FUCK AND I FORGET TO PUT THE LINK IN THE OP JEEZ

http://www.mediafire.com/?6qccf5xu3c5c68v

Is there any Vox explaining the Vigors?

I just noticed something. . .

>Bioshock Infinite
>Your goal is to rescue a girl from her guardian
>Her guardian is also a zealot with an army of religious followers
>You have a strange mark on your hand that delineates you as the organization's archenemy
>You are the girl's daddy
>You end up making the ultimate sacrifice so she can be free

>Bioshock 2
>Your goal is to rescue a girl from her guardian
>Her guardian is also a zealot with an army of religious followers
>You have a strange mark on your hand that delineates you as the organization's archenemy
>You are the girl's father figure
>You end up making the ultimate sacrifice so that she can be free

Did I miss anything?

>>172508
Yes, that was literally the entire point of the ending.

>>172504
No, unless it's one of the ones I think I missed. However, it's theorized that the biologist that Fink is watching through a Tear is Tennenbaum, which is how he makes the vigors; he also creates Songbird/Handymen after watching the Tears, which could have been partly from watching the team responsible for the Big Daddy in Rapture

>>172508
Delta is also Eleanor's biological father. Deleted audio diary, yo

>>172532
In general, are things that were meant to be canon but were taken out still canon? Or does it depend on the writer's word?

>>172508
Jack also adopts the Little Sisters in the Good ending of the original.

>>172534
Usually it's about where they take the series afterwards. Since B2 has no where to go, it's a free for all, I guess.

>>172534
I read somewhere that it would explain their unusually strong bond, beyond even other Alpha series Big Daddies because of shared genetics and stuff, so I'm willing to accept it as canon-ish.

Trial of the Songbird: Part 1 …

I think this is better off here instead of the LP thread.
Anyway, do any of you have any ideas that you're going to submit?
I looking at you Autonymoose and Dr. Nurse.

>>172539
That makes killing Mark Meltzer even sadder.

>>172644
...That was odd. Breadcumbs part was hilarious, though.

>Anyway, do any of you have any ideas that you're going to submit?
Nah. Humor has never been a strong suit for me, I'm more of an "lolrandom" kind of guy (which the video kind of is, but I wouldn't piece it together well.)

Oh yeah, I got the Art Book today. If you got the Premium edition of the game that came with a small art book, the larger one has a lot of the same stuff, but you'll find more poses/setups. The big reason to get the art book is a huge section of concept art in the beginning with some really cool stuff; I'll have to get my printer set up and scan a few choice images.

Some early ideas the art book revealed that weren't used:
-Vigor junkies, who would mutate from vigor overuse; the image showed a crystalized person, I guess they would have been this game's version of Splicers.
-A "claw daddy" that was like a Big Daddy, except with huge crab claws. Would have been too similar, but cool looking none-the-less
-"Splicers", which are people that merged with the version of themselves across tears into a mutated monster. Some were just a little offputting, while others were downright freaky

>>172647
Something tells me that some of these ideas will be re-used in a future Bioshock game. Wasn't there something like "six games' worth" of ideas omitted?

>>172538
>>172539
Gotcha. I wouldn't say "they're close because they're biologically related" is always true, but I'm willing to go with it.

>>172677
Dunno about the six games worth thing, but it's possible; a lot gets left on the cutting room floor during the initial discovery/design portion of a game.

And we still have DLC for Infinite (at least, we better, I paid for the damn season pass), so they could show up there instead of a sequel.

>>172677
Yeah, Gardner made a comment a few months before final release that they cut enough content for 5 or 6 games. Obvious exaggeration, though, and it was in the context of ideas specific to Infinite that they couldn't get to work right.

>>172644

>He uses the actual soundtrack from the game

Offensive video maker is credit to team.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/7124-Shock-Treatment?utm_source=latest&utm_medium=index_carousel&utm_campaign=all

So Moviebob just had an opinion about this game.

I think it sounds halfway rational.

How about you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRBaZuID7Mg

You know what really rustled my jimbos about this game? What really bit into me and chewed? Gird your loins, because this will probably be the stupidest complaint anyone makes about the game. Whatever, I gotta get it off my chest:

There's no God.

There's not even a possibility of a God. In a game about infinite alternate realities, where absolutely anything could exist, we don't even broach the subject of, what if there IS an omniscient entity ruling the universe? We spend all this time hearing about Heaven and judgment and angels, but in the end it's all bullshit, because that's what Ken Levine believes and we aren't allowed to consider anything different.

There was never anything holy about Columbia. That's a fine enough turn of plot in itself, but we aren't even presented with the remote possibility of a deity, in a game where we are constantly performing murderous miracles with Vigors and where man is stealing fire from the gods (Fink.) There's just so much potential for a bigger deism dialogue in BS Infinite, and they dropped it. What if you met God during your travels in Columbia? What if he wasn't white? Hell, what if you actually had to kill God as part of the plot, with the Luteces pitting you against him as a pawn in some kind of unholy quantum-men-vs.-holy-terror game of cosmic chess? Wouldn't that have been more interesting than "surprise, (x) character is in your family tree"?

I just think it's sad that we get all this religion, but no possibility (in an INFINITE multiverse) of there being a God. It'd have made for great conflict and some really fucked-up implications.

What do you guys think?

>>172715
I'm over 12 and not forced to attend church anymore, so those possibilities hold little appeal or depth to me.

>>172715
>Ken Levine believes
Really? It's not like the writers of the Simpsons are actually vegetarian Buddhists, it's just that the writers forced themselves into a corner when they had to make Lisa the good guy of almost every episode.

>>172716
I understand your sentiment, but may you be a little less patronizing?

>>172715
>>172716

>herewego.jpg

>>172715
Even as a Christian, it doesn't bother me. It's honestly not all that prominent to the core purpose of the story, and is used more like a setting. A tool to symbolize corruption of power through the abuse of faith and trust. There was far more that I did find interesting regardless of it.

>>172715
I think the game setting up an absurdly racist born-again Christian as its main antagonist was enough use of religious themes for me. Besides, these Biblical trappings are all just a narrative tool to further the game's message that you have to live with your choices and you can't be truly redeemed for monstrous acts no matter who's on your side. If Comstock had found absolution through some other religion or philosophy Columbia would just be centered around it instead.

But all that being said? I think things were originally intended to be slightly different: http://www.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/2013/01/18/bioshock-infinite-altered-after-conversations-with-religious-people-on-the-team-says-levine/

>>172715
>There's not even a possibility of a God.
Where in the game do you get that idea? The game never denies the possible existence of God. Are you referring to the exchange where Elizabeth asks Booker if he's afraid of God? His response was his own personal conviction. Are you referring to Comstock being a born-again Christian who uses religion as a means to control the masses? That's been done for eons, and still is. Incidentally, I think Comstock actually believed everything he said, and wasn't a heathen claiming to be religious in order to use the religion. Are you talking about Elizabeth and the twins being Timelords? That doesn't preclude the existence of God at all. The game is full of true believers, false believers, and non-believers everywhere.

The game wasn't about religion; the angels and prayers and everything were world building, giving you an idea of the state of mind of your average Columbian. It was about religion and poverty and greed and fascism and old time values and death and the unknown and labor disputes and clockwork androids. It never tried to answer the question of "Is there a God", so far as I recall, and there was absolutely no reason for it to do so. If anything, that would have diverged from the overall story of the game.

But even if the game does somehow state that, it doesn't bother me in the least.

>>172739

>‘I’m not going to change anything to get your approval, but I think I understand what you’re saying and I think I can do something that’s going to make the story better, based on what you said.’

My bullshit meter is going off the charts.

Bioshock Infinite Easter Egg -…

>Find guitar and have a sudden urge to play it
>Chick I've been hanging out with starts dancing and shit
>Gives conveniently placed orphan an apple, instead of money she keeps finding
>She stops when I quit playing the guitar
>We never speak of this again

>>172849
I don't know that this is an Easter Egg; it's only hidden if you absolutely never explore, and if you come down the stairs Elizabeth points it out almost right away.

>>172852
I'm still embarrassed that I missed it, really.

>>172853
I wouldn't be; you could miss that entire small portion of Finktown and never know it except to listen to a Voxaphone in the Police Station (which is how I initially found out about it, having gone straight from the train switch to the station). But once you're in that portion, you'd have to seriously avoid exploring to not find it.

>coming out of Good Time Club on 1999 mode
>Bunch of goons pop out of nowhere, as per usual
>Suddenly, remember that the skyhooks in Finktown are mysteriously unusable after you leave the Alpha Universe

WHOSE FUCKING IDEA WAS THAT. I WILL LEGITIMATELY SLAP THEM IN THE FACE.

I DIDN'T REPLAY FIGHTS FROM CHECKPOINT AND COLLECT ALL SKYLINE GEAR FOR THIS SHIT, GOD DAMN IT.

