BioShock and Diablo 2 - Retrospective

You may feel cheated when I combine these games together into a single review, but when I stopped to think about it, they are actually very similar games. While they may follow very different control schemes, plots, storylines, are set in different fiction genres, and in fact belong to completely different game genres, the two games are actually quite similar in terms of basic thought processes.

You begin each game in a strange environment. People around you seem to have a vague idea of who you are, but you're more or less a stranger to them. However, they still need your help, and you are given a number of quests that you have to complete in order to progress.

As you play through the games, you will encounter various enemies. How you kill them is your own responsibility. The game does not discriminate against the way you choose to inflict damage, but certain enemies will be resistant or weaker to specific types of attacks. Switching methods of attack on the fly is key to defeating waves of enemies without too much headache.

When you kill enemies, they will give you loot. This loot is randomly generated and not fixed to any specific progression. Depending on what kinds of items your kills give you, you may choose to focus on a different method of attack; favor a different type of weapon. The difference between what weaponry enemies give you, what you choose to use, and what weapon is most effective against them is the general balancing act of the gameplay, mostly by choosing the most effective weapon for each situation, based on range, speed, strength, and ease of use. Necessity (or laziness), however, may tempt the player to focus on one or two main modes of attack, and only use others when absolutely necessary (or when bored).

The number of weapons you have access to in Bioshock is much, MUCH smaller than in Diablo, but the overall number of weapon types are more or less equal. Weapons can be infused with elemental properties: ice attacks will freeze enemies and make them easier targets, but fire and electrical attacks are also available. Certain enemies are much more vulnerable to particular elements, while others are resistant or even completely immune.

While Bioshock and Diablo both follow a more or less linear plot (You complete the same quests in more or less the same order in every playthrough) in Bioshock, every weapon and enemy you face appears in generally the same location every time, and in fact every map is identical to every playthrough. Every key item and weapon you find will be in the same location and found at the same point in the plot; in some cases these are even required in order to progress.

Diablo, however, gives you a wide selection of weapons. While any specific aspect of them can be simplified by attack speed, range, and whether it is used in one or both hands, these weapons are replaced with stronger varieties throughout the game, andyour choice of what you use is made more complex with the addition of magical modifiers. Magical weapons can be found that provide any number of bonuses, from increased attack rating, higher health and mana, elemental properties, and much much more.

Unfortunately, The majority of weapons you find will be completely worthless to you. Modifiers such as "low quality" "crude" "damaged" or "cracked" are just as common as an unmodified or "superior" weapon, and these weapons are generally not even worth picking up to sell back in town; they aren't even worth the space in your inventory. And even when you do find a magical item, odds are you won't be interested in the item's particular modifiers. But when you do finally get that perfect item you've been hoping for, it's one of the best endorphin rushes in gaming.

Replay value in Diablo 2 is made much higher than in Bioshock based purely on the sheer number of ways you can play through it. Every class has 30 skills, each of which has 20 levels of effectiveness. Since it's impossible to gain 600 levels, you will have to choose what skills your character will focus on for any individual playthrough. Multiply this by 5 classes (7 in the expansion) and the infinite number of maps that can be randomly generated, and Diablo 2 is a game that anybody can play through multiple times and never have the exact same experience.

But the burning question is: would you want to?

What Bioshock lacks in complexity, it makes up for in focus. While it doesn't do nearly as much as Diablo 2, what it does do is highly polished and enjoyable. It may not be as long, but the fact that it can be played through and experienced much quicker means the entire narrative arc can be enjoyed in a shorter amount of time, and gratification is easier to come across. The game is too short to become monotonous, and too focused to become diluted.

Diablo's enjoyment comes from the progression of your character and growing him/her based on your method of play. You become attached not only to your character, but even your items. You hesitate to throw away that awesome sword you found in act 1, that served you so well for two entire acts and matches your character's skills perfectly, even though it has been rendered obsolete by newer equipment and is taking up too many of your inventory slots. But eventually you bite your lip and sell it to the merchant with a heavy heart, replacing it with something that may serve you better, but has no nostalgic attachment... yet. But perhaps in time you will learn to appreciate this one just as much.

Which is a better game? Who can say. It's all a matter of how you play it.

Progress for April 27, 2010 - BioShock (Take 2) - COMPLETED!

Beat it tonight. If I'd have known I was this close to the end, I would have beaten it a long time ago. How come I always seem to beat these games near or after midnight? Never in the morning or afternoon?

Anywho. I got the good ending, but I didn't get the achievement for it because I accidentally harvested one of the last 2 little sisters. I'm not looking forward to playing through those last two levels all over again, but I'll probably do it later, since it's worth an easy 100 points.

This is going to be a tough game to review. May take a few days to get my bearings straight.

Clear Ring of Death

I really don't know what to say as I write this. My 360 has betrayed me. Look at what it did to my beloved Fallout 3 GOTY disc!

Earlier today, my foot caught the memory card hanging over the ledge of the entertainment center as I was moving, which caused the console to make a terrifying clattering noise as it was jolted around, but I immediately took the disk out and inspected it for problems and there weren't any scratches like this. I continued to play, but about 3 AM this morning the dreaded "Disc Read Error" message popped up. I pulled it out, fearing the worst, and absolutely wanted to murder myself when I saw those ring-shaped death-scratches.

