Bioshocked

Spoiler free!  About a week ago I decided to make my long awaited journey into Rapture, the mysterious world that is home to the Bioshock series of games.  Back when Bioshock came out in 2007, my video card had recently fried itself; limiting me to playing games that were made essentially back in the Windows 98 days when Roller Coaster Tycoon was all the hype.  Don't get me wrong, RCT was a fantastic game, one that I continue to revisit to this day, but now that I've built my own computer with some serious GPU power behind it, it's time to take on the more graphically demanding games that I have missed over the years.

Bioshock begins with a brief cinematic of you - the main character - aboard a plane flying across the Atlantic.  Almost immediately, something goes horribly wrong and the plane crashes into the ocean.  This is where you assume control.  After a brief intro to the controls and some pretty impressive graphics, you are brilliantly introduced to the world of Rapture - a beautiful underwater city governed by a mysterious man named Andrew Ryan.  Now, right off the bat there are tons of questions that come to mind, such as: Why did the plane crash here? Why am I the only survivor? How come Rapture's inhabitants appear to be bat-$#@& crazy? and so on..  Without spoiling anything, these questions and more are answered throughout the game.  It turns out to be a thrilling story-line, filled with plot twists and turns that really makes the world of Rapture come to life.

    The mysterious Rapture in all its glory

As maybe evidence by previous reviews I've done, I'm a sucker for a good atmosphere in a game.  The atmosphere that Bioshock provides is spectacular, filled to the brim with personality and dark uncoverable secrets.  The fact that you have to explore every nook and cranny for audio diaries that give insight to the city's inhabitants adds to the awe.  In addition, the way the game cinematically introduces you to the dangers lurking in the depths of the city - without ever taking away player control - is phenomenal.  The sound in this game adds to the atmosphere by providing a general sense of foreboding, with creaking floors and distant roars (heh), as well as a Fallout 3-esque 1950's era soundtrack that makes certain areas really come to life. As the game goes on, however, this sense of atmosphere is diminished by the gameplay.  In a sense, it's way too easy.

In order to visualize just how easy the game is, imagine fighting this guy:

Pretty intimidating, right?  Now, imagine fighting the same guy, except this time you have the knowledge that five feet to your right is a mountainous pile of ammo, first aid kits and energy.  Oh, and ten feet behind you is a free-to-use restoration chamber that instantly revives you if you die and around the corner up ahead are two vending machines that will gladly concede even more ammo, first aid kits and energy upon successful defeat of the baddie.  Thus is the format for basically every enemy encounter in the entire game.  On the harder difficulty settings, the enemies have more health and deal out more damage, but the environmental aids are still present.  To be honest, I enjoy games where I don't have to fret over every single unit of ammunition and sliver of health in my health bar, but this is just ridiculous.  It gets to the point where you can casually stroll into any room or unexplored corridor in the game without a care in the world, thus detracting slightly from the overall atmosphere.

One of the best songs of Bioshock - Somewhere Beyond the Sea

Aside from being too easy, the gameplay is generally solid.  Customizable controls and standard first person shooter mechanics make for an enjoyable experience all around.  In addition to a wide range of weapons and ammo available, the player has an option to use special powers called plasmids.  Plasmids are essentially powers that allow you to defeat enemies however you please.  You can set them on fire, freeze them, shoot lightning, send out a swarm of bees, enrage them to attack other enemies, etc.  It's a neat array of powers that includes potential for some cool battle tactics, but for the most part preparing for each fight rapidly devolves into equipping your most powerful attack (lightning or fire) and alternating the use of these with shotgun blasts to the face.  The game tries to introduce RPG elements on top of the FPS gameplay by giving the player a series of moral choices to make.  I say 'tries' because these choices (which boil down to harming or saving little corrupted girls) don't affect much except the brief ending cinematic and available ADAM that the player uses to purchase additional plasmids.  The main story, however, remains the same regardless of your choices.

