smd9

This game is overly bleak. Also, switching characters half way through kills the pacing. The same story and goal (of hate destroying people and leading to ruin) could have been done better by arranging things differently. Great graphics and environment detail though. Some fun gameplay parts too. You can tell a lot of work went into it.

This has a really promising beginning, but I was less enamoured with it by the end. Firstly it only lasted 3 hours, which is very short compared to many games these days so the value isn't great. There is a little more content if you want to grind to find the secret areas, but that doesn't add much for me. The initial premise from the demo was great. A lone boy lost in the dark woods being chased by mysterious figures and their dogs, and a simple play mechanic with only two buttons and puzzles to solve while I dodged enemies. It was thrilling getting away from the sinister characters just in the nick of time and staying out of their view so I could progress. This thrill got less and less as the game progressed, and the story veered more into the grotesque. I was pretty disappointed when I finished it, and while it's not a terrible game, I don't think the payoff justified the investment.

OK so I'll say from the outset that I played this right after playing the first two games back to back (it took me about a month to get through each game, so that'll give you an idea of the pace), so I had them fresh in my mind for comparison. The first game introduced the fascinating world of rapture, and made you think of the possibilities if such a world existed. It was solid, but not amazing. The second game basically improved on the first in almost every way. It felt familiar, yet better, and with an interesting twist of you now playing the big daddy and interacting with little sisters. This game felt like it was trying to reboot the old games, but with a different look and in the sky instead of under the ocean. It didn't do it quite as well. I have to say that the scene at the beginning when you first arrive and you're in the church, with choir music playing in the background was probably the most beautiful scene I've ever seen in a video game (and I don't even go to church, so that bias wasn't there). It gave me the chills. I even listened to the music from that scene on YouTube a few times afterwards. Unfortunately, it was mostly downhill from there. The story was overly complex, and the ending felt rushed. The weapon and secondary power (vigor) progression wasn't done as well as the previous games, and the actual fun seemed to be lacking. I felt like I was just drudging through the game, shooting more bad guys, listening to some recordings and dialogue that flesh out the (somewhat confusing) story a little more, rinse and repeat. The environments did look beautiful, and were a nice departure from the drab/gloomy environments of the first two games. The voice acting was also very well done. That's basically the two main highlights. I found myself not wanting to play out of enjoyment, but out of just wanting to beat it and see where the story went, and perhaps why the heck it was called a "Bioshock" game. The answers to both were pretty disappointing. I saw the twist coming before it arrived (it wasn't very inspired), so that failed to make any impact either. In the end it wasn't exactly a bad game, but not a very good one either. I was glad when I finally finished it, so I could move on to something else that might be more enjoyable.

I bought this game because of my fondness for the old PC version. I have to say that I enjoyed it overall, though it did have some frustrating points. The Bad ----------- Yes, the controls are a bit wonky. The inventory system is a bit frustrating too, especially since the game doesn't pause, so you have to get far enough away from monsters in order to pull out items that you'll use to kill them, and then go back. Also, it's the most buggy console game I've ever played. There were a couple times where my character got stuck in an area and could maneuver out of it, and I had to reset the system. One time the game even crashed my Xbox. It really needed a few more weeks of bug fixing and polish before it was released. There were also some really frustrating parts that took about 20-30 tries to get through, and had me wanting to curse at my console. The Good -------------- Having said all that, I did enjoy the story line for the most part, and it did have some "holy crap" jaw dropping moments, and also some genuine scary moments. The back story was interesting, especially since it had to do with real life locations. The music was also well done. It's really too bad that Microsoft didn't let them release the patch for it because it was too big. It could have been a pretty good game with a few fixes/tweaks. In the end, I can't say I didn't enjoy the game. The ending was a bit disappointing though. Kind of anti-climactic and short. At least you get the option of 2 different endings though. One odd thing is that the guy in the game doesn't really look like the guy on the cover. Weird.