Can't really get into Bioshock 1, anyone care to explain?

skadebo

[H]ard|Gawd
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I'm around three hours in, the sub that supposedly had Atlus' family in it blew up and now I'm sure he'll just have me run around chasing him for most of the game. It's not compelling at all. I'm listening to all the Diary's in the hope that some storyline will present itself and make me want to find out more but that's not working either. The gameplay is pedestrian as well, pretty generic aside from the plasmid angle which mostly seems like an unnecessary add-on.

Anyone else with me on this? Should I force myself to keep playing and it'll blow my mind? Or if I haven't liked it so far then I should just quit?
 
If the story isn't resonating with you then you probably won't get much out of it ... the big selling point of Bioshock was its story ... the epic ideals and equally epic failure of Andrew Ryan's society is the game ... not all games work for everyone ... if it isn't working for you then you might move on to your next game ... you can always come back to it again in the future, maybe it will resonate more later :cool:
 
You know I don't recall ever exactly being after anybody you're overall just trying to leave but the game kind of tugs you along teasing that there's a greater twist to the whole thing. Additionally its just enjoyable to explore the corrupted exceptionalist environment. If the mystery isn't pulling you in than you're out of luck. Though I found the gameplay especially the variety of plasmids above par fun.
 
Well... I think it's already been covered at this point... but...

The game is about the
Setting/Ambiance/Environment
Story/Audio files
Plasmids/Hacking/Big Daddies

If you don't like this stuff then the game has nothing for you. The game is very well made, so I don't quite agree with your concept of plasmids being "an unnecessary add-on". But if you never played System Shock 2, or know about that game, then the way Bioshock plays may not make sense to you.
Plasmids create emergent game play and customization. You're supposed to enjoy trying different powers and mixing them and matching them to your play style. If you don't like the customization angle then there isn't much the game can do for you.
 
what's a game you DO like? bioshock 1 has moral dilemnas, incredible visuals, entertaining plot points, an innovative combat system, and i recall it being quite fun to play all-around, all in one game. if you just can't find anything to like about it then i'm curious what games you DO find enjoyable.
 
Another element that is interesting with Bioshock is they have an actual gameplay difference from being good or evil (whether you choose to harvest the Little Sisters or whether you choose to rescue them) ... the evil approach (harvesting) will give you more of a boost at the start since you get more Adam per sister from the harvest and it is quite startling visually ... the good approach (rescue) will give you less Adam at the start (although it does even out some over time since the Sisters will leave you gifts) and will give you access to a special ability for the end conflict ... your final ending video will also depend on whether you were good or evil

For me the story was the game ... I enjoyed it enough to buy the audiobook they released (actually quite good) to get even more backstory ... and I think Bioshock is one of the more interesting dystopias created ... definitely not cookie cutter in any way :cool:
 
I guess I'm just not in the mood for the game. I'll revisit it some time in the future.

For reference I like all sorts of games, I thoroughly enjoyed all of the Crysis games (haven't played 3 though), Rage (sick gameplay), KotOR (favorite game, amazing story), Mass Effect (again great story + gameplay).

One thing that's sticking out to me is that the story is driven by in-game comms as opposed to being delivered in cinematics. The plot points just aren't sticking in my head for that reason.
 
was given this as a present. spent couple of hours on it.. and all I did was die .. it just didnt make sense to me at all.. so.. gave it to someone that says he loves it...
 
I bought 1 & 2 in a Steam bundle last year and started playing 1. It really is not that thrilling in the beginning of the game. It gets much better when you get about half way and you get better upgrades.

One thing that made it more interesting for me was using the wrench more. It's pretty powerful and you should basically only use that in combination with your plasmids to kill humanoid splicers. IMO most firing weapons should be saved for big daddy's.

Coming up with different tonic/plasmid combos is fun too. That's why it gets better once you hit that halfway mark.

I have been VERY casual with it and I have been playing it recently. Still haven't beaten it but it's definitely more fun than it was when I first got it.

I understand how you feel though. Some people claim it to be one of the best games ever and I couldn't disagree more.
 
The combat is kind of shitty, the plot twist is excellent, and the water is pretty.

That's about all there is to Bioshock 1.
 
System shock did a much better job of with the audio logs as they gave you actual purpose and provided you with goals as well as give a sense of the story playing out around you. bs1 and infinite audio logs only purpose is to tell a story and many of them have nothing to do with what you're actively trying to accomplish. There is a real disconnect with the gameplay. I gave up on BS1 because i got so sick of killing screaming splicers for what seemed like no purpose.
 
