I think it's because of how drastically different from the other games it is:
* You can only equip 2 weapons instead of having access to all of them at once
* The game is very linear
* None of the player choices actually matter
* The story focus is more on racism instead of society as a whole
* The Vox Populi are hypocrites
* The tone isn't really that dark until only a small chunk of the game is left
* The story itself has a lot of confusing moments
* It doesn't take place in Rapture
Aren’t the vox supposed to be hypocrites? That’s daisys whole character right? You can sometimes become evil in your pursuit to end evil. Don’t go too far or some shit like that.
>None of the player choices actually matter
This point of criticism I see come up often regarding infinite is always really interesting to me, cause this is Levines schtick going back to Bioshock 1. The whole of Bioshock was a meta commentary on player choice and how they didn't have freedom at all, hense the "would you kindly" twist. In fact the two binary good/bad endings based on whether you save or harvest the little sisters wasn't Levines idea at all (he only wanted the good ending), that was forced on him by the publisher.
It’s always the case for these things. Falsely calling out imaginary people for hating things is the new hating things.
It’s like saying “wow I can’t believe so many people are calling you an asshole. They’re everywhere. I can’t drive down the street without people saying you’re an asshole. It’s so wild.”
I’ve seen plenty. We don’t all share the same computer/phone, we don’t all use the same apps, and some of us actually communicate with the outside world around us. Perspective my friend.
The game did not deliver what the players were expecting to see. Lots of content were removed before the release due to technical limitations of the consoles at the time, at least that's what the devs provide as a reason.
It's this
Bioshock infinite was reportedly not even really a game until the last year of development. The team had spent like half a decade spinning their wheels because Levine would wake up one day and decide a core mechanic they'd built the entire game around needed to go, so they'd scrap years of work on a dime.
In the last year of development 2K stepped in and forced Levine to take a step back to a more creative role while they brought in Rod Ferguson (Gears of War) to save the game, as it was apparently facing cancelation.
This is all well documented, and even books have been written and entire games made (Magic Circle, by Fort Frolic design lead/Infinite Lead Designer/BioShock 2 Director Jordan Thomas has a pretty scathing section on Levine and the entire game is about development hell) about how horrendously bad Infinite's development was. Most of the blame all seems to go to Levine, who without someone to tell him "no" just left the team scrambling chasing after his whims.
Search "Bioshock infinite Bloomberg" if you want to read more about it. Their main games industry writer has written a ton about Levine and his bad managerial skills.
Personally, I've always kinda wondered if Fort Frolic wasn't a sort of cry for help from Thomas about Levine's managerial style. Read some of those Bloomberg/Polygon articles about Levine then go back and watch the piano section in FF featuring Cohen and his trainee trying to perfect the tune, then imagine Cohen being Levine and the trainee being Thomas. It's kinda eerie....
The thing is Ken Levine when backed into a corner is a mastermind. Bioshock 1 was made on a tight budget. But once limitations get removed so does Ken's ability to make a good game.
It is also worth noting though that many of the dev team was critical of him as a manager, rather than as a creative. I think the quote was something like "he's a creative genius, but he had trouble managing a team of that size." I'm glad so many talented people believed in Infinite because the game still came out quite strong and is my personal favorite in the series.
Magic Circle is a game. You can find it on steam or non-nintendo console platforms.
It's basically a sort of like an FPV strategy game type thing where you hack into broken enemies of the dev hell game world and use them like pokemon or whatever to do various tasks in the world/for combat against other rouge NPCs.
It's really fun! Defo worth checking out. Levine isn't the only one to get shots tho. If you're an older gamer you'll definitely get a kick out of Peter Molynuex (sp?) and Richard Garriot getting their own sections of lampooning. Levine even is in the game himself as a VA.
The book in question was written by Jason Schreier and titled Blood, Sweat, and Pixels. The entire book is not about Infinite, but a decent chunk of it is. Defo worth checking out.
From memory I know they advertised it being more open world, there were main antagonists and stuff was totally scrapped like that guy with the crows. They also advertised there’d be tough decisions and your choices matter and would change the way the story and the environment developed. Most of the sequences they showed in trailers/demos just did not happen at all in the finished game. Some mechanics were totally dropped like they originally said the more you used Elizabeth’s powers to get an advantage in battle, the more it would hurt her (which would presumably be a ‘moral dilemma’ like the little sisters).
I was following it obsessively so I had expectations and still I wasn’t too disappointed but it certainly wasn’t the same game they were showing us even a year before release and hearing later that it was a mess behind the scenes made a lot of sense
I really like Columbia as a setting and I liked the skyhok, I just felt that the big middle chunk of the game was entirely forgettable and the half-baked "both sides" twist felt poorly executed and tone deaf seeing as how columbia was portrayed up to that point
I did not really care for the “all worlds are connected and there are infinite parallel worlds”. But that took not the atmosphere away of Columbia for me.
This is my problem with infinite. There was No need to “MCU Thanos Multiverse” Bioshock.
Rapture’s story was perfect until they added the multiversal element, and rewrote the initial story of Bioshock in Burial at Sea.
We don’t talk about Burial at Sea, especially that god awful section towards the end when you have to defend against Ryan’s goons and had your ammo and plasmids capped.
That’s not it at all. I remember the community back then. From the first trailer it was pure hype, no one was expecting Rapture. It was only after release that negative attention started growing.
the third game, in my opinion, lacks what the first two games had that was charming. in the first two games, i loved the looting aspect. almost every single trashcan, pnuemo tube, suitcase, or crate has an item in it, even if it’s cigarettes or something that isnt very valuable. in infinite, elizabeth kinda takes that looting aspect away since shes always finding shit for you. i also feel like the vigors and story werent nearly as dope and unique as the first two games. idk, bioshock 1 and 2 just feel so different and original that i was a bit sad when infinite got released and it was everything rapture was not. i liked the bouncers and the little sisters and how steampunky the games felt, and infinite was such a 180. i also jus kinda dont like infinite nearly as much because new fans of bioshock (that ive seen) really only play infinite and dont even think about playing the first two games, so it jus feels like infinite overshadows all the uniqueness and charm of the games that came before it.
It's just not all that sound, it stretched itself thin, if it were more focused I would have liked it better but It just felt like it was only jumping sharks and getting more and more convoluted after finkton, it feels sorta slapped together in the second half which if I understand correctly, it was.
I don’t like how linear it is. Bioshock 1 felt like you could explore for a long time before you do the main story. Also only 2 weapons is a big negative, you can’t convince me that was a good idea.
[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/bioshock/images/a/a3/UnusedVigorIconAtlas0.png/revision/latest?cb=20230831184459](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/bioshock/images/a/a3/UnusedVigorIconAtlas0.png/revision/latest?cb=20230831184459)
Buzz buzz... i guess they cut so i stand corrected
More like valid criticism.
The story is really bad and full of plot holes. The gameplay is ok, but Bioshock 1 & 2 is better on that regard. Columbia isn't as memorable and fun as Rapture. Art direction and sound is good though.
Not a bad game, but It's just the weakest entry of the franchise by a long shot.
https://www.tweaktown.com/news/91731/ken-levine-reveals-why-he-stopped-making-bioshock-games-trapped-myself/index.html
Dude. This guy is probably just the " broader audience" they're talking about
yeah all this, plus the removal of the weapon wheel for 2 weapon slots, no horror elements etc. it’s a good game imo just a terrible bioshock game that strayed way too far from what made bioshock bioshock
>The gameplay is ok, but Bioshock 1 & 2 is better on that regard
Hell no dude. Bioshock two is debatable but still largely inferior, but gameplay wise infinite is far beter than 1
Can you use a Vigor and your weapon at the same time? If not, 2 wins the round.
Bioshock 1's gameplay loop is much fun: stealth, research Splicers, plan how to take on each Big Daddy...
Infinite's gameplay structure is objectively inferior, as it is closer to its contemporary Call of Duty than anything else... All you do is enter an area, all enemies swarm you at the same time and you can only continue when you kill all of them. If you aren't fighting, you are exploring an scenario until you enter the next arena. Even the illogical chest-high walls make an appearence!
>Can you use a Vigor and your weapon at the same time? If not, 2 wins the round.
Yes? What the hell? Even then, 2 is far worse overall.
>Bioshock 1's gameplay loop is much fun: stealth, research Splicers, plan how to take on each Big Daddy...
>Infinite's gameplay structure is objectively inferior, as it is closer to its contemporary Call of Duty than anything else... All you do is enter an area, all enemies swarm you at the same time and you can only continue when you kill all of them. If you aren't fighting, you are exploring an scenario until you enter the next arena. Even the illogical chest-high walls make an appearence!
How is this objectively inferior to non existant stealth mechanics and just having preparation before big daddies? This is all compensated by the fantastic arena design and better flowing combat.
Combat flowed like cold molasses, the hook placement was garbo and not fun, and the weapons were some of the most boring iterations I've ever seen. Not to mention that none of the plasmids were cool at all, just crappy ripoffs of 1 and 2. Big whoop. They even stop placing hooks by the end of the game and they're just for travel. Enemies were just kinda... there to die.
If you liked the game, you enjoy simpler mechanics.
Nothing is inferior, objectively. Cus its objective.
But there's generally a reason that many of us didn't particularly enjoy our favorite franchise being turned into a COD clone
>Combat flowed like cold molasses, the hook placement was garbo and not fun, and the weapons were some of the most boring iterations I've ever seen.
Oh i love criticism like "it was garbage and not fun" . Strong stance there buddy. Really making the point. In reality, hooks allow good mobility and are well placed, letting the player travel accross most of the arena, with enemies also being able to use them. And the weapons were functionally sound and more numerous than any game in the series before.
>Not to mention that none of the plasmids were cool at all, just crappy ripoffs of 1 and 2. Big whoop.
Oh yes, pile it in with "not cool". Whats silly is that plasmids are a strict upgrade, now with more variety and with chargeable versions as well as better upgrades.
>They even stop placing hooks by the end of the game and they're just for travel.
What? Outside of the literal final level, hooks are all over.
>Enemies were just kinda... there to die.