>>172983
Weh? I don't remember them not working after that point. In fact, on my last playthrough I made a point of remembering to go up there when my ammo ran low to collect weapons on the roof. (I didn't know about the rooftops on my first playthrough.)

AH-HA-HA!
Puns~

>>173181

>>173181
You're missing out.

I'm honestly surprised I've never seen Bioschlock.

>>173189
One also wonders why they haven't started selling "Biosmocks" among their merchandise.

>>173189
>perfect pic for a Space Jam mash-up
>there isn't one
>there is, however, the BIOSHOCK SONG
The BIOSHOCK Song

>>173189

Classic Game Room - BIOSHOCK INFINITE review

I'm not going to discuss Infinite at length, as everything that can be said has been said, but simply feel the need to put in my own two cents:

The game wasn't bad... but was disappointing. Even ignoring the convoluted ending, the game felt as though huge chunks were missing. While neither this nor the original had any replay value, at least Rapture had room to explore and rewarded you for doing so. Infinite seems rushed, unpolished, and cluttered with good ideas that aren't properly linked together.

Still, I've Redboxed far worse games (Aliens Colonial Marines and Red Faction Armageddon... ugh) so I can't complain too much about a game I basically spent $5 and a weekend on.

>>173368
>the game felt as though huge chunks were missing

Accord to Ken there is enough cut content for 3-4 games.

>>173371

But. . . Why would you cut that much content? Why?

Development costs money. Wouldn't it make sense to try and make that money back instead of throwing everything out the window at the last minute?

Why.jpg

>>173472
Deadlines. Likely much of the stuff cut was not fully fleshed out when they started putting everything together, or didn't work out the way they'd wanted it to, or there were changes made in the story that made game elements pointless or out of place.

A lot of this kind of stuff is probably going to be used for DLC. A few things we know that were planned and taken out:
1) Skylines would connect all of Columbia, instead of just being short hops (or, for some reason, closed loops.)
2) Elizabeth was originally more of a mage than a TimeLord/Q-Lite. Essentially she had God-tier versions of Plasmids (telekinesis, inferno, etc.) very early on.
3) After she went Timelord, Elizabeth was still able to open larger tears at will, as seen in the Horse demo.
4) Vigors were limited-use items, only allowing a few equipped at a time, and would have to be changed out (the artbook shows them as being small bottles you attach to a contraption on your arm, which is how they would be swapped out.)
5) Telekinesis was originally going to be a Vigor.

>>173473
That stuff I could live without. Most of it.

>>173472
Paraphrasing my understanding: they cut was 3 or 4 less-good iterations on Bioshock that were each 25-50% done.

Game design is like recipe design. You want to make something new, you gotta try it out and see if it's actually how you imagined.

>>173487
Bioshock Infinite's development was the stuff of nightmares, hence why there was so much staff hemorrhaging in the last year of production. If you're familiar with the development histories of Daikatana, Duke Nukem Forever, LA Noire and other rolling clusterfucks, they followed similar patterns of ego-driven ambitions, constant crunch times and ballooning costs. The frankly gob-smacking difference this time is how the game that came out of it is actually pretty awesome. It helps that the overbearing ego in this case was a reasonably cool guy who knew what he was doing (rather than a blowhard, a milksop or an utter asshole in the cases of the three examples above).

>>173494
Do you literally think Ken Levine is motivated by self-aggrandizing ego?

>>173494
>Ego
>Ken

>>173495
Well, not really, I think he's more motivated by ideas and finding the means to communicate them than by how awesome he thinks he is. "Ego" was the wrong word, "personality" might be more apt.

>>173502
Yeah, put that way your commentary makes alot of sense.

Listening to the soundtrack, and I just have to say, this is a sad game. There's not a single happy-ish song in the whole bunch. Come to think of it, there's no happiness in the game itself, either. It's all just deepening sadness. :(

>>173550
Happiness isn't 'deep'

>>173559
No, but they don't even have the fleeting happiness moments other games might give you, where you're going "oh hey maybe everything will be alright". It's just one, long, constant sadness.

>>173550
The original Bioshock had happy songs, but they were used to show how things had gone to hell since then.

So has enough time passed yet where we can talk about how this game basically leaned in and went "CHIM" at us with desperate, compromised game developer tears in its eyes?

>>173693

>"CHIM"

. . . I don't get it.

That said, the game's bungles are almost overshadowed by the fact that it came out at all. Emerging from Development Hell with anything approaching playability is an achievement(tm)

But the tinted lenses are off now and I see the game for the troubled, flawed thing that it is. I'm still really excited for the DLC, but I remain disappointed that a powerful and committed group like Irrational nearly managed to Duke Nukem their entire game.

>>173715
Elder Scrolls lore. Achieving "CHIM" is achieving godhood. I won't get into the specifics of it, but it means that a character basically takes the entirety of the existence of the game they belong to, and bends it into a shape of their preference. Like opening the ~command console, and directly changing the game.

>>173716

>>173716
>>173747

To be more accurate, it's a conversation about game design and characters who are aware they're in a game and using that to talk about game design, to boot.

Which is pretty much what Bioshock Infinite's ending is all about; talking about game design, limitations, ect. It's kinda a sad message in a bottle, really.

>>173550
http://youtu.be/pK74rxBDd-I

The hidden track sounded upbeat... right till you hear the words.

>>173751
Man, I wish I knew how to do advanced sound modifications. The 1000% percent is Elizabeth ("Time will catch up to me") and the 800% is Booker ("Time for me to drown to live"). I bet if you could split their respective parts out of their respective speeds and then put them together as one song, they would sync up great.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Jp_vKoxJgyk

BioShock Infinite Clash In The Clouds
Bioshock Infinite Burial At Sea DLC

Multiplayer idea!
Multiple Elizabeths all competing at some pointless task, such as:

Catch the puppy
Eat all the bonbons
Down the random jug of vigor first

Of course they'd find horrifying means to achieve their goals, but that would add to the humor.

There will be no multiplayer. Besides, game play is not the series strong suit. Then again, taking a more survival horror route might be just what the series needs to be a good game rather than just an interesting story.

Anyway, as happy as I am to see rapture and Elizabeth in noir style, I can't help but feel there's so much of Columbia I haven't seen orexperiemced.

>>178435
>Imagining the Elizabeths from the "baptism" scene slapping the shit out of one another over a corgi puppy

Fund it

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUCK YES. Great thing to wake up to.

Also, Burial at Sea is listed as "Episode 1"--here's hoping they do better at this episode thing than Valve.

>>178442
Oh I hope its different eras each time. If we get an '80s one..oh soo delicious. Have Elizabeth sing "I need a Hero".

Something tells me the DLC is set in an alternate universe where Booker and Elizabeth aren't related, done because they knew people were shipping them regardless.

>>178459
Oh man. Standard noir, but with tears. Rapture, Columbia, Future Libertarian Moonbase, the Vatican.

My body is ready.

>>178462
But what if I'm only shipping them BECAUSE they are related, huh?

Seriously tho my Bioshock Infinite OTP is Elizabeth in that corset / My Dick

>>178464
You and me, both, anon.
You and me, both.

Looks like Burial At Sea only goes to Episode 2, at least as far as the Season Pass is concerned:

http://www.bioshockinfinite.com/season-pass

>>178431
'Burial A Sea' looks pretty freakin awesome, but then again so did the original game.

"10/10 Near Perfect" My ass...

>>178463
>Future Libertarian Moonbase
Imagine that, moon people...

>>178467
The whole series suffers from a from a major focus on story over game play which is only serviceable most of the time. I'm not against better story, but it seems to be more and more apparent that people value story over what actually matters for a game. I still hold the concept that the series would make better books or comics.

Still, survival horror Elizabeth might work well.

>>178471
The story isn't all that great either, in Infinite the plot was all over the place after a certain amount of time and you could feel the troubled game development.

Plus alot of the "Major Themes" of the Bioshock Franchise are just "lol deep" in their execution during the game plot.

>over what actually matters for a game

What if that is what you care about in a game?

>>178473
I just think it's making a misuse of the medium if the game-play (what makes a game a game) suffers for the sake of another factor, like story. Bioshock Infinite (and the others to a degree) was a very straight forward story where none of the interaction made a major impact one way or another. The gameplay only served as a mild obstacle from one cutscene to another and wasn't really intuitive or practical for the world it was set in. I just think it would have been stronger in another medium instead of just being an interactive movie where you're pushed along set pieces for rudimentary gun play and traps.

It seems to be a trend that the more movie like a game is, the better it is, regardless of the gameplay. That's not something I necessarily want to see.

>>178474

Well, I don't agree. What interests me primarily in videogames (single-player ones anyway) is its potential as a storytelling medium, the way it involves the reader directly in the story, even if the interactive nature of the medium doesn't directly affect the course of the overall narrative.

>>178474
So you wanted/expected a more Mass Effect-like experience?

