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Joined: Aug 22 2012 Posts: 17

It's a game well worth playing in my opinion. It really develops well, and by the end you realize you experienced something unique. I immediately wanted to play a second time through to pick up all the little things I may have missed the first time through.

It's a bit like Lost in so much as once you know what's going on, the entire experience will be a little different as you're aware of all the foreshadowing.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

Like, I keep trying to grab screenshots or just paste them from somewhere else, but even in-game graphics look almost too good to be real.

And to elaborate, Alow, the game isn't going for "Well, you Americans think you're the best, but you're not." Too many bright minds working under Levine, who I consider a genius at this point, found tons of other things to talk about that they did really well. It's more of a just a microcosm of a bunch of different subjects like racism, classism, Darwinism (the political one, not the monkey one), and religion, among other things. I think people keep comparing it to movies, because we're so used to a movie tackling one subject at a time, like Syriana talking about modern oil politics, Saving Private Ryan evaluating the needs of many vs. the few, or Jurassic Park exploring how hungry dinosaurs get. Infinite is just so many things put together, which makes its world work so well. Instead of just being something to talk about as you tighten your $200 scarf, it also creates this massive, believable world that's fun to get lost in.

edit: Also, I am in complete media blackout right now. I don't know why nerds are such assholes about plot spoilers, but I just read an article on Cracked about the game, and the writer painstakingly refused to spoil the game. I made the mistake of scrolling down, and the first comment, the first fucking one, immediately started spoiling the story. That takes balls, and I'm only guessing the end of the comment said something like "Well, it's been out for a week, anyone who cares has played it," or some sperg shit.

Joined: Aug 04 2009 Posts: 2515

Greg the White wrote:

Alow, most of the animosity is that your posts are too fucking big. Condense your thoughts, man.

Okay

Greg the White wrote:

You go off on lots of tangents

Yes I do have a tendency to do that, when I tell stories I am terrible at it because of this.

Greg the White wrote:

yes you do pull the "I don't care about the US

Well I don't know why you presume that? If I didn't care about the US would I bother to write these "fucking big" posts arguing points or discussing issues. I care a lot about the USA, that is why I talk about these issues, about shootings and why I sometimes plead for things to be done about issues such as that. I care about people, and I care about people having better standards of living. If I didn't give a fuck about the USA I would not argue for a better health care system. I wouldn't even respond. I would just x every thread. The only other reason I would respond is if I was trolling and I am not. I legitimately do care.

Greg the White wrote:

but here's my young-person's manifesto

Well I disagree with that. I am presuming you are going for the whole "oh look at this stupid kid who thinks he actually know something about the world" thing. If that is the intended viewpoint I strongly disagree. My opinion is as valid as anyone elses and my age doesn't come into it.

Greg the White wrote:

here I'll show you my charts and links."

I use links etc. for a number of reasons. 1. Because it can better illustrate my point than explaining it in text form. 2. Because not sourcing any information is a poor way to argue a point, If you say something like figure x or y, I am not going to take your word for it, source it.

Greg the White wrote:

We hear it from everyone, and every smart-assed Euro kid.

Okay so I am an idiot?

Greg the White wrote:

will tell me I'm a racist fat-ass who thinks America is a shining star

Well I don't think you a racist, fat-ass who thinks America is a shining star. I don't even know you. You are a screen name to me. I did however state in my original post that isn't something that really is present in this forums. The userbase here isn't arrogant.

Greg the White wrote:

but will go on and on about Europe's new acceptable racism targets like the Polish or whatever.

Well I don't think any racism is acceptable. There is a lot of hatred in my country, a lot of which is totally ridiculous. There is black hate here, but the black population here is less than 1%, hell less than like 0.1%. Most people here haven't even seen a black person in real life. I've seen Polish hatred too, it's totally unwarranted, people are just mad cause "they take our jerbs". They are perfectly nice people. The problem is that a lot of Eastern Europeans move into Britain and people see that as destroying national identity. I don't really care to be honest.

Greg the White wrote:

Your country's good in some ways, mine in some ways, and both of them are shitty in many ways.

Yes, I agree.

Greg the White wrote:

Nobody actually says that shit about the US being the greatest unless they're an ignorant dope or a Fox News anchor riling up their base, and they're just outspoken on top of being rare. It's just some thing that they throw on your TVs to point and laugh at to help you ignore the crap other governments are doing wrong.

I know that a lot of people are not like that. Again in my OP it states that. Unfortunately that is the thing that is commonly reported and seen, and myself and a lot of other non-American nationals see that and find it annoying.

Greg the White wrote:

And to elaborate, Alow, the game isn't going for "Well, you Americans think you're the best, but you're not." Too many bright minds working under Levine, who I consider a genius at this point, found tons of other things to talk about that they did really well. It's more of a just a microcosm of a bunch of different subjects like racism, classism, Darwinism (the political one, not the monkey one), and religion, among other things.

Right, did you even read my post or did you skim read it or something?