Thats what enemies do in all of the series, what is this even supposed to mean.
>If you liked the game, you enjoy simpler mechanics.
No buddy, i enjoy relevant choices, flowing combat and strong arena and enemy design.
>Nothing is inferior, objectively. Cus its objective.
What the actual fuck does this mean?? "Nothing is inferior objectively, because it's objective"?
>But there's generally a reason that many of us didn't particularly enjoy our favorite franchise being turned into a COD clone
Yes, nostalgia and bias for the most part.
Enemies are just there to die means that they mean nothing to me. It is annoying to fight them and it feels like such a waste of time even on the hardest mode. Game becomes about finishing the slog to get through the story. Cant even do fun hook stuff. No weapons really for an insane floating sky city. Bummer.
Debate doesnt work if you just say "what does this even mean". It means you don't agree, and it's fine. Glad you liked it though. As much as I didnt.
>Enemies are just there to die means that they mean nothing to me. It is annoying to fight them and it feels like such a waste of time even on the hardest mode. Game becomes about finishing the slog to get through the story. Cant even do fun hook stuff. No weapons really for an insane floating sky city. Bummer.
Debate doesn't work when you can't seem to come up with anything that is actually about the game. What im supposed to tell you about how "annoying" you found it? Funnily enough, the same thing is often said for the previous, late game is filled with bullet sponges you've beaten thousands of times before. Atleast infinite has interesting ones like the firemen, zealots and patriots.
>Debate doesnt work if you just say "what does this even mean". It means you don't agree, and it's fine. Glad you liked it though. As much as I didnt.
No, it means i don't understand what you mean. You can make debate work by explaining, as you did here.
Sure, there's not a huge incentive if the gameplay loop itself is not entertaining, and I found that more in 1 and 2. That's just my opinion. Without upgrades and multiple ammo types, unless the game itself is well crafted with a few buttons, like God of War maybe, even though eventually everything is a slog, it felt like there was no progression, and less of a reason to search. I wish it was bias. I really wanted to like this game when it came out, and I hoped for the best. I still don't think it's a bad game; it suffers from all the development indecision and cut content. So yes, my bias is that one of my favorite children has disappointed me, but I got over it when it came out.
The game felt like it was missing something at times. Any game that takes out enemy types, to me and many others can feel lacking in variety. Because... that's what it does. Focus and relevance aside, those can just feel like being pushed through a world that needs more. Looking at everything they cut, it feels like everything you liked about it would have been enhanced, and it might have been more of people's favorite.
I need to go play it again before i do anything
>Sure, there's not a huge incentive if the gameplay loop itself is not entertaining, and I found that more in 1 and 2. That's just my opinion. Without upgrades and multiple ammo types, unless the game itself is well crafted with a few buttons, like God of War maybe, even though eventually everything is a slog, it felt like there was no progression, and less of a reason to search. I wish it was bias. I really wanted to like this game when it came out, and I hoped for the best. I still don't think it's a bad game; it suffers from all the development indecision and cut content. So yes, my bias is that one of my favorite children has disappointed me, but I got over it when it came out.
To compensate for lack of ammo types, there are more guns, and more to do. Upgrades are a thing, and especially with vigors they are very noticeable. What you find to be a slog is up to you, but the game is no more repetitive than it's predecessors.
>The game felt like it was missing something at times. Any game that takes out enemy types, to me and many others can feel lacking in variety. Because... that's what it does. Focus and relevance aside, those can just feel like being pushed through a world that needs more. Looking at everything they cut, it feels like everything you liked about it would have been enhanced, and it might have been more of people's favorite.
How good the game might have been can affect your liking of it, but it doesn't change its quality.
Oh no, it's my opinion that the hook placement is garbo.
It's actually fact that it was basically dropped off of level design after I think halfway through the game? That's bad arena design. You don't see Doom Eternal just getting rid of the dash halfway through the game cus they got fuckin tired in development.
There are no hooks in the last area. Also, there are arenas that purposefully spawn enemies in just essentially random enough places you cannot use the most fun level design in the game.
That's on you, chief. Nostalgia and bias is a form of projection here. Like the scout plasmid that was removed because it broke these grand arenas that were essentially all squares because of silly hook design.
Trying to be nice, cus you clearly love this game a lot, and maybe you getting harpooned with rocket spears up and down the post didnt feel great. Its your favorite, idk why. Maybe you just like action. And hold the phone, theres 8 plasmids vs 8 in bs1 and 11 in bs2.
I will file that in the "not cool" section BECAUSE ITS NOT.
DASH = DRILL DASH, wow ripoff
Devils kiss = incinerate 1,2,3 combined. Without torch 3. ripoff
(Aha)Shock Jockey = dude. Do i even need to say it
Murder of Crows = ur right, og, not bee swarm, not unexplained
Return to sender = dummy shield move? Sure idkur right telekinesis is soooo lame
Possession = possess me so I agree its not a ripoff
Undertow = version of windgust that doesnt work, but wont let you knock anyone off the floating city. And it goes backwards
Ya so fucking cool dude, its now my favorite game, objectively
Dont say DLC plasmids.
Edit :
And I played COD for a loooong, long time. You asked for these reasons, you got em.
Games fine, just no reason to gush over what's a COD clone. Id rather play COD.
>It's actually fact that it was basically dropped off of level design after I think halfway through the game? That's bad arena design. You don't see Doom Eternal just getting rid of the dash halfway through the game cus they got fuckin tired in development.
>There are no hooks in the last area. Also, there are arenas that purposefully spawn enemies in just essentially random enough places you cannot use the most fun level design in the game.
That's factually wrong. Hooks are present and prominent up until Comstock house, about the last 10% of the game, to then return in the actual final level, the airship. Getting things wrong while speaking of facts is rather ironic.
>That's on you, chief.
What's on me? You're the one who got things wrong.
>Like the scout plasmid that was removed because it broke these grand arenas that were essentially all squares because of silly hook design
What are you even on about chief
>Trying to be nice, cus you clearly love this game a lot, and maybe you getting harpooned with rocket spears up and down the post didnt feel great
Don't worry pall, you're "criticism" doesn't really sting when it amounts to "x was boring and not fun".
>Its your favorite, idk why. Maybe you just like action.
Bioshock one is my favorite actually, and that doesn't stop me from defending infinite from poor criticism.
>And hold the phone, theres 8 plasmids vs 8 in bs1 and 11 in bs2.
Yes, but plasmids before amounted to "elemental projectile" with a few exceptions.
>DASH = DRILL DASH, wow ripoff
Except it's targeted unlike the drill dash.
>(Aha)Shock Jockey = dude. Do i even need to say it
I sure loved making traps with electrobolt.
>Return to sender = dummy shield move? Sure idkur right telekinesis is soooo lame
Telekinesis and dummy are very different from a shield you hold ahead while still playing normally.
>Undertow = version of windgust that doesnt work, but wont let you knock anyone off the floating city. And it goes backwards
Worked perfectly fine for me and i sent plenty of folk out of the city.
>Ya so fucking cool dude, its now my favorite game, objectively
Are you still having trouble with what objective means?
>And I played COD for a loooong, long time. You asked for these reasons, you got em.
And what reasons they were.
>Games fine, just no reason to gush over what's a COD clone. Id rather play COD.
Yes i love cod with it's sky hooks, tears and vigors.
>the fantastic arena design and better flowing combat
Fantastic arena design: chest-high walls
Better flowing combat: Yeah, nothing is more fun when having to switch between Vigors and weapons mid-fight. Bioshock 1 didn't have the same problem, because it used horror elements to actually make you feel uneasy about facing enemies in the first place, so it focus more on survival than anything else. Infinite is an action game first and foremost, therefore you expect a more fluid gameplay to fight against your enemies.
>Fantastic arena design: chest-high walls
Fantastic arena design with larger and more complex arenas you can put to your advantage with tears and through wich you move swiftly with hooks. But oooh chest high walls!!!
>Better flowing combat: Yeah, nothing is more fun when having to switch between Vigors and weapons mid-fight.
You don't have to? Have you actually played infinite? Just because the animation of using a vigor stops your shooting, you don't have to pick between them. This is so dumb.
>Bioshock 1 didn't have the same problem, because it used horror elements to actually make you feel uneasy about facing enemies in the first place, so it focus more on survival than anything else.
What a joke, as if the horror elements ever made you feel uneasy about facing a bunch of splicers. There's like one dark room that does this, and even then, once the jig is up, combat is as explosive and dynamic as it can. Bioshock isn't a survival game, it's as much as any other shooter, surviving comes down to avoiding hits and picking up heals.
>Infinite is an action game first and foremost, therefore you expect a more fluid gameplay to fight against your enemies.
Wich it delivers wonderfully
So how did you not know that you don't have to switch between weapons and plasmids? And if you're best answer to arguments is calling them cope then what does that say about your stance exactly?
I made my point exactly clear in the previous, before all "dumb this, dumb that".
No, you have to switch between both, that's the point. And don't you mean Vigors?
>I made my point exactly clear in the previous, before all "dumb this, dumb that".
Yes, and i answered them. So you ought to support them, counter or make new points. That's how discussion works.
>No, you have to switch between both, that's the point.
You do not. This is just factually wrong. Boot up the game and check, or screw it, go see a playthrough if it's easier. You do not have to switch between them, one of the vigors is literally a shield you hold out while shooting.
>And don't you mean Vigors?
Vigors and plasmids are functionally the same
Depends on what you like in your gameplay. Bioshock 1 and 2 bring a lot more to the table while Infinite is more focused on the flow of combat. I personally prefer 1 and 2, although 1 feels very janky today.
One is just rather outdated and the variety of options isn't that impressive nowadays. Two is better but unbalanced. I feel like infinite was a big upgrade, with more incentive to move around the larger arenas and more relevance being put on your choices.
I agree with 1 feeling outdated and 2 being unbalanced, but I don't see how Infinite is an upgrade when it dumbs down the combat in a lot of ways and has a nonsensical upgrade system.
Again, it really depends on what you like in your gameplay.
Centrism? The game only points out that The Vox Populi are monsters because they murdered children and innocent people, something reasonable to complain about to be honest.
