I was getting the cold sweat just watching Joe playing the game down at Take 2's offices - the intensity is top notch and it's high adrenaline... I had a quick play as well and I have to say that it's shaping up to be truly awesome. Think of the first 30 mins of Doom 3 for the kind of level of atmosphere and intensity, but this is more dramatic, doesn't tail off (based on what we've seen so far) and there is a story too!
My only concern at the moment is that there is 20 hours of story to fill and I'm personally not sure how the story will evolve over the game. I'm guessing there will be some twists and turns along the way.
One thing is that from what I've made out from Bioshocks interviews is that if you save the Little sisters you get a big reward at the end. You also get a whopping 100 points for saving them all on the 360. Full list of achievements here
A question which comes up with those achievements is what is this "invention" thing?
Originally Posted by DougEdey Was Doom3 meant to have a story?
I think it was, but it wasn't exactly fantastic... after the first 30-45 minutes, Doom 3's gameplay didn't evolve or change - the surprise of a monster being behind every door (or in almost every dark corner) just wore off. The AI appears to have free roam in Bioshock, so while there are a few "scripted" parts of the game (i.e. the bosses) where you meet with the enemies is practically randomised and time/instance-based.
Originally Posted by DougEdey Was Doom3 meant to have a story?
One thing is that from what I've made out from Bioshocks interviews is that if you save the Little sisters you get a big reward at the end. You also get a whopping 100 points for saving them all on the 360. Full list of achievements here
A question which comes up with those achievements is what is this "invention" thing?
Invention was something we didn't get to look at, but Research was something we had a fiddle with. In System Shock 2 you could get bits of dead enemies occasionally and then, if your skill was high enough and you had access to the right chemicals, you could learn more about them and do more damage. It's much more simplified in Bioshock, so that you don't have to run back 5 levels to find a chemical storeroom thank god, and instead of the ss2 way you use a camera to take photos of different enemies. The photos can then be analysed to let you find weaknesses, which you can build up on by taking more photos. Unfortunately, it means you have to whip out the camera and stop to focus it in the middle of a gunfight.
Also, as Tim points out, the enemies have a virtual economy. They don't patrol the same paths or respawn or loiter, instead they wander around intelligently on the search for things that they want, whether thats weapons, health, ADAM or fresh corpses to harvest.
Joe's right about the Spanish Inquisition when he and Tim arrived back!! I think I must have spent about an hour just asking question after question about the game!!
I can just never get along with FPS's with analogue sticks.. So its going to have to be PC for me... Although I may just wait until there is a retail version review as I would prefer it to be harder rather than easy.
Originally Posted by will. I can just never get along with FPS's with analogue sticks.. So its going to have to be PC for me... Although I may just wait until there is a retail version review as I would prefer it to be harder rather than easy.
I thought that too, but I only played the 360 version and while it was a "different" experience, it was certainly not completely alien. I'm a through-and-through PC gamer when it comes to first person shooters, but I was impressed with how well this played on the 360.
Originally Posted by Nature Do you know what settings you played it on... Something like 2560x1600 with 16aa&af?
On the PC version, it's still going through QA so we played at 1280x1024 I think. I'm not sure what the exact system specifications were... all we were told was "dual core, 2GB RAM and an 8800". That could be anything from an 8800 GTS 320 to an 8800 Ultra but judging by the size of the case, I'd be surprised if it was anything more than a GTS 640.
Originally Posted by Tim S On the PC version, it's still going through QA so we played at 1280x1024 I think. I'm not sure what the exact system specifications were... all we were told was "dual core, 2GB RAM and an 8800". That could be anything from an 8800 GTS 320 to an 8800 Ultra but judging by the size of the case, I'd be surprised if it was anything more than a GTS 640.
And was the game running at the highest settings ( AA FSAA etc .. ) , and what framerate did that give ? Rlly hoping my new pc can max this out at 1680 x 1050 :x !
Originally Posted by Bungle You gotta admire the enthusiasm of the review team. Tim's comment made me think he had discovered a new drug. One user/abuser signed up.
You should have heard Joe; I'd transcript but typed words cannot convey the sense of enthusiasm in his voice upon returning.
I haven't been able to get into FPS games in the past but THIS already has me hooked and I've only read about it. Totally looking forward to immersing myself in this =D
Originally Posted by DougEdey He has discovered a new drug, they gave out plasmids ;)
The thing is that all the coverage is making me think that I know the story now.
Trust me, you don't know the story at all. There's so much backstory we didn't cover and so many audio diaries I didn't listen to for the sake of time. If I had been able to take more time with the preview, as I will when I actually play the games review code, then I'd be able to dish out some proper dirt, but as it is, I only know the starting points. Speculation is still rife between Tim and I.