I know what the game is going for. My original point before you replied to me was that when playing the game it painted this view of America everywhere, flags, national anthems etc. and then it throws out (and then it was the spoiler bit) the whole fucking throwing a ball at a black person with mocking cartoons. My point there was that it was painting this illustration of this new better USA which had seceeded from the Union but then with this revelation it still had problems of racism as everywhere else. That was my point and I think it was pretty clear.

Obviously I know it has problems with race, it's blatantly apparent. You don't need to explain to me what the game is trying to do, I know fine well what it is doing. I mentioned the religious propaganda, I even commented on it on my post. It also highlighted pretty well poverty and other class issues with the starving people in the Shanty Town area and other social issues such as child smoking etc. and Social Darwinism with the whole dictatorship approach from the Prophet and later Fitzroy.

Greg the White wrote:

I think people keep comparing it to movies, because we're so used to a movie tackling one subject at a time, like Syriana talking about modern oil politics, Saving Private Ryan evaluating the needs of many vs. the few, or Jurassic Park exploring how hungry dinosaurs get.

Well yes again that was my point. How brilliantly well it put these issues in, especially the racism issue, I stated that in my original post about how well the issues fit in the narrative.

Greg the White wrote:

Infinite is just so many things put together, which makes its world work so well. Instead of just being something to talk about as you tighten your $200 scarf, it also creates this massive, believable world that's fun to get lost in.

$200 dollar scarf? I don't get it? Are you calling me some scarf wearing hipster or something?

Yes it's a good game lol.

Joined: Aug 04 2009 Posts: 2515

Someone asked for screenshots. I'll try to post no spoiler screenshots.

^fucking creepy people.

Finally for now, here's a nice nod for you.

Screenshots are all taken on PC, for information. I'm not sure how the console looks in comparison, on saying that I wasn't playing on the highest settings.

Joined: Oct 19 2009 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 1479

Wow. Those are really pretty.

Posted: Apr 03 2013 07:16 pm

Holy fuking shit this game looks incredible!

Joined: Aug 04 2009 Posts: 2515

Here's some more before I go to sleep.

^Ruining peoples photos

Final one, I found it hilarious. Look at the pose.

Posted: Apr 03 2013 08:28 pm

The art style reminds me a lot of TF2, not sure if that is good or bad. Probably not going to play it anyway though.

Posted: Apr 03 2013 11:00 pm

So this game was a lot of fun, but I'm curious...

(video contains spoilers... kinda. There's a lot of stuff in this that made it into the final game... but different.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oDpYVLhSong#at=805

What happened to THIS game? I think the more free-roaming nature, the choice system that is hinted at, and the dynamic choices available in combat to change the flow/outcome of battle intrigue me.

Of course it is a trailer and thus even though it's showing gameplay, it is very scripted. But you can look back and even older trailers and the game looks substantially different from both this and what the final product is. I'm curious as to how many times this game's plot and gameplay were rebuilt.

Posted: Apr 03 2013 11:02 pm

I can't say good enough things about this game. I have been excited about it since its announcement, and it still managed to exceed my expectations. The gameplay is frenetic and fun, the characters are memorable and interesting, the story is fantastic and the themes and art direction are absolutely stunning. This may well be the greatest video game I've ever played. It represents the total embodiment of everything that games have the potential of being as an artistic medium.

Any situation can be approached in a dozen different ways, giving the game a ton of replay value despite it's relatively short length, and nothing in the game feels padded. The twist ending is brilliantly handled, especially if one's taken time to explore the city and take in the subtle lead-up. Like all great twists, the pieces in place reveal it in a way, but when viewed individually without context, prevent it from becoming obvious.

As a total nerd about this sort of thing, one of my favorite aspects of the game was the music. Not only did it have a great score, but there were some brilliant choices made with the soundtrack. To fit with the anachronistic world created by the rules of the game's universe, the songs you find playing are a mix of period music and popular songs in the future redone in the styles of the time. Hearing Tainted Love redone with a ragtime piano backing, or Tears for Fears done in Bill Murray-esque music hall style is absolutely fabulous for a musical historian like myself. I remember at one point walking down a beach, and realizing that the carnival, Vaudeville style song being played by a live band was "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". Several of the songs, such as an early jazz rendition of REM's 'Happy Shiny People' and a barber shop quartet singing of "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys are, in my opinion, even better than the originals. Like Bioshock, the placement of these songs, and the situations you hear them in are absolutely genius given their sounds and lyrical content. And without giving too much away, it's entirely likely that the entire plot was written around a single piece of music, which is pretty much what I do with my writing every single day.

Ken Levine is a genius. And a man completely after my heart. His work appeals to my particular love of complex writing, political ideology, art and architecture and musical history in a way that almost feels personal. I have a million great things to say about this game, but I'll quite gushing now.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

Apparently, there's a soundtrack that doesn't have those non-ambient scores. There should be someone in jail for that decision.

Posted: Apr 04 2013 02:34 am

It's okay. I just pirated them off of youtube.

Bioshock's released soundtracks didn't have any licensed music either, if I recall correctly. The internet had to release them after ripping them from the game. Bioshock and Fallout are primarily responsible for my infatuation with jazz. I probably never would have started listening to that sort of music if they hadn't exposed me to it.

