The Sky of Verdun 3D - dogfight in HTML5

Came across this seemingly fun little game over here, too bad I don't have a Occulus Rift (yet):



Check their page for the Win32 and browser server/client download.

Code Combat: Open Source Javascript Tutorial Gamification (In A Good Way)

youtube.com/watch?v=dCOHjERswGw

Code Combat is a javascript programming learning IDE wrapped in a delicious cute RPG/2D RTS packaging that runs in the browser without any plugins. They recently announced their open source/free art release.

The current set of Code Combat tutorials starts with directional movement and activation of pre-programmed behavior, continues with coordinate movement and targeting and conditional behavior and continues towards prediction calculations.

Editor GUI

youtube.com/watch?v=H5u5ga5dHm8

There is an editor, officially described as "broken". I can confirm that the text editor was slow when I tried using it. :)

All in all, a very exciting project. I have noticed a few possible drawbacks so far:

• It's not yet clear which parts will not remain proprietary. It looks like the excellent humor (writing) unfortunately will do so (legal page).
• The music tends to be too exciting to code to.
• There's a CLA requirement for contributing.

What do you think? Persuaded to work on a HTML5 game yourself perhaps, seeing that this performs okay? :)

Long Live The Queen

The Short

Pros
- A "reimagining" of the old Princess Maker games...but more violent!
- Lots of varying events and activities help make multiple playthroughs different
- Single playthrough is relatively short; usually around 45 minutes to 1 hour
- Crunching numbers and min/maxing is surprisingly satisfying

Cons
- Not much to the game aside from stat raising
- Due to both the randomness and just how the game is set up, it's almost impossible to determine which stats to raise, and how high
- Emotions play a role in boosting/leveling skills, but nothing tells you what emotions do which things, meaning you can get stuck
- Deaths are frequent, and often appear random
- Only like two songs. Will drive you crazy.

Hope you like text. And bars. And numbers. 

The Long

The best part about video games is the massive range they can cover. The Stanley Parable, a semi-linear story-driven experience where the only "gameplay" is walking? Totally a game. Call of Duty, where you shoot dudes and it's like a summer blockbuster? Game. Wall Street Kid...let's just not talk about that one.

Anyway, Long Live The Queen is an interesting example of how games can be completely...different from each other. Based (sort of) on the old Princess Maker games that I never really played, Long Live The Queen tasks you with the princess soon-to-be-queen Elodie, who is a total blithering idiot when she comes to you. It's your job to decide what path her studies take her, and in that way the story will change. That's it. That's the whole game. Well, minus her dying. A lot. 

If that sounds interesting, read on!

Haven't seen this may bars since my trip to Ireland! (ba bum, chish)

The story is...well...honestly a bit mild, but it's also how you make it. Elodie is a fourteen (or fifteen? who cares) year old princess who will now become queen. Her dad, the King, is still alive, so...why do we need a queen again? Why is she so important? Is this a matriarchy, then? It's pretty clear from the get-go that your dad (usually) has to do what you say, but why is that? These things are never explained. 

While it isn't Game of Thrones levels of crazy political nastiness (though there is an army across the sea that can potentially invade, as well as a bunch of crazy in-house conspiracies), the game does a decent enough job of mixing up stuff that playthroughs feel mostly unique. And, when Elodie is failing every test left and right for poise, foreign knowledge, and even her own customs, you actually get a bit invested in trying to keep her afloat as she is completely overwhelmed. The game also has dozens of endings (most of them bad) and the paths to branch quite frequently. Play as a warlord and you'll see quite a different outcome later on than if you play it cool and simply exist to charm the court. 

The only downer is the beginning segments (before things can branch off) do tend to stay the same, though there are still enough random elements that it ends up being at least ok. Not the most compelling story ever, but interesting enough to get me invested. 

Expect to see a lot of Elodie making an idiot of herself. 

The "gameplay" segments are interesting, but often feel like random guesswork. To put it simply, there's 14 different categories where you can teach her stuff, and within these 3 specific focuses. That gives us a whopping 98 stats you can level, and with only 40 weeks in a game and the ability to raise two of those stats a week, you can't possibly max even a small percentage of them. Your first run (and maybe many future ones) will mostly involve dumb luck, failing every prompt that shows.

However, it's a game designed to be played this way. As you bludgeon your way through constant failures, never knowing what exactly you should be leveling, you'll revel in the small victories. And you'll being to understand how the game really works: min/maxing. Pick a focus, and burn all your time into it. Making her a jack-of-all-trades is a great way to fail early, even with many prompts being a bet more lenient and allowing you to pass if just one of a multitude of skills is leveled properly. 