It's kind of like reading a preview of (sigh) System Shock 2 (again with the comparisons!). I could tell you all about the Many and how the Captain of the Von Braun leads you through the first part of the game over the relay communication system, but it wouldn't prepare you for when you finally discover Shodan...god, that bit was scary.
I'm not sure myself of what exactly happens as Bioshock progresses, but we definitely got the feeling that the story is set up for some massive twists and turns.
Originally Posted by Tim S I was getting a sweat just watching Joe shaping up - truly awesome.
Dunno why, but I feel like a fleet street hack today. :)
I've read plenty about Bioshock over the last 12 months. I vaguely remember System Shock 2 - mainly that I loved it - but not much in the way of detail, so I'm not bothered that it's quite different. I was just expecting the guys who produced one innovative game, may well be capable of producing another - seems like they are.
But in all that I've seen, I haven't heard much about taking down the Big Daddies. I'm guessing that this is going to be one of the tricky areas of the game and the devs are just being coy, but from what I've read.. that is going to be one of the significant challenges of the game.
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My only concern at the moment is that there is 20 hours of story to fill and I'm personally not sure how the story will evolve over the game. I'm guessing there will be some twists and turns along the way.
One thing is that from what I've made out from Bioshocks interviews is that if you save the Little sisters you get a big reward at the end. You also get a whopping 100 points for saving them all on the 360. Full list of achievements here
A question which comes up with those achievements is what is this "invention" thing?
Invention was something we didn't get to look at, but Research was something we had a fiddle with. In System Shock 2 you could get bits of dead enemies occasionally and then, if your skill was high enough and you had access to the right chemicals, you could learn more about them and do more damage. It's much more simplified in Bioshock, so that you don't have to run back 5 levels to find a chemical storeroom thank god, and instead of the ss2 way you use a camera to take photos of different enemies. The photos can then be analysed to let you find weaknesses, which you can build up on by taking more photos. Unfortunately, it means you have to whip out the camera and stop to focus it in the middle of a gunfight.
Also, as Tim points out, the enemies have a virtual economy. They don't patrol the same paths or respawn or loiter, instead they wander around intelligently on the search for things that they want, whether thats weapons, health, ADAM or fresh corpses to harvest.
Still have more...
I thought that too, but I only played the 360 version and while it was a "different" experience, it was certainly not completely alien. I'm a through-and-through PC gamer when it comes to first person shooters, but I was impressed with how well this played on the 360.
On the PC version, it's still going through QA so we played at 1280x1024 I think. I'm not sure what the exact system specifications were... all we were told was "dual core, 2GB RAM and an 8800". That could be anything from an 8800 GTS 320 to an 8800 Ultra but judging by the size of the case, I'd be surprised if it was anything more than a GTS 640.
And was the game running at the highest settings ( AA FSAA etc .. ) , and what framerate did that give ? Rlly hoping my new pc can max this out at 1680 x 1050 :x !
Regards
It had got me really excited too!
I got a cold sweat just hearing Tim talk about watching Joe play the game
Or how about I got a cold sweat from reading the preview
The thing is that all the coverage is making me think that I know the story now.
You should have heard Joe; I'd transcript but typed words cannot convey the sense of enthusiasm in his voice upon returning.
Trust me, you don't know the story at all. There's so much backstory we didn't cover and so many audio diaries I didn't listen to for the sake of time. If I had been able to take more time with the preview, as I will when I actually play the games review code, then I'd be able to dish out some proper dirt, but as it is, I only know the starting points. Speculation is still rife between Tim and I.
It's kind of like reading a preview of (sigh) System Shock 2 (again with the comparisons!). I could tell you all about the Many and how the Captain of the Von Braun leads you through the first part of the game over the relay communication system, but it wouldn't prepare you for when you finally discover Shodan...god, that bit was scary.
I'm not sure myself of what exactly happens as Bioshock progresses, but we definitely got the feeling that the story is set up for some massive twists and turns.
Dunno why, but I feel like a fleet street hack today. :)
I've read plenty about Bioshock over the last 12 months. I vaguely remember System Shock 2 - mainly that I loved it - but not much in the way of detail, so I'm not bothered that it's quite different. I was just expecting the guys who produced one innovative game, may well be capable of producing another - seems like they are.
But in all that I've seen, I haven't heard much about taking down the Big Daddies. I'm guessing that this is going to be one of the tricky areas of the game and the devs are just being coy, but from what I've read.. that is going to be one of the significant challenges of the game.