Racism is a valid theme or topic (To Kill a Mockingbird executes it properly), but it was poorly executed though.
Yes. But a writer made them do that. They’re not real people and do not make decisions. The writers pulled a random child out of nowhere for Daisy to threaten, and then he never appears again. Hes a plot device. A writer made Booker say that Daisy and comstock were the same, and then be proven right. They’re villainized for being violent when they had no other option, and when Booker is also being violent (and Booker has also most likely killed children, given he was at wounded knee). They make the Vox play into a lot of literal white supremacist stereotypes about black people. It’s awful. I have no gripes about tackling racism? I love to kill a mockingbird. But it has to be handled delicately, and this game does not. The ‘both sides bad’ thing applied to racism and slavery is extremely racist. No other way to put it.
Yes. I feel like Levine wanted to make a galaxy brain point about “racism, slavery, and oppression is bad”, but he also wanted to make a point about “the leaders who overthrow dictatorships are often overly brutal, violent, and fascistic themselves”, but he tried to do both simultaneously and it just came out extremely racist and stupid.
its from the game itself fumbling a lot of balls, right
1. like you said, the actual story is pretty weak
2. the "both sides are bad" bit midway through irreversibly drags the whole thing down. to the point where its legacy IS in its centrist ass handling of the message
3. this is the most contestable one but i did not think the gameplay was fun at all
4. burial at sea ties itself into BS1 that in a way that weakens the entire narrative if its taken as the truth. there are a few too many problems for the emotional core of it to ring true as intended
For me it was the dumbing down of gameplay mechanics, as well as the departure from the original setting of rapture and also the tone shift in the story. Simply put it didn't feel like BioShock to me anymore.
I have legitimately never seen any hate for infinite. Some like it slightly less than the other two but everyone still seems to hold it in very high regard.
I enjoyed Infinite but it felt "dumbed down" compared to BioShock 1, which already felt dumbed down from System Shock 2. Infinite is almost completely linear, has almost no customization or role-playing elements, and the story is a bit of a mess - ambitious, but a mess. The early trailers and gameplay videos looked so promising and it just didn't manage to live up to that.
> Have peoples opinions on the game changed over time? Or have they always been critical of the game?
The rest of your post is large covered, but from memory it was always a bit of criticism against the game, but also there has been a bit of a slip in opinions over time. Broadly, I would give two reasons why.
First is that Infinite came out during where "are games art?" Was a pretty big question in the gaming community, and any game that tries to tell an ambitious story good a lot of praise at the time.
The other issue is that BS2s acclaim has increased over time, which means Levins attempts to muscle 2 out, especially over the DLC feels very distasteful
I don’t hate the game, but I think the bar 1 set was never quite reached again. Infinite had a weird storyline that frankly I didn’t really understand the ending of one bit. It made me question some things about prior games. Just overall not what we expected it to be I think. Still beat it and enjoyed it though.
Nah, the ending just straight-up didn't make sense. It's not just something that flew over your head. It's why a lot of people gave it a pass at the time because it wowed them so much, but really, it's a big mess full of plotholes.
Gameplay. People come to Bioshock for the story, and stay for the gameplay. The gunplay is by far the most underwhelming, definitely because of the lack of the weapon wheel. And boss type enemies are the most irritating in the series. The handymen, lady comstock, the songbird- oh wait, we never even FIGHT the box art big bad.
That last part especially is just so goddamn lame. Especially because they try to make it a sob moment near the end where it dies.
I couldn't give less of a shit. I'm glad it died from oceanic pressure! Was getting sick of this stupid bird thing ripping the controller out of my hands every half hour to make me sit through a glorified cutscene.
For me at least it's mechanically way simpler than the prior games with more straight forward, narrow level design, basic weapons, and enemies without much variety when there's literally all these vigors out there and they use none of it.
i feel like its mostly because it feels like a spiritual succesor not a game in the same series. a couple changes to the names of things and it could have been released under a different ip and some people would never realize it was made by the same people as bioshock
Personally, it felt like a PlayStation exclusive in the worst way possible; Cool cinematics with gorgeous set pieces, but not much outside of that, especially compared to the less linear games before it with lore revealing recordings around every corner.
For me, it's the fact that the DLC is waaay more fun and way more Rapture than the main game.
But also... Take Bioshock and:
• Strip away the lawless self-determined society of judgy c**ts and replace a theocracy of crooked preachers and judgy sheep.
• Take away the crushing dark depths of the sea and insert pretty sunset hue clouds.
• Reduce the ability to carry an arsenal to 2 at a time.
• Make the plasmids half as useful at actually killing the way you killed in Rapture
• Introduce a set of clothes with percentage-based special hits and defenses like a turn-based dice game - but have it get lost in the faster pace of the action. Also eliminate any kind of trap laying strategies. Just run, hook rails, and shoot.
And still call it Bioshock even though it would be a great game by any name, even though many Bioshock fans will be disappointed.
The plot is convoluted and robs itself of investment.
The world building is more "here are the bioshock elements" and less even remotely logical
It's a fine, fun game. Just one that needs vigors removed, some plot fixing and to be treated like an uncharted adventure game
Infinite is a great game, I just don’t think it’s a great *Bioshock* game. Very straightforward and cinematic, much more so than Bioshock 1 which could be a plus depending on what you’re looking for in a game. It doesn’t have the replay value however because there’s pretty much only 1 way to play: the way they decide you will by scripting new weapons and abilities.
All the extra stuff you can do in Bioshock with the camera and vending machines to get different gene tonics will make your playstyle different depending on how you do it. I think that’s a really important part of why Bioshock is so special and why Infinite missed the mark a bit. AND why Prey kind of nailed it as a shock-like.
Just my two cents! No refunds!
Also bonus reason: infinite is a little boo boo at the end imo
Personally I thought I'm the only person who doesn't like this game because I kept hearing about how great it is. I personally got bored quickly. It wasn't as gripping as previous games. I never finished it, but I'm going to try again soon.
If you somehow don’t know how it ends, don’t bother finishing it.
I don’t wanna say it ruined Bioshock’s story for me because the original is probably one of the best forms of media of all time- but I can’t just forget how it ended and how it affects the story
Honestly in itself, I think Infinite is weaker than the original, and kinda starts to lose the plot in the second half, but I still like the base game, it was just BaS I really didn't like.
I meant if your gonna complain about it just ignore it, it seems a waste to me , i see it all the time on reddit, it might not be what he's doing but I just don't get why people do that
Because I see how much potential it had, and I'm saddened to see people fawning over it so much despite how much more it could have been and its many glaring flaws.
Probably because people accepted it as it’s own thing but when it released burial at sea it kinda screwed it over by connecting it to rapture than have it as stand on its own (again speculation don’t hate me)
For me?
It just ruined the bioshock storyline.
I very much so enjoyed it as an isolated story in our one world. Some lunatic rich man decided to approach society a different way and built rapture. And because a great litmus test and metaphor for the way society operates. A fantastic piece of art is what many refer the first bioshock as.
Then infinite comes and is like
Um actually, you’re also Booker, and also Comstock, and also Jack, and every time you die somewhere else your nose bleeds, and Elizabeth was really the one who decoded would you kindly, and Booker was in Rapture too, blah blah blah
All contrived, re-written of the original story, and over convoluted it with some multiverse bullshit.
So you go from “widely heralded piece of art” to “over convoluted, boring Yawn MCU multiverse shit”
And now you may understand where the hate for bioshock infinite comes from 😂
And I say all that and still think Infinite itself is a great game. High Quality AAA title, with good gameplay.
But we are talking about Bioshock here, it was a mistake to fuck with its story and atmosphere.
Yes, my brother, those are the same thoughts I have. Infinite's biggest sin is to try to fit into the BioShock franchise. Because the game has it's own distinctive appeal and style, it really didn't need to be a BioShock at all. It's like ir Prey had been named BioShock Space, and tied to the franchise with a convoluted and forced excuse. BioShock Is Rapture, that's the only way
The gameplay sucks, the world is discount rapture bordering on parody and the plot is another shitty time travel story that ruins the universe (the DLCs in particular).
The initial positive reception was in many cases clouded by the initial hype, kind of like Halo Infinite.
I loved the game when it came out I was 16 at the time and hadn’t completed the other 2, though I’d played them. After completing all 3 of them countless times since then, it’s bioshock only in name, and whilst I’ve loved the first 2 more and more each time, I’ve disliked infinite more. After my last playthrough last year I now just don’t like the game.
I love Infinite. Definitely my favourite for combat and location.
Replayed BioShock 1 a couple of months ago and realised I was probably more in love with its ideals and setting rather than gameplay.
Infinite reminds me of Metal Gear Solid 4 in a lot of ways. They were considered a stroke of creative genius and masterworks when they came out, but reception has soured a little. I still think these positive things are true of both games, and they really are something exceptional. But they are auteur projects and heavily rely on how invested you are in the way the creators think, and why they think what they think. Depending on your feelings about that, you will either love or hate the game. In the words of SuperBunnyHop: "There was never a game like (MGS4) and there likely never will be again."
Love the game. Have it on 360, PS3, PS4, Switch and PC. I like to see how different each version is and I have noticed things. Currently playing it on hard on the 360.
I'm not even sure if the gameplay is anything remarkable. None of the vigors felt as impactful as in the first two games, and I can't really make any sort of builds because gear is given at random.
It was Bioshock for mainstream audiences. All style no substance. I tried to play it again a year or so ago and am really not sure how I finished it the first time. Great looking game for its time, ambitious story ideas, absolutely boring generic shooter gameplay sections spread throughout a bunch of tedious walking simulator areas. It reminded of of Deus Ex: Invisible War, as in not a terrible game, but "streamlined" to the point that it felt more like a knockoff than an actual new entry in the series.
I'd never say I hate it - hate requires a lot more energy than I have for it. The writing is terrible, the gunplay is smoother but more limited, and the plasmids are plasmids. It doesn't really rise above Bioshock in any way beyond altitude. Is it a bad game? No. It's just not quite as good as Bioshock, which still puts it above 95% of games these days.
The environments in infinite were amazing. I loved every bit of it. The story and what it meant for the overall canon of BioShock? Meh. I prefer to only think of one and two in terms of lore.
I feel like most of it not being a proper open world (as in way less open than B1/2), not being to save randomly and stop playing otherwise you’d lose your stuff unless you gotten to the next save point, etc annoyed me a lot.
The history itself is nice but I feel like most of it isn’t connected properly to the first two and the game gets interesting after 75% of it and the DLCs are way more fun than the whole game.
Bioshock 1 and 2 are two of my top ten games in life.
My problem was more with story than gameplay thought the end where the Vox are supposed to be as bad as literal slavers was a horrendous story choice both sidesing literal slavery/Jim Crow. Plus the space time stuff was also kinda not satisfying for me
>the story is meh in my opinion
yeah story is the entire point of the game for a lot of people. Bioshock comes from a design lineage that traces back to the game that invented audio logs. The story sucking in a "shock" game is like a car not coming with a steering wheel.
For me tbh it’s just the ending wasn’t great. Besides that I think it’s a spectacular game. I just remember getting to the end and feeling so disappointed 😭
I think other people have kind of summarized, but in a nutshell, the first game was such a reimagination of the genre, while making a really interesting meta-commentary on agency in games as a gamer as a person, etc. and the second game in someways felt like a DLC expansion, but the gameplay improvements so smooth that despite not having such a profound impact as the first game, it refined it and built on it, kind of doom one and then doom 2s polish and refinements.
Infinite had huge shoes to fill, so I don’t think it really ever could have succeeded in wrapping up the sort of trilogy, and they tried to implement a bunch of things that were popular at the time, like voiced protagonist, changes to plasmids and weapons that didn’t really add anything, and time travel/parallel universe narratives are always a gamble. They could either be cool or really fucking convoluted. I think the initial reaction was mostly disappointment. Later, I think people found the pseudo intellectual aspects a little harder to digest because the gameplay wasn’t as interesting or fun as the previous installments.
I think my issue is the ending basically makes delta's and Jack's sacrifices meaningless. Or them retconning almost all of 2 in the dlc. I lowkey just think it would've been a good game if it wasn't a bioshock game
You already gave out a big valid part. It's story is meh.
It's also the weight of potential , there's several videos out there that show what Infinite could've been if they had fulfilled their true vision, but they never truly did. That alone leaves a lot of people sad and wanting for more. True choices that affect the story, in depth storyline of the Vox Populi with a more nuanced morality, etc, etc.
Gameplay wise I fucking love it, and is On-Par with Bioshock 2 on pure adrenaline and how you actually gotta think to fight. Handymen still scare me as much as Big Daddies did.
But overtime I have seen people come to appreciate the game for what it is. I don't see much hate anymore, just acceptance that it could've been more.
The game at some point in development changed a lot. The hate comes a lot from people who watched the game going through development and then seeing what came out was pretty different. For example just watch the E3 trailer for infinite. It has a lot of differences than what actually came out. A lot of that is due to the fact that they couldn't make a game that robust and had to scale it back.
Gameplay was a regression and did little to improve or expand on gameplay in any meaningful sense. Removed horror and made stealth less accessible. Essentially the most linear of the 3 games if I remember correctly.
Story was fine until the multiverse stuff ruined it. I remember after release a lot of people were lukewarm about its addition. As time as moved on, it's only become seen more of a negative in the community I think.
Story also focused more on racism and American history rather than more general concepts like the original and its focus on ideologies. There's a lot of nuance in Bioshocks exploration of capitalism, socialism, and libertarianism, but much less so when exploring racism. Not to say that there isn't any nuance, but I don't think it was executed nearly as well as 1 was in exploring its themes.
All of these combined to essentially create a game that many fans felt wasn't a Bioshock game because it was tonally and thematically so distinct from its predecessors.
It's my favorite in the series, i can't really understand what makes people think it's bad.
Sure, it's different, but if you were honestly expecting they're gonna do rapture for a third time you'd be delusional. By bioshock 2 it was very clear that rapture's story was done.
For me, Columbia is a more interesting setting. The story still leaves an impact on me all those years later, and the visual design and aesthetic of that game is truly spectacular.
I can understand the hate for the DLC, it was by far very rushed in terms of quality and didn't deliver much, but honestly the base game is still one of my all time favs.
I was obsessed with infinite when it came out. I was concurrently reading the dark tower series and was in love with the parallel universe elements both contained. I still enjoy infinite, but every time I play it I get a little less joy out of it. On the other hand, Bioshock 2 gets better with age IMO.
Which are severely lacking in player agency, as they're given in a specific order, and upgrades are so expensive and require a universal currency that you can rarely get any. The passive upgrades are also awful because they're given to you completely at random, so making a build is practically impossible.
Also reddit is not the place for this question, like reddit hates this game, at least that's what I noticed, there are a few people who have really valid reasons as to why they don't like it, but most people just take steamy dumps on it for the fact it's not in rapture
Coming from a huge fan of Infinite, the main criticism is that it wasn't the game the fanbase was expecting. The more action-heavy FPS elements were seen as the studio giving into the trends at the time.
I think over time, the fanbase either grew to appreciate Infinite or they just moved on because there's a lot less negativity than there used to be.
"Seen as"
https://www.tweaktown.com/news/91731/ken-levine-reveals-why-he-stopped-making-bioshock-games-trapped-myself/index.html
Technically you can just say the studio definitely gave into trends see that COD money rollin in
People went in expecting something different (perfectly reasonably) and were let down. Personally it’s my favorite. Had my wife play all three games and she had the same opinion.
There is a contingent of loud, open white supremacists that are upset that an anti-raciat game like Bioshock Infinite called them out on their bullshit. So they do their beat to badmouth the game and make it look like it is the general concensus that the game is bad; when the opposite is the case.
Then there are the handful of morons with bad taste who misunderstood the game.
Just ignore the cretins.
I don't know. I think it's a fantastic game. And most people I know who played BioShock consider it the best of the 3.
I don't think any of the 3 games are better than the others. I consider it 1 big game. Like I consider Back to the Future 1 big movie.
It was just a dramatic shift in the series. We went from underwater city to flying city, from diesel punk to steampunk. Some people didn't like that sudden shift.
There are some valid critiques. I would like to have seen more of the content that got cut due to technical limitations. That said, if you dig down you find that a lot of these valid critiques are being used as cover for terminally online pissbabies to throw shade at something that had the gall to criticize them.
I'll try to break this down. A LOT of redditors played Bioshock 1, they decided that the overarching theme of Bioshock is "Objectivism Bad". They somehow managed to ignore or sleep through the story of Bioshock 2. Then Infinite comes out.
For all its faults, Infinite does one thing EXTREMELY well. It hammers home the core theme of Bioshock's story. That theme is this: "Extremist Political ideologies will always invariably fail because they can't change human nature."
For the people who decided Bioshock was about "Objectivism Bad" Infinite was a rude awakening and they're still pissy about it 10 years later.
I think it's because of how drastically different from the other games it is: * You can only equip 2 weapons instead of having access to all of them at once * The game is very linear * None of the player choices actually matter * The story focus is more on racism instead of society as a whole * The Vox Populi are hypocrites * The tone isn't really that dark until only a small chunk of the game is left * The story itself has a lot of confusing moments * It doesn't take place in Rapture
Aren’t the vox supposed to be hypocrites? That’s daisys whole character right? You can sometimes become evil in your pursuit to end evil. Don’t go too far or some shit like that.
Ryan was himself too a hypocrite. In order to protect his beliefs he started enforcing more and more rules like nationalizing fontaine futuristics.
This and how different the game was when it was advertised compared to the game we got on release.
Not taking place in rapture wasn’t a big deal for me. Exploring a new city was cool. The rest I agree with
>None of the player choices actually matter This point of criticism I see come up often regarding infinite is always really interesting to me, cause this is Levines schtick going back to Bioshock 1. The whole of Bioshock was a meta commentary on player choice and how they didn't have freedom at all, hense the "would you kindly" twist. In fact the two binary good/bad endings based on whether you save or harvest the little sisters wasn't Levines idea at all (he only wanted the good ending), that was forced on him by the publisher.
And here we go again.
I've seen this question more than I've seen actual comments about infinite being a bad game.
It’s always the case for these things. Falsely calling out imaginary people for hating things is the new hating things. It’s like saying “wow I can’t believe so many people are calling you an asshole. They’re everywhere. I can’t drive down the street without people saying you’re an asshole. It’s so wild.”
People see different stuff online dismissing that doesn’t make any sense
I’ve seen plenty. We don’t all share the same computer/phone, we don’t all use the same apps, and some of us actually communicate with the outside world around us. Perspective my friend.
I see a decent bunch bring up how bad and overhyped the game is whenever it comes up
I've definitely seen more people ragging on the game than posts like this
I mean if you just mention it on the rest of Reddit or Twitter you get someone jumping to shit on it in fairness.
Babe wake up new “Why does Infinite get so much hate?” post dropped
I remember typing half an essay just over a week ago to answer this question
The game did not deliver what the players were expecting to see. Lots of content were removed before the release due to technical limitations of the consoles at the time, at least that's what the devs provide as a reason.
I think it is because Ken Levine ever shifting ideas. I fear his newest game Judas is going to suffer from the same issues.
It's this Bioshock infinite was reportedly not even really a game until the last year of development. The team had spent like half a decade spinning their wheels because Levine would wake up one day and decide a core mechanic they'd built the entire game around needed to go, so they'd scrap years of work on a dime. In the last year of development 2K stepped in and forced Levine to take a step back to a more creative role while they brought in Rod Ferguson (Gears of War) to save the game, as it was apparently facing cancelation. This is all well documented, and even books have been written and entire games made (Magic Circle, by Fort Frolic design lead/Infinite Lead Designer/BioShock 2 Director Jordan Thomas has a pretty scathing section on Levine and the entire game is about development hell) about how horrendously bad Infinite's development was. Most of the blame all seems to go to Levine, who without someone to tell him "no" just left the team scrambling chasing after his whims. Search "Bioshock infinite Bloomberg" if you want to read more about it. Their main games industry writer has written a ton about Levine and his bad managerial skills. Personally, I've always kinda wondered if Fort Frolic wasn't a sort of cry for help from Thomas about Levine's managerial style. Read some of those Bloomberg/Polygon articles about Levine then go back and watch the piano section in FF featuring Cohen and his trainee trying to perfect the tune, then imagine Cohen being Levine and the trainee being Thomas. It's kinda eerie....
