Bioshock demo - anyone played it
Miscellaneous Forums/General Discussion/Bioshock demo - anyone played it
I loved it.
Played a little slow on my "rig"
(AMD 4200+ dual core, 2gb RAM, 7600GT AGP gfx).
But still a good game, great sense of tension too, and the water effects are good.
Played it, however it didn't stick.
I like the Art Deco scenery, but the gameplay is lacking originality imho.
I found it very jerky at the start when you're swimming in the ocean, looked good but too much emphasise on special effects.
I found it hard to aim too.
Really the best FPS I've ever played from a gameplay point of view is still call of duty, I've not found anything to match that yet.
I'm downloading the demo now. It will be done in 4 hours :-/
If it plays sluggishly on my system (likely, at 1920x1200), I'm going to forget buying an Xbox360 and I'm going to upgrade my PC instead.
I'm going to forget buying an Xbox360
What? And miss Mass Effect? Are you nuts?
i played it for 15 mins. it looks good, but it doesn't kick my ass.
Looked good, but it crashed after I'd gone down in the bathysphere and past that statue thing. :-( may try again later...
It helped me decide whether to get the PC or XBox360 version. The graphics are nice with everything Max'ed but not as good as the videos I've seen, so I assume it looks better on X360. And the sound died at the end of the opening movie so I couldn't tell what was going on at all. Definitely going to pass on the PC version.
I've tried the PC demo - just to check it actually runs on my machine. It's running 'ok' on my 7900GTO @ 1680x1050 - fairly smooth at the start, but will probably suffer on later sections with lots of meshes and shader stuff going on at once. Now isn't a good time to upgrade for me, I'm waiting for G92, so I'll probably just lower the resolution to get it running smoothly.
I haven't ventured any further in as apparently it's a decent game and I don't want to spoil any surprises :)
There's a lot of moaning about the activation - apparently it's locked to 2 installs. I wonder when publishers will give up with fancy copy protection and just stick with basic stuff.
There's a lot of moaning about the activation - apparently it's locked to 2 installs.
I saw that too. If it's true, that would have stopped me buying it right there, but I figured it's probably Chinese whispers. It's probably locked to 2 hardware ID's and then you have to reactivate like Windows or something. Well hopefully anyway, because otherwise that's bad.
Maybe Irrational games are kind of more sensitive after many years of getting good critics but low sales...
Anyway these hardware IDs aren't a good direction for the users.
Must admit, I know piracy's a problem for PC games, but I hate having to 'activate' a game. Having bought the game and installed it, it's another obstacle that may cause the game not to run.
The water effects were really nice. The sci-fi element made me feel like I was getting stupider, because it made no sense. Feels like it is aimed at a very young crowd.
Could anyon epost the exe? Mine seems to be corrupt!!! Windows won't execute it.
_33
Well - probably best to do a re-install. Then, if the prob persists, it's likely to be a driver issue. Do you have the latest service pack installed? Latest DirectX? Latest vid card? Also check the game's forums to see if others report the same.
(sorry - you probably know all this anyway)
Windows doesn't want to run the install.exe, the exe seems corrupt. I can't make in clearer. It was previously detected as malware by AVG.
I thought you meant the game exe.
That's nasty. Can you copy it off the DVD - does it give you a copy error (i.e. bad DVD)?
(edit) - doh - you're talking about the demo.
It was previously detected as malware by AVG.
Looks like the DRM that the game uses
is malware:
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/22/bioshock_game_bundle.html
Yeesh, so that's how the activation system works, I guess you screwed yourself out of one ticket if something screws up in the process or that the game wouldn't uninstall properly.
Hopefully they're lenient regarding the issue and may clear-up your installations ids, either that or a crack comes out, which I actually wouldn't mind right now so I could take the damn DVD out of my drive and store it away in the box safely.
(other companies better not take this route, it's about as bad as StarForce imo, without the killing-your-DVD±RW drives thing)
Regarding installation, I had to deal with the AVG issue myself, which I did by opening the DVD and installing the title via "_setup.exe" (underscore included), which worked without the malware issue, albeit everytime I load the disc in the autoplay won't work due to AVG preventing the main setup.exe from loading.
[EDIT] Huh, looks like AVG's latest virus definitions whitelisted it or something, as it's working fine now.
Good to hear I ain't the only one with the sound problem, had to completely close and reload the game at one point as nothing was coming out of my speakers, quite a nuisance, well, least the title is a lot less bug-free than my last PC purchase, STALKER.
(now to actually update my nVidia drivers so the texture and shaders don't take 5 years to load in their high-detail versions after a fresh game load)
The graphics are nice with everything Max'ed but not as good as the videos I've seen, so I assume it looks better on X360.
Not necesarily, quite a few game outfits have been busted for using pre-rendered 'demo' screenshots and videos in the past...
It's a great game so far.
I had trouble installing it from my DVD-RW, SecuROM got upset and told me it was a backup disc. Installing from the DVD-R went fine. Their thanks for having me pay for it I guess.
I've discovered I need a video card upgrade. A 6800 isn't really cutting it, even with everything turned on low.
played it on my 360. looks ok, but i found it a bit dull and a mish mash of genres
Not necesarily, quite a few game outfits have been busted for using pre-rendered 'demo' screenshots and videos in the past...
Yep, I guess that's possible too. At least the 360 version should have sound though, so even if the visuals are no better, it will actually be playable. £15 more expensive, I expect, but such is life.
I'm going to play it a few more times for the graphics.
Awesome!
Must admit, I know piracy's a problem for PC games, but I hate having to 'activate' a game. Having bought the game and installed it, it's another obstacle that may cause the game not to run.
Heh, that happened to the demo for me. SecuROM didnt want me to play :(
Something about this game really rubs me the wrong way. I guess it's the combination of such a comic-book / childish setting with the attempted seriousness of it. It's not really the game that creeps me out, more the people who came up with it. It's like something a bunch of 13-year-old outcasts in trenchcoats would make...X-men with unlimited cussing and violence.
The mom crying why can't her baby be warm again.
"Are you as good as my daddy, mister?"
"Looks like he had his cherry popped."
It's pretty foul, but at the same time the whole setup is very childish and cartoony. It makes me think of really creepy people at a comic book convention or something.
The philosophy, from what I can see in the demo, is a little interesting. It's obviously based on Ayn Rand's writing.
I don't think the game was suppose to rub anyone the right way. The game presents a world where population that has been brought down by madness of genetic manipulations and war that has ravaged the under water city, which is exactly what is presented. Hence why everything seems a bit looney. The mother crying for the dead baby is one example, but later on you get to see a mad doctor who continuously operates on a dead patient, only to no success.
Of course, seeing the creepy little girl looking for dead people with the big dude walking around with her is weird enough already.
Well, I'm probably a little late in building a new rig to play it, but I'll try out the X360 demo in the meantime. This laptop will be far too weak for a game like that.
Well, I can play it at 960x600 with all graphical niceties turned on. Not that it looks very nice at that res though :(
An interesting game, but not quite compelling enough to make me want to either buy an Xbox360 or spend £550 on upgrading my PC to just below top-spec.
Well - just added an extra gig ram to my gaming rig and the game's just arrived by courier. I'm at work at the mo, so might buy some good wine on the way home and give it a whirl then.
The way I like to play these kind of games is to play 3-4 hours a day (then go back to coding). That way it's kind of like a tv series and it's something to look forward to in the evening (rather than gobbling it all down in one sitting).
Would you say it's better or worse than System Shock 2?
Didn't like it. It is too scripted...too much emphasis on special effects. I don't like games that are so heavily scripted that I feel like I'm just on a railroad passing through the story. You don't have any real control or options...you just walk the path they give you.
I didn't think the graphics were that great honestly. Sorta gimmicky, like a cross between realism and cartoon and graphic novel. In fact, I thought the enemies looked really poor compared to, say, Doom 3 which is a few years old now.
Not even comparable to SS2 IMO. SS2 is a different genre of game I think.
Well, kind of strange as according to interviews of the developers i've read they kind of see this game as a successor to System Shock design wise.