After spending roughly 11 hours in Rapture, the solid-but-not-perfect FPS gameplay and gradual unraveling of plot twists all come to a disappointing end with a weak final boss fight and an even weaker final cinematic (there are multiple endings, the one I got was fairly lame).  It's over in a flash and I honestly am still unsure about what exactly happened, but I guess that's what Wikipedia is for!

Now, since my first experience in Rapture was thoroughly enjoyable, I decided to jump right in to Bioshock 2 the following day.  Upon pressing the Play button in Steam, I was shown a security code that would be used to unlock the game (didn't I already purchase it?).  So I copied it to the clipboard, entered it in the next screen and - oh what's this?  "Authorization attempt unsuccessful - Try manual authorization".  Ok...So I click on the Manual Authorization page whereupon it prompts me to enter my security code along with a HUGE additional Unlock code.  After typing both codes in, I press Next and once again, "Authorization attempt unsuccessful". Great.  Minutes pass by and after enough trials and tribulations with the authorization screen (as if it was testing my patience), I finally got into the game and was greeted with the main screen.

As soon as I go to click the New Game button, an enormous popup covers the screen.  "Create a Games for Windows Live Account", it says.  No thanks, says I - Cancel, Cancel, Exit, Cancel.  Once again I press the New Game button and at last, I reach the opening cinematic.  The story this time around takes place ten years after the original game and includes some returning NPC's, but the player now controls one of the enemies from the first game and the main plot is entirely different.  Interesting...

You control one of these brutes this time around

The first problem I have with the actual game itself is that the city of Rapture is revisited almost to a fault.  You see the same vistas you saw in the first game only from a different angle.  While these set pieces provided for some breathtaking moments in the first game, it becomes stale when you see it multiple times.  As a matter of fact, nothing is really changed from the first game in Bioshock 2.  The gameplay is almost exactly the same, the enemies are the same (with a few additions), the excessive amount of first aid kits and restoration chambers is the same; it's basically just an expansion pack.  Except this time, the atmosphere has become stale and the strong story present before is now replaced by a new, less exciting story with a less exciting main antagonist.

The 50's era soundtrack makes a welcoming return in Bioshock 2.

Two hours into the game I began to get bored, so I planned on saving and revisiting the game at a later hour.  So I pause the game and go to click save - it's grayed out.  Figuring that just meant there was an enemy nearby I had to dispatch of, I journeyed to a completely safe area and once again tried to save - nothing. An ensuing Google search leads me to this little tidbit: You need a Games for Windows Live account to save the game!   What?!?!?!  You actually need an online account, completely separate from the game itself, in order to physically save your game.  Holy crap, my mind was blown.  I have Super Nintendo games with better saving systems than that.  Unbelievable.

So, as I was already two hours invested into the game and I had no plan to re-do the intro sequences, I powered on through.  I would not rest until I beat the game.  Five hours later I reach the end of the second to last chapter in the game.  All that remains (according to a posthumous FAQ search) is one final extended battle and the closing scenes.  So I go to open a door and journey to that final destination and......the game freezes.  After all that, the fact that I couldn't save came back to bite me.  It's a shame too, the last couple hours were quite good.  A couple of Youtube 'Let's play Bioshock 2' videos later and I had effectively beaten the game.

On its own merits, Bioshock 2 is a great game, as the foundation upon which it is built is very strong.  However, the game falters as a sequel, introducing new concepts that are far too insignificant to make a second journey through Rapture nearly as impressive as the first.

Overall, the Bioshock series is a unique gaming experience, definitely worth the $10 that it was on Steam when I purchased it.  But it's a good thing it was that cheap, because Bioshock 2 failed to provide enough new thrills to make it worth the price of a full game ($60 these days).

I now sit here, contemplating which of my dozens of Steam games to play next, awaiting the much anticipated release of the next game in the Bioshock series, 'Bioshock Infinite', set to release in the spring of 2013.  It will be set in a new environment (not Rapture), and if the original Bioshock has taught us anything; journeying through an unknown world with unknown inhabitants can be very rewarding.  While most of my Bioshock experience will be forgotten with time, that initial descent into the heart of Rapture and its twisted ways in Bioshock 1 is a gaming memory that is certain to last.