>>178476
Its not so much
>>the way it involves the reader directly in the story
as
>>Forcing the player to do something stupid with no other option and claim it as art

>>178477
Uh, are you trying to force him into some sort of false argument? Exapnd upon your pithy one-line post if you would be so kind.
If anything you can say the quality of BI's ending was closer to ME3 than anything...

>>178459
>>80's
That basically makes me remember Blood Dragon. Honestly I would love if a bioshock had that sort of open-worldness to it letting you REALLY explore and make the most of the fantastical sealed-city settings at your leisure.

>>178479
>Uh, are you trying to force him into some sort of false argument?
Uh, no. I was asking if he had hoped or expected that BI was going to have the same choice system found in games like Mass Effect. (While I know the hub-bub surrounding the ending of ME3, I haven't experienced it myself, and my comparison has nothing to do with either ending.) The "Choose your own adventure" style gaming, instead of just being there while events happen in a linear progression separated by battle, which I thought was what >>178474 was complaining about.

>>178478

The simple fact that you've defined it as 'forcing the player to do something' makes my point entirely.

>>178480
I believe the original pitch for the game involved an open world, as the Skylines were said to be quick transportation between sections of the city. Not to mention a number of other things, like tears being more prominent and at-whim in battle, a telekensis vigor, and vigors in general were also limited in equip like weapons in the final game.

>>178477
Not necessarily. I just don't think it's a good game because it doesn't make strong use of its medium. Having an interesting story and setting means nothing if your game play lacks punch and Infinite's was just dull. The games excellent presentation was impressive, but not what defines a game.

>>178476
And I don't think it took advantage of what the medium can do in terms of storytelling. All the advantage of interactivity amounted to choosing her pendant and if you got a bandage on your hand which you couldn't even see most of the time. The only advantage it really has as a game is the ability to move the story at your own pace while still experiencing the small set pieces that showed off the potential of the setting.

>>178489
We're of two minds, then; I felt the gameplay was very solid and the Skylines added a very nice dimension to fighting. I would never recommend the game solely on its battles, but I didn't think it detracted from the story in the least.

The tears... were just there, mostly. They were handy, but didn't offer much new ("tear" could easily be replaced with "drop" in CoD, with rare exception.)

From early options you're given, though, I was disappointed in the lack of branching paths, though you had no options after the first quarter of the game so I suppose it's not surprising. Likely an angle they had really wanted to flesh out and wasn't able to in time.

With Burial At Sea, since it seems to be a Noir story in a far more peaceful setting (as far as we've been shown), hopefully we get that branching story.

>>178464
>>178465
Eh, I guess it's an unpopular opinion for me, then. You put the hint that any two characters are are even remotely related, or just consider each other honorary non-blood-related family, and I can't ship them anywhere near each other.

On the other hand, you don't hear a terrible amount about Booker's wife...

>>178494
No, you seem to be missing the point, nothing serious to do with shipping is being said but instead simply that liz is hot as hell in that corset and as red-blooded males we find her most arousing.

Or perhaps this is just a cunning ruse to trick me into posting more images of her?

>>178494
So the "Elizabeth" in Burial At Sea is actually Anna's mother/-equivalent of that universe which is why she's older and has a resemblance to Anna-beth?

>>178495
Shiny plastic everything? That's UE3 for you!

>>178500
I'm sorry it does not meet with your approval.

>>178496
Mmmaybe? I kinda hate the "identical mother" trope too, but w/e.

>>178495
Nope. You post what you want, I'm neutral either way. She is hot in a corset though I'm in a relationship and can't find anyone except my girlfriend really that attractive rn, I just can't ship her with Booker. Absolutely any other character, and I'm 100% down with it.

Personally, I was curious about the Bioshock, but only enough to wait, look further into it, and see that it wasn't really to my tastes. The second looked like it might improve on the original, but apparently not in the direction I would have hoped. Infinite really cemented the idea that this is just the kind of game Irrational Games makes, and I'm fine with them sticking to their guns about this even if it means they never make a game I want to buy.

Waiting more to release teasers/previews could help give fewer false impressions, but since their first game came out I think it's been easy to see what priorities they have. They didn't seem to make a deliberate bait-and-switch, and there's enough developers out there that I don't need every franchise with potential to cater to me.

I remember reading (and being annoyed by) arguments from people who insisted that games just didn't put enough focus on story. That gameplay either somehow wouldn't be affected by making it a lesser priority, or that it should be sacrificed in the name "a more complete experience". Obviously, there's demand for games that are basically movies, and I have no problem with them existing, especially if it means I can sit down to talk about a nice, gameplay-focused title without people butting in with a bunch of "Durr hurr where tha deep stories at? Books can have deep plots why can't mah gaems?"

>>178505
Honestly all you can see is her backside, I didn't think it warrented a NSFW cover.

I'll quit posting images regardless though, yes.

>>178540
Yes, many will see that as a "gray area" image, which is why the image was removed and nothing more. Good rule of thumb: If it came from Paheal (the name indicates such), it should be NSFW. There will be exceptions, of course, but those are few and far between. "Naked ass" also falls under NSFW, at least here in Amerikkka.

Feel free to keep posting images if you like, just keep that in mind when considering use of NSFW tag.

Clash in the Clouds is a rush so far, it feels like playing Mann vs Machine, but solo. Went up against two Handymen and a Motorized Patriot, though. That is a fight that just isn't fair.

Try fire hallow hat, electric vest, overkill boots, charge vigor, and volly gun/ hand cannon between charges. Everyone will die.

>>178464
>>178495
As beautiful as Elizabeth is I just can't enjoy this kind of stuff. Even though I don't find Ellie or Ellen Page attractive at all I would probably have an easier time fapping to them (obviously the former would have to age up a few years because I'm not a sicko).

I think it's the weird and vaguely unsettling Disney proportions that turn me off.

>>178547
Do not type "Disney Princess" into an un-childprotected search engine then.

>>178548
Oh man I know about that stuff. They're still plenty cartoony. It's more that Elizabeth takes them to a new uncanny valley level.

>Infinite DLC
>2/3 are in Rapture, so more of Levine wanking to his overhashed ideas
>Sexed-up, older Elizabeth for the players to wank to
>The only one based in Colombia is basically a giant multiplayer compensation-fest, which Infinite was originally supposed to avoid at all costs

I'm so done. I'm out. Fuck you Levine, and fuck you for raising me hopes for DLC that actually expands the universe and doesn't just feature MOAR GUNZ MOAR WAIFU.

Fucking Jews in my vidyagame industry. I'm going back to GBA.

My bet is they couldn't come to a good idea for Columbia and only fairly recently decided to make it about Rapture yet again. This battle thing is just something to try to make up for the long ass wait.

Doesn't make up for the lack of Columbia content in...Columbia.

>>178547
>>178550
I'm fine with her proportions. You know what turns me off? The fact that her eyes don't go in different directions like in the edited pics. I find that shit adorable *and* hilarious at the same time.

but what if this elizabeth is the last elizabeth you see standing in the river after she drowns booker and she's come to rapture to kill the straggler. its called burial at sea and all. also if you think we're not going to see columbia in some capacity in this dlc youre crazy

>>178556
If we are getting Columbia story content, it won't be for quite a while.

>>178557
Considering the ending of BI, I'd be incredibly surprised if Burial At Sea doesn't go in the other direction.

>>178558
I want 70s moon base.

>>178560
>>178480
>>178459
>>178463
If Bioshock Infinite had DLC that basically turned it into Time Splitters that would actually be awesome

>>178561
They could easily repurpose their assets a la Blood Dragon and I would unironically throw money at them.

>>178566
I'm so glad Blood Dragon was a stand-alone game, Far Cry 3 did not appeal to me at all but I LOVED everything abouit BD.

Is it true its getting a sequel?

>>178561
Considering we haven't seen anything related to Time Splitters in awhile, I'd be all for it.

>>172508
There's also
Big Daddy
Booker Dewitt

>>178555
Huh? Mind posting any?

HYD7P-MNI58-9FHWH

4VL0G-8P6FV-4D48H

>>178619

I more meant that Levine was ripping off 2K Australia, but that works too. Booker is such an asshole that I kind of like when bad things happen to him.

>>178679
<3 (I only took the first, the second is still free AFAIK.)

>>178679
I grabbed the second one. Thanks!

Tevis Thompson, a writer for Grantland and the Zelda-inspired comic Second Quest, wrote an essay about why Bioshock Infinite is the worst games of the year.

>It’s an unjustified shooter without a single new idea. It’s a self-gratifying spectacle that confuses cunning with depth. It’s a craven, heartless game of false moral equivalencies that uses the suffering of oppressed people as window dressing, as theme, while it explores its own cold metaphysical conceits.

>For its lack of humanity, for its fake guilt, for its flat boring gameplay, for its 100 million dollar cost, for its cleverness, for its cowardice, BioShock Infinite is not just the worst game of the year. It’s the worst game I’ve played this generation.