Well... I think it's already been covered at this point... but...

The game is about the
Setting/Ambiance/Environment
Story/Audio files
Plasmids/Hacking/Big Daddies

If you don't like this stuff then the game has nothing for you. The game is very well made, so I don't quite agree with your concept of plasmids being "an unnecessary add-on". But if you never played System Shock 2, or know about that game, then the way Bioshock plays may not make sense to you.
Plasmids create emergent game play and customization. You're supposed to enjoy trying different powers and mixing them and matching them to your play style. If you don't like the customization angle then there isn't much the game can do for you.

This man nailed it.

Its all about the atmosphere of the game , if you can't get into it then you won't enjoy it. Simple as that , not every game speaks to everyone.
 
A few years ago I picked up Bioshock 1 & 2 on a Steam sale and I tried to play for a bit but I wasn't engaged, just like the OP. I played a few hours and never went back to it. This was during a time when I had just quit WoW and needed something to fill the void and it wasn't quite what I was looking for.

When I get the time I'd like to load it back up and see how far I get. Its always a series I wanted to get into
 
Nothing wrong with you. The game is boring story-driven piece of shit with awful shooting/movement and the most terrible mouse input EVER, even after INI tweaking.
 
I finished both 1 and 2 but I never understood what the big deal was. neither game was all that great imo.
 
I completely agree with OP. I've tried to play this game several times and I also end up getting bored of the game around the 2 hour mark. Not sure what it is about it that doesn't keep my interest. For me the plasmids and hacking were more annoying than anything. Aiming seemed a bit clunky compared to other games too.

FPS games that I've beaten/enjoyed

Entire Half-Life Series
Singularity
Borderlands 1&2
Max Payne 1&2
Portal 1&2
Fallout 3 and NV (Half way through till save got deleted)
BF 3 Campaign (lol)
Crysis 1 & Warhead
FarCry 1
Doom 3
Return to Castle Wolfenstein

Games that have not kept me till the end:

Metro 2033
Bioshock 1 (Haven't tried 2)
FarCry 2
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
 
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story elements = awesome
gameplay = meh

and you probably want more than meh gameplay which Bioshock 1 doesn't have.

standard, near linear, FPS game play.
 
This man nailed it.

Its all about the atmosphere of the game , if you can't get into it then you won't enjoy it. Simple as that , not every game speaks to everyone.

On the contrary, I found the atmosphere very unsatisfying and generic. Maybe this was not the case in 2007 when the game was released but since I began playing it last year the cartoony look and animation never grew on me. My reasoning for continuing the game (as casual as I may be with it) is because the mechanics developed further into the game and it became more customizable.

The story never intruiged me. Honestly when the game was released I thought it was more of a survival horror and you were constantly on the escape from the "Big Daddy." I listened to maybe 1 diary and did not care for the others, though I still pick all of them up. I am also slightly claustrophobic so the idea of Rapture in itself makes me uneasy.

The game is well-made, dont get me wrong. I did have compatibility issues with Win7-64 (in-game settings would restore to default, crash at start-up, crash in-game) but I managed to fix that and it has been running great since.
 
On the contrary, I found the atmosphere very unsatisfying and generic. Maybe this was not the case in 2007 when the game was released but since I began playing it last year the cartoony look and animation never grew on me. My reasoning for continuing the game (as casual as I may be with it) is because the mechanics developed further into the game and it became more customizable.

"unsatisfying and generic". If Bioshocks styling as if it came from an alternate 50's timeline is "generic" what isn't? This isn't to say that Bioshock is the most original game of all time (as has been said, there are no new ideas) but it's no where near what CoD or Battlefield has done in terms of generic-ness. Unsatisfying isn't something quantifiable. If you're not satisfied with it, nothing can be said.

It also should be noted that Godmachine's statement still stands, and you didn't really refute it. He stated: "Its all about the atmosphere of the game , if you can't get into it then you won't enjoy it. Simple as that" So, in short, if you don't appreciate the atmosphere, you won't enjoy the game. You haven't actually stated anything to the contrary, despite using the phrase "on the contrary". In fact you affirmed his statement by stating, you didn't like the atmosphere and as a result you didn't like the game.


The story never intruiged me. Honestly when the game was released I thought it was more of a survival horror and you were constantly on the escape from the "Big Daddy." I listened to maybe 1 diary and did not care for the others, though I still pick all of them up. I am also slightly claustrophobic so the idea of Rapture in itself makes me uneasy.

