Zero Punction on Bioshock

[PlagueOfLocust]

twesterm said:

PlagueOfLocust said:

 

"...they are VERY similar." This is rather vague. I went through the trouble of making a list; you can at least say more than "nuh-uh!" That said, I can mostly agree that it's not as groundbreaking in regard to moral choices as some may have felt led to believe, but I think the important accomplishment of the game was bringing SS2-depth-of-gameplay/story to a larger audience who need to see more of what potential the medium has. Sure, compared to SS2 there wasn't a quantum leap, but compared to the shooters most people who play shooters (the majority of which never played SS2) are familiar with, it certainly was. And those people have now experienced that, and will hopefully want more. That's pretty groundbreaking I think. Groundbreaking would also be a game that gets all of its elements just right (graphics, sound, gameplay, etc.) and is incredibly cohesive and believable. The experience the game delivers is groundbreaking in many ways you aren't focusing on.

Addressing the 2 moral-choices issue more deeply (since it seemed to be your primary concern), if you're looking for the only ground-breaking to be done here, then yes you may be disappointed... Though the developer never actually did suggest that there would be any moral choices to be made outside of whether or not to kill each of the Little Sisters. The theme of the game was still choice (as injected into the story and the gameplay in the mentioned regard), and the choice they gave you was a real one and did make for significantly unique paths through the game. And you really do FEEL the choice, which doesn't always come through in other games that have done something similar. But remember that nothing like that was even in SS2 in any form, which goes against the other part of what you're arguing - that it's a clone.

It's easy enough to pull the game apart piece by piece and say: "oh this was done here, that was done before there..." But I think time would be more wisely spent commenting on how all those elements and (undone) others came together so well in this one game to create an experience with a heart and depth you don't see often, if ever.

 The choice doesn't affect gameplay in any way at all other than a few gifts or more adam.  Other than that, the game plays exactly the same whether you decide it's fun to kill little girls or save them.  As far as gameplay goes that's the exact opposite of the part I have highlighted.  Choice plays no part in all in gameplay.

As far the story goes, the story may be about choice but the choices you make plays almost no part in the overall story.  Almost the entire story is told through lame interactive cut scenes (personally, I'm not a huge fan of those) and audio diaries with the small part that changes due to choice is from comments from the little sisters that affect nothing and the ending cut scene.  That's really it.  Once again, choice doesn't actually play a huge part in the game as far as story progression goes.  

I get what the game is trying to say and don't me wrong, I dug the game, but just like the reviewer said, it's one extreme or the other, no middle ground, and those choices have no real effect on the game so the choices just don't matter. 

You mentioned exactly how it affects gameplay: more Adam, which equals more abilities and power, vs. less for the sake of the little girls. The gifts were okay alternatives, not preferable, but you didn't save the girl for the gifts; you did it for the girl. The fact that the game can get you to set aside your own benefit to save characters that aren't real is an achievement not to be brushed off. And the story/experience is not the same for both choices. You are made to feel heroic on a consistent and growing basis if you do the right thing, and I imagine you are made to feel equally scummy for doing the opposite. Actually feeling the choice is what you have to commend here, and because of it, the choice does matter.

The only reason I mentioned that the story involved choice was to in-part justify the developer going on about choice playing a part in the game. I was not implying that choice as a theme of the story was somehow integrated into the gameplay outside of the Little Sister dilemma.

(You prefer CG cutscenes?)