He then goes on about the lack of diverse opinions seen from reviewers on the game.

>The question is not: why do none of these reviews agree with me? It is: why do they all agree with each other? Where is the diversity of opinion? Where is the spirited debate? In the aggregate, it becomes clear that the problem is not any one review. It’s all the reviews.

>I don’t expect every reviewer to give BioShock Infinite a 2 out of 10, as I would. But I expect to see more dissent than that offered by excellent outliers like Game Critics or Quarter to Three or Action Button. I expect to see more actual criticism in the video game review community. I expect to not have perspectives like mine looked upon as trolling.

>Reviews are not about finding agreement. They are not based on commonly held values. As if anyone is sure just what makes a video game great. It’s all contested ground. It’s our values as gamers that are exactly at stake in reviews. We shouldn’t be asking whether BioShock Infinite deserves a 9 or a 10. We should be asking whether it deserves a 2 or a 10. That’s a real debate.

The whole thing is worth reading.

http://tevisthompson.com/on-videogame-reviews/

>>181907
I agree with about 95% of what he said, but there's no way I would consider Infinite to be 2 out of 10 even with all its many many flaws.

As long as this thread is being bumped, I'll report this here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=690065
>In August, the Games For Windows LIVE service marketplace closed and some of you wondered what would happen to BioShock 2 on PC. We remain committed to supporting BioShock 2 on PC and are excited to announce that starting today the game is available via Steam. Not only that, but the Steam version of BioShock 2 includes all available multiplayer downloadable content, as well as the single player “Protector Trials” DLC, for $19.99!

>If you have already purchased BioShock 2 through a different digital partner, we’ve got you covered. Simply take the same game activation key you already own and “activate” it within Steam.

I will add that when I tried to activate my key on Steam, it was initially rejected because there was a space on the front. So if you copy and paste (say, from Amazon, where I bought my digital copy), looking out for errant spaces, because Steam haet Trim().

>>181907
Ehhhhh from what you've posted it sounds like he's trying to get views by being 5edgy7me. A large part of this is because, from what you posted, it seems his focus is 100% on the story:
>It’s a craven, heartless game of false moral equivalencies that uses the suffering of oppressed people as window dressing, as theme, while it explores its own cold metaphysical conceits.
Which might be okay, if this was a book or even a movie. (And that's been the theme for the entire series, so I hope he makes a mention of hating BS1/2 just as much.)

>We should be asking whether it deserves a 2 or a 10.
And this part is just wrong to me. A proper game review takes into account all parts of a game: Graphics, story, gameplay, controls. Even if he is right and the story/setting is horrible, the gameplay is very solid, if safe, and the graphics are great, so it's not even in the realm of a 2/10. That kind of score is reserved for games that are incredibly broken or offensive, like Big Rigs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Rigs:_Over_the_Road_Racing

I might give a read later, but I expect nothing worthwhile.

>>181910
He didn't enjoy the gameplay (he wouldn't be alone), so he didn't give it any points for that. And I kinda understand a focus on the story for the same reason people didn't "look over" the story for Other M (which also had subjectively meh gameplay) - it's not an excuse plot game, it deliberately makes the story unignorable because it's PROUD of it, which is a sure fire way to make anything even more obnoxious.

>>181910
>>181907
That's the same moron that thinks making bomb-able walls distinct in A Link to the Past was a bad thing, and would have us go back to the days of tediously bombing every rockface one-by-one like in the first LoZ. Take his opinion with a cup of salt.

>>181913
Or just make the bombed walls hold a small but unimportant bonus like a shortcut or extra rupees.
And/or find a way to make it not so pointlessly obvious.

>>181907
Zeroing in on just one point, I'm relieved that someone else was also creeped out by daughterfu/companion cube concept being applied to a grown ass woman like Elizabeth (instead of an animal like Shadow of the Colossus or an actual helpless child in Bioshock 1/2) and it being called progressive and groundbreaking.

It's a good critique of game reviews but it's pretty shit as a game review in itself. Only an idiot would say Infinite didn't have it's flaws but even if you flat-out hated it calling it the worst game of the year is obvious hyperbole when 2012 also saw the release of utterly broken games like The War Z. And even if you move past the hyperbole it's full of obvious contrarianism. It's also full of offhand judgments of games he clearly never actually played, or at least never played more than an hour of.

Basically, a total lack of nuance. Which works fine when he's talking about theoretical structures like 'what should the shape of game reviews be' but not so much when he starts wading into concrete specifics.

And fuck him on the Zelda bombs thing.

>>181918
2013, and even then he's wrong because broken trainwrecks like Aliens: Colonial Marines, Ride to Hell: Retribution, and Day One: Garry's Incident all came out this year.

In a weird way "worst of the generation" feels less exaggerated than "worst of the year". For the former the regular garbage doesn't get nominated, it's for something where you despise what it represents (in this case big budget self-important titles that coast on razzle dazzle, I guess).

>>181916
I would be okay with that if the game made sure to reference non-visably-bombable walls somehow (Zelda 1 did this for some things; in fact, it was the ones it didn't reference that were minor finds). Little pisses me off more than games chock full of content that you have to randomly stumble on with some luck (like events that you can only find during a small window in the story, and then you have to backtrack half way across the map to somewhere you wouldn't think of going at that point in the game), or read a guide to find out about it. If they're little easter eggs, that's understandable, but when they can have a baring on gameplay it's annoying. I love exploration and discovery, but it's equally as important to have a hint of where/how to explore.

>>181929
Agreed. Bioshock Infinite is in my personal Top 10 Games, but it still has flaws, especially if you want to look at gameplay previewed but cut. Discussion flaws and how much they affect the game is fine, or if the gameplay offers anything fresh, or if the story is worthwhile; but I can't look at >>181907 without thinking "self-important twerp" (I did open the article, but the "I'll use 40% of your screen width and no more" layout combined with "everything proper is lowercase" is something I attribute primarily with artist/photographer websites and just annoys me personally as a web developer, so I'm not even going to bother reading it after what Jumpman posted.)

>>181926

You're right, I don't know why I was thinking 2012.

Forget the Zelda bombs, forget the layout, forget the tumblry "those darn privileged cis people!" vibe, forget the 2 out of 10 (the writer even goes into detail as to why the point system is so broken see: point 10). Don't just be dismissive.

The "review" isn't based on comparison of other games like it, nor is it based on the overall presentation. It's focused on how the game serves the medium as a whole and the writers own personal interpretation of those values.

Agree or not, it's worth a full read.

>>181937 
>forget the tumblry "those darn privileged cis people!" vibe 
You (general you, not accusing) would have to have an enormous victim complex to take that out of the article.

>>181939
True enough. But I can see the phrasing that would writhe "you" into a frenzy.

>>181937
>Agree or not, it's worth a full read.
I don't support poor web design. :(

That's really more the fault of the typical blog layout than anything else.

>>181942
>"everything proper is lowercase"
What do you mean by that? I don't see any missing capital letters (video game titles are captialized, etc.)

>>181945
It's actually only the title (look at the tab/window name for that page), I was severely exaggerating.

So when the fuck is Burial at Sea going to be released? Do you chaps think it'll be worth playing? Personally if it doesn't have dual wielding Plasmids and Vigors and a retcon of BSI's ending I am going to be mad as all hellfire. Plus do we really need to be returning to Rapture? We already had BSII, why do we need more Andrew Ryan wankfests? I want to see more of Columbia and do that district travel thing, not shoot my way through an extended self-congratulation by Levine to himself for making BSI.

>>181907

This guy makes some decent points but the whole "look at me, I'm against the grain" thing is incredibly annoying and childish.

>>181977
Dude, they just announced the date: Nov. 12.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/10/25/bioshock-infinite-burial-at-sea-release-date-announced/

As for going back to Rapture, we're going back to a pre-NYE Rapture. We saw this briefly in the beginning of BS2, but so far we've only been in dystopic Rapture. Now we're going to see it when normal folk are still walking around in an almost-dystopic setting.

>>181978
So are the games going to have the sort of 'open world' gameplay dealie they keep missing out on?

>>181979
Well, the trailers suggest you're a detective and part of the gameplay (as Booker, Elizabeth gets Ep 2) is looking for clues while exploring the environment... so probably not.

>>181980
Probably half "detective" work and half shooting.
I don't expect it to be very long or complex, but I hear the actual gameplay is improved. You get multiple guns back for one. Instead of that swap out 2 as you get them crap.

Anyone else watch the preview?

It feels like they took the writing department out back, shot them and hired a dog.

>Booker: WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME
>Liz: You'll see
>Booker: WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME
>Liz: Blah blah blah Rapture sucks
>Booker: WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME
>Liz: Shut up

And what the hell, now Booker has three names for one (two?) daughter(s)? Why couldn't they just keep Anna?