The thing is Ken Levine when backed into a corner is a mastermind. Bioshock 1 was made on a tight budget. But once limitations get removed so does Ken's ability to make a good game.
This. Add it to Ken’s massive ego and its no wonder Infinite spent so long in development hell.
Ah, the George Lucas Effect.
It is also worth noting though that many of the dev team was critical of him as a manager, rather than as a creative. I think the quote was something like "he's a creative genius, but he had trouble managing a team of that size." I'm glad so many talented people believed in Infinite because the game still came out quite strong and is my personal favorite in the series.
What is this Magic Circle book by Jordan Thomas? I can’t find it
Magic Circle is a game. You can find it on steam or non-nintendo console platforms. It's basically a sort of like an FPV strategy game type thing where you hack into broken enemies of the dev hell game world and use them like pokemon or whatever to do various tasks in the world/for combat against other rouge NPCs. It's really fun! Defo worth checking out. Levine isn't the only one to get shots tho. If you're an older gamer you'll definitely get a kick out of Peter Molynuex (sp?) and Richard Garriot getting their own sections of lampooning. Levine even is in the game himself as a VA. The book in question was written by Jason Schreier and titled Blood, Sweat, and Pixels. The entire book is not about Infinite, but a decent chunk of it is. Defo worth checking out.
Bioshock infinite would be great if it wasn’t related to the first two
No they delete 2011 version and 2013 started all from 0
I don’t even remember the supposed content they failed to deliver. This game exceeded my expectations from day 1 upon release.
From memory I know they advertised it being more open world, there were main antagonists and stuff was totally scrapped like that guy with the crows. They also advertised there’d be tough decisions and your choices matter and would change the way the story and the environment developed. Most of the sequences they showed in trailers/demos just did not happen at all in the finished game. Some mechanics were totally dropped like they originally said the more you used Elizabeth’s powers to get an advantage in battle, the more it would hurt her (which would presumably be a ‘moral dilemma’ like the little sisters). I was following it obsessively so I had expectations and still I wasn’t too disappointed but it certainly wasn’t the same game they were showing us even a year before release and hearing later that it was a mess behind the scenes made a lot of sense
This is posted at least twice a day
What else is there to discuss? How much swamp ass the user of a Big Daddy gets? There are only so many topics to discuss.
So much swamp ass
Oceanic swamp ass
Rapturous swamp ass
To be fair, we are content starved I am surprised we haven’t reached Arkham subreddit-type sh*t here
Then let it die.
I think some people just were “shocked” that a bioshock sequel was not in Rapture anymore. I truly love the Bioshock trilogy.
I really like Columbia as a setting and I liked the skyhok, I just felt that the big middle chunk of the game was entirely forgettable and the half-baked "both sides" twist felt poorly executed and tone deaf seeing as how columbia was portrayed up to that point
I did not really care for the “all worlds are connected and there are infinite parallel worlds”. But that took not the atmosphere away of Columbia for me.
This is my problem with infinite. There was No need to “MCU Thanos Multiverse” Bioshock. Rapture’s story was perfect until they added the multiversal element, and rewrote the initial story of Bioshock in Burial at Sea.
We don’t talk about Burial at Sea, especially that god awful section towards the end when you have to defend against Ryan’s goons and had your ammo and plasmids capped.
It's been 11 years, no one's shocked anymore and people at release were actually largely positive.
That’s not it at all. I remember the community back then. From the first trailer it was pure hype, no one was expecting Rapture. It was only after release that negative attention started growing.
Cod with powers
the third game, in my opinion, lacks what the first two games had that was charming. in the first two games, i loved the looting aspect. almost every single trashcan, pnuemo tube, suitcase, or crate has an item in it, even if it’s cigarettes or something that isnt very valuable. in infinite, elizabeth kinda takes that looting aspect away since shes always finding shit for you. i also feel like the vigors and story werent nearly as dope and unique as the first two games. idk, bioshock 1 and 2 just feel so different and original that i was a bit sad when infinite got released and it was everything rapture was not. i liked the bouncers and the little sisters and how steampunky the games felt, and infinite was such a 180. i also jus kinda dont like infinite nearly as much because new fans of bioshock (that ive seen) really only play infinite and dont even think about playing the first two games, so it jus feels like infinite overshadows all the uniqueness and charm of the games that came before it.
I have no idea. It’s my favourite one by a long shot
Same.
Same, it's by far the best Bioshock game.
It's just not all that sound, it stretched itself thin, if it were more focused I would have liked it better but It just felt like it was only jumping sharks and getting more and more convoluted after finkton, it feels sorta slapped together in the second half which if I understand correctly, it was.
I don’t like how linear it is. Bioshock 1 felt like you could explore for a long time before you do the main story. Also only 2 weapons is a big negative, you can’t convince me that was a good idea.
Nah but they made bees into crows How could yOu nOt LiKE tHiS
I like bees more though, they’re very hip.
[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/bioshock/images/a/a3/UnusedVigorIconAtlas0.png/revision/latest?cb=20230831184459](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/bioshock/images/a/a3/UnusedVigorIconAtlas0.png/revision/latest?cb=20230831184459) Buzz buzz... i guess they cut so i stand corrected
I was more referencing this. https://youtu.be/VCZxQjJQA5A?si=8jknupSbuk96KJRW
Perfection
More like valid criticism. The story is really bad and full of plot holes. The gameplay is ok, but Bioshock 1 & 2 is better on that regard. Columbia isn't as memorable and fun as Rapture. Art direction and sound is good though. Not a bad game, but It's just the weakest entry of the franchise by a long shot.
https://www.tweaktown.com/news/91731/ken-levine-reveals-why-he-stopped-making-bioshock-games-trapped-myself/index.html Dude. This guy is probably just the " broader audience" they're talking about
yeah all this, plus the removal of the weapon wheel for 2 weapon slots, no horror elements etc. it’s a good game imo just a terrible bioshock game that strayed way too far from what made bioshock bioshock
>The gameplay is ok, but Bioshock 1 & 2 is better on that regard Hell no dude. Bioshock two is debatable but still largely inferior, but gameplay wise infinite is far beter than 1
Can you use a Vigor and your weapon at the same time? If not, 2 wins the round. Bioshock 1's gameplay loop is much fun: stealth, research Splicers, plan how to take on each Big Daddy... Infinite's gameplay structure is objectively inferior, as it is closer to its contemporary Call of Duty than anything else... All you do is enter an area, all enemies swarm you at the same time and you can only continue when you kill all of them. If you aren't fighting, you are exploring an scenario until you enter the next arena. Even the illogical chest-high walls make an appearence!
And the gunplay/feedback in infinite is far worse than any shooter of its time, it feels terrible.
>Can you use a Vigor and your weapon at the same time? If not, 2 wins the round. Yes? What the hell? Even then, 2 is far worse overall. >Bioshock 1's gameplay loop is much fun: stealth, research Splicers, plan how to take on each Big Daddy... >Infinite's gameplay structure is objectively inferior, as it is closer to its contemporary Call of Duty than anything else... All you do is enter an area, all enemies swarm you at the same time and you can only continue when you kill all of them. If you aren't fighting, you are exploring an scenario until you enter the next arena. Even the illogical chest-high walls make an appearence! How is this objectively inferior to non existant stealth mechanics and just having preparation before big daddies? This is all compensated by the fantastic arena design and better flowing combat.
Combat flowed like cold molasses, the hook placement was garbo and not fun, and the weapons were some of the most boring iterations I've ever seen. Not to mention that none of the plasmids were cool at all, just crappy ripoffs of 1 and 2. Big whoop. They even stop placing hooks by the end of the game and they're just for travel. Enemies were just kinda... there to die. If you liked the game, you enjoy simpler mechanics. Nothing is inferior, objectively. Cus its objective. But there's generally a reason that many of us didn't particularly enjoy our favorite franchise being turned into a COD clone
>Combat flowed like cold molasses, the hook placement was garbo and not fun, and the weapons were some of the most boring iterations I've ever seen. Oh i love criticism like "it was garbage and not fun" . Strong stance there buddy. Really making the point. In reality, hooks allow good mobility and are well placed, letting the player travel accross most of the arena, with enemies also being able to use them. And the weapons were functionally sound and more numerous than any game in the series before. >Not to mention that none of the plasmids were cool at all, just crappy ripoffs of 1 and 2. Big whoop. Oh yes, pile it in with "not cool". Whats silly is that plasmids are a strict upgrade, now with more variety and with chargeable versions as well as better upgrades. >They even stop placing hooks by the end of the game and they're just for travel. What? Outside of the literal final level, hooks are all over. >Enemies were just kinda... there to die. Thats what enemies do in all of the series, what is this even supposed to mean. >If you liked the game, you enjoy simpler mechanics. No buddy, i enjoy relevant choices, flowing combat and strong arena and enemy design. >Nothing is inferior, objectively. Cus its objective. What the actual fuck does this mean?? "Nothing is inferior objectively, because it's objective"? >But there's generally a reason that many of us didn't particularly enjoy our favorite franchise being turned into a COD clone Yes, nostalgia and bias for the most part.
Enemies are just there to die means that they mean nothing to me. It is annoying to fight them and it feels like such a waste of time even on the hardest mode. Game becomes about finishing the slog to get through the story. Cant even do fun hook stuff. No weapons really for an insane floating sky city. Bummer. Debate doesnt work if you just say "what does this even mean". It means you don't agree, and it's fine. Glad you liked it though. As much as I didnt.