It's supposed to make you uneasy. Rapture by nature is a dystopia. If it didn't make you uneasy, it wouldn't be a dystopia. But it's odd that that feature of the environment you did notice, while still feeling it was unsatisfying and generic.


The game is well-made, dont get me wrong. I did have compatibility issues with Win7-64 (in-game settings would restore to default, crash at start-up, crash in-game) but I managed to fix that and it has been running great since.

The biggest problem with Bioshock is that unfortunately it's a console port. This problem unfortunately means that the mouse movement is wonky and yes it had some bugs.
 
Really loved the first hour of Bioshock 1, then the rest of the game was a snoozefest.
 
Honestly, I feel the same way about the mass effect series. Some of my friends kept telling me it was the king of all kings in terms of rpgs. I never really got into it though. I mean don't get me wrong it was a decent game, but just not for me. It's probably because I prefer just like sword magic knights fantasy and those kinds of themes like in elder scrolls series or demon/dark souls or any old school japanese rpg.

I wouldn't force yourself to play it if you don' really find it interesting, just because there is probably a reason why you wouldn't find it interesting anyways. Just my two cents.
 
I remember trying it for a few hours back in '07.

I remember the combat being extremely lame. The story had promise, though (kind of).

Haven't touched a Bioshock game or gave a fuck about it since.

I loved KOTOR when I was like 16. KOTOR II moved too slow in the beginning so I could never really get into it.

Didn't like ME1. I liked ME2. The third was crappy for just about everybody.

I tried DAO for like a few hours and it was awful.

Honestly, those games supposedly had good stories, but they were just flat awful when it came to the gameplay and were generally pretty slow-moving affairs. All of those titles, after KOTOR and the like, had a "been there, done that" feel to me.
 
"unsatisfying and generic". If Bioshocks styling as if it came from an alternate 50's timeline is "generic" what isn't? This isn't to say that Bioshock is the most original game of all time (as has been said, there are no new ideas) but it's no where near what CoD or Battlefield has done in terms of generic-ness. Unsatisfying isn't something quantifiable. If you're not satisfied with it, nothing can be said.

It also should be noted that Godmachine's statement still stands, and you didn't really refute it. He stated: "Its all about the atmosphere of the game , if you can't get into it then you won't enjoy it. Simple as that" So, in short, if you don't appreciate the atmosphere, you won't enjoy the game. You haven't actually stated anything to the contrary, despite using the phrase "on the contrary". In fact you affirmed his statement by stating, you didn't like the atmosphere and as a result you didn't like the game.




It's supposed to make you uneasy. Rapture by nature is a dystopia. If it didn't make you uneasy, it wouldn't be a dystopia. But it's odd that that feature of the environment you did notice, while still feeling it was unsatisfying and generic.




The biggest problem with Bioshock is that unfortunately it's a console port. This problem unfortunately means that the mouse movement is wonky and yes it had some bugs.


I won't disagree there. The time period is definitely not generic or over used.

Though, I never said I didn't enjoy the game. I do enjoy playing it. I was just stating some issues that I had with it and how I disagree with the "hype".

Personally, the atmosphere of the game is not what has me drawn to it. My uneasy feeling doesn't come from the dystopia, which I understand is the state of Rapture, but more-so that the entire game you're confined in rooms. It is probably one of the only games I have played (at least that I can think of at the moment) that provides zero outdoor exploration.

I don't mean to pick the game apart although it does appear that way. Was just looking to relate to the OP.
 
Hated the first Bioshock, only played about an hour. Never tried the second. Finished Bioshock Infinite.
 
This thread prompted me to try once again to play Bioshock 1. This time I changed my mind set from playing a "Half-Life" type game to more of a "Fall Out 3" type game. Instead of looking at plasmids as an unnecessary hassle I started using them as my main ability with a little less straight up fighting. This has made the game a lot more enjoyable and I'm going to force myself to play it for at least 6 hours this time. Hopefully I can get through it so that I can play the other 2.
 
Skadebo, would you kindly please continuing playing the game.


These :D

The story is basically:
  1. Survive a plane crash, go into a weird building, go underwater.
  2. Get help from some guy named Atlas who asks for your help in exchange for his.
  3. Try to meet up with Atlas, his family dies but he escapes, names Andrew Ryan (creator of Rapture) as the culprit.
  4. Track down Andrew Ryan with Atlas' help.