Anyway are there any good benchmarks around yet?
You don't have any real control or options...you just walk the path they give you
You do in the first stage area of the demo. In the full game after that area, you're actually free to explore around, with the intent of a particular goal (similar to Metroid Prime series). The game is only as scripted as any other FPS game, never was intended to be a sandbox-GTA type game.
I thought the enemies looked really poor compared to, say, Doom 3
How could you tell?
Bought this earlier and have played a few hours. So far it's good, but not living up to the reviews it's gotten so far. It's a shame that the animations aren't motion captioned, I'm so used to it in games now it always sticks out for me when it's not there.
Played the demo. Black Screen.
Well done, they can't even detect shadermodel 2.0x and tell the user that it isn't supported.
Sounds like the Bioshock backlash has begun ;-)
Well, I installed it last night, began playing at around 8pm - looked at the clock and it said 3am (so much for my earlier post about only playing 3-4 hours at a time!), so it must be doing something right!
Ugh, this is seriously as bad as StarForce now, well, almost, it just needs to find a way to cripple your hardware, then it is!
Get to reboot my PC everytime I use one of my legitimate-purpose utility apps just to play BioShock because the SecuROM rootkit doesn't like my virtual drive and other apps that it has blacklisted.
Ugh, screw this, going to wait for a patch to come out that fixes my sound and random-stall issues, then crack it, tired of being treated like a pirate.
(fun reading the 2k Forums mainly due to the massive amount of ticked off customers they got)
Shame that a decent game I was just starting to love to death gets sent to the crapper for me because of copyright protection (will there ever be a day publishers decide not to use them, considering how useless they are?), and some game bugs.
(seriously, gets tiring having to restart the game multiple times to ensure the sound is even working upon startup, let alone after loading my saved data now)
Come to think of it - I'm having sound issues - gunfire gets clipped.
Maybe Irrational games are kind of more sensitive after many years of getting good critics but low sales...
All their games have been SecuROM protected AFAIK. On the other hand, Stardock seem to be doing really well with the second expansion to Galactic Civilizations 2 just over the horizon! In either case I'm sure I read somewhere that Bioshock had had more than 2 million pre-orders. So to me it doesn't seem much like Piracy would have been a big deal on this game.
Ugh, screw this, going to wait for a patch to come out that fixes my sound and random-stall issues, then crack it, tired of being treated like a pirate.
Hoist the Jolly Roger matey! Arrr! I wonder if "pissed off customers" is a good reason for low sales? I know from personal experience, that's why I'm never buying another 4Head game.
If you buy games that have invasive copy protection, you're showing that you accept invasive copy protection. If people accept invasive copy protection, it will become the norm.
I picked up the XBox 360 version today. It was only £5 more in the end ( £10 off in the shop ) and it is a lot better visually than the PC version. Plus obviously the sound actually works.
Not a bad game at all. Extremely beautiful, very impressive technical prowess and an interesting world to explore. Decent atmosphere too. Definitely not 10/10 material in my book, but to be fair, games have become so rubbish in recent years that by comparison to most games, it probably does seem like a 10/10.
All their games have been SecuROM protected AFAIK. On the other hand, Stardock seem to be doing really well with the second expansion to Galactic Civilizations 2 just over the horizon! In either case I'm sure I read somewhere that Bioshock had had more than 2 million pre-orders. So to me it doesn't seem much like Piracy would have been a big deal on this game.
Still they made SystemShock as Looking Glass which didn't sell well, then as Irrational Games they did System Shock 2 which didn't sell well too. After these two experiences you better start of thinking what's wrong after you got great reviews. But maybe it's just 2k games and a little bit of paranoia.
and it is a lot better visually than the PC version
Is that because you have both of them and actually compared the two or is it because you've heard it from others?
Is that because you have both of them and actually compared the two or is it because you've heard it from others?
That's comparing the XBox 360 game which I bought and the PC demo which I downloaded and played on a Shader Model 4.0 card with everything on Max at 1280x1024.
then as Irrational Games they did System Shock 2 which didn't sell well too.