Appreciating Steam

So since it’s week six of my never-ending winter break, I decided now is as good a time as any to breathe some life back into SNSG. 

A quick glance down the Gaming section of Reddit evinces the power that Steam has had on the PC gaming industry.  Meme after meme of Valve’s benevolent overlord Gabe Newell grace the front page of my favorite news source on a daily basis.  Newell, the equivalent of a real-world Comic Book Guy has created a multibillion dollar (That’s billion with a “B”) computer game distribution empire. 

I think the genius of Steam lies in its simplicity.  Let me set the scene.  I’m sitting in my boxers on my throne, a tattered swivel chair.  Not a pretty sight.  After watching hours and hours of YouTube mixtapes of lackluster NBA players (who actually cares about Jorge Garbajosa?), I can maneuver to the Steam website, and after two deft clicks of the mouse, and one virtual swipe of the credit card, I’m all of a sudden playing Orcs Must Die 2.  I’m still in my boxers.  On my swivel chair.  Not bothering to clean up the ketchup stain on the desk that’s melding in with the woodwork.

Now that’s the beauty of this thing.  In an age where everyone wants to do as little as possible all the time, Steam more than fits the bill.  If I were to buy a game from Amazon, I would have to wait a few days, and then physically move myself from my swivel chair to the front door to retrieve the package.  Just thinking about installing a physical CD into a desktop computer gives me chills.  In the famous words of YouTube legend Sweet Brown, "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

And then there are the magnificent Steam sales.  Not since the advent of fire has mankind been responsible for such a beautiful creation.  Publisher-specific bundles, daily deals, community-voted deals; these forces combine to wreak havoc on one’s wallet.  But no one seems to mind.  I still haven’t touched half the games I purchased last summer during the sale, and I’m sure many others are in the same boat.  Something about the aesthetic design of the website, the snappy game trailers…it’s just so easy to stockpile big name games!  And the fact that I’m not dropping $60 per game appeases my innate frugality.

But I still see room for improvement!

Achievement System:  When I first copped my Xbox 360, I was blown away by the sheer addictiveness of the achievement system.  Steam also implements an achievement system for individual games, but it would be better if there were some sort of aggregate number that tracked progress across all games. 

Hard Copy Support:  It would be nice if Steam had support for games that were purchased through retail.  Being able to play my hard copy of Sim City 4 via Steam would cut out the whole putting the CD in the disc drive thing.

Improved IM System:  Just find a way to make it better.

Now it’s time to go back to battling Albanian tweens in Age of Empires III online.  With both expansion packs installed of course. 

As always, let's try to get exceed expectations, and get a comment on this post.  

                 

State of the Video Game Industry

Hello once again, faithful SNSG subscribers! I bring to you an article I’ve wanted to write for a long time, but could never find the time to write. I present to you, the State of the Video Game Industry, a collection of my personal ramblings and disconnected thoughts.

After a frenzied five-minute Google research session, I feel that I have gathered enough statistics to make it seem like actual research was done. As one will soon realize, I do not cite any sources. Okay, so let’s get right into it then!

Industry Profile

As an economics major, I’ve spent the last three years indoctrinated in the fine arts of graph memorization and line manipulation. I also read boring things. The common denominator in this array of monotony is the use of mundane language. Things such as “Industry Profile” seem to crop up a lot.

But anyway, the video game industry is absolutely thriving. Since 2004, the total value of the industry has increased from $10.3 Billion (With a B!) to $70+ Billion today. In terms of gross revenue, the video game industry nearly matched the movie industry. I believe a number of factors are responsible for this rise.