Unfortunately, it's actually leveling these skills that Long Live the Queen's biggest problem emerges.

This thing is the bane of my existence.

See, the only way you can min/max her stats properly and with any sense of speed (only forty weeks, remember) is playing the emotions game. Based on Elodie's emotions, some skills will level faster than others. Being Angry, for example, gives a boost to Military should you choose to level it. Being Yielding adds a hefty chunk of points to her courtly mannerisms if you choose to invest (but will be cut down if she's depressed, afraid, or lonely). Every week you are given one chance to "flux" her emotions in a few directions, but there's so many and the amount gained so arbitrary, you have little to no actual control over it. 

What's worse is the game doesn't tell you what emotions govern which stat. For my entire first playthrough I couldn't level her poise because she started depressed (a -1 to it, meaning all experience gained is halved) and I couldn't for the life of me find out what to raise to make it work. There are no tooltips, no help options, nothing to give you hints, save perhaps taking extensive notes on the side or using a wiki. This lead to me basically just leveling the stuff that currently had the biggest boost, making her a bit one-sided (mostly in military) and ultimately bringing her to an untimely end because, while she was a sword master, she had no physical capabilities at all. Whoops?

You can also unlock weird clothes. 

The only other real "mechanic" is that, should you get any "set" of skills (read: the three that group together) to 30 or higher, you'll unlock a costume she can wear. This provides a decent boost to that category's skills, meaning you could (theoretically) equip it if you knew you'd need a boost the following day, but the only way you'd know that was via save-scumming, and at that point the game stops being fun. The costumes also range from "ok" to "absurd," with the "Magical Girl" outfit she wears upon learning magic completely stupid looking and not fitting the theme of the game. I get they're kind of trying to be silly, but it doesn't fit with the grisly death graphics and awful things going on to have her wear a tutu when she declares war on a foreign country because she was too stupid to study politics. 

Frustrations aside, it's addicting to level her up, and you sort of get into a groove after playing it a bit as to what you want to build towards. A big portion of the game is just giving up, realizing you will never know what the next week may require, and just pounding points into stuff randomly and hoping for the best. Not much of a game (there "strategy" here is near non-existent), but still oddly entertaining.

Oh I just can't wait to be queen.

Graphically...it's basically a visual novel, though I'd say it's a low-level one. The art is generally decent, especially of Elodie (and her weird "chibi" death scenes), but character portraits seriously look like the same people with different hair from time to time, and everybody is drawn in a style that makes them seem just out of high school, even the adults. It basically recycles the same 3-4 backgrounds for the whole game (you almost never leave the castle), so I'd imagine most of the graphical work went into Elodie's outfits. 

The music starts soft and carefree and quickly becomes intolerable, with one piano piece always playing during the portion of the game where you pick her lessons (and sometimes during the "plot" bits as well), with only two or three other music tracks breaking the monotony. My suggestion: turn off the music, turn on some dubstep, and have the most drop-tastic, bomb-bastic queen you can roll out.

SWORDED!

So...is Long Live The Queen worth your time? Well...I couldn't have gone over the game more (though watching someone play could help you get a better understanding. Keep an eye out on my YouTube Channel!), so if you like what you've been seeing than, by all means, give it a shot. The developers have a free demo on their site that's pretty extensive, and since the game is basically the same thing over and over if you like the demo, you'll like the game.

It's a hard sell, though, because mostly what I see is potential that isn't fully realized. With a better UI and more branching paths (And maybe less stuff to have to level and research, or lower costs to "pass" certain plot-wise tests) I could see this game being a very viable visual novel with a cool twist, and a true modern successor to the Princess Maker games. As of right now, however, it's more a toy than a game, something you play around in and mess with a bit, but don't really strategize or get too heavily invested in. Which is a pity, because it could be so much more.

It's running $10 normally on Steam and GoG, though I waited for the inevitable $5 price drop, which made it a much easier pill to swallow. For that price, it's a gleeful waste of time, and I'll confess I burned through it several times in my attempts to get Elodie on the throne. 

And most of them resulted in her death. Being queen suuuuuucks.

Two out of five stars. (but still recommended!)

What is this I don't even

Happy new year & Congrats to the LGA January 2014 winner!

Hello 2014 and happy new year to everyone!

One of the new things for this year will be the regular Linux Game Awards done by various Linux and FOSS gaming site (and which has been spearheaded by the great LGDB).

