Bioshock 2 Catch-All

I actually think that looks kind of neat. I'm interested in how they'll integrate photography and Big Daddies into the experience.

Then again, I'm sucker for the Bioshock art design. It makes up for a multitude of potential flaws in my book.

adam.greenbrier wrote:

It's a shame, though, because I would think that the world of Rapture, with its big daddies and (two) different types of splicers, would at least lend itself well to a class-based multiplayer game like Team Fortress 2.

That'd be interesting. Big Daddies could be like tanks, which are crazy powerful but slow and need infantry support to keep bad people from climbing all over them, planting bombs or trying to pry their hatch open.

Though the idea of a splicer clinging to a Big Daddy by a crowbar stuck in his head is quite amusing.

The thing about Bioshock 1 is that it's not actually a very a good game in an absolute sense. The illusion is paper-thin. It holds up on the first playthrough, and it's an awesome experience, but it's not a very good GAME. By the second pass, the design flaws and bugs and missed opportunities become extremely obvious. It doesn't replay well at all. It's only good the first time through.

Truly, BS2 doesn't need to be very good to be a better game. But what we remember BS1 for is the experience and exploration, and that'll be impossible to duplicate without a major advance in graphics technology. It was truly a one-shot. All sequels will be grossly inferior in terms of experience, and that's what everyone loved about the first game.

BS2 could be, mechanically and stylistically, a ridiculously good game, and would probably still be hated. It won't offer gamers what they really want, which is their virginity back.

Malor, that's why I'm excited for BioShock 2: I didn't like BioShock much at all, and I'm curious to see if they can make the sequel a solid game. The experience that so many people loved in BioShock was on I had already had with System Shock 2, so I'm not particularly concerned about that.

Malor wrote:

The thing about Bioshock 1 is that it's not actually a very a good game in an absolute sense. The illusion is paper-thin. It holds up on the first playthrough, and it's an awesome experience, but it's not a very good GAME. By the second pass, the design flaws and bugs and missed opportunities become extremely obvious. It doesn't replay well at all.

I have a feeling that the things you consider "design flaws and bugs" are what appeal to me the most. It's easily my favorite shooter (if that title even applies).

The slow, cautious gameplay works for me in a way that more fast-paced in-yo-face games like Call of Duty 4, Gears of War or Dead Space don't. Even the boss fights weren't gratingly annoying, a rarity in my experience.

If they change it to work more like one of those games, my interest level will drop precipitously.

Malor wrote:

The thing about Bioshock 1 is that it's not actually a very a good game in an absolute sense. The illusion is paper-thin. It holds up on the first playthrough, and it's an awesome experience, but it's not a very good GAME. By the second pass, the design flaws and bugs and missed opportunities become extremely obvious. It doesn't replay well at all. It's only good the first time through.

i couldn't disagree more. I rarely replay games and I played through Bioshock 4 times and i enjoyed them all. To avoid getting in a discussion of Bioshock one though I will say that the multiplayer seems to be absent of everything I liked about the first game. The isolation of being a stranger in a nearly empty claustrophobic dystopia, using the plasmids and weapons to strategically and methodically kill the enemies, and exploration while taking in the environment.

No playable demo at PAX. They were showing the multiplayer trailer and a trailer of the player as the prototype Big Daddy, using plasmids, the drill, and the rivet gun.

The multiplayer trailer, I gotta say, did not impress. I felt like the animations and action needed more polish and I don't think the 360 it demoed on was able to keep the framerate up with the action going on.

The animations look ridiculous. However, if the the different abilities feel as pleasing as they did in the first game this might be forgivable.

Malor, that's why I'm excited for BioShock 2: I didn't like BioShock much at all, and I'm curious to see if they can make the sequel a solid game. The experience that so many people loved in BioShock was on I had already had with System Shock 2, so I'm not particularly concerned about that.

This. A thousand times this.

Bioshock 2 is on the platform spreadsheet.
This has multiplayer, let us know where to find you.
Linky

Bioshock 2 Special Edition Announced

Includes:
BioShock 2
Vinyl 180g LP featuring the orchestral score from the original BioShock
CD containing the BioShock 2 orchestral score
A 164 page 8"x11" hardbound artbook chock full of developer commentary
Three posters featuring vintage ads from Rapture (rolled)

Sold.

I really want to be excited about BioShock 2. But I'm not.

CptGlanton wrote:

I really want to be excited about BioShock 2. But I'm not.

Yeah, unfortunately I'm not either. I really want to be, but when I think about it I can only muster a feeble "meh". There's just too much potential for failure and there are a good deal of other games that are vying for my attention. Maybe once it's out I'll take a closer look, or perhaps when it goes to the bargain bins, but until then I just have too much other stuff to do or play for the time being to get excited about something that just screams to me as cash-in.