But, System Shock 2 is in my book an excellent game with intreaguing plot and fantastic level design. Definately not a boring game, truely a classic in the FPS genre.
Just played the full version for an hour and I have to say I like it so far. Love the style, spookiness and 1920s retro atmosphere.
I just beat the game. I have to say though, worst ending ever.
Which one did you see good or bad?
I don't have the time to play it right now but as the game magazine i read wrote that the ending is outstanding and changed their way of thinking on what to do in games i just was too curious to wait till i can play it and watched the two endings on youtube (never did this before) and to me it was okayish but nothing mindblowing.
@Admins
We should have a spoiler tag like on the TTG forum, were stuff you place between [spoiler] and [/spoiler] isn't shown until you click on it! :O)
I saw the good ending. Lame 20-second movie.
I thought the concept was good (for the good ending) and it had pathos - but it could have been delivered in a more developed way than a 20 second movie. Still, it tied things up in a nice way.
I saw the 'good' ending myself, and I agree with MadJack's comments. Decent concept, dodgy execution.
All up, Bioshock is an enjoyable game, definitely one of the better shooters in recent times. Has an interesting setting and atmosphere, excellent production values, etc. Shame about the copy-protection nonsense…
Surprisingly, I found myself playing the ‘hacking’ mini-game more than is healthy. Hmm, I might try to recreate it in BlitzMax…
I just can't understand the reviews this game got. I'd give it 8/10 personally. It was a decent enough game but not as good as the perfect scores would suggest.
One of the key game play features for me was the weapon combos you could do, like hitting them with electricity then finishing off with crossbow or something, but this was spoiled by having to reload far too often (especially reloading plasmids) and having to wait for reload animations that were too long. Also, the different ammo types just overcomplicated things for me and simply exasperated the reloading problem.
Plus if you use key binds to select plasmids for faster switching, as soon as you pick up a new plasmid it shifts them along one therefore binding them all to different keys which was annoying.
Well, I played the X360 demo, but I'm currently in the process of building a PC that will actually play it, so that way I can get the full version of the game on that (assuming that the demo from the X360 version is similar to the PC version, as far as gameplay and quality).
One thing i've noticed about this game is that you really don't need all the health packets as much as you think you do. Cause when you get killed, you start again at one of the chambers, but the enemies you were fighting before do not re-generate any health, you can just continue attacking them until they die.
Thus killing one of those Big Daddies guy isnt really all that tough anymore...aside from the hassle of running back from the chamber in order to find him again.
While I'm still waiting on a patch, I got to ask, does anyone else have the game basically load-up with only the lowest-quality textures, then get to wait a couple minutes while it jarringly pops-in the higher resolution textures at a painfully slow rate? Seems to only ever happen on a fresh game load upon just booting it up, but annoying as hell still when the game gets to look like a high-resolution N64 title for a couple minutes.
And on a completely different note, this review is hilarious (language/spoiler warning) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IBkT0Oi97E I played the demo on the 360. And although it looked very nice and had nice atmosphere I will not buy it. Maybe I've played to many FPS games but I cannot motivate myself to invest the time needed to finish such a game anymore, not when I have so many other things to do and games to play. Maybe later from the bargain bin.
wait a couple minutes while it jarringly pops-in the higher resolution textures at a painfully slow rate?
Yah that happens with me. Only takes a few seconds though....no big deal.
theres a PC V's 360 comparrison on gamespot at:
http://www.gamespot.com/features/6178185/p-2.htmlThe PC looks better at higher settings and resolution, low and medium looks a bit naff since all the specular effects are missing.
So I guess the 360 is currently equivalent to a middle of the road spec gaming system.
The PC looks better at higher settings and resolution, low and medium looks a bit naff since all the specular effects are missing.
So I guess the 360 is currently equivalent to a middle of the road spec gaming system.
I don't see anywhere in the article that it actually says that. All it says is that the PC wins because it *has* higher resolutions and higher antialiasing, which is a given. I've played both versions on the same monitor, and I can assure you that the PC version on the highest settings running in Vista doesn't look as good as the 360 version. I can't think of a fairer comparison than using the same monitor.