Games You Played Today Oratorio Tangram

Bioshock Infinite is definitely just the worst game ever smushed together by two garbage lids

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I havenā€™t heard of this, I donā€™t think?

I donā€™t think so; I think we wouldnā€™t harp on Bioshock and especially Infinite as much as we do if it didnā€™t reach for something. If it was trying to be trash no one would care.

I certainly donā€™t take 50 pages of notes for any old bad game without aspirations, and I certainly donā€™t finish any old 15-hour campaigns

Idk BINF is one of the most boring games Iā€™ve ever played ā€“ like, brain-manglingly monotonous design

It has some nice atmospheric stuff but thatā€™s about it

Also whoā€™s ā€œweā€

A lot of the criticism on SB I think has been driven by a desire to counter the ease with which the games seemed to impress themselves on every major reviewing outlet, especially in the case of Infinite whose general design and mechanical changes are a huge step back from just the first game

Itā€™s really difficult for me to see BINF, as a finished product, as an Icarus. Maybe it was meant to be something else and got diluted along the way, but as it is itā€™s an incredibly tedious sequence of arenas to murder enraged cops and civilians in with some very basic sociological themes baked into the props

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ā€œweā€

I donā€™t think anyone here will give a defense of Bioshock Infinite, and thatā€™s totally fair. Iā€™ll defend Bioshock 1 up to a point, and weā€™ve approvingly talked about Bioshock 2.

Itā€™s really difficult for me to see BINF, as a finished product, as an Icarus.

I donā€™t find the material engaging but the story has a similar high/low/faceplant ratio as many post-Eva anime, but focused on gilded-age America (an unexplored fantasy setting). I was interested when real touchstones intersected with its cartoon rendering; the scene where workers sell their labor at the lowest bid, for example, draws on a historical truth that both seems unbelievable and that weā€™re rapidly careening towards/exists for hundreds of thousands of temp workers today. By placing it within this pastiche it renders it both tries to communicate the past and renders it less believable ā€“ now thatā€™s sure odd. Thereā€™s an attempt to sell the nastiness of the late 19th century that weā€™re insulated from that I appreciate, despite it misinterpreting and breaking every symbol it gets its hands on.

The mechanics are mostly rather poor but a handful of zones show off the intent between large scale/rapid rail traversal; unfortunately, it induces so much spatial disorientation that I think itā€™s ultimately unworkable excepting a cheaper method of looking around, as VR might provide.

And the art really is spectacular.

or,

I hated it like no other game beside Metal Gear Solid 4. Boy they sure make a pair

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I think Titanfall 2 approaches similar levels of scale and speed successfully (thinking of the bits just after you get the SERE kit), but itā€™s all player controlled