And the first winner is:



The votes have been quite clear, but our friends from SuperTuxKart got a very respectable 2nd place:

You can expect some further promotional news coming up this month for 0 A.D. so stay tuned :)

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

The Short

Pros
- Beautiful world feels straight out of a fairytale
- Unique controls that require no tutorials; you learn as you play
- Achievements are clever and encourage exploration on an otherwise linear game
- Music is phenomenal
- The "burned house" scene
- Ending segment's fusion of learned controls with story elements is quite powerful
- Four words: Valley of the Giants

Cons
- The bigger emotional moments lack punch or proper buildup (the ending being the exception)
- Game's ending may frustrate some
- Stick controls can be clunky to figure out for basic movement (works well for climbing)
- Little to no actual gameplay here; sort of a "co-op Uncharted lite"
- 90% of the game's impact is on the initial discovery; replays seem pointless
- Will only run you, at most, three hours to beat it from start to finish

Brothers will take you some incredible places. 

The Long

Something that I feel is often forgotten in the gaming medium is it's ability to transplant you in the middle of something of great beauty. Movies can often do this with special effects or good art direction, but you're tied to the characters and your time is limited. Books can also do this to great effect, though there is no visual representation for one to admire; it's all in your head. Games have a unique position, as they can create incredible, beautiful worlds, and allow someone to traverse it at their own pace. It's something that, I feel, is frequently forgotten as we push for "better gameplay" or "more enemies on screen at once."

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a downloadable game that tries to bring that sense of magical wonder to you, the player. Controlling two brothers you traverse a world that seems straight out of fairy tales. You'll see some downright crazy stuff, from the rustic, warm village you start in to freezing ice caps. You'll soar over mountains and climb massive structures. You'll dive deep into caves and find unspeakable horrors there. In a sense, it's like the first time you read The Hobbit: you never know what crazy thing is going to show up next, and how it will bewitch you. But the question is, is that enough to justify it's $15 price tag? Well...maybe. 

If you're looking for a visual feast, Brothers has got your number. 

The story is one of tragedy. It opens with the younger of the two brothers (neither of which are named) watching his mother drown in an unfortunate boating accident. Cut ahead a few years and (unrelated to said drowning), now their father is dying of a really bad cough (the known Movie Killer of Important Mentor Characters). The doctor in the village gives them a scroll with what looks like the Yggdrasil tree, but I might be mistaken, basically saying they need whatever is in that tree to save the father. So the two brothers go off together, trying to save their father before it's too late.

The characters don't speak an actual language (it's been compared to "Simlish," but it's much less obnoxious), but they don't need to; most emotional moments are done via physical reactions and character expressions. In this manner, the game does that very well, but particularly at merging these emotions with the actual gameplay. While the story itself is a bit light (and the final two "big twists" are poorly foreshadowed and lack an emotional punch), it's still a whimsical fairytale and feels just like it, so you're mostly there for the ride.

That being said, there are two rather emotional story segments that got to me: the burned house (which is a "side mission") and the final gameplay scenes of the game. While I don't plan on spoiling it, let me just say that the game does an exceptional job of fusing learned gameplay elements with story to really pack an emotional final punch. It's unfortunate that the actual final scene is somewhat...lame, and the game doesn't really build up enough to justify the twists it presents, but no biggie. It's not going to set the world on fire, but the story is ok. But just ok. 

"You kids wanna go on a super-dangerous quest halfway across the world to a tree that  might not exist? It'll...uh...totally save your dad!"

The gameplay in Brothers is fairly simple. Each brother is controlled with a different analogue stick (meaning a controller is a must for the PC version), and the triggers perform actions with their respective brothers. That's it. Since 90% of the time you'll be climbing up stuff, triggers have to be held and released to jump (the pressed again to catch ledges) for each respective brother. The game mixes it up a bit during a rather fun segment where the brothers are tied together, requiring some dexterous controller pressing, but ultimately the control scheme feels...cumbersome. Even after beating the game I never got used to moving the two of them at once, still forgetting which brother was which stick more often than not. I ended up positioning them on screen so they'd match (older brother on left, younger on right) in an attempt to actually be able to walk, but since you have no camera control that didn't really work. For an inexplicable reason the game doesn't have multiplayer co-op (though, to be fair, it would diminish the ending scene a little if it did), so it feels like a co-op game that you're trying to force your way through single player. Regardless, nothing is too dexterous that you'll die more than a few times, but you might have problems walking them down narrow paths together.

