Matthew on 3/9/2007 at 14:20
Personally, I would have had him smile wryly, shake his head and then shoot, but that's just me.
MegaBrutal on 3/9/2007 at 16:42
Hi all,
I've read some replies in this thread. Well, imho Half-Life 1 ending is perfect, Half-Life 2 ending is not so good, but it's not too bad, and System Shock 2 ending is also really good, I especially like SHODAN's monolog in it. I can only see one strange thing that's unclear: you are in the cyberspace, you are in SHODAN's world - why is SHODAN vulnerable in her own world? Yes, you have hacked 4 or more terminals that made SHODAN vulnerable, but I still find it strange. Why can't SHODAN kill you with only one thought, because damn, it's her world? But if I forget about this, I find SS2 ending perfect, and anyway, all games have similar logical nonsenses, even HL, even Deus Ex, etc..
As for BioShock, I haven't played it, and it seems that it will take a long while to get an ultrasuper machine to play it, but imho it was predictable that it won't be as good as SS2.
Reasons:
1. There is no System Shock without SHODAN. Anyway, the game is called BioShock, the story is quite different, so imho it doesn't ment to be a 3rd SS. It's another game with another atmosphere. The question is then: Is it good enough to be comparable with SS? And not: Does it continue SS2 worthily?
2. I have a really sad experience of games nowadays. Now, it seems that developers only make games for 2 reasons: a, They are trying to fully exploit the recently released hardwares, especially video cards, so they make games with beautiful graphics. They only have claims to give eye-candies to players. b, Of course, the 2nd reason is MONEY.
Both reasons were already existed in the HL/SS2/Deus Ex era, but they were not as strong as now, and there were also a 3rd reason, that had really high priority, and it seems that it's totally forgotten now. That reason were: Make games with intellectual values. Make a good story, add an own, special philosophy that also makes the player think, and helps the player to live though the game. These things make the game bigger than just a game. HL, SS1&2, DX are WORKS OF ART, but Doom, Quake, Counter-Strike are only GAMES.
It's also sad, that many kiddie accept these Doom-like games, and appreciate them more than HL & SS-like games...
I just hope that we are the majority, and game developers will think about the difference, what is just a game, and what is an artwork when they see that their efforts don't return in so much income as they expected.
Greetings,
MegaBrutal
catbarf on 3/9/2007 at 18:14
Quote Posted by Matthew
Personally, I would have had him smile wryly, shake his head and then shoot, but that's just me.
I actually agree, but I think that would be nearly impossible to pull off with the technology that was available.
cosmicnut on 4/9/2007 at 07:35
Probably true. Its one of those situations that makes you wonder why they used the game engine to render the cutscenes. True it does keep you more involved but sometimes it can kinda kill the mood.
These days, the game engine cutscenes are almost as good as the pre-rendered. Back then, it could be a little sad.
SIN had it right, the start and end movies are pre-rendered video but the rest of the cutscenes were scripted using the game engine.
Matthew on 4/9/2007 at 10:52
You're both probably right, I guess. The head motion would have worked, but not the animated facial features.
MegaBrutal, I actually prefer to see Bioshock as more of a spiritual sequel to System Shock 1 rather than 2, and I think Ken Levine has agreed with this. I must confess to becoming a little frustrated when people keep saying "It's not Shock 2"; it was never likely to be a direct development of Shock 2, especially given that they've tried to make a game that will appeal to a wider audience in addition to the older fans. Given those constraints I think they did a very good job - I know people will quibble over details like walking speed etc etc, and I'm not saying I don't have a list of things that I'd have done differently, but I could say that about any artistic vision that isn't my own, and that (at least in my own humble opinion) doesn't take away from the achievements of Irrational/2K Boston & Australia.
As for SHODAN's weakness at the end of Shock 2, I think I recall the supposition that that was intentional; once she has been shorn of all of her death machines and fancy toys, she is in essence weaker than she appears to be. Or maybe that's just my reading of it.
Edit: wow, is this possibly my longest post here this year?
Assidragon on 4/9/2007 at 11:04
Didn't play Bioshock yet, and judging by the protection/HW requirements won't for a while. But as I saw, the major gripe is similiar to the DX-DXIW effect, even if on a lesser level. People here were dreaming of a game keeping true to the SS1/2 feel and gameplay, and got a lot more action packed result.
Matthew on 4/9/2007 at 11:19
Shock 2, not Shock 1.
heywood on 5/9/2007 at 17:28
Quote Posted by Assidragon
Didn't play Bioshock yet, and judging by the protection/HW requirements won't for a while. But as I saw, the major gripe is similiar to the DX-DXIW effect, even if on a lesser level. People here were dreaming of a game keeping true to the SS1/2 feel and gameplay, and got a lot more action packed result.
Bioshock is less afflicted with consolitus than IW was, but Bioshock's gameplay differs from SS2 more significantly than IW's gameplay did from DX. I haven't finished Bioshock yet, but so far I'm finding it more fun than IW but probably less replayable.
blaydes99 on 6/9/2007 at 21:57
Quote Posted by heywood
Bioshock is less afflicted with consolitus than IW was, but Bioshock's gameplay differs from SS2 more significantly than IW's gameplay did from DX. I haven't finished Bioshock yet, but so far I'm finding it more fun than IW but probably less replayable.
I respect your comments, but if a game isn't fun, doesn't that mean that it's not replayable at all because it's lame? The fun games are the ones that I re-play the most.
Bjossi on 6/9/2007 at 22:15
The fun games are the only games I replay. . . :erm:
