Enchantermon on 4/11/2009 at 13:41
Quote Posted by Nameless Voice
To be fair, you could do this in System Shock as well, and even System Shock 2 to a sightly lesser extent (since they had a cost).
But then, I haven't played Bioshock, so I'm probably missing something.
System Shock, yes, although from what I remember it's pretty hard to get to some of the resurrection stations on some levels.
System Shock 2 has a cost (unless you're on Easy) which also affects the rest of the game, since you need money for other things like hypos (and bullets, if you don't use the melee weapons).
If you want Bioshock to truly be a survival game, the best you can do is turn the Vita Chambers off and use (
http://www.strangebedfellows.de/index.php/topic,1128.0.html) Silver's mod. You'll definitely have a less laid-back time in Rapture.
Nameless Voice on 4/11/2009 at 14:47
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
Yeah, the main difference is that getting killed in Bioshock is actually
beneficial, since it fills you half up on health and "psi".
In SS1, you get a fair portion of your health back, too. And the resurrection station is often near a medical bed to get the rest of your health refilled for free.
ZylonBane on 4/11/2009 at 15:59
True, but I tend to believe that the free resurrection in SS1 was partially to compensate for the clunky pre-mouselook interface.
By SS2 it was really more tradition than anything else.
cosmicnut on 4/11/2009 at 16:16
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
True, but I tend to believe that the free resurrection in SS1 was partially to compensate for the clunky pre-mouselook interface.
By SS2 it was really more tradition than anything else.
But then, how many times on this board have we seen players getting killed right after they spawn in SS2!
Zygoptera on 4/11/2009 at 20:01
The other thing about the vita chambers in Bioshock was the sheer number of them, whereas in SS2 and especially SS1 there would be one in a large level in BS it felt like you tripped over them every twenty meters or so. And enemies could not attack you (don't think they could even see you) when you spawned in one.
Al_B on 4/11/2009 at 20:35
The resurrection chambers in SS1 were already a bit of a tradition for LGS from the UW games. UW1 had the silver sapling and in UW2 you woke back up in the gem room if you died in one of the other worlds.
In all their games, however, the resurrection wasn't immediately available, was inconvenient and (apart from UW2) was optional.
Pardoner on 4/11/2009 at 22:09
Quote Posted by Nameless Voice
In SS1, you get a fair portion of your health back, too. And the resurrection station is often near a medical bed to get the rest of your health refilled for free.
But just as often, the medical bed would be on the other side of a level. And toddling all that distance would cost the player in health and ammo (which was critically scarce) all for a "free" health refill. Going for a medical bed was a choice I remember weighing.
ZylonBane on 4/11/2009 at 22:33
And then there was the level where the medical bed very often ended up blown into tiny pieces.
D'Arcy on 5/11/2009 at 01:32
The Restoration Bays in System Shock aren't available in all levels. The last two don't have one. Also, they are not easily accessible. On most levels, you only manage to access them after covering almost all of the level, so you're constantly at risk of dying for good. Furthermore, they are not readily available; you have to actually turn them on (i.e., switch off cyborg conversion), and they're usually well guarded. And there is only one at each level. So even if it is turned on, if you die you might spawn across the map, unlike what happens in Bioshock, where there's one vita chamber almost around every corner.
Quote Posted by Nameless Voice
And the resurrection station is often near a medical bed to get the rest of your health refilled for free.
Not true. There are only three operational surgery beds in Shock. They are placed in levels R, 1, and 7. The one in level R is relatively close to the Restoration Bay, although not right next to it. The one in level 1 is quite far from the Restoration Bay. And the one in level 7 (the one ZylonBane mentioned) is right next to it, but it's surrounded by mines and is often destroyed by one of the patrolling robots when you get close.
I've played through System Shock hundreds of times, and not even once has it occurred to me that it would be beneficial to let myself die and respawn.
polytourist97 on 5/11/2009 at 07:41
Quote Posted by D'Arcy
...if we had the patience we could kill Big Daddies with a wrench.
I did that. Not really as any testament to my skill or patience; just that after I died a couple times while trying to kill it normally (and not doing well) I got fed up with how this system that rewards people for having all the diligence & mental processing capabilities of a brick was rewarding me for failing so utterly, and how transparent it became that my actions had absolutely no consequences whatsoever. So I abused the hell out of it, out of spite. Then I returned to playing normally, trying to artificially create in my mind the sensation that death actually was something to try and avoid (this all being pre-patch that allowed vita-chambers to be turned off).