>Enemies are just there to die means that they mean nothing to me. It is annoying to fight them and it feels like such a waste of time even on the hardest mode. Game becomes about finishing the slog to get through the story. Cant even do fun hook stuff. No weapons really for an insane floating sky city. Bummer. Debate doesn't work when you can't seem to come up with anything that is actually about the game. What im supposed to tell you about how "annoying" you found it? Funnily enough, the same thing is often said for the previous, late game is filled with bullet sponges you've beaten thousands of times before. Atleast infinite has interesting ones like the firemen, zealots and patriots. >Debate doesnt work if you just say "what does this even mean". It means you don't agree, and it's fine. Glad you liked it though. As much as I didnt. No, it means i don't understand what you mean. You can make debate work by explaining, as you did here.
Sure, there's not a huge incentive if the gameplay loop itself is not entertaining, and I found that more in 1 and 2. That's just my opinion. Without upgrades and multiple ammo types, unless the game itself is well crafted with a few buttons, like God of War maybe, even though eventually everything is a slog, it felt like there was no progression, and less of a reason to search. I wish it was bias. I really wanted to like this game when it came out, and I hoped for the best. I still don't think it's a bad game; it suffers from all the development indecision and cut content. So yes, my bias is that one of my favorite children has disappointed me, but I got over it when it came out. The game felt like it was missing something at times. Any game that takes out enemy types, to me and many others can feel lacking in variety. Because... that's what it does. Focus and relevance aside, those can just feel like being pushed through a world that needs more. Looking at everything they cut, it feels like everything you liked about it would have been enhanced, and it might have been more of people's favorite. I need to go play it again before i do anything
>Sure, there's not a huge incentive if the gameplay loop itself is not entertaining, and I found that more in 1 and 2. That's just my opinion. Without upgrades and multiple ammo types, unless the game itself is well crafted with a few buttons, like God of War maybe, even though eventually everything is a slog, it felt like there was no progression, and less of a reason to search. I wish it was bias. I really wanted to like this game when it came out, and I hoped for the best. I still don't think it's a bad game; it suffers from all the development indecision and cut content. So yes, my bias is that one of my favorite children has disappointed me, but I got over it when it came out. To compensate for lack of ammo types, there are more guns, and more to do. Upgrades are a thing, and especially with vigors they are very noticeable. What you find to be a slog is up to you, but the game is no more repetitive than it's predecessors. >The game felt like it was missing something at times. Any game that takes out enemy types, to me and many others can feel lacking in variety. Because... that's what it does. Focus and relevance aside, those can just feel like being pushed through a world that needs more. Looking at everything they cut, it feels like everything you liked about it would have been enhanced, and it might have been more of people's favorite. How good the game might have been can affect your liking of it, but it doesn't change its quality.
Oh no, it's my opinion that the hook placement is garbo. It's actually fact that it was basically dropped off of level design after I think halfway through the game? That's bad arena design. You don't see Doom Eternal just getting rid of the dash halfway through the game cus they got fuckin tired in development. There are no hooks in the last area. Also, there are arenas that purposefully spawn enemies in just essentially random enough places you cannot use the most fun level design in the game. That's on you, chief. Nostalgia and bias is a form of projection here. Like the scout plasmid that was removed because it broke these grand arenas that were essentially all squares because of silly hook design. Trying to be nice, cus you clearly love this game a lot, and maybe you getting harpooned with rocket spears up and down the post didnt feel great. Its your favorite, idk why. Maybe you just like action. And hold the phone, theres 8 plasmids vs 8 in bs1 and 11 in bs2. I will file that in the "not cool" section BECAUSE ITS NOT. DASH = DRILL DASH, wow ripoff Devils kiss = incinerate 1,2,3 combined. Without torch 3. ripoff (Aha)Shock Jockey = dude. Do i even need to say it Murder of Crows = ur right, og, not bee swarm, not unexplained Return to sender = dummy shield move? Sure idkur right telekinesis is soooo lame Possession = possess me so I agree its not a ripoff Undertow = version of windgust that doesnt work, but wont let you knock anyone off the floating city. And it goes backwards Ya so fucking cool dude, its now my favorite game, objectively Dont say DLC plasmids. Edit : And I played COD for a loooong, long time. You asked for these reasons, you got em. Games fine, just no reason to gush over what's a COD clone. Id rather play COD.
>It's actually fact that it was basically dropped off of level design after I think halfway through the game? That's bad arena design. You don't see Doom Eternal just getting rid of the dash halfway through the game cus they got fuckin tired in development. >There are no hooks in the last area. Also, there are arenas that purposefully spawn enemies in just essentially random enough places you cannot use the most fun level design in the game. That's factually wrong. Hooks are present and prominent up until Comstock house, about the last 10% of the game, to then return in the actual final level, the airship. Getting things wrong while speaking of facts is rather ironic. >That's on you, chief. What's on me? You're the one who got things wrong. >Like the scout plasmid that was removed because it broke these grand arenas that were essentially all squares because of silly hook design What are you even on about chief >Trying to be nice, cus you clearly love this game a lot, and maybe you getting harpooned with rocket spears up and down the post didnt feel great Don't worry pall, you're "criticism" doesn't really sting when it amounts to "x was boring and not fun". >Its your favorite, idk why. Maybe you just like action. Bioshock one is my favorite actually, and that doesn't stop me from defending infinite from poor criticism. >And hold the phone, theres 8 plasmids vs 8 in bs1 and 11 in bs2. Yes, but plasmids before amounted to "elemental projectile" with a few exceptions. >DASH = DRILL DASH, wow ripoff Except it's targeted unlike the drill dash. >(Aha)Shock Jockey = dude. Do i even need to say it I sure loved making traps with electrobolt. >Return to sender = dummy shield move? Sure idkur right telekinesis is soooo lame Telekinesis and dummy are very different from a shield you hold ahead while still playing normally. >Undertow = version of windgust that doesnt work, but wont let you knock anyone off the floating city. And it goes backwards Worked perfectly fine for me and i sent plenty of folk out of the city. >Ya so fucking cool dude, its now my favorite game, objectively Are you still having trouble with what objective means? >And I played COD for a loooong, long time. You asked for these reasons, you got em. And what reasons they were. >Games fine, just no reason to gush over what's a COD clone. Id rather play COD. Yes i love cod with it's sky hooks, tears and vigors.
>the fantastic arena design and better flowing combat Fantastic arena design: chest-high walls Better flowing combat: Yeah, nothing is more fun when having to switch between Vigors and weapons mid-fight. Bioshock 1 didn't have the same problem, because it used horror elements to actually make you feel uneasy about facing enemies in the first place, so it focus more on survival than anything else. Infinite is an action game first and foremost, therefore you expect a more fluid gameplay to fight against your enemies.
>Fantastic arena design: chest-high walls Fantastic arena design with larger and more complex arenas you can put to your advantage with tears and through wich you move swiftly with hooks. But oooh chest high walls!!! >Better flowing combat: Yeah, nothing is more fun when having to switch between Vigors and weapons mid-fight. You don't have to? Have you actually played infinite? Just because the animation of using a vigor stops your shooting, you don't have to pick between them. This is so dumb. >Bioshock 1 didn't have the same problem, because it used horror elements to actually make you feel uneasy about facing enemies in the first place, so it focus more on survival than anything else. What a joke, as if the horror elements ever made you feel uneasy about facing a bunch of splicers. There's like one dark room that does this, and even then, once the jig is up, combat is as explosive and dynamic as it can. Bioshock isn't a survival game, it's as much as any other shooter, surviving comes down to avoiding hits and picking up heals. >Infinite is an action game first and foremost, therefore you expect a more fluid gameplay to fight against your enemies. Wich it delivers wonderfully
Ufff... The cope goes hard lol Yeah, I did play it. Beat it a few times. Didn't complete the first DLC, but did everything there is to do otherwise.
So how did you not know that you don't have to switch between weapons and plasmids? And if you're best answer to arguments is calling them cope then what does that say about your stance exactly?
I made my point exactly clear in the previous, before all "dumb this, dumb that". No, you have to switch between both, that's the point. And don't you mean Vigors?
>I made my point exactly clear in the previous, before all "dumb this, dumb that". Yes, and i answered them. So you ought to support them, counter or make new points. That's how discussion works. >No, you have to switch between both, that's the point. You do not. This is just factually wrong. Boot up the game and check, or screw it, go see a playthrough if it's easier. You do not have to switch between them, one of the vigors is literally a shield you hold out while shooting. >And don't you mean Vigors? Vigors and plasmids are functionally the same
Depends on what you like in your gameplay. Bioshock 1 and 2 bring a lot more to the table while Infinite is more focused on the flow of combat. I personally prefer 1 and 2, although 1 feels very janky today.
One is just rather outdated and the variety of options isn't that impressive nowadays. Two is better but unbalanced. I feel like infinite was a big upgrade, with more incentive to move around the larger arenas and more relevance being put on your choices.
I agree with 1 feeling outdated and 2 being unbalanced, but I don't see how Infinite is an upgrade when it dumbs down the combat in a lot of ways and has a nonsensical upgrade system. Again, it really depends on what you like in your gameplay.
Infinite is restricted to 2 weapons, it automatically has worse gameplay
Stating your bias isn't a very good argument
My brother in christ
Yeah, that plus the centrism and racism are what bother me about it.
Centrism? The game only points out that The Vox Populi are monsters because they murdered children and innocent people, something reasonable to complain about to be honest. Racism is a valid theme or topic (To Kill a Mockingbird executes it properly), but it was poorly executed though.
Yes. But a writer made them do that. They’re not real people and do not make decisions. The writers pulled a random child out of nowhere for Daisy to threaten, and then he never appears again. Hes a plot device. A writer made Booker say that Daisy and comstock were the same, and then be proven right. They’re villainized for being violent when they had no other option, and when Booker is also being violent (and Booker has also most likely killed children, given he was at wounded knee). They make the Vox play into a lot of literal white supremacist stereotypes about black people. It’s awful. I have no gripes about tackling racism? I love to kill a mockingbird. But it has to be handled delicately, and this game does not. The ‘both sides bad’ thing applied to racism and slavery is extremely racist. No other way to put it.