WipEout wrote:
CptGlanton wrote:

I really want to be excited about BioShock 2. But I'm not.

Yeah, unfortunately I'm not either. I really want to be, but when I think about it I can only muster a feeble "meh". There's just too much potential for failure and there are a good deal of other games that are vying for my attention. Maybe once it's out I'll take a closer look, or perhaps when it goes to the bargain bins, but until then I just have too much other stuff to do or play for the time being to get excited about something that just screams to me as cash-in.

I'm more than happy to give it a rent...

From what I've seen I think they've done the work to make BS2 a good game, it's just that it's coming out at a time when a lot of other stuff is too, and (whether they like it or not) it's got to live up to BS1. I don't think it's going to fly off the shelves (it's not on my 'must buy' list), but I hope it doesn't get ignored either. It could be a slow burner.

Rexneron wrote:

Bioshock 2 Special Edition Announced

Includes:
BioShock 2
Vinyl 180g LP featuring the orchestral score from the original BioShock
CD containing the BioShock 2 orchestral score
A 164 page 8"x11" hardbound artbook chock full of developer commentary
Three posters featuring vintage ads from Rapture (rolled)

Sold.

I came in the thread to post that they were insane to think anyone would be willing to pay $40 over the normal edition for an artbook, the soundtrack and some tiny posters. Apparently I was wrong. No offense intended at all, I'm just genuinely surprised.

To my eyes, this is a massive rip-off. The original LE cost $10 over retail and included a huge, detailed metal statuette, as well as a cool box and a soundtrack CD. This doesn't come even close and costs $30 more. To put it mildly and with a minimum of rude hand gestures, no thanks 2K.

It's a sequel to one of the better games I've played through recently.. so I'm excited about that I just hope there's enough of the same magic but at the same time different things to make it special.

I think, more than anything, this shows that Vinyl is really making a strong comeback as a music medium. 180g vinyl in a video game? That's just wild.

Minarchist wrote:

I think, more than anything, this shows that Vinyl is really making a strong comeback as a music medium. 180g vinyl in a video game? That's just wild.

I was thinking the same thing!

KillerTomato wrote:
Rexneron wrote:

Bioshock 2 Special Edition Announced

Includes:
BioShock 2
Vinyl 180g LP featuring the orchestral score from the original BioShock
CD containing the BioShock 2 orchestral score
A 164 page 8"x11" hardbound artbook chock full of developer commentary
Three posters featuring vintage ads from Rapture (rolled)

Sold.

I came in the thread to post that they were insane to think anyone would be willing to pay $40 over the normal edition for an artbook, the soundtrack and some tiny posters. Apparently I was wrong. No offense intended at all, I'm just genuinely surprised.

To my eyes, this is a massive rip-off. The original LE cost $10 over retail and included a huge, detailed metal statuette, as well as a cool box and a soundtrack CD. This doesn't come even close and costs $30 more. To put it mildly and with a minimum of rude hand gestures, no thanks 2K.

The detailed metal statuette is not huge, I have it on my desk. A hardbound 164 page book itself would be worth at least $15. 180g vinyl is not cheap, the material is thicker than normal 120g records, and if well mastered and produced, leads to higher quality sound. I have a vinyl collection so this is a huge plus for me. 180g records usually cost about $30. Not including the poster or soundtrack you're getting at least $45 or so worth of bonus items.

I have my reservations about the multiplayer aspect of the game, but from what I've gathered the single player is shaping up nicely and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

KillerTomato wrote:
Rexneron wrote:

Bioshock 2 Special Edition Announced

Includes:
BioShock 2
Vinyl 180g LP featuring the orchestral score from the original BioShock
CD containing the BioShock 2 orchestral score
A 164 page 8"x11" hardbound artbook chock full of developer commentary
Three posters featuring vintage ads from Rapture (rolled)

Sold.

I came in the thread to post that they were insane to think anyone would be willing to pay $40 over the normal edition for an artbook, the soundtrack and some tiny posters. Apparently I was wrong. No offense intended at all, I'm just genuinely surprised.

To my eyes, this is a massive rip-off. The original LE cost $10 over retail and included a huge, detailed metal statuette, as well as a cool box and a soundtrack CD. This doesn't come even close and costs $30 more. To put it mildly and with a minimum of rude hand gestures, no thanks 2K.

I'm sure they regret the statue now; especially with the break-and-replace problems, I expect they lost money on every special edition versus what they could have gotten from a normal edition.