Contrary to popular belief, the average gamer is not a 16-year old COD player who sends nonsensical messages through Xbox Live when he gets knifed. (Though it might sometimes seem that way). In fact, the average gamer is 34 years old. If you’re playing games at the age of 34, chances are you’ve been gaming for a long time. Also, chances are slim that you are married. Thus, unmarried 34-year olds, who are (hopefully) employed, have the resources to fund their gaming enterprises. An aging gamer demographic helps drive growth.

**Side note: I have a strong suspicion that someone in my Age of Empires clan is 34 and lives out of his car, but that’s for another blog entry. **

With the emergence of motion-control based gaming and mobile gaming, a ton of new demographics have been roped into the world gaming. The number of annoying teenagers who can’t dance, but wave their arms animatedly in front of a Kinect camera is staggering. Same goes for the number of obese individuals who treat the Wii Fit like a reincarnation of the South Beach Diet, and adhere to it faithfully. Then, there are always the charming elderly technophiles who emulate their favorite real-world activities in video game form. And of course, everyone plays Angry Birds.

The bottom line is that in the past decade, gaming has evolved to include everyone. 40% of all gamers are girls(!), octogenarians are getting involved, and games are even being seen as a supplement to a healthy diet! I have heard that smart phones now support vast gaming libraries. I have only experienced this vicariously, however, since my phone is not even capable of taking pictures. Even Facebook is not safe from the vicious onslaught of gaming. I just dropped a 70-point word on Words with Friends the other day, and my friend has a rather immaculate garden on Farmville.

So, is this a good thing?

The short answer is yes. The impact that video games has on job creation in the technology sector is huge. Let me tell you, after taking a computer science class, I thought I’d have the skills to make Metroid Prime 4. Turns out I can only make a rudimentary pong game that can’t keep score. Awesome! The point is, the people making these games are some of the smartest minds out there, period. I am in continuous awe of how games continue to evolve and push the boundaries of possibility. The industry standard today was a technological marvel a decade ago.

The video game industry employs people like him!

Furthermore, a number of successful indie developers have cropped up that reinforce the idea of meritocracy in the gaming world. The idea that anyone with the right skills and mindset can capitalize on a good idea is pivotal for the success of this industry. The open source Android operating system has made it possible for 13-year olds to market top-selling games.

Disturbing Trends

But of course, not everything is without fault in the world of gaming. Here are some trends that I find particularly worrisome.

1. DLC - Downloadable Content. Picture this. The year is 2005. You go to Game Stop and make what you think is a sound investment. You purchase Shadow the Hedgehog for the GameCube. (Minutes into the game, you realize that you have made a terrible mistake, but that’s beside the point). You freely traverse the open non-linear game world *sarcasm*, but upon completing the first level, you are told that you must purchase level 2, in the form of DLC. The same pattern manifests itself for the next 10 levels. Since you have already made a flurry of bad decisions (beginning with the initial purchase of the game), you simply can’t stop. You go ahead and buy every level. At the end of the whole process, you are unsure whether or not you are having any fun at all.

This illustration is to DLC what the book 1984 is to democracy. I think that DLC is fine as long as it is reasonably priced and actually adds something of value to the overall gameplay experience. It is not fine if companies purposely condense a game, and then sell vital gameplay elements off at a premium. Mass Effect 3, what are you thinking?!

2. Motion Controls - With the Wii, we saw the introduction of the waggle as a core gameplay mechanic. How many shovel ware games were built off the premise that wildly gesticulating with our arms was crucial to the overall experience? Really, it wasn’t until Skyward Sword that I saw a game that made legitimate use of motion controls.

3. Used Games – I can’t believe that is even a problem in the first place. Rumor has it that the next Xbox is trying to find a way to ban the user from playing used games. It’s one thing to counter piracy, but what’s wrong with used games? Kiss your profits goodbye Microsoft!

The Last Word

In the end, games are about having fun. Graphical prowess, an orchestrated soundtrack, and a bevy of unique gameplay elements are nice, but mean nothing if you’re not having fun. Ultimately, it is this that drives the video game industry more than anything else.