As for the actual gameplay...that's pretty much it. Since you have just sticks and triggers, your actions are limited. Granted, you can interact with a ton of stuff (chickens, benches, doors, wells, etc.) and each brother will react to the same thing differently (nice touch), but 90% of this game is climbing up stuff. Climbing up obvious pathways ala Uncharted but somehow even more simplified. Point being: you aren't playing Brothers because of the gameplay. Just...know that going in.

This is what you are playing the game for. 

Where it lacks in gameplay and storytelling it makes up in the journey itself. Brothers may not be a technical powerhouse (though the draw distance they got on the Unreal Engine is impressive), it's warm and soft aesthetic and incredibly detailed vistas steal the show. The developers knew this, too, and put random benches just around scenic spots where you can sit and stare in awe at their pretty scenes. In any other game I'd consider that a bit pretentious, but in Brothers it works. It knows why you are here, and gives you the means to best engage in that.

Perhaps the best bit about the visuals is the parts that are understated. While you're crawling through the mines (arguably the weakest aesthetics in the game), far below you can see a glimpse of silhouettes of giants mining next to large forges, miles beneath. As you carefully slide through an icy shelf, frozen shapes of figures in a battle field, flash-frozen and snowed over, are alongside you as you pass. And the Valley of Giants...well...let's just say it's one of the most shocking yet still incredible scenes in a game I've seen (and the buildup/hints towards it are also clever). Brothers is a game all about the journey, and it doesn't fail to deliver on the visuals aspect.

Sound is also phenomenal, with the soundtrack being one of the best I've heard in years. Soft, with slight celtic undertones, it kicks in  at exactly the right moments, being both somber and (in some rare moments) jovial as necessary. The "voice acting" is just nonsense, but you'll know the word for "brother" by the end.

Don't go to the Youtube video and read the comments (spoilers)

So...in the end, is Brothers really that amazing? Does it really pack that emotional punch that several reviewers are raving over? Is it a journey worth taking?

Well...it depends, mostly on the person. For me, the final moments were very emotional, but mostly because of the brilliant way it fused the learned gameplay with a reoccurring story element (as well as the underlying meaning of said element as it applies to the real world). That being said, the emotional punches the stories tries to pull are frequently not well deserved, and while you will get an emotional bond with these two simply by playing (I would often have the older brother go first, then wait for the younger one to "keep up" in dangerous areas), the story doesn't foreshadow the biggest twists well enough for it to work.

That being said...

Brothers is still absolutely worth playing if you value games doing something different. I, for one, loved just exploring the world. I'd often take things slowly, staring in awe and shock at the things I was discovering, and cowering in fear at the genuinely creepy bits that popped up now and again. I wish I could have spent more time in it, fleshing out the story and seeing more amazing places, people, and creatures. But, with a running time of just under three hours (and the game's impact being on a first viewing, meaning replaying it is pointless), it's a very hard sell. In addition to having the clunky controls, the game is certainly not for everybody.

But for me, I still heartily recommend it (especially since you can grab it on PC for under $7 if you're deal-savvy). It won't blow your mind with crazy gameplay or a jaw-dropping story, but it will entertain, enchant, and entrance you for it's whole duration. Please, game developers, make more games like this.

It's worth it for the Valley of the Giants. That's...just all I'm saying.

Three out of five stars. 

Just have a seat, chew on the scenery, and play some Brothers.

Nathan's Favorite Games of 2013

Holy crap was 2013 a good year for games! Just thinking back there was an absurd number of releases that completely blew my mind, and I certainly spent a good chunk of time playing who knows how many hours of these games.

However, which of these did I like the best and why? Well, in an attempt at brevity (which, if you've read my reviews, isn't my strong point), I present to you Nathan's Best Games of 2013.

But first...

Nathan's Best Game He Forgot to Mention in 2012

Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition (PC)

I hated this game. Hated it. I still kind of do. It's unreadable menus and unexplained icons. It's absurdly hidden secrets and eccentricities that you find either by dumb luck or searching the internet. It's lack of assistance in anything aside from basic tutorials. It's ruthlessness in letting you know, at all times, that it hates you and the fact you are playing it.

But holy cow when I beat the Kappa Demon did I feel on top of the world.

Dark Souls is the rebirth of the NES game. It's a game that you sit down and play, bludgeoning your way through it, feeling lost and confused and like you are earning every inch. And when you beat that boss, you feel amazing.

I haven't felt that way since when I first played The Legend of Zelda on the NES. When I was six. Props, Dark Souls.



Ok, back to 2013. In order of release date, because I'm using a Wiki article to refresh my memory. 

DmC: Devil May Cry

I hated the way this game looked. The demo gave me a tiny bit of hope, but I still though holding triggers to change weapons was clunky and "new Dante" was awful. I bought the game only because of rave reviews and a price fluke that got me the PC copy shortly after release for $20.

Wow. I haven't been this wrong about a game in a while.

DmC isn't the old Devil May Cry games. It's more like a compromise, but in the best way. It's a fusion of the eastern action game ala Bayonetta and the western one, ala God of War, but with it's own personality and flavor. It's easier than other Devil May Cry games, but also infinitely more accessible. You still get that rush of a reward when you beat a particularly hard boss (the harder difficulties are the best way to play it, by the way)i or manage to beat a difficult room. The bad elements of previous DMC games (backtracking, platforming, etc.) are toned down and your mobility increased. The game's levels, which start out colorful but relatively uninspired, go completely off the deep end after the first act (you'll know it when you see it), leading to one of the craziest, dubstep-fueled stages I've ever experienced.

And new Dante? Not all that bad. I actually warmed up to the guy.

DmC is an excellent reboot, and honestly the most fun I've had with an action platformer since Bayonetta. A pity it will probably never get a sequel thanks to the Ninja Theory Curse.

Super Hexagon

I already reviewed this one, but it's just a video game. A pure, unadulterated video game. And it's also absurdly difficult and stupid addicting. It was 30 cents on sale on Steam. You should get it.

The Swapper

Yes, I just bought this game today. Yes, I haven't beaten it (I'm about 2/3 of the way done). Yes, yes, yes.

Don't care.

The Swapper is the best puzzle platformer since Braid. It might even be better. It uses one mechanic - one mechanic - to push some of the most brilliant puzzles I've ever seen.

There's no tutorials, minus basic controls. You can make up to four clones, and swap to any of them if you have sight and a clear path to them. If they die, you can place them again. That's the game.

Add a brilliantly subdued plot that slowly hints at the horrific nature of what exactly you are doing, stunning visuals that are creepy in all the right ways, and excellent sound and graphics and you have an absolute gem of a game.

Believe the hype. The Swapper is one of the best games of the year.

Guacamelee!

Metroid-vanias are very much outdone by indie devs these days, but Guacamelee! adds a punch of chili powder and some luchador nonsense to make it something unbelievable. It still follows similar tropes of the genre: you unlock new abilities to open new areas, requiring a small amount of backtracking to find hidden secrets. There's "heart pieces" and "magic meter upgrades" and even a light/dark world variant. Despite that, Guacamelee! is surprisingly more a platformer than a 2D action game, and it's a damn good one at that. Reminding me of the crazy swapping required in Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Guacamelee! takes button pressing and dexterous reaction times to their limit as you try to save your lady-love from a jerkbag skeleton in an sombrero.

Also the writing (what little there is) is fantastic and the game looks absurdly good. It's on PSN and Steam. Go get it.

Dota 2

I've sunk nearly 800 hours into this game, and who knows how much on cosmetics. Even just writing this I want to go back and play more. Is it a hard game to get into? Absolutely. I've been playing for almost ten years and I'm still "just ok" at it. But is it worth all the effort? Yes. Yes it is. Even if you hate MOBAs, Dota 2 has set a precedent. As both a platform to watch eSports (which Dota 2 finally helped me understand "Sports People") and just a darn good game, Dota 2 will consume your life if you let it.

And the best part? 100% free. Every hero, every match, forever.

Papers, Please

Everyone needs to play this game. Everyone.

I feel like I'm saying that a lot this year, but the indie scene just killed it. Papers, Please is a game about being a border agent in a fictional European country. It's not a good place to live, nor is it easy to get in or out. But what escalates from a simple job into a more complex one then weaves into an actual narrative. Yes, there's a story (many stories, based on the number of endings) buried deep in this "job simulator."

But the absolute best part of this game is the small stores. The woman who wants to see her son but is missing her passport. The woman whose husband you just let in but she has a typographical error on her paperwork. Do you let them in and take a hit, at the risk of your family? Or are you a slave to the man and the system in an attempt to simply survive? Paper's, Please might be the single most important game released this year. It simply must be played.

Saints Row IV

Going from Papers, Please to Saints Row is...weird, but it's true. Saints Row IV is basically "what if we took Saints Row The Third and put you into the Matrix? And then broke the game with all the crazy powers you have?"

Yep, that's Saints Row IV. In a year ripe with industry self-parody (see: Paper's Please, Bioshock Infinite, The Stanley Parable), Saints Row proudly wears it on its sleeve, taking jabs specifically at Mass Effect 2 but all other types of games in the process. It's rude, silly, and absolutely hilarious. It may be a bit too much like the third installment in the series, but that's ok. It's actually funny enough (and witty enough) to pull it off.

Plus, dive-kicking from above skyscrapers to cause a nuclear explosion upon landing? Priceless.

Pokemon X and Y

I hate putting these on the list, because they still are just the same stupid games. But whatever; it's the best Pokemon game. You can read other places on why; who cares. If you like Pokemon, play this one. There ya go.

The Stanley Parable

What is The Stanley Parable? Is it a game? Is it a critique of games? Is it a critique of the game industry? Is it a parody of office life? Is it just a brilliantly written and narrated story?
Is it all of the above?
I can tell you what it is, though. It's one of the best games of the year.
Also the demo is awesome and completely different from the main game. And that's free, so get that if you're cheap.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

I've only played about an hour of this game (my wife is hogging it currently), but I can tell you already it's the best Zelda game I've ever played.
So it has that going for it. Yes, it's better than the original Link to the Past (at least so far). I went there. I don't care. It's amazing. Nintendo, please learn from this game when you go back to making 3D ones. Oh wait, you're basing them off Dynasty Warriors now. Never mind.


Games that I probably would have put on my 2013 list if I actually played them more (or at all)


Metal Gear Rising: Revengenace

Game looks awesome. I have it pre-ordered on PC. So I'll play it in like a week. I'm sure it'll be rad, right?

The Last of Us

I heard the game gets loads better after about the 1/3 mark. I didn't make it that far. But hey, it's opening sequence was perhaps the most emotionally intense thing I've seen in games this year, so it has that going for it.

Grand Theft Auto V

Just kidding, I hate these games.

Super Mario 3D World

Super Mario 3D Land was one of my favorites. This one has cats and wiggle-legs Luigi. It has to be better, by default.

Phoenix Wright Whatever Number They're On

These games be tiiiight. But also require reading. Yawn.

That Fire Emblem Game

Looks great! Don't have it yet.


So...what is Nathan's GAME OF THE YEAR 2013?! ARE YOU FEELING THE EXCITEMENT? CAN  YOU NOT WAIT TO SCROLL DOWN AND SEE?!

BUBSY!

Wait, just kidding, it's The Stanley Parable.

Bioshock

The Short

Pros
- Dark, atmospheric shooter
- World and setting are phenomenal and very interesting
- Shooting that hybridizes guns and magic keeps things fiesty
- Side activities like vending machines, hacking, and other methods can mix up
- Graphics and sound design are phenomenal throughout
- Story's twist is interesting

Cons
- Last third of the game feels like a rehash, in both story and gameplay
- Switching between guns and plasmids is cumbersome, as is taking pictures for experience
- The number of weapons and ammo types seems a bit overwhelming and unnecessary (Shock Shells are all you need)
- Ham-fisted "morality" decisions lead to an equally lame ending either path you choose
- Final boss is a massive letdown
- Game ditches it's survival horror roots early on once you get better equipped
- Still feels a bit bare-bones when compared to it's predecessor, System Shock 2

Sander Cohen's moments are standout.

The Long

How does one review Bioshock on the eve of 2014? Released nearly six and a half years ago (yes, that long), and followed up by two successful sequels (one more successful than the other), it's hard to approach Bioshock now and offer up an opinion. Where do you even start? There's just so many options.

You could compare it to System Shock 2, which was a common approach shortly after the game's release, when all the hype and praise had died down and people actually offered critique. It's a simpler game, with points and levels and what-not stripped away and streamlined, focusing more on the world and the shooter than the number crunch.

You could compare it to Bioshock Infinite or even Bioshock 2, it's successors, which grew off the game's original systems in an attempt to streamline it further, evolving the series beyond simply Rapture and it's underwater paradise-gone-wrong and turning it into one massive, semi-coherent franchise. But, perhaps, making the first game look a little clunky in the process.

You could speak of it's industry influences, how it was perhaps (along with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare) an integral factor in moving the shooter industry towards more showy, showcased adventures rather than simply basic shooters. One might even argue that it is a true spiritual successor to Half-Life, by creating a game that was both linear yet gave the illusion of openness, focusing more on the scenarios and experiences and flashy pomp rather than just running and gunning. A weird hybrid of what was popular in shooters at the time (Halo was very much in its prime) and the old, creating something wholly unique and never properly replicated.

Or maybe I'll just talk about what I think about it, replaying it six and a half years after I first bought the PC version. Bioshock was the third game I played after my two year gaming hiatus (after F.E.A.R. and the Dawn of War franchise), and it was certainly impactful. But what about now? As the generation moves and its first real flagship ages, is Bioshock really that phenomenal, world-shattering experience we all made it (and it's spiritual sequel, Bioshock Infinitie) out to be?

Well, I'll tell ya. 

Should've signed up for the Vita Chambers, dude.

Bioshock has what I consider the best opening of maybe any game, at least the best "on rails" opening (Half Life 2's opening comes to mind as a more "open" introduction). After a plane crash in the Pacific ocean, you seek refuge at a nearby lighthouse and dive down into the ocean below. There you meet Andrew Ryan (who coincidentally his sounds like Ayn Rand. "Coincidentally."), a man who believes a society can be built where one earns their own living and isn't required to give it up to others. Objectivist's, eat your heart out. Until everything all went to hell when they started bio-engineering themselves, leading to people losing their minds and murdering each other all over the place. Because, come on! Who would have thought that letting people toss fireballs and SPAWN HORDES OF ANGRY BEES could have possibly lead to abuse of power?

Anyway, the story's real strength lies in it's setting, which is phenomenal for the first two acts. Andrew Ryan's constant taunts over his dead city (not unlike SHODAN from System Shock 2) are haunting yet never dull, with plenty of weirdly scattered audio logs everywhere (I don't even v-blog; why did everybody in this old city?). For the first portions of the game there's plenty of drama, horror, and startling twists to keep it interesting, with plot bits paced nearly perfectly and the aforementioned audio logs filling up any dead air. The game really wants to be System Shock 2, and it might even outdo it in terms of giving you an overview of the world, even if it does it with considerably less subtlety. 

Exploring the creepy parts of Rapture are some of the best parts of the game.

It's a pity the last third of the game is utter hogwash. While the "big twist" is clever (and might make gamers question the whole "meta" of who is really playing who), they present it too soon and with nothing to follow it up with. The final act is a slog through waves and waves of enemies as you just sort of mow everybody down, fight a lame final boss (who has his own lame twist) and watch either the "You are Jesus" ending or the "You are Hitler Reborn" ending, depending on if you chose to kill none or any of the creepy demon girls you can harvest for more xp to do more lightning damage. Yeah, there's a "morality" system here, though it's so archaic it makes Fable look like Apocalypse Now. The choice whether to "Harvest" or "Save" the creepy little sisters is interesting, but considering if you harvest just a single one you get the bad ending (never mind if you saved all the others; you are SATAN) you'd better commit to your decisions. The argument is that harvesting them gives you more Adam (basically money for powers) and thus makes the game easier, but the game is 1. Super easy already and 2. Ends up giving you more Adam if you stick to your guns and just save the little brats, that the whole thing seems like a wash. Point being: third act spoils the goodwill in the first two acts (though not all of it) and both endings are so over-the-top they can't be taken seriously. 

But while you're in the world, it's certainly one crazy trip, and one absolutely worth taking. But what about the gameplay?

Mario, eat your heart out. 

Bioshock got mad rave reviews when it came out for it's setting and story, and people just sort of lumped the gameplay into that when giving their analysis's. There's  so much crap you can do in Bioshock I can't really spend much time on it, but let me just give you a rundown of how you could approach nearly any engagement:

- Look for stuff on the floor to burn to roast people

- Lure them to water to zippy-zap them

- Hack some turrets/sentry bots/ etc. to turn their own weapons against them

- Plant some mines and bait them.

OR:

- Shoot them.

- Shoot them some more.

- If that doesn't work, electricity plus the wrench will take out 90% of guys

Bioshock does well in presenting lots of options. Almost too well, in fact. One of it's biggest problems (and the one that resurfaces with a vengeance in Bioshock Infinite) is that you don't really need to use all the resources available. With the exception if the hardest difficulty and if you turn of the Vita-chambers (read: infinite free respawns at full  health, while your enemies stay at whatever damage you dealt them), 90% of the game can be beaten with the starting plasmid and the starting wrench. With a few minor augments and a dash of skill, you'll easily zap-whack your way through most Splicers you encounter, leaving the rest of your insane arsenal to burn in one fell swoop against the Big Daddy fights. It's that theory people talk about: if you give a player one really good combo at the start of the game, it doesn't matter how many other combos you give them later, people will just use that one combo over and over. Bioshock teaches you the one-two punch at the very start (shock+wrench), and it never becomes ineffective.

Well, it doesn't work against THESE guys.

That isn't to say you aren't rewarded in other ways for screwing around. Setting off an alarm only to hack five or six bots and have your own squadron of death is pretty funny, but unnecessary. Placing mines and then baiting people into them is a laugh, though shooting them with the mines directly (or just...with bullets) also gets the job done. Since the "dual-wield guns and plasmids" hasn't been invented yet, swapping between the two is a bit of a chore, meaning when I got tired of the one-two punch I just upgraded my shotgun and machine gun until everything got mowed down. Since you are a jack-of-all-trades (unlike System Shock 2, which forces you to specialize), you don't feel like you're building your own unique character. Instead you have a guy who is good at just about everything, so why hack something when you can just shoot it?

Point being: Bioshock has lots of options, but replaying it I found I hardly ever used any of them. I'd ignore tar pits to burn people with fire, usually only zap in water if it happened to be convenient, and just min-maxed my shotgun to Shock Ammo (the best weapon against Big Daddies) and crushed everything else with the one-two punch. Unfortunate? Perhaps. But certainly a flaw of the gameplay. At least the shooting feels solid. 

They really love Ryan here.

When you aren't zap-punching dudes in the face, you're usually rummaging through old trash cans to eat month old chips and pep bars. Yep, the scavenging mechanic from System Shock 2 is back, though it's a bit less useful this time around. Most stuff doesn't go to your inventory (except money, which is sort of important if you like just buying ammo to victory) and is consumed on use, and most gives you minor boots to health and Eve (aka MP), so you'll spend most time mashing X next to any consumables without even reading it and hope you get some health or magic or money. Multiply the dozens of things in any given room with the extra dozen enemies, and your X button will get quite a workout. It was novel at the time I suppose (though, again, System Shock 2's system had more of a point, if it was a bit more cumbersome about it), and the idea of my guy digging through trash cans to eat peanuts is kind of funny in and of itself, but considering the availability of health packs and Eve syringes, you could probably cut all the random garbage to collect and just give people money upon killing enemies and everybody would be fine. One might argue it's immersive, but honestly it's just another chore.

This game still looks great, especially the PC version.

If there's one thing Bioshock does perfectly well (aside from it's incredible setting) it's the detail and work done in the graphics and sound. The world itself is, as mentioned before, absurdly fleshed out, and this is only heightened by the phenomenal graphics and art design. Splicers, while their design does get old, are delightfully creepy, saying some disturbing things as they try to rip your lungs out. The juxtaposition of this dystopian insanity verses the paradise that Ryan keeps spouting at you (and the remnants of which are visible as you dig deeper through Rapture) makes for a disturbing dissonance that really shines. Something beautiful was here, and the art shows it, but now it's covered in blood and body parts.

The sound is also great, evoking the era through rustic background music that haunts the empty (or not-so-empty) halls of rapture. Big Daddies sound especially horrifying, their booming bass tones sending chills down my spine even when I can't spot them yet. The voice actors are great all around, with Ryan absolutely stealing the show every time you turn around, but the supporting cast (through audiologs) also excels. There is no doubting the insane production values in this game, and it makes for a memorable experience.

Atlas is a good counterpoint to Ryan throughout, though in the last third he becomes...boring.

With all my critiquing you might think I hate Bioshock. On the contrary: revisiting Rapture was, for me, a magical experience back into a world I'd forgotten I'd loved. The game is still genuinely creepy, with the first few hours of limited ammo and Eve making it survival horror-esque, and I still can't help but admire the insane attention to detail present in this dying world.

That being said, it is still unfortunate the actual gameplay can be boiled down fairly easily for those simply wanting to win. It is worth noting that the game does scale somewhat in terms of difficulty, though again...that last third you are basically just mowing down people. It's sort of the Resident Evil 4 problem where you have to get better equips or you won't feel like you are progressing, but then the game stops being scary and instead is just sort of busywork as you mow down people (to it's credit, I think Resident Evil 4 did it right all the way up to the helicopter fight). 

Is it the perfect game? No. It's aged and clunky and sort of loses sight of it's goals at the end. Is it still a fantastic experience and one of the best worlds to visit in gaming? Absolutely. In fact, it should be "required viewing" for anybody who takes games seriously, if only for it's unique setting and stunning production values. While it might not be the "Genetically Altered Shooter" it said it was on the box, Bioshock is still worth it for the ride, and what a ride it is. 

Four out of five stars. 

Moral of the story: If you're a cat, don't splice up.