This does seem to have a pretty cool box too, and making nice vinyl can be expensive. I'm kind of surprised about that choice. To me the big question is the quality of the art book and posters; those can be done very cheaply or very well.

It still isn't as good of a deal as the original's special edition, but that was a fluke I don't think we're likely to see again.

How many people still have turntables? (i.e. record players)

Quintin_Stone wrote:

How many people still have turntables? (i.e. record players)

In fact, they're making them now with USB ports, so that you can record the output into iTunes or something similar. Convenience of digital portability, but still with that analog compression. Win/win!

I'm getting it just for the vinyl record.

Minarchist wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

How many people still have turntables? (i.e. record players)

In fact, they're making them now with USB ports, so that you can record the output into iTunes or something similar. Convenience of digital portability, but still with that analog compression. Win/win!

I have a Numark TTUSB, a step up from the popular ION. Not a pro-level Technics but it does the job.

Rexneron wrote:

Vinyl 180g LP featuring the orchestral score from the original BioShock

It's way too obvious this is a game that really has little to do with the original but will milk it's connection as much as possible. Looking at the gameplay really makes me sad because Bioshock was a real surprise for me. I picked it up without knowing what it was about at all and was blown away by the story. It's sad to see it become another random high speed shooter.

KillerTomato wrote:
Rexneron wrote:

The detailed metal statuette is not huge, I have it on my desk. A hardbound 164 page book itself would be worth at least $15. 180g vinyl is not cheap, the material is thicker than normal 120g records, and if well mastered and produced, leads to higher quality sound. I have a vinyl collection so this is a huge plus for me. 180g records usually cost about $30. Not including the poster or soundtrack you're getting at least $45 or so worth of bonus items.

I have the same statue. It's definitely huge for a game pack-in. To be any larger they'd have to go to the insanely big old PC game boxes.

I'll also say that the idea that there's $45 extra worth of stuff is... optimistic. Then again, my budget is limited and I'm only going to spend as much as I absolutely have to in order to get the best experience possible. A high-quality statue is (to me) awesome and adds immeasurably to the experience. An art book is... eh, okay. A sountrack could not have less value to me if it was hole-punched sheet music for a player piano. Actually, that's probably be a pretty cool pack-in, come to think of it.

So different strokes for different folks??

Rexneron wrote:

The detailed metal statuette is not huge, I have it on my desk. A hardbound 164 page book itself would be worth at least $15. 180g vinyl is not cheap, the material is thicker than normal 120g records, and if well mastered and produced, leads to higher quality sound. I have a vinyl collection so this is a huge plus for me. 180g records usually cost about $30. Not including the poster or soundtrack you're getting at least $45 or so worth of bonus items.

I have the same statue. It's definitely huge for a game pack-in. To be any larger they'd have to go to the insanely big old PC game boxes.

I'll also say that the idea that there's $45 extra worth of stuff is optimistic, even if you toss in all the various tchotchkes. Then again, my budget is limited and I'm only going to spend as much as I absolutely have to in order to get the best experience possible. A high-quality statue is (to me) awesome and adds immeasurably to the experience. An art book is... eh, okay. A sountrack could not have less value to me if it was hole-punched sheet music for a player piano. Actually, that's probably be a pretty cool pack-in, come to think of it.

TheGameguru wrote:

So different strokes for different folks??

In the same sense that I have to accept the fact that there are sane, rational people who enjoy watching cricket, I am forced to admit that there are clearly sane, rational people who think that this Limited Edition is genuinely worth the extra dough. I do not have to understand it - indeed, for my own sanity I hope that I never do - but I can accept it.

TheGameguru wrote:
KillerTomato wrote:
Rexneron wrote:

The detailed metal statuette is not huge, I have it on my desk. A hardbound 164 page book itself would be worth at least $15. 180g vinyl is not cheap, the material is thicker than normal 120g records, and if well mastered and produced, leads to higher quality sound. I have a vinyl collection so this is a huge plus for me. 180g records usually cost about $30. Not including the poster or soundtrack you're getting at least $45 or so worth of bonus items.

I have the same statue. It's definitely huge for a game pack-in. To be any larger they'd have to go to the insanely big old PC game boxes.

I'll also say that the idea that there's $45 extra worth of stuff is... optimistic. Then again, my budget is limited and I'm only going to spend as much as I absolutely have to in order to get the best experience possible. A high-quality statue is (to me) awesome and adds immeasurably to the experience. An art book is... eh, okay. A sountrack could not have less value to me if it was hole-punched sheet music for a player piano. Actually, that's probably be a pretty cool pack-in, come to think of it.

So different strokes for different folks??

Exactly. I'm a music collector so that's definitely up my alley, probably more so than others. I see what you're saying though KillerTomato.