plasmids. The gunplay is bad. But it does add up to a nice bit of combat variety between the environmental hazards, plasmids, weapons and ammos. And the setting is great.

Infinite is spectacular though. at least I thought so at the time.

 

[John Matrix]

I actually replayed the game last year and it's incredible how well it holds up. The graphics and art direction are still top notch. The gameplay was incredibly fun with all the different guns and plasmids. That twist is still as awesome as it was in 2007, it's crazy how many times Atlas uses "would you kindly" once you know what to listen for.

The story is still amazing using the themes and ideas set forth by Ayn Rand, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. Ryan being literally John D. Rockefeller. I really enjoyed the game and it deserved all the praise and accolades it got.

 

[lock2k]

I barely remember how the gameplay worked but Rapture is such a cool world. I love art deco and architecture in general so it's a great world to navigate. The art direction in all three games is wonderful.

 

[gameragodzilla]

I thought it was atmospheric, however, the environmental design really irked me. Not so much in terms of the styling but with regard to the organisation of the spaces. They felt like combat arenas masquerading as environments, with little in the way of rhyme or reason to their functional relationships with each other. Not the sort of thing that I expect most people would pick up on, but I've gotta admit it triggered my design sensibilities something fierce and really dragged at immersion for me at least. Bummer really, because I liked the rest of it.

I don't mind that because super realistic architecture often doesn't translate well to video game levels. Real life architecture tends to be repetitive so each floor and room feels similar to make it easier to build, but that makes for boring gameplay. To me, so long as the unrealistic aspects are "covered up" with enough immersive qualities, like certain pathways you expect to take being locked or covered with debris, etc., it's good enough.

The only time completely realistic architecture should be a thing, IMO, is for sims. So the original Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon has a very accurate map of Vilnius, Lithuania and Moscow, Russia (albeit wartorn, obviously). But Ghost Recon is meant to be a hardcore tactical shooter, not a Sci-Fi game.

 

[Kadayi]

I don't mind that because super realistic architecture often doesn't translate well to video game levels. Real life architecture tends to be repetitive so each floor and room feels similar to make it easier to build, but that makes for boring gameplay. To me, so long as the unrealistic aspects are "covered up" with enough immersive qualities, like certain pathways you expect to take being locked or covered with debris, etc., it's good enough.

The only time completely realistic architecture should be a thing, IMO, is for sims. So the original Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon has a very accurate map of Vilnius, Lithuania and Moscow, Russia (albeit wartorn, obviously). But Ghost Recon is meant to be a hardcore tactical shooter, not a Sci-Fi game.

Agreed, but at the same time the environments should conform to some sense of a functional program of related spaces, and for me at least Bioshock fell down there. It was selling me the story of a fallen world and I just couldn't buy into it being a living breathing environment before it fell. The fact that almost everything I could interact with only served to either advance the sorry narrative or provide me with weapon upgrades and ammunition didn't help either. For what its worth this aspect irks me with other games as well. In Elden Ring they're an early quest where you have to liberate Fort Haight for Kenneth Haight and it's basically 4 walls and a couple of rooms...

 

[HE1NZ]

Bioshock's issue was also that it wasn't scary at all. You are fighting some screaming jokers the whole game, while other characters can't shut up on a radio. Rapture looks lived in, you don't feel isolated there. No horror set pieces, every level seems to be more of the same.

 

[gameragodzilla]

Agreed, but at the same time the environments should conform to some sense of a functional program of related spaces, and for me at least Bioshock fell down there. It was selling me the story of a fallen world and I just couldn't buy into it being a living breathing environment before it fell. The fact that almost everything I could interact with only served to either advance the sorry narrative or provide me with weapon upgrades and ammunition didn't help either. For what its worth this aspect irks me with other games as well. In Elden Ring they're an early quest where you have to liberate Fort Haight for Kenneth Haight and it's basically 4 walls and a couple of rooms...

I see your point, but again, a lot of game design genuinely can't be a proper living, breathing environment simply because that type of architecture would be a lot more repetitive, with a lot more empty, non-gameplay related space. I think they manage to do it well enough by simply tacking on the fact that the world has fallen so a lot of stuff is broken or blocked off.

Though I suppose they could've integrated some of the worldbuilding aspects into the gameplay more. I've been replaying Doom 3 again and in the Alpha Labs, there's a lot of constantly moving machinery with a lot of lore behind it, justifying why its there as some new piece of experimental technology. And then it's also an environmental hazard, like the big laser beam that's supposed to deconstruct matter into base elements, but also will kill you if you touch it, etc. Definitely adds some nice immersion while also being gameplay relevant. But even then, Doom 3's level design is far from realistic, deliberately so as it's still an old school style shooter filled with monster closets and such.

 

[Hostile_18]

Level design is a strange one. Doom Eternal for example exists simply for the players skills. What kind of place would be built like a moving platform, cliff hanging, double jumpathon location.

Also a common sentiment is for a GTA style game where you can go in every room. Imagine exploring a block of flats... awful haha.

 

[Rock And Roll]

Bioshock's issue was also that it wasn't scary at all. You are fighting some screaming jokers the whole game, while other characters can't shut up on a radio. Rapture looks lived in, you don't feel isolated there. No horror set pieces, every level seems to be more of the same.

Aside from a couple jump scares here and there I don't really think it was trying to be a horror game. It's more creepy/unsettling.