That's how far you've gotten, I'll spoiler tag the rest.
  1. Meet & help out a biologist (Langford, eventually killed by Ryan) and re-grow the plants in Rapture, giving you oxygen again.
  2. Get stuck somewhere, kill a bunch of people for a weirdo (Cohen) to gain access to Ryan's area, then kill the weirdo (if you want).
  3. Continue tracking Ryan, kill Ryan.
  4. Find out Atlas is really a Frank Fontaine who then tries to kill you.
  5. Get to Fontaine who is ginormous due to ADAM intake.
  6. Kill Fontaine.
  7. Profit! (see an ending depending on whether you Harvested or Rescued the Little Sisters

I just finished the game a few days ago, I loved it. There was some backtracking/wandering around moments that eased up on everything a bit, every once in awhile, but otherwise it was a great game. I really like games that give you different ways to do things (in this case, plasmids, weapons, and the other abilities you can 'equip'). I also started playing part 2 and so far (about an hour in) I like that one as well.

I like the Big Daddy/Little Sister dynamic and I really like both as characters as well. The game has a spooky atmosphere. The enemies are fairly similar (which is really the only negative I can say about them), other than the few minor variances (Spider Splicer, the bomb splicer). I like being able to hack cameras and turrets to attack the enemies, and hack vending machines to get stuff at cheaper prices. I also like being able to pick and choose my upgrade path.

Other than the 'sound' issue of the first one (easily fixed by enabling 'Stereo Mix' on my Realtek sound chipset), I haven't had any technical issues with the games.
 
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Hehe this is cool, I am playing the game at the moment too. Can't say I've been hooked during the first couple hours but I am now immersed into this sick world and the story around it.

And I actually had fun trying to get past some places without doing it the usual FPS style (killing everything without running out of ammo). Plasmids are actually pretty useful to avoid emptying your guns and ammo on smaller enemies and keeping it for daddies.

And most of the guys here got it right: if you don't like the atmosphere, skip it. The gameplay isn't designed to actually make you forget the atmosphere if you don't like it.
 
To be fair, I never really got into Bioshock either. Could not get past the extremely basic gameplay, that was doubly explained to you by an annoying NPC involuntarily.
 
Does BS combat leave a lot to be desired? Yes. But combat is not the core game mechanic. The core game mechanic is the story. IF you aren't seeking out the audio logs, and exploring to try to figure out WHY things are happening, you probably won't enjoy the game. There are so many layers and stories in the BS world, that i got confused a few times as to who did what to who and when. Second play through made a lot more sense.

If you like shooters, you probably won't like BS, not enough action and the shooting part of the game WAS weak. Personally i loved BS-1 (BS-2 not so much), and i am on the fence with BS-infinite. But i like a good story, and plot twists make me all tingly... :D
 
Does BS combat leave a lot to be desired? Yes. But combat is not the core game mechanic. The core game mechanic is the story. IF you aren't seeking out the audio logs, and exploring to try to figure out WHY things are happening, you probably won't enjoy the game. There are so many layers and stories in the BS world, that i got confused a few times as to who did what to who and when. Second play through made a lot more sense.

If you like shooters, you probably won't like BS, not enough action and the shooting part of the game WAS weak. Personally i loved BS-1 (BS-2 not so much), and i am on the fence with BS-infinite. But i like a good story, and plot twists make me all tingly... :D

If you can find the book "Bioshock Rapture" at the library or something definitely give it a look or listen (audio book is well done also) ... it fills in many of the details of the characters in the diaries and the fall becomes even more tragic because you get to see Rapture at its pinnacle and marvel at every decision they make that takes them down the road to ultimate failure and destruction ... great stuff :cool:
 
I guess I don't get the question. It's like asking other people why I hate beets. Why the hell should they know? The simple answer to your question is that different people like different things. Just because it was highly rated doesn't mean you're going to like it on some level. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was highly rated and I considered it a flaming pile of dog shit.

All I can tell you is that it's a matter of personal preference.
 
I'd say bioshock is worth playing at least until you get to Fort Frolic which is one of the most memorable chapters I have played in a game, but you might as well stop after that as nothing that comes next is nearly as good.

The guy who said it has the worst mouse input of all time is 100% right. Atrocious, after 2 days of trying every possible ini settings combination it still felt completely off.
 
Hated the first Bioshock, only played about an hour. Never tried the second. Finished Bioshock Infinite.

It was the pretty much the opposite for me.

I finished Bioshock but quickly grew tired of 2 and Infinite.
 
The story in Bioshock is fine, it's the complete and total lack of challenge on any difficulty level that makes the game a bore. A veteran FPS player will crush that game.
 
Bioshock Infinite is a lot of fun but the "possession" power makes the game pretty easy even on hard. I can't resist using it, but sometimes will replay a fight to see how it plays without the effortless kills from Possession.
 
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