Not that I've played either game, but as a silly fan-theory/fanfic, what if Professor Fitz Quadrangle from Quantum Conundrum was an alternate Comstock/Booker who diverged *before* the baptism? Or something along those lines where he's playing around with the same multiverse.

What I really mean to ask is "What if fluffy dimension big daddies?"

>>182264
>>182265
>Try to wait until discussion slows down to post a dumb thing.
>Get ninja'd by relevant discussion.
:I

>>182264
>And what the hell, now Booker has three names for one (two?) daughter(s)? Why couldn't they just keep SPOILER?
Heh heh heh.
Heheheheheh!

http://www.vg247.com/2013/11/11/bioshock-infinite-burial-at-sea-episode-one-review-round-up/

>>182515
So, from just the scores, it looks to be a bit better than "meh"; certainly not the rousing scores the original game garnered.

Buuuuuut I'm still hype as fuck and I have so many video games to play shit. And I'll avoid reading full reviews because I want to go into Burial at Sea as clueless as I did the main game.

BioShock Infinite: 15 Minutes …
This is what we could have gotten instead? It looks far more interesting. The actual game seems so neutered in comparison.

>>182524
Despite how much I love the game, there was a lot of stuff that was shown off over the entire development time but ultimately cut. However, most of what we see in the video was included in the game, but not in such close proximity and not in that specific arrangement: the lines about not letting Songbird take Elizabeth are exactly the same, as is the final confrontation with the creature (albeit in a slightly different scenario.) Weapons and vigors were as in the final game with a few graphical changes (though you don't have the two-vigor limit, and I'm still not sure if I like that change or not.)

There was a lot from the video that I would have liked to see in the final game: The scene with the postman would have been a great turnaround to the opening public execution in the game. The horse scene was, IMO, pretty powerful, and it's sad it got removed; I think it was the "definitive" scene used to talk about BI after that E3. There are no environmental tears, like the railcar that takes out the three guys lofted by Bucking Bronco.

I was hoping that Burial at Sea would include a lot of the lost stuff, but with the extremely short playtime (2 hours on a straight run, 3-4 if you do a lot of exploration) it's highly unlikely.

Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll do a Director's Cut in a few years? I wish more games would do Director's Cuts, taking stuff that was cut, finishing it up, and putting it back in the game. Doubly so if it greatly expands the story.

>>182526
The environments alone are far more enticing.
Big and open as opposed to the cramped hallway feeling for most of the game, in spite of taking place in the sky.

Played about two hours. I'm probably a half hour from the end of Ep 1, but I need to stop for the night. Few things to mention:
1) Despite the different location, feels like the same game as BI itself. Whether this is good or bad I'll leave up to the reader.
2) Way to be subtle, Irrational.
3) I heard the wheel weapon was returning, but I can't figure out how to trigger it, and there's nothing on the keyboard control screen for it. :/ I assume it's there, as I can't pick up old weapons, but hell if I know how to use it.
4) Radar Range is kinda fun.
5) Be careful entering tight areas. I entered a changing room, and when I turned around Elizabeth was right at the door. No matter how much I would run up against her, all she would do is stand up, turn around, and crouch back down. I had to attack the turret outside of the room (which I was trying to avoid for the moment) to make her AI change and run somewhere else. If this had happened without an enemy present, I likely would have had to restart

3) I heard the wheel weapon was returning, but I can't figure out how to trigger it, and there's nothing on the keyboard control screen for it. :/ I assume it's there, as I can't pick up old weapons, but hell if I know how to use it.
Hold down the E button. If you're using defaults.

>>182553
>If you're using defaults.
Thanks, that seemed to be the issue. I had my controls customized, and E was my Nav Guide key. Scroll wheel was my only method of changing weapons, and that will only cycle between the two most recent ones.

I changed to defaults, but now I can see the weapon wheel. I'll have to re-customize, but at least now I'm not stuck using plasmids if I run out of ammo on a recent weapon...

WELL.
FUCK.
DID NOT SEE THAT COMING.

I must admit I am increasingly glad I cancelled my preorder

>>182563
What, interesting story twist?

>>182563
I already went into it assuming the Booker you played was actually Comstock. But that that version's Anna dying, whoa.

Just finished it. What >>182563 said.

>>182584
I didn't, on the first, and HOLY FUCKING SHIT on the second. They made it pretty obvious early on that this was the same Elizabeth. It was also obvious that Booker was misplaced, as well, because of the AD easily seen in the early "flashes". But that he was Comstock, and a different Comstock, and that his battle with his alternate Dewitt caused Anna's head to be removed instead of her pinky... holy shit. Just holy shit. And then you die. Like a bitch. While warpaint Elizabeth watches.

But why is Elizabeth there? This wasn't purely for revenge over one dead Anna, and we know she's still there in Episode 2. Is she tracking down errant Comstocks? Did Booker's "Baptism" not finish the job, or did that only take care of the Booker and Comstock that we started Infinite as? Are the Siblings Lutece counterparts for this Comstock? If so, how? Comstock is the one that ordered their deaths and turned them into Timelords, so without him did their machine fuck up, anyway? Is this even the same Elizabeth from the main game?[/spoilers] Some questions answered, a bunch of new ones asked.

My theory was that [spoiler]Booker's "Baptism" in BI was the death of every Booker, causing every Comstock to never exist in the first place. This was mainly due to the appearance of multiple Elizabeths before it happens. But Episode 1 calls this into question.

Why exactly did Elizabeth need to have Comstock killed? He already abandoned Columbia and his crazy preaching and was pretty much harmless at this point.

>>182591
I'm sure we'll find out in Ep 2.

>H-hey, Liz and Book are working together again, maybe we can come to some resolution on the awful turn their friendship took in BSI--
>NOPE
>NOPE NOPE NOPE

For fuck's sake, all I want is for one Booker and one Elizabeth to be best buds and pal around saving the multiverse, is that too much to ask?

So far the moral of Bioshock Infinite seems to be "fuck you" and the DLC is just "fuck you some more." I love Irrational but what? Just. . . what? Why do they hate the players so damn much?

That horrible mangled noise that comes out of Bookerstock when he gets the Big Daddy D, holy jesus fuck.

>>182593
Shocking gore and TWEESTS are 'deep'.

>>182594

Isn't it a great way to end a game? I was just blown away by how carefully planned and foreshadowed your horrible, horrible death was. In fact, it's almost the exact same feeling I had when finishing the main game's storyline. Wonder why that is? Maybe because it's the exact same twist, with the exact same characters in the exact same positions?

>>182596

Actually, there was a good homage in the ending because the way Bullshitstock dies is exactly the same as what happened to the character from Bioshock's original teaser trailer.

Bioshock: Upon reaching climactic resolution of story, instead find big twist which recontextualizes all your actions until this point. Turns out that climax resolution of story has actually been postponed another whole act, thus kinda mucking with game's pacing despite actual gameplay being pretty great.

Bioshock Infinite: Twist reveal is instead placed as very last line of entire game, i.e. end of a climactic resolution that only makes sense (and is thus evident as being climactic revolution) in light of said twist. As such, game's entire story cannot actually work the first time you experience it.

Burial at Sea: Entire plot of game is abruptly disregarded in middle of your genuinely heroic quest's gratuitously tense climactic resolution, in order to reveal a surprising twist about game's starting premise and then immediately kill you because you're a bad person.

>>182620
Because you where a bad person

>>182624
Who remembers this fact while LITERALLY trying to prevent an orphan from being burned alive. An orphan who ACTUALLY WAS his adoptive daughter. It's like Irrational was TRYING to create a moment where letting the little girl go was the worst thing our character could possibly do. Why the FUCK was Elizabeth telling you to do so?

>>182626
I suppose we're supposed to find that out on the next episode.

>>182627
Right now, the only answer I can see (that isn't outright shitty storytelling) is that Elizabeth is no longer a good person. She's not killing Comstocks to protect the timelines, she's doing it for personal gratification. The point of this entire rescue mission was to trigger the restoration of his memories, so that she could watch him die while knowing the reason why.

Sally? Who cares what happened to her? Not Elizabeth, she's got hypocritical moral judgements to pass on someone ELSE who didn't care enough about a little girl they'd claimed to want to help.

>>182620
Yes, it did have very poor build up to that reveal. There were some hints, well, there was one hint, repeatedly, and it never really led you anywhere.

>>182626
>while LITERALLY trying to prevent an orphan from being burned alive
Yes, from a fire that YOU started. Well, you told Liz to start. It was her idea in the first place, actually. And, as you said, she then says to give it all up. My best guess at this point is she wanted Comstock to remember who he was before he died, and decided the best way to do that would be to get him following Sally. But petty revenge doesn't seem in-character for her, but she's a Timelord, so who knows. Episode 2 will hopefully answer the why. I predict that it ends with Elizabeth either dying or going back to become Lady Comstock, with lines about completing a circle.