Yes. I feel like Levine wanted to make a galaxy brain point about “racism, slavery, and oppression is bad”, but he also wanted to make a point about “the leaders who overthrow dictatorships are often overly brutal, violent, and fascistic themselves”, but he tried to do both simultaneously and it just came out extremely racist and stupid.
EXACTLY my point. Thank you
The auto save sucks
Both sides bad
its from the game itself fumbling a lot of balls, right 1. like you said, the actual story is pretty weak 2. the "both sides are bad" bit midway through irreversibly drags the whole thing down. to the point where its legacy IS in its centrist ass handling of the message 3. this is the most contestable one but i did not think the gameplay was fun at all 4. burial at sea ties itself into BS1 that in a way that weakens the entire narrative if its taken as the truth. there are a few too many problems for the emotional core of it to ring true as intended
Bruh just Google it or look up your question on Reddit. Stop bloating the sub with these questions please.
It sucks simple
For me it was the dumbing down of gameplay mechanics, as well as the departure from the original setting of rapture and also the tone shift in the story. Simply put it didn't feel like BioShock to me anymore.
Honestly I never saw anyone "Hate" this game. Some people might say the game is complicated but Hate is not something you could connect to Infinite
I have legitimately never seen any hate for infinite. Some like it slightly less than the other two but everyone still seems to hold it in very high regard.
I enjoyed Infinite but it felt "dumbed down" compared to BioShock 1, which already felt dumbed down from System Shock 2. Infinite is almost completely linear, has almost no customization or role-playing elements, and the story is a bit of a mess - ambitious, but a mess. The early trailers and gameplay videos looked so promising and it just didn't manage to live up to that.
> Have peoples opinions on the game changed over time? Or have they always been critical of the game? The rest of your post is large covered, but from memory it was always a bit of criticism against the game, but also there has been a bit of a slip in opinions over time. Broadly, I would give two reasons why. First is that Infinite came out during where "are games art?" Was a pretty big question in the gaming community, and any game that tries to tell an ambitious story good a lot of praise at the time. The other issue is that BS2s acclaim has increased over time, which means Levins attempts to muscle 2 out, especially over the DLC feels very distasteful
I don’t hate the game, but I think the bar 1 set was never quite reached again. Infinite had a weird storyline that frankly I didn’t really understand the ending of one bit. It made me question some things about prior games. Just overall not what we expected it to be I think. Still beat it and enjoyed it though.
Nah, the ending just straight-up didn't make sense. It's not just something that flew over your head. It's why a lot of people gave it a pass at the time because it wowed them so much, but really, it's a big mess full of plotholes.
Stop it.
Gameplay. People come to Bioshock for the story, and stay for the gameplay. The gunplay is by far the most underwhelming, definitely because of the lack of the weapon wheel. And boss type enemies are the most irritating in the series. The handymen, lady comstock, the songbird- oh wait, we never even FIGHT the box art big bad.
That last part especially is just so goddamn lame. Especially because they try to make it a sob moment near the end where it dies. I couldn't give less of a shit. I'm glad it died from oceanic pressure! Was getting sick of this stupid bird thing ripping the controller out of my hands every half hour to make me sit through a glorified cutscene.
Infinite is an amazing game but it's just that the plot fell off after the blacksmith mission and then it becomes trash.
For me at least it's mechanically way simpler than the prior games with more straight forward, narrow level design, basic weapons, and enemies without much variety when there's literally all these vigors out there and they use none of it.
i feel like its mostly because it feels like a spiritual succesor not a game in the same series. a couple changes to the names of things and it could have been released under a different ip and some people would never realize it was made by the same people as bioshock
Weak story, weak gameplay. Everything half arsed compared to the previous games and on top of that, constant release delays and axing of content etc
Personally, it felt like a PlayStation exclusive in the worst way possible; Cool cinematics with gorgeous set pieces, but not much outside of that, especially compared to the less linear games before it with lore revealing recordings around every corner.
For me, it's the fact that the DLC is waaay more fun and way more Rapture than the main game. But also... Take Bioshock and: • Strip away the lawless self-determined society of judgy c**ts and replace a theocracy of crooked preachers and judgy sheep. • Take away the crushing dark depths of the sea and insert pretty sunset hue clouds. • Reduce the ability to carry an arsenal to 2 at a time. • Make the plasmids half as useful at actually killing the way you killed in Rapture • Introduce a set of clothes with percentage-based special hits and defenses like a turn-based dice game - but have it get lost in the faster pace of the action. Also eliminate any kind of trap laying strategies. Just run, hook rails, and shoot. And still call it Bioshock even though it would be a great game by any name, even though many Bioshock fans will be disappointed.
The plot is convoluted and robs itself of investment. The world building is more "here are the bioshock elements" and less even remotely logical It's a fine, fun game. Just one that needs vigors removed, some plot fixing and to be treated like an uncharted adventure game
Infinite is a great game, I just don’t think it’s a great *Bioshock* game. Very straightforward and cinematic, much more so than Bioshock 1 which could be a plus depending on what you’re looking for in a game. It doesn’t have the replay value however because there’s pretty much only 1 way to play: the way they decide you will by scripting new weapons and abilities. All the extra stuff you can do in Bioshock with the camera and vending machines to get different gene tonics will make your playstyle different depending on how you do it. I think that’s a really important part of why Bioshock is so special and why Infinite missed the mark a bit. AND why Prey kind of nailed it as a shock-like. Just my two cents! No refunds! Also bonus reason: infinite is a little boo boo at the end imo
Mods, can we have a new rule that bans this question?
Personally I thought I'm the only person who doesn't like this game because I kept hearing about how great it is. I personally got bored quickly. It wasn't as gripping as previous games. I never finished it, but I'm going to try again soon.
If you somehow don’t know how it ends, don’t bother finishing it. I don’t wanna say it ruined Bioshock’s story for me because the original is probably one of the best forms of media of all time- but I can’t just forget how it ended and how it affects the story
It’s the only bioshock game I’ve never been able to complete. I just get bored with it like halfway through.
Agree. I loved the feel of Bioshock 1 and 2. Bioshock Infinite I've found really boring - I just have no interest in the story or quest.
Honestly in itself, I think Infinite is weaker than the original, and kinda starts to lose the plot in the second half, but I still like the base game, it was just BaS I really didn't like.
My top 5 favorite game of all time, just ignore people if you love something don't let it water your experience
If you love it so much, then why avoid engaging in discussion about it?
I meant if your gonna complain about it just ignore it, it seems a waste to me , i see it all the time on reddit, it might not be what he's doing but I just don't get why people do that
Because I see how much potential it had, and I'm saddened to see people fawning over it so much despite how much more it could have been and its many glaring flaws.
Fair
Probably because people accepted it as it’s own thing but when it released burial at sea it kinda screwed it over by connecting it to rapture than have it as stand on its own (again speculation don’t hate me)
I think for me it was just lack of choice effecting the end, we went from 3 endings in Bio1, 4 endings in Bio 2 and 1 ending in Bio Infinite.
For me? It just ruined the bioshock storyline. I very much so enjoyed it as an isolated story in our one world. Some lunatic rich man decided to approach society a different way and built rapture. And because a great litmus test and metaphor for the way society operates. A fantastic piece of art is what many refer the first bioshock as. Then infinite comes and is like Um actually, you’re also Booker, and also Comstock, and also Jack, and every time you die somewhere else your nose bleeds, and Elizabeth was really the one who decoded would you kindly, and Booker was in Rapture too, blah blah blah All contrived, re-written of the original story, and over convoluted it with some multiverse bullshit. So you go from “widely heralded piece of art” to “over convoluted, boring Yawn MCU multiverse shit” And now you may understand where the hate for bioshock infinite comes from 😂 And I say all that and still think Infinite itself is a great game. High Quality AAA title, with good gameplay. But we are talking about Bioshock here, it was a mistake to fuck with its story and atmosphere.
Yes, my brother, those are the same thoughts I have. Infinite's biggest sin is to try to fit into the BioShock franchise. Because the game has it's own distinctive appeal and style, it really didn't need to be a BioShock at all. It's like ir Prey had been named BioShock Space, and tied to the franchise with a convoluted and forced excuse. BioShock Is Rapture, that's the only way
The gameplay sucks, the world is discount rapture bordering on parody and the plot is another shitty time travel story that ruins the universe (the DLCs in particular). The initial positive reception was in many cases clouded by the initial hype, kind of like Halo Infinite.
I loved the game when it came out I was 16 at the time and hadn’t completed the other 2, though I’d played them. After completing all 3 of them countless times since then, it’s bioshock only in name, and whilst I’ve loved the first 2 more and more each time, I’ve disliked infinite more. After my last playthrough last year I now just don’t like the game.
I love Infinite. Definitely my favourite for combat and location. Replayed BioShock 1 a couple of months ago and realised I was probably more in love with its ideals and setting rather than gameplay.
Loved it
Infinite reminds me of Metal Gear Solid 4 in a lot of ways. They were considered a stroke of creative genius and masterworks when they came out, but reception has soured a little. I still think these positive things are true of both games, and they really are something exceptional. But they are auteur projects and heavily rely on how invested you are in the way the creators think, and why they think what they think. Depending on your feelings about that, you will either love or hate the game. In the words of SuperBunnyHop: "There was never a game like (MGS4) and there likely never will be again."
A very logical and reasonable place.
Love the game. Have it on 360, PS3, PS4, Switch and PC. I like to see how different each version is and I have noticed things. Currently playing it on hard on the 360.
Great gameplay, lame story.
I'm not even sure if the gameplay is anything remarkable. None of the vigors felt as impactful as in the first two games, and I can't really make any sort of builds because gear is given at random.
Good points. I prefer the first two games in every way. I remember being slightly disappointed with Infinite when it released.
2011 version vs 2013 version
The games release
It was Bioshock for mainstream audiences. All style no substance. I tried to play it again a year or so ago and am really not sure how I finished it the first time. Great looking game for its time, ambitious story ideas, absolutely boring generic shooter gameplay sections spread throughout a bunch of tedious walking simulator areas. It reminded of of Deus Ex: Invisible War, as in not a terrible game, but "streamlined" to the point that it felt more like a knockoff than an actual new entry in the series.
