Posted by Spooner | 6 Comments

So I got Bioshock 2…

Not just Bioshock 2, but the Bioshock 2 Collector’s Edition! I’m framing the lithographs and putting them up on the wall next to my massive Blizzcon 09′ print and the record I am actually gifting to a very good friend of mine who happens to collect vinyl records and is a fanatic in his own right.

The art book and soundtracks alone are reason enough for me to spend the extra cash on this little splurge (seeing as how I’m not spending a selfish dime again until October for Blizzcon) and overall it’s a cool addition to my growing collection of unique and limited gaming “things” around the office.

As for the game, fucking awesome. The only complaint I have even if you can call it such is that you don’t get to play through the story of Subject Delta (the original Big Daddy you play as throughout the entire game) that leads up to Bioshock 2’s beginning. I would love to walk through as a normal citizen in Rapture during its golden age where everything is gilded metal and crimson carpets with silver filigree and people living in excess.

Then going through the transformation into Subject Delta, and finally through the events that lead to Bioshock 2 from his perspective. Personally I find the character of Delta much more engaging than that of Jack from Bioshock 1 but I find it really cool that people make reference to him (well, your character  in the past if you played Bioshock 1) as a sort of messiah that brought down Fontain and Ryan. That can all be possible DLC (hint hint) however.

The game could be a little deeper but otherwise it’s a 9.9 out of 10. And those critics and other big shot folks giving it any less credit are simply too jaded and cynical to ever really be happy with anything given to them. That’s why I hate cynics, they can complain about a blowjob from Angelina Jolie and a lifetime supply of chocolate and their credibility remains unscathed.

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Posted by Spooner | 2 Comments

The Begining of Bioshock 2

Andrew Ryan has been toppled from his throne of power, the beast Fontaine has been extinguished, and Jack has moved on. The city of Rapture is locked in purgatory as it begins to fall deeper into an increasingly decrepit state. The splicers are spiraling deeper into madness and the city’s populace seems to be caught in a religious upheaval and the iron grip of a crazy ideologist.

God DAMN I love this game.

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Posted by Spooner | 2 Comments

New Bioshock 2 Footage

The official BioShock 2 website has new content, including three gameplay movies.  Yeah the new site setup is pretty badass and the general vibe they’re delivering is much darker than the first Bioshock which was pretty demented to begin with. There’s new footage showing how you can use your plasmids at the same time as your guns which is leading to some sick combos. Grabbing a splicer with telekinesis and then shooting them point blank with a chain gun that shoots electro bullets you previously charged with your lightening plasmid. Yeah this is going to be some kind of epic.

Not to mention the little sister pull-string talking doll which will send chills down your spine.

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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.

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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!”

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