That said, the final fight was pretty kick ass. Even playing on medium, I found it pretty hard, though it might have been due to sloppiness or having to reconfigure my keypad layout slightly and still getting used to it.

>>182631
Well...

>>182636
so who is the girl? Johnny Topside's kid?

>>182634
Yeah, without an Elizabeth became an evil bastard justification the whole thing comes off as entrapment.

>>182552
>>182554
Oh... I just assumed the game was glitching out on me when I dropped my carbine for a shotgun and didn't see a carbine model pop out of me. Or when I couldn't pick up extra tommy guns. I had no idea I could hold all the guns. Had to go through most of the game with melee attacks because of the low ammo count, which was fine with all the close quarters and the melee centric equipment they gave you.

Why were there Mechanized Patriots in the the tears? Does that imply there was an alternate universe where Rapture is underwater Columbia? Also, Mechanized Samurai: what?

>>182703
Elizabeth can do space and time, especially now (there's a Samurai, also), so the only thing it shows is a laziness on IG's part. Would have been awesome if you could tear in a friendly Big Daddy...

Also, I realized I never picked up the Bucking Bronco. Guess I'll play through it again and try to find it.

>>182708
>Guess I'll play through it again and try to find it.
It's really not worth it.

You can use it and then Old Man Winter to make them fall and shatter, but it's just faster and and uses less eve to just melee them while frozen.

>>182717
Aye, but there's a particular point I want to use it at. When you enter the Electronics section, the very right side (behind where the two splicers are trying to coax out the girl) is filled with water, electrified by some television sets. Across the way there's a dry platform. I'm pretty sure I can use Bucking Bronco to lift the TVs out so the water is not electrified, but I never got it.

...Actually, Old Man Winter could probably have been used to freeze it, too. o well.

>>182723
Yes, you can use OMW to get over it. And that just happens to be where BB is.

Even if you could get to it without being shocked to death not using OMW, it couldn't be used to lift them out of the water.

>>182737
Oh, haha! Well, so much for those ideas, then. Thanks for the info.

So now that the thing is out, what's the verdict on this comment?

http://www.bluesnews.com/s/146210/bioshock-infinite-burial-at-sea-episode-1-next-month

>"Bioshock Infinite will be a love letter to the fans"

I vote no. Fun gameplay aside, don't take my money and then Shyamalan me a second time.

>>182851
Its like you are paying to be abused if you give them money for Bioshock Infinite DLC, I mean its so obvious they were going to spring a TWEEST on you

>>182851
It sounds about right. If you were a big fan of Infinite itself, that likely includes the ending; Burial at Sea Ep 1 gives more of the same.

>>182855
It's still kind of funny, even in a completely neutral way, for a franchise that's made out of (and responsible for popularizing) "fuck you player" twists.

>>182858

>B-but that's wrong, Jimbo!

>System Shock 1+2: Dickish NPCs but no game changing sudden revelations.
>Bioshock I: A disturbing third act twist, foreshadowed very sneakily for the whole game, hinted at by audio logs and eventually revealed without trying to send a serious moral message.
>Bioshock 2: No real attempt at a shocking ending other than the various endings created by your actions as the player.
>Bioshock Infinite: A clumsy, but interesting twist using time travel and quantum paradoxes. Bizarre and not the best storytelling out there, but only a "fuck you" if you were expecting the usual dual ending.
>BSI: BaS p1: An utterly inexplicable, sudden and poorly foreshadowed "twist" at the very end, with no climactic buildup, introduced into an already perfectly moving and emotional story for no apparent reason.

It'll be a miracle if Irrational manages to magic this away with p2. Their attempts at "surprise" twists continually lean towards abrupt ending cutscenes. In these the character is scolded, told they are a very, very bad, immoral, reprehensible person and then horribly killed. For no reason other than shock value.

It's tiresome, it's pointless and it's insulting to the intelligence of the players.

>>182921
>A list of franchise ending that demonstrate that this isn't a trend
>Go on talking like it's a trend anyway

????

You know what grinds my gears?

People complaining that BaS part 1 didn't answer any questions and revealed an inexplicable twist. No shit nothing got answered and it doesn't make sense. They aren't done with the fucking story.

You all read half of a book and threw it at a wall and started grumbling "WELL THIS DIDN'T ANSWER ANYTHING!"

>>182927
I think it's partly because of the Half Life episodes (and some other poor experiences with episodic releases), people don't automatically assume that the second half will ever come out. But maybe that's being overly cynical.

If you look upthread a lot of the complaints about the twist are about poor foreshadowing and the dissatisfaction with the placement of the twist, which is another issue entirely.

>>182931
Adding to this, I realize that this sounds dismissive of your complaints of the type of comments you actually brought up, and I want to say sorry. That was unintentional.

>>182927
There's a difference between a tense cliffhanger ending (that clearly communicates "oh no, our hero doesn't know if person X is alive or dead") and a borderline nonsensical one (that suddenly disregards person's X's very existence).

>>182927
>You all read half of a book and threw it at a wall and started grumbling "WELL THIS DIDN'T ANSWER ANYTHING!"
Last time I checked, publishers don't sell half-books, and for good reason. When selling a series in discreet parts, there's generally an expectation that each part be enjoyable enough as a self-contained story despite also needing to fit as part of a larger work.

Bioshock (1&2) took a look at a roughly-anarchistic society separate from the world (underwater) and its turn to dystopia.
Bioshock Infinite took a look at a religion-based caste/racist society that turned totalitarian then revolution (the outcome of which we don't know and probably never will).
Both of these communities absolved themselves of existing governments/countries.

For the third view (fourth game) (I'm sure there will be one, as I believe BI made a boatload of money), I'd like to see a view of the opposite: a city-state built in an otherwise desolate area through the cooperation of governments, intended to be a utopia of different people working together under and for a proper judicial government to solve world problems, which turns into a fascist, run-away system.

To keep with the "places cities normally aren't in other times", it should be on the Moon in 2050. They can do mechanical augmentations as that version of Gene Tonics, mass surveillance (bring back (good) hacking!), and more.

>>183722
I want it to be the moon in the 1970's.
Super mod designs and everything.

>>183726
I know what you need.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss4r7SMLnms

>>183734
I do need that.

>>183748
Would be the prefect way to round this out. Though what would you call a city on the moon.

>>183766
Mootopia.

>>183872
Mascot is a Space Cow. Udder Cannons.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/8642-Top-5-Games-of-2013
Yahtzee proclaims Infinite his #1 least-hated game of the year.

>>184557
I don't get it.
I just don't.

I've played this game every which way and I just don's see the grand appeal.

>>184566
Think of it as a summer blockbuster. People adore them even though they're not especially good films.

Whose Yahtzee?

>>184569
I wouldn't say he belongs to anyone, but he makes videos for Escapist magazine, so in a way I guess you could say he's theirs.

>>184570
Good job.

(In all seriousness though Yahtzee is laughably terrible.)

Yahtzee is fine. He makes some okay videos in ZP, his books are actually decently funny, as are his LPs and podcasts that he does with his friend.

People just get mad because he criticizes games they like.

>>184571
I keep thinking he fell out of fashion years ago.

>>184572
Ha ha no. What next, you're going to say everybody's just jealous?

>>184574
>What next, you're going to say everybody's just jealous?
Course not. Just stating observed patterns.
>Yahtzee nitpicks game someone hates
>"See? He goes right for it, shows why this game is shit."
>Yahtzee nitpicks game someone likes
>"He's just bad at game/He doesn't know what he's talking about/he stopped being popular ages ago"

It's pretty much what you see happen with every popular critics really. Nobody actually wants criticism, they just want their opinions validated.

>>184576
You realize that there's no video game hivemind and there's actually multiple people with different opinions. And guess what - some of those people just think he's an unfunny and unclever person.

>>184577
>You realize that there's no video game hivemind and there's actually multiple people with different opinions.
Well of course.
>And guess what - some of those people just think he's an unfunny and unclever person.
Probably, however I've literally never heard a single criticism of Yahtzee that didn't go "Well he said this about this game ergo"

Can you elaborate as to WHY you think he's so terrible?

>>184579
I just did!

>>184576
Personally, I just think that active, emphatic vitrol like Yatzhee's is best used as a way of lampooning the worst games available rather than as an actual method of reviewing games in general. When the problems are only mild, it's less what I think of the game so much as how the lack of material shows, with the exaggeration feeling more like a deliberate effort at reaching for something than a string of off-hand insults. It was nice when he talked about a few games he liked, at first, but mostly as a novelty, a break form his usual pace of things, and a source of clarifying counter-examples to complaints used in the other reviews.

