Finally Playing Gears of War / Finished Bioshock Wednesday, August 29 2007

Yep, sad but true... started (on casual) almost a year ago and got distracted by many other games. Had a chance to start playing again with a friend on co-op, and am having a blast! Yes, the story is weak, and the dialogue worse, but visually the game still has chops - even post Bioshock. I suspect I'm preaching to the choir here, but if you never played co-op, try it. Good stuff!

Also managed to finish Bioshock with the "good" ending (save all the little sisters, no harvesting). Immensely satisfying, and I hope you've all had a chance to try it (either through the demo or the full game). About the only thing I could criticize is that the ending is a bit short - but it's also touching, and looking back I struggle to think of what could be added that wouldn't be fluffy. It might just be that almost any ending would seem to pale to the epic game that proceeded it. <shrug>

Been pretty busy lately with work and attending PAX, so haven't had a chance to write much. Hopefully that'll change in the future, but just wanted to say hi in the meanwhile. Smile

16 comment(s)

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itsgreen wrote on August 29, 2007 10:03 AM

Omfg. Your flagship title of '06... and you didn't play it completely. Shame on you Ozy :)

Just don't let it happen to H3 ;)

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Xwar wrote on August 29, 2007 10:12 AM

At this point you could've waited for the PC version. :-)

And I suggest going back and doing the BioShock evil ending, if only to play on Hard (it's hard, but you can't die) and get the achievement :-D. The evil ending is as short, almost as intense, definitely more unexpected than the good one - which remains in my book one of the best of any videogame.

Also, you DID grab all the audio logs, did you? Without them, half the plot is missing...

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RDJ134 wrote on August 29, 2007 11:32 AM

I Finished Bioshock on the Evil Ending, and indeed the ending is a little short and to bad we dont get to see the endcredits like a movie(wich is common on other games) But i realy loved this titel, in my eyes Game of the Year.

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Ozymandias wrote on August 29, 2007 11:54 AM

I got almost all the audio books, but I know I missed one (or more) since I didn't get the achievement. Bummed about that, but I have no idea where I might have missed it...

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Zeouterlimits wrote on August 29, 2007 12:06 PM

I'm not sure it's the story that's the problem in Gears,  for me it's more the terrible narrative and dialogue...

    I finished Bioshock with the good ending, satisfied me, if but for not knowing what happened to one of the characters..

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Nick Puleo wrote on August 29, 2007 12:32 PM

Hey Ozy...it was great meeting you at PAX!

Because of PAX I JUST STARTED Bioshock.  Pretty kickass so far.

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DWAnderson wrote on August 29, 2007 12:47 PM

I just finished Halo about two weeks ago!

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RomeoDude wrote on August 29, 2007 1:41 PM

I still haven't picked up Bioshock yet.... But I will eventually!  I'm just saving my money for a certain other game that comes out in about a month... A certain game that just went gold!

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pars_andy wrote on August 29, 2007 2:38 PM

Yeah....thanks for puting a Bioshock spoiler on the RSS feed!!

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RDJ134 wrote on August 29, 2007 3:35 PM

@Ozymandias same here i didnt got all the audio books either. But i am going to replay it soon as i have the time for it and going for the good ending this time, and going to try some other tactics then i did now.

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PaleGringo wrote on August 29, 2007 9:10 PM

Glad to see that you still have a few hours to game, Andre.  We don't traditionally get any trade shows like PAX where I'm at (Central California)... probably because we're a desert and all.  More than that, E3 was never accessible as I'm not "in" the industry, and the E for Everyone Expo in L.A. this coming October doesn't seem to have Microsoft on the list of distinguished guests.

*SIGH*

Well, if you do end up making it down this way around he 19th / 20th, look for the guy in the Video Games Live hat and Bungie shirt of some kind.  Happy gaming and good health to you!

P.S. - From an XBL perspective, what are your predictions for the rollout / load of the COD4 MP Beta on Live and also can we hope for a fall Update to XBL before the launch of Halo 3?  A lot of network use coming up, indeed.

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John-Paul wrote on August 30, 2007 4:36 AM

Bioshock is really really awesome minus ONE thing... the HORRIBLE texture pop-in.  It's very obvious where I'm at in the game right now, two steps forward objects draw in, two steps back, objects lose detail or disapear... the only dent in an otherwise PERFECT game. Now that's I've noticed it though, I'm seeing it more and more.

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Xwar wrote on August 30, 2007 11:52 AM

Did you unlock the frame rate? I mostly noticed that afterwards.

And anyway, c'mon... it's nowhere near as bad as it was in Halo 2. :-)

Plus, unlike The Darkness, at least objects close by ALWAYS get their best resolution - in that game, I often had lo-res signs that just wouldn't switch to the sharper version unless I really went far away and in some other level.

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John-Paul wrote on August 30, 2007 6:25 PM

Well, actually I still have lock frame rate checked.

I dunno, I recall it mostly in Halo 2 being in the cutscenes not gameplay so much...  I noticed it in gears of war also, enemy textures disapearing sometimes, sometimes they didn't.  I chocked it up to a glitchy system.

But, I just got a replacement X-box for a different reason and Bioshock was practically the first game I played on this brand new X-box and I noticed it pretty bad.

I'm kinda starting to wish MS had made hard-drive standard so load times for textures and stuff would be less.

Main problem is the hype we had for graphic fidelity in the "new generation".  Games like gears and oblivion are pretty but it's the "flaws" in graphics that really rip you right out of the next generation and realize... hey, we haven't progressed as far as we think.

And honestly nothing takes you out more than seeing something materialize in front of you like that's normal.

I dunno, guess its an Xbox thing, like I said, lack of standard forced hard drive... I noticed Blue Dragon doing it on some shadows earlier.

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technabob wrote on September 1, 2007 9:41 PM

Just finished Bioshock tonight. I mostly harvested, and saved just a handful of 'lil ones, so I got the "evil" ending. I have to say, after one of the best games ever, that ending wasn't just disappointing, it was confusing. I hope the "good" ending is a little more satisfying.

Regardless, I still loved the game. I just wish that the ending (after the big boss battle) would be really dramatic too. Oh well. Maybe for Bioshock 2, right?

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John-Paul wrote on September 2, 2007 4:07 PM

I wrote a whole thing but Oz's site decided not to post it.

Apparently it was that area, also like almost all the corpses were missing textures, and on two occasions a living big daddy was complete grey and flat.

Since then though, leaving that area I'm noticing much less pop up and funky stuff.

This crap just freaks me out though, I see missing textures I think somethings wrong with my system not the game.  We've covered this though my replacement Xbox is about 2 weeks old, can't be that.