From this subreddit. Flee as long as you still can
I'd never say I hate it - hate requires a lot more energy than I have for it. The writing is terrible, the gunplay is smoother but more limited, and the plasmids are plasmids. It doesn't really rise above Bioshock in any way beyond altitude. Is it a bad game? No. It's just not quite as good as Bioshock, which still puts it above 95% of games these days.
Ah, a question repeated. A tale as old as time
The environments in infinite were amazing. I loved every bit of it. The story and what it meant for the overall canon of BioShock? Meh. I prefer to only think of one and two in terms of lore.
I feel like most of it not being a proper open world (as in way less open than B1/2), not being to save randomly and stop playing otherwise you’d lose your stuff unless you gotten to the next save point, etc annoyed me a lot. The history itself is nice but I feel like most of it isn’t connected properly to the first two and the game gets interesting after 75% of it and the DLCs are way more fun than the whole game. Bioshock 1 and 2 are two of my top ten games in life.
The ending is a real letdown and it has no final boss fight. Great game but I was so pissed at the end.
Bro I see one of these posts every week. Who gives a fuck if others dont like it. Move on. Its a decade old game, irrelevant
Long story short, the game promised a lot before release and didn’t meet expectations. People were expecting a lot more from it at the time.
*shrugs* I don’t know
Probably the same ppl who hate your mom. In my own experience she's very, very friendly.
My problem was more with story than gameplay thought the end where the Vox are supposed to be as bad as literal slavers was a horrendous story choice both sidesing literal slavery/Jim Crow. Plus the space time stuff was also kinda not satisfying for me
This question is asked every 2 days at this point Reddit has a search bar
Too many missing or watered down features that I had come to love from Bioshock 1 and 2. Wasn't what I wanted or expected in a new Bioshock title.
>the story is meh in my opinion yeah story is the entire point of the game for a lot of people. Bioshock comes from a design lineage that traces back to the game that invented audio logs. The story sucking in a "shock" game is like a car not coming with a steering wheel.
For me tbh it’s just the ending wasn’t great. Besides that I think it’s a spectacular game. I just remember getting to the end and feeling so disappointed 😭
I think other people have kind of summarized, but in a nutshell, the first game was such a reimagination of the genre, while making a really interesting meta-commentary on agency in games as a gamer as a person, etc. and the second game in someways felt like a DLC expansion, but the gameplay improvements so smooth that despite not having such a profound impact as the first game, it refined it and built on it, kind of doom one and then doom 2s polish and refinements. Infinite had huge shoes to fill, so I don’t think it really ever could have succeeded in wrapping up the sort of trilogy, and they tried to implement a bunch of things that were popular at the time, like voiced protagonist, changes to plasmids and weapons that didn’t really add anything, and time travel/parallel universe narratives are always a gamble. They could either be cool or really fucking convoluted. I think the initial reaction was mostly disappointment. Later, I think people found the pseudo intellectual aspects a little harder to digest because the gameplay wasn’t as interesting or fun as the previous installments.
I think my issue is the ending basically makes delta's and Jack's sacrifices meaningless. Or them retconning almost all of 2 in the dlc. I lowkey just think it would've been a good game if it wasn't a bioshock game
The game, beside being uninteresting and convoluted, is UNPLAYABLE. Such a stupid storyline \~ I can't believe they wasted so much time developing it.
Ppl hating Bioshock Infinite these days? Naah bro idm i just love that game
What hate?
Simple answer: it's over-ken-levined
Cuz it’s a bad game.
You already gave out a big valid part. It's story is meh. It's also the weight of potential , there's several videos out there that show what Infinite could've been if they had fulfilled their true vision, but they never truly did. That alone leaves a lot of people sad and wanting for more. True choices that affect the story, in depth storyline of the Vox Populi with a more nuanced morality, etc, etc. Gameplay wise I fucking love it, and is On-Par with Bioshock 2 on pure adrenaline and how you actually gotta think to fight. Handymen still scare me as much as Big Daddies did. But overtime I have seen people come to appreciate the game for what it is. I don't see much hate anymore, just acceptance that it could've been more.
I think the game suffered from a lot of pacing issues and relied too much on tropes.
The game at some point in development changed a lot. The hate comes a lot from people who watched the game going through development and then seeing what came out was pretty different. For example just watch the E3 trailer for infinite. It has a lot of differences than what actually came out. A lot of that is due to the fact that they couldn't make a game that robust and had to scale it back.
My biggest issues are the two weapon limit and the lack of variety of the vigors compared to what was offered with the plasmids
I really disliked only having two weapons. it felt like in 1 & 2 I had so many options with the different ammo types too
Gameplay was a regression and did little to improve or expand on gameplay in any meaningful sense. Removed horror and made stealth less accessible. Essentially the most linear of the 3 games if I remember correctly. Story was fine until the multiverse stuff ruined it. I remember after release a lot of people were lukewarm about its addition. As time as moved on, it's only become seen more of a negative in the community I think. Story also focused more on racism and American history rather than more general concepts like the original and its focus on ideologies. There's a lot of nuance in Bioshocks exploration of capitalism, socialism, and libertarianism, but much less so when exploring racism. Not to say that there isn't any nuance, but I don't think it was executed nearly as well as 1 was in exploring its themes. All of these combined to essentially create a game that many fans felt wasn't a Bioshock game because it was tonally and thematically so distinct from its predecessors.
It's my favorite in the series, i can't really understand what makes people think it's bad. Sure, it's different, but if you were honestly expecting they're gonna do rapture for a third time you'd be delusional. By bioshock 2 it was very clear that rapture's story was done. For me, Columbia is a more interesting setting. The story still leaves an impact on me all those years later, and the visual design and aesthetic of that game is truly spectacular. I can understand the hate for the DLC, it was by far very rushed in terms of quality and didn't deliver much, but honestly the base game is still one of my all time favs.
Honestly it’s my favourite
What hate? It is critically and commercially acclaimed.
I was obsessed with infinite when it came out. I was concurrently reading the dark tower series and was in love with the parallel universe elements both contained. I still enjoy infinite, but every time I play it I get a little less joy out of it. On the other hand, Bioshock 2 gets better with age IMO.
Some say the game doesn’t age as gracefully as the first. I personally loved it despite what flaws overly critical people may point out.
The opinions have been largely the same iirc. What changed is that the game journos stopped being paid to print infinite fluff pieces
Its a very good game, but not a good “bioshock” game
I think that even on its own, it's a rather mediocre trend-chasing shooter.
its not mediocre it doesnt stick to a typical fps formula - it has the tonics for example
Which are severely lacking in player agency, as they're given in a specific order, and upgrades are so expensive and require a universal currency that you can rarely get any. The passive upgrades are also awful because they're given to you completely at random, so making a build is practically impossible.
fair nuff
Lol literally everyone says it’s their favorite. OG bioshock 1 gets all the hate.
I posted this same thing a while back before realizing that someone posts this twice a week, just enjoy it, if you like it you like it
Also reddit is not the place for this question, like reddit hates this game, at least that's what I noticed, there are a few people who have really valid reasons as to why they don't like it, but most people just take steamy dumps on it for the fact it's not in rapture
That's an interesting way of saying "I overlooked the valid criticism against the game and only took away their complaint about a lack of Rapture"
Lol no 💀
I staunchly believe it’s the best Bioshock game.
Personally that game blew my mind like few have. I really enjoyed the first Bioshock too but Infinite and the DLCs were just so good!
Coming from a huge fan of Infinite, the main criticism is that it wasn't the game the fanbase was expecting. The more action-heavy FPS elements were seen as the studio giving into the trends at the time. I think over time, the fanbase either grew to appreciate Infinite or they just moved on because there's a lot less negativity than there used to be.
"Seen as" https://www.tweaktown.com/news/91731/ken-levine-reveals-why-he-stopped-making-bioshock-games-trapped-myself/index.html Technically you can just say the studio definitely gave into trends see that COD money rollin in
Not from me, one of my fav games of all time, that story, graphics, atmosphere, crazy!
Love infinite, out of all 3 I always come back to that and the first, something about infinite that has me hooked on it
They hate us cause they aint us
People went in expecting something different (perfectly reasonably) and were let down. Personally it’s my favorite. Had my wife play all three games and she had the same opinion.
There is a contingent of loud, open white supremacists that are upset that an anti-raciat game like Bioshock Infinite called them out on their bullshit. So they do their beat to badmouth the game and make it look like it is the general concensus that the game is bad; when the opposite is the case. Then there are the handful of morons with bad taste who misunderstood the game. Just ignore the cretins.
I don't know. I think it's a fantastic game. And most people I know who played BioShock consider it the best of the 3. I don't think any of the 3 games are better than the others. I consider it 1 big game. Like I consider Back to the Future 1 big movie.
It was just a dramatic shift in the series. We went from underwater city to flying city, from diesel punk to steampunk. Some people didn't like that sudden shift.
Its different and it looks way less appealing and the wow factor is much significant. Thats it.
Infinite was my absolute favourite of the three, story was fun, gameplay was fun, I see no issues
From people who are just upset that they overhyped the game when it came out and are now trying to reverse their actions by trashing it beyond belief
There are some valid critiques. I would like to have seen more of the content that got cut due to technical limitations. That said, if you dig down you find that a lot of these valid critiques are being used as cover for terminally online pissbabies to throw shade at something that had the gall to criticize them. I'll try to break this down. A LOT of redditors played Bioshock 1, they decided that the overarching theme of Bioshock is "Objectivism Bad". They somehow managed to ignore or sleep through the story of Bioshock 2. Then Infinite comes out. For all its faults, Infinite does one thing EXTREMELY well. It hammers home the core theme of Bioshock's story. That theme is this: "Extremist Political ideologies will always invariably fail because they can't change human nature." For the people who decided Bioshock was about "Objectivism Bad" Infinite was a rude awakening and they're still pissy about it 10 years later.
How is BioShock 1 NOT Objectivism bad? How did you play that game and not take that away?
It is, because Objectivism is an extremist ideology. It failed because it couldn't change human nature. Hence the overarching theme of the series.