>>184579
>I've literally never heard a single criticism of Yahtzee that didn't go "Well he said this about this game ergo"
>Can you elaborate as to WHY you think he's so terrible?
All the man does is talk about games what exactly are you looking for here

>>184601
Something focusing on his specific style, rather than "he said this game was bad but I still have fun with it". His hyperbole is a little overblown and it skews what you might think of the game if you only go to him for reviews. Critically, I believe he is actually on point, however that level of critical thinking isn't needed to enjoy every game. Additionally, his lack of focus on multiplayer games cuts his range in half, and if you read between the lines he isn't exactly the best at vidya.

Critics and the press will never be as good as enthusiasts skillwise. It's a time and focus issue.

On Yahtzhee himself, I do think he's hurt by capitulating to demands to always be choleric. I never would have guessed he even liked Infinite or Rising for example.

>>184632
what

>>184634
The joke is you can't buy shit

Burial at Sea: Episode Two -- …
Timelord Elizabeth has gotten herself captured
Bookerstock is now a ghost or something
Not the greatest set up, but I'm still looking forward to it. Still no release date.

>>185116
Looks like it's going to be a massive ass pull.

>>185132
So... business as usual for them then?

>>185140
Seems so.

Attempting to be too clever by half.

>>185151
Yeah. While the foreshadowing in Episode 1 was horrible, the setup and ending made sense, except for why Elizabeth is timelord hopping to exact revenge for dead Annas, which will hopefully be explained in Ep2.

But as for how she gets captured by some thugs when she can rend space and time, they're going to have one hell of an ass-pull explanation for it, if any. I can accept Ghost Dad Bookerstock, though.

>>185152
GOO-GOOB PLASMEEEEEEDS PIPPITY POPPITY PUDDING

Also I didn't realize that movie had such a horrible tagline for Cosby.

>>185151
Infinite as a whole attempted to be too clever.

http://irrationalgames.com/insider/bioshock-infinite-burial-at-sea-episode-two-available-march-25th/
Oh look she wields a crossbow ~yay~

>>185116

I really, really hope this includes a scene where Elizabeth asks Booker why he's helping her, and he responds with something like "Dames, can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

I definitely smell an asspull coming, though. I remember when I still hoped that Burial at Sea wouldn't be an elaborate excuse for another fat paycheck to Levine and the VAs. Why couldn't we have had buddy-cop timelord-Liz and redeemed Booker? Why?!. So much lost potential.

>>185315
PINKY.

>>185416
Oh shit yeah that's a rather big deal.

>>185416
It's on the hand holding the crossbow. You just don't see it because, well...it's too short to reach around.

>>185422
That would mean that her index finger is the one below the trigger guard?
I mean, yeah, trigger discipline and all, but that seems a little excessive to me.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/18/bioshock-dev-irrational-games-has-layoffs-changes-focus
>Release very successful game
>Decide you want to do something different and have a small studio
>Lay off all but 15 people in your studio
What the fuck, Levine. Would it have been so hard to sell or release control of your studio and take the 15 people to a new one? Sure, those left behind probably would have enjoyed their job less, but they'd still have a job while they search for a new one.

Man, what a fuckhead.

>>185622
There's probably more to it than that.

>>185630
Oh?
Tell us your thoughts Jumpman.

>>185631
I don't really have anything specific. It just looks like something isn't being said here. This may be Take Two's decision and not Levine's, but again, speculation.

As of now, nothing indicates Bioshock Infinite was over-budget or failed to meet financial demands.

Interesting take on the situation.

>>185634
>“While I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished together,” Levine wrote, in part, “my passion has turned to making a different kind of game than we’ve done before. To meet the challenge ahead, I need to refocus my energy on a smaller team with a flatter structure and a more direct relationship with gamers. In many ways, it will be a return to how we started: a small team making games for the core gaming audience.”
>I'm throwing everyone out almost everyone that helped me make a great game so I can continue to make great games.
Unless he's trying to cover T2's ass for some reason, looks like stupid, honest bullshit to me.

>>185635
I agree that taking four years to produce one game and one game only, no matter how grand, is dumb, but that doesn't excuse Levine getting rid of almost everyone; in fact, his actions only make it more likely that he will spend four years putting out a single mediocre game than anything else.

Gaming devs need a giant shake up, and part of that is dropping the "one at a time" focus most are doing. They can certainly have one giant AAA game that everyone takes part in over many years, but they should also have "A" and even cheap "B" games that they do during that time to give themselves a source of income. But you need a large team for this to happen, so he's shit outta luck in that department.

>>185638
That presumes he plans on making a AAA game at all.

>No one talks to the games press officially. I wish they did, but I get it. They want to keep their jobs. Let's just say multiple people within a studio were willing to risk their careers to confirm to me that yes, in fact, if their game didn't sell extremely well, like exponentially more than its predecessor or "well" according to a matrix of time and cost investment and desired profit, that their studio would be closed in a year.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/211139/Irrational_Games_journalism_and_airing_dirty_laundry.php

More on Levine and Take Two.

http://kotaku.com/the-power-brokers-behind-some-of-gamings-top-people-1526248675

Zone getting recognition.

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/02/hyper-mode-elizabeth-comstocks-last-hurrah.html

>>185768
>I'm going to write a two page essay on a porn parody
>And I'll spend much of this referring to myself, my past articles, and how much I prefer the porn over the game
Much pretentious.

Not that the parody is bad; I got my hands on the full version and quite enjoy it (in multiple ways, though I didn't figure out how to get ponytail Elizabeth). But holy shit it's like a five minute long thing and she's written an article longer than many full game reviews.

Jumpman you have the worst taste.

>Zone-sama
Wait, does anyone actually refer to him as that? I've heard Zone-tan, but that's his female avatar (who does ZTV news as well as star in her own porn.)

>>185770
Yeah I have to agree unfortunately. It's a whole lot of words but that's all because it just keeps circling the same points over and over.

>>185770
I guess you could say it was...masturbatory.

>>185768
Wow. Not a very good article. At all. There's... no real point to it. Is this supposed to be about the deep complexity and meaning of cartoon porn? Is this about Elizabeth's character in the game? Is this about Ken Levine's attitude about porn of his creations (and guess what; like most creators, he doesn't care. It's out there, but he isn't going out of his way looking for it)? This is inane ramblings equal to or less than a person's blog post. Couple that with a few inaccuracies in the article and you got yourself a 1500 word waste of time. Well, if you're paid per article, I guess.

>>185770
>Zone-sama
>Wait, does anyone actually refer to him as that?
Yeah, I guess so. It's the name of his tumblr anyway. I think most people just go with Zone.

Guys, guys~
The one thing that matters in all this is that the most important part of Bioshock Infinite is that Elizabeth is hot and everyone wants to fuck her full force in mouth, pussy and ass.

Even the ladies.

>>185774
>he doesn't care
He super does actually.

well he did have to fight to keep her in the game

>>185782
>the most important part of Bioshock is Elizabeth
Yep.

>>185785
So basically Liz is his pure waifu, and thats why he gets super butthurt when people sexualise her.

>>185789
From his quotes, Liz is more of a symbolic daughter. And no one wants to see their daughter in porn, no matter what age or how hot.

Unless they're a pervert. Which a good portion of the internet is. So they don't care about his concerns.

Bioshock: Waifu edition

>>185790
>Liz is more of a symbolic daughter
I actually find this more creepy.

>>185797
Really? Lots of authors/writers/creators have parental-esque feelings toward their creations.

>>185808
Well, we'll see.

Are you all ready to see?

>>186305
Fuuuuuck I forgot it was coming out tomorrow.

SO HOW ABOUT THOSE RETCONS?

So is Part 2 worth the purchase? Hard mode: tell me without using spoilers why it is or isn't worth the price of my McDonalds meal

I swear to god if there is another TWEEST in the end I am going to find Levine and punch him in his stubbly nutsack.

>>186335
In the very first five minutes of the game it destroys the primary reason anyone was interested in playing it which was to use the tears themselves, it's stealth system is terrible and it couldn't be less bland.

So no in my opinion, I'll finish it later, too disgusted with lameness right now.

Even more fetch quest than usual.

>>186335
No.
They retcon a bunch of shit like:
Daisy was never going to kill the kid. She was just told to by the Luteces so they could get Elizabeth to kill her. Thus making her more...adult I guess. Regardless the moral ambiguity of her cause becoming extremist, the connection between her and Comstock, it's all lost.
And the gameplay itself is so dumb, you can just run by most of the enemies.

Not to mention the reason for all of this is actually kinda weak sense they don't expand on the MacGuffin at all. Just that Liz is willing to go through everything for said MacGuffin.

And the attempts to tie together Infinite with BS1 feel (I know this is the most overused word in critique) contrived. Like, legitimatly contrived, just to make Infinite more relivant to the universe as a whole.

And that bit about Ken seeing Liz as his symbolic daughter? Never let the man have children.

I'm really so glad I decided to cancel my preorder for Infinite

IT'S 14 FUCKING DOLLARS?

I thought it would be like, $5.99.

Jesus, I have the season pass but holy god have mercy fuck that.

So wait . . . What about the Modern Day Atlantis teaser?

Who the hell is the girl in upstate New York? Are we ever going to find out? Did Irrational even care? Christ, Infinite has more abandoned concepts than the storyboards of the original "Dune." I'm pretty sure the scrapped material from the main game and the DLC would make for an entire franchise of its own at this point.

>>186344

>Never let the man have children

Amen to that. If you've ever seen him around Liz's VA, that's why. He broadcasts "creeper" in a way that few men I have ever seen can do.

>>186371
Him and David Cage.

>>186373
At least David Cage makes games that are so weird/bad they become great again.

>>186381
But can he make a game starring Nicholas Cage?

>>186392
That would actually be awesome, that would have made Two Souls better replacing generic CIA man with Nicholas Cage.

>>186371

She's one of the grown-up Little Sisters from the first game.

Ugh, I didn't think weird fetishization of eye wounds would come up in this.

>>weird fetishization of eye wounds
wat?

>>186404
Liz almost gets lobotomized through the eye.

>>186403
Explain to me how threatening death via lobotomy is "fetishization of eye wounds"

>>186406
Yeah of all the complaints about how Lizbeth is treated, that's one I don't see. It's not like Booker fared much better at the end of his DLC

Sooooo basically, Elizabeth decides not to Timelord herself out when Big Daddy re-awakens, it goes berserk, and gets her revenge on the last Comstock for her. So she dies and comes back as a superposition of her selves. I think that part was actually a cool idea; but why is pretty stupid: as far as I can tell, she came back only to set in motion the events of B1 and... what? To save the little sisters and destroy Rapture? Unless you got the bad ending of B1; in which case, fuck you Elizabeth, hahaha! But why the hell would she care about destroying Rapture? And just a single instance, at that. And she had to die to prove Atlas is a fuckhead or something. tl;dr: Calling the reasoning behind the narrative an "asspull" is doing a disservice to asspulls.

I don't feel that my season pass went to waste, per se, but I'm not happy with the final result, either. The stealth was an interesting concept and drove home her mortal weakness, but it was very poorly executed. Bad pathfinding/AI, if you dare crouch and step in a puddle someone across the plaza might hear you, etc. When it worked it worked well (though my fucking game reset my controls after I started Ep2, so I died at the first guy because my assumed melee button didn't do shit) and enjoyed sneaking up behind and knocking out enemies. I really liked the effect when the game would take something apart (like locks), too. I'll probably do a 1998 run at some point.

Oh well, I still have Clash in the Clouds that I haven't touched, plus achievements.

Also, when we had the mirror and parting shot, did her breasts seem far larger than even BAS1? Yes, I am a pervert.

I guess this is the week of disappointing endings; first KlK, now this.

>>186344
I have to agree with most of this, with one note: I think "retcon" is a strong word, but don't know of an alternative. Many things that Liz does goes without backstory in B1 so you can't say they retroactively changed the continuity; they just made it circular, kind of, and horribly shoehorned.

>>186408
Ken Levine, whatever. Doesn't matter anymore.

So. . . Wait. What?

The entire purpose of BSI was for Liz to undo Columbia. Did her collapsed superposition bring it back into existence, and Booker as well? In addition, "there is always a man, and there is always a lighthouse," but Jack couldn't possibly leave and then enter Rapture without Suchong's key phrase, so does that nullify ALL the other Rapture universes that Liz wasn't in? Does the multiverse just pick a random patsy to deliver the Ace to Atlas, therefore making all of Liz's actions irrelevant? Why did Atlas maintain his "cheery Irishman" demeanor during the lobotomy, when all his closest men are clearly asshole Splicers who don't give a flying shit about him torturing an innocent girl? If the Luteces knew Liz was going to her death, why did they make such an effort to get her out of Columbia in BSI--why even bother, if the city was never going to get erased from the timeline? If Daisy didn't want to kill the child, why did she smear Fink's blood all over her goddamn face?

Granted I enjoyed BaS2.0 and 2.1, but I'm pretty sure we can all agree that everything after the lobotomy felt very forced, methodical and pointless.

>>186417
While I believe the ending of BI was supposed to take care of all Bookers and Comstocks, it somehow missed one (Bookerstock from BaS1 is referred to as "the last Comstock"). That means that his Columbia survived since he was killed the old fashioned way; however, it wouldn't have had the same rough events of Elizabeth and Booker trying to escape. This is just an example of the bad storytelling in the game. Actually, this part was a retcon, wasn't it? Fuck.

I think the Luteces wanted all Comstocks gone, either out of revenge or to undo what they did, and Liz was required for some reason. Perhaps it was necessary for Booker to die willingly, so if the Luteces just Timelord'd in they would have failed?

I was wondering about that particular Rapture, too; it seems that IG took great lengths to make sure everyone understands it's the same Rapture from both B1 and the end of BI. Maybe that's the only Rapture that gets fucked over.

Atlus stayed that way either because of shitty writing or, for some reason, the writers didn't want to force out the fact that he's Fontaine. But the B1 recap mentioned it, and if you find his hidden room Elizabeth will mention it, so probably shitty writing.

Daisy probably did that just to enrage/confuse Elizabeth to make it seem more likely that she would kill the kid.

tl;dr: Most of your answers can be summed up as "bad writing".

>can't make any recommendation for BaSEp2 alone on Steam
gg Gaben.

What an awful way to end the series.
Shoehorned plot points and retconed backstory that ruins any deeper meaning previous characters had (Daisy being the narrative mirror of Comstock can be thrown out the window.), poor motivation(Liz giving up everything for a random little sister we know practically nothing about.), foggily defined limitations to the quantum excuses.( Liz apparently could see all possibility before losing her powers, so why didn't she see herself regretting killing the final comstock or not saving Susie? For that matter, what is a quantum supper position and why did she fall into it now? If its because she's dead in that world, why can the Lutecces freely move about in worlds where they where dead? Why did they need Liz to kill Daisy? Why did they need Liz and Booker to do anything at all?

The "rules" of these powers only serve as a plot contrivance and would be laughed out of almost any other medium. I'm afraid to look at reviews because I'm expecting high scores praising its 'emotional and powerful end' while ignoring all the gaping plot holes and overall clumsy story. The best things Infinite has done for games are: unconventional settings and cinematography. All else is either generic or a hot mess.

Just...fuck! I wouldn't be so mad if this game didn't get so much praise. Is that wrong?

>>186420
No, the higher the standard the more we expect. This game came with a pedigree and got high praise and in the end just didn't have it all together. Also the further you stretch its story thematic the more convoluted it becomes and the worse it looks. Part of why DLC can be a bad idea.

>>186421
The base game wasn't great either

My biggest beef with this is how far Liz was willing to go to "stop" the evils of Rapture, but the violence in Rapture pales in comparison to say, the genocides of Central Africa or the Rape of Nanking. Why was it so important to save a few little girls in one city under the water? Didn't we already have Tenenbaum for that role? Does Liz just not give a shit about atrocities that aren't committed in ADAM infested shitholes? Also,

>"infinite" possibilities
>infinite universes, alternate cities, infinite Elizabeths
>Irrational gives us the one universe that leads exactly into an experience we've already had over and over, instead taking the effort to actually show us something new and exciting

A "love letter to the fans" indeed.

>>186426
To be honest that is what fans want. If you polled pretty much any fanbase they would ask for the same things they liked last time over and over again.

>>186426
Closer to a circle jerk for developers.

>>186427
That is a well known "problem": fans often want more of the same until the experience something new, and then if it's good they'll like the new thing. But they'll never say that they want the new thing.

However, this isn't "more of the same"; B2 was "more of the same" from B1, and to a far lesser extent BaS1 was "more of the same" of BI. BaS2 is just the devs trying to re-insert the player into the events of B1 and BI, rather than continuing the story on its own. Such a story concept isn't necessarily bad (though it is inherently rife with plotholes), but the way it was used here was especially ham-handed AND ignored the ending of BI.

Why did it have to be "The" Rapture? Why not just "A" Rapture? Then they could have gone on with her escape attempt without having to involve the shoehorning. Hell, even just the ending could have been bittersweet, but less so: instead of dying from taking a wrench to the face two-too-many times (but not too many times to teach a Little Sister a French song or something), she could have managed to grab Sally, escape, but still be trapped in Rapture and is forced to watch everything she put into motion unfold. Hell, even being impaled by the same Big Daddy that killed Bookerstock would have been better.

Wow, that was disappointing. That's all I have to say about it.

>finishing EP2
>"Hey cool, maybe we'll actually get a resolution to Liz's shitty life now!"
>That feel when the overplot discards her like a used tissue and she has no relevance to the outcome whatsoever

Welp.

This dlc isn't just badly written, but it manages to dump on the entire franchise preceding it.

Thats impressive, in a terrible and pathetic way.

>>186546
It's always weird to see a creator destroy their own legacy, because they've gotten too much freedom and power.