Posted: Apr 05 2013 06:52 am

WARNING, linking to Kotaku, the shittiest gaming site in the world.

BioShock Infinite Is Insanely, Ridiculously Violent. It's A Real Shame: http://kotaku.com/bioshock-infinite-is-insanely-ridiculously-violent-it-470524003

This is actually a pretty interesting read. Thoughts?

Posted: Apr 05 2013 07:16 am

It's not that violent. And I think that the violence displayed in it helped draw the contrast between the whitewashed world of Columbia and what was actually going on in the city. Granted, I'm a gushing fanboy, but if you've played games on this modern consul generation you A: have seen much, much worse and B: are capable of seeing the artistic merit that separates this from the rest of the pack.

I never once played this game and said to myself "Gee, this game would be perfect if it just had less violence." Part of that is because I saw what they were trying to do, and part of it is because I put my big boy pants on a long time ago.

To me, this article read like a lot of Kotaku bullshit: political correctness shaming designed more to stir shit and generate page views than to offer anything meaningful to the conversation.

Joined: Aug 22 2012 Posts: 17

The only violence is melee kills with the skyhook. Otherwise, I've seen a ton more violent material in games. Hell, in Tomb Raider you spend the majority of the game headshotting people with a bow & arrow. Ahh, glorious times

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

Yeah, this is just politically correct Kotaku bullshit. It's basically the hipster-esque "You know that game everyone is praising and what not? Well it's like, not perfect! It has violence and violence is bad! It's shocking!" and it's absolute bullshit. Die Kotaku Die.

Joined: Aug 04 2009 Posts: 2515

Just finished the game.

[SPOILER:c91f6fe0ad]The ending to me was like the end of Inception. Even with the post-script after the credits roll. I always take the negative view. Di Caprio was in a dream. Dewitts daughter is gone. However witht the twists it was really well done. As I was watching it, I was laughing as one twist happened, and then another happened. Truly incredible ending. Comstock is Dewitt?! I never saw that coming.[/SPOILER:c91f6fe0ad]

Posted: Apr 06 2013 01:42 am

2/10, would not fuck.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

JoshWoodzy wrote:

Yeah, this is just politically correct Kotaku bullshit. It's basically the hipster-esque "You know that game everyone is praising and what not? Well it's like, not perfect! It has violence and violence is bad! It's shocking!" and it's absolute bullshit. Die Kotaku Die.

"WHY AREN'T THERE WOMEN IN THE GEARS OF WAR UNIVERSE?!"- Kotaku

"There were two in the third one. They were main characters, and pretty cool."

"CLIFF BLEZINSKI NOT RESPONDING TO PHONE CALLS. STAY TUNED."- Kotaku

Their articles that try to get deep are awful, as most sites' are, but you have to admire how easily baited their idiot readers are. The particularly manipulative one they like to pull out is the whole "JRPGS are dead!" or "JRPGS are not dead! Pump fists!" topics to rile people up. Still love how Jaffe lost his shit on the head of the site.

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

I think we can all just agree that Kotaku is the scrotum of the internet and doesn't deserve any of our attention.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

I'm done talking about Kotaku, and posting this video for the twentieth time:

Bioshock is scaring me. I keep hearing about wonderful plot twists, but I'm kind of enjoying it a little at a time. I might just plow through in the next day or two just to get through. One nice side note is that I'm glad that some games are getting away from the whole "Rebels are always good and sweet people." trope.

Joined: Mar 18 2010 Location: Tuonela Posts: 299

I like the part where...

[SPOILER:67b8bb9f66]...people are lining up at the Fink's waiting to get a job. And it works like an auction: a job is being sold, and whoever does the most in the least amount of time gets the job. [/SPOILER:67b8bb9f66]

I think the scene is supposed to be ironic, but it pretty much perfectly sums up today's freelance employment culture. It doesn't matter how good you are, as long as you're willing to sell your time and efforts for cheap. I'm talking about my own experiences with European media outlets. As everybody is doing it, this will over time lower the quality of journalism and weaken the journalists well-being.

But that's enough communist plotting for now. What a great game!

Posted: Apr 07 2013 05:17 am

No it doesn't. If you know anything about labor rights in the United States, the ability/willingness to do more for less is more a historical element than a current one. Today, American labor rights are significantly more represented and protected than they were 100 years ago. This is coming from a young man who grew up in a blue collar environment, albeit a unionized one.

Joined: Mar 18 2010 Location: Tuonela Posts: 299

Fighter_McWarrior wrote:

No it doesn't. If you know anything about labor rights in the United States, the ability/willingness to do more for less is more a historical element than a current one. Today, American labor rights are significantly more represented and protected than they were 100 years ago. This is coming from a young man who grew up in a blue collar environment, albeit a unionized one.

My comment really wasn't a reading of Bioshock. The game obviously has more to do with US history than anything. What I meant was that the game (although not intentionally) illustrates a phenomena I see in todays Europe.

Posted: Apr 07 2013 01:44 pm

I definitely missed the word "European" part of your post. I was also totally hosed when I made my objection last night, so I apologize for that.