Kolya on 27/10/2012 at 12:38
I guess I'm too old for this game. Because I like my games to employ a slightly more serious tone than a Disney themed roller coaster with fat bats and a bug eyed baby doll for a sidekick.
On top of that I'm not overly fond of the specifically US American perspective it takes to make a moral point about nationalism and xenophobia. I guess my black friend gets killed early on?
demagogue on 27/10/2012 at 13:05
If it's in the same vein as BS1, then the whole point will be too much faith in nationalism & xenophobia led to this society falling apart, and you're dealing with the fallout. It'd be pro-nationalist in the same way that BS1 is pro-libertarian, which is to say quite the opposite.*
Or it could completely toss out that punchline and actually be pretty straightforward shooter without any critical bite, in which case it doesn't deserve the "Bioshock" title. I hope it's not like that (it takes its own flag waving too seriously); it wouldn't make sense; but I'm unsure enough that I wouldn't bet against it either. The rollercoaster part doesn't bode well compared to BS1's environment, where every scene was sending the same message; too much Ayn Rand for breakfast = social collapse & decrepitude.
*Edit: Or I may be misunderstanding what you don't like though... Are you saying you wouldn't like it being against flag-waving because it's too American-centric in how it'll do it? I'm fighting off the temptation to bend Godwin's law on this but ... I mean ... the US isn't the only country that's gone crazy with nationalism & xenophobia and got called on it. Are you saying there's a particularly American brand of criticizing it though? Because they're American flags? Because it looks too ham-handed or formulaic in how it does it? Anyway I've never given games too much credibility to talk seriously on any big social issue -- nothing near what cinema or novels can do; I mean they could, but it's not on anybody's agenda working on them. So I just assume of course they'll muff it up, even when they're giving superficial nods to it. -- So my expectations are never high to begin with.
Kolya on 27/10/2012 at 13:33
Ayn Rand is virtually unknown in Europe and her ideology never gained much foothold here. Nevertheless Bioshock made the problem of objectivism understandable by simplification and abstraction. It was still a bit of a strawman fight from a European perspective, but oh well.
Nationalism on the other hand is of course a well known problem here as well, but by nature nationalism plays out very differently depending on the country. I don't believe for a second that BSI might be pro-nationalist, but it obviously employs a uniquely USAmerican perspective on the problem. Which will simply be less interesting for everyone else.
Jason Moyer on 27/10/2012 at 13:43
And all of this is why BioShock 2 was so much better than the first one, since it dispensed with the adolescent-level critique of objectivism and player control and actually focused on being a game with interesting gameplay and level design.
Melan on 27/10/2012 at 15:59
Quote Posted by Kolya
Ayn Rand is virtually unknown in Europe and her ideology never gained much foothold here.
There are a lot of wannabe objectivists in Hungary. Most of them are journalists and other people who have never created anything of worth in their lives. Surprise, surprise. :D
Kolya on 27/10/2012 at 16:49
There are also a lot of nationalists in Hungary. A critique on them would have to deal with Hungary's recent history as a former communist state, its economical situation, the situation of Roma and Sinti in the country (and their history) etc. I'd personally be a lot more interested in a clever game in this setting (because I know a lot less about it) than the insights to be gained from BSI about American nationalism. I've seen American nationalism in action in thousands of blockbuster movies, TV series and video games and I have developed a pretty thorough critical view on it long ago. So thorough in fact that BSI's theme, while fairly innovative for an American video game, strikes me as navel gazing and quite boring.
Melan on 27/10/2012 at 17:33
No thanks, we have been demonised enough already.
gunsmoke on 27/10/2012 at 18:16
Does the main character wear any sort of suit/armor like in the 2nd game?
