Posted by Spooner | 9 Comments

Revisiting Rapture

I have a small goal set for myself, I’m going to play through the original Bioshock over and over again until this coming February when the sequel is released. At which point I’ll jump up and down like a 6 year old and then lock myself in the office for a few days with my prize.

Bioshock pretty much did everything right as far as a story driven FPS can. It’s not a perfect game however, I do have my problems with the way hacking is done, the clunky combat, and far too many plasmids that really don’t do much that one super powered Electric Bolt or Incinerate can’t do. In Bioshock 2 they have redone hacking entirely, the combat seems to mesh much better between plasmids and conventional weapons (no more sticky swapping and reload delays), and the targeting doesn’t seem to be so wild (no more spray and pray).

But the biggest pull in Bioshock has to be the story. Everything is voiced, the writing for the VO work is spot on and runs a wide spectrum from downright creepy to manic. Oh, and then there’s the Big Daddies.

My all time favorite character aside from Andrew Ryan? Why… the magnificent Sander Cohen of course…

I would have to say that the feeling of complete mania we attained here in Fort Frolic with Sander Cohen. You can see how when society crumbled in Rapture and everybody went insane with splicing and ravaging addiction, the deepest depravities were brought to the surface.

Read More

Posted by Spooner | 3 Comments

I missed Rapture.

So I dusted off my old copy of Bioshock and reinstalled it. As I finished stockpiling enough caffeine and vitamin B to kill most livestock on my desk, I girded my loins in preparation for an all night madness induced gaming session. I would beat Bioshock in one sitting.

Needless to say, my mind was ravaged. I forget how awesome this game was. I forgot how fucking incredible it felt to get the Big Daddy suit. I forgot how epic the dialogue in that game is, how rich the story, and how badass it feels to completely destroy a grown man with a golf club.

And then I started watching the new trailers and interviews about Bioshock 2 and my heart began to race again at the prospect of seeing the fruit of my endeavors 10 years in the future. Check these out, would you kindly?

“In the end what separates a man from a slave? Money? Power? No, a man chooses, and a slave obeys!”

Read More