I don't think my xbox is still under warranty, and I don't know what to do. I don't know how to fix the disc, I don't know how to fix the system, I don't have the money to get a new one, and I don't trust this thing anymore to put any more of my game discs into it to test it out. So that means no BioShock, no Assassin's Creed, not even any Mass Effect, which I haven't had a chance to play yet. I'm now limited to my downloaded games, which leaves Fable as the only "full retail game" I can play on it.

FUCK!

Progress for March 24, 2010 - BioShock (Take 2)

It took me a while to get back into it, but I'm glad I did. I really liked the plot twist in the middle of Hephaestus. It almost averts the idea of having objectives in a shooter. Why are you doing these things? Well, the game told you to. Okay then!
The difficulty spikes are so strange, but even when the game kills you, there are absolutely no consequences; you just revive at a vita-chamber. In a way, this keeps you playing because you WILL be able to finish the game, simply through pure perseverance, but it does cripple the immersion factor and tension of being low on life. Others have criticized the game for this design choice, but since there's an option to turn it off, you can't really fault them. Personally I prefer to have the option than to simply have it nonexistent by design; it allows more players to play through the game, even if they're not good at shooters, or just not good at console controls.

Seriously, fuck console controls in shooters.

Progress for March 18, 2010 - BioShock (Take 2)

Well, that was hell. I had to kill about 5 big daddies in this level, even though it only has 3 little sisters in it. For some reason those bastards just hated me and started attacking me due to some collateral damage. I suppose I could have let them kill me and just rezzed at a vita-chamber, but that feels like cheating, doesn't it?

Progress for March 16, 2010 - BioShock (Take 2)

I played just a few hours today, I made it through the whole jungle mission and now I'm going on to.... whatever the third area is. I don't have the game on right now as I'm writing this, so I don't know the name of it. I'm really just trying to get to where I was when I stopped playing last time, that way I can actually start analyzing the story again.

An all-rescue run is hard to do on medium or hard... Sometimes I just want to rip one of those little girls open so I can get all the Adam I need. Too many tonics. Not enough slots.

Progress for March 15, 2010 - BioShock (Take 2)

I started all over again, this time on Medium difficulty. It does add a lot of much needed challenge to the game compared to Easy. I'm still not going to turn off the vita-chambers, though.

I made it through the first couple of levels. I just got to the part where the submarine explodes, and I'm rapidly running low on things like first aid kits and eve hypos. I'm trying to get the good ending by rescuing all of the little sisters, since you're rewarded with a bunch of Adam anyway with the care package, so I'm not sure what the big deal is.

The game feels very similar to Fallout 3, but a bit less open. I do like the fact that BioShock rewards you for killing your enemies in creative ways, since you save on ammo and health, whereas Fallout 3 punishes you by not giving you experience for enemies that your hacked turrets and satellites kill. Saving ammo and health isn't as important in that game, since it is very easy to come by.

Progress for May 6, 2009 - BioShock

Welp, another day, another chapter. I'm starting to really regret playing the game on Easy; It's, well, TOO easy. I'm spending too much time each chapter doing tiny minutiae like searching bodies for loot and components and hacking safes, all of which invariably lead to more of the same.

Maybe I should stop concentrating on the little stuff and just keep focusing on the quest items. Sure, I might miss some weapons and ammo. But it's not I couldn't do with some increased difficulty.

Progress for May 5, 2009 - BioShock

These levels are TOO DAMN LONG! Every time I sit down to play, it's like committing myself to watching a double feature of 1984 and Metropolis. The back and forth between Andrew Ryan and Atlas is enjoyable to listen to, but I'm usually too busy tracking down splicers to pay much attention to them.

I'm starting to notice a lot of minor bugs. For about an hour, the same piece of Subtitle was plastered on the bottom of the screen, even after toggling the subtitles setting and refreshing the view multiple times. Also, the game has a nasty habit of interrupting audio log playbacks with new communiques from Atlas or Ryan, and then replaying an earlier audio log completely unrelated to the current ones.

I know bugs are unavoidable in games, especially in one this huge, but it really takes you out of the immersion when you notice polygonal seams in the water.

Progress for April 21, 2009 - BioShock

Talk about night and day. This game is so completely different from Chrono Trigger.
I started the game on the easy setting, because I want to be able to appreciate the storyline without too much hassle. If all goes well, I'll be playing the game again at least once more on a higher difficulty.

The logistic issue I've noticed about BioShock is how long the levels are. I played for 6 hours today and just now made it to the smuggler's hideout. It's going to be tough to find the 1-2 hours I'll need to complete just one chapter.

So far, I have two minor complaints:

1. Dear 2K games, Don't fucking map a context-sensitive action to the same button that uses a consumable! I've wasted so god damned many EVE Hypo's trying to hack cameras and turrets just because the crosshair is half an inch out of range.
2. And once I'm into the hacking game, the controls are JUST sensitive enough to be annoying. If they were any less sensitive, you'd be ready for it and be able to overcompensate for their latency and inaccuracy. But because they're that specific kind of slow, you don't know what to expect.

But other than that, the game is as immersive and well-written as everyone has always said. I really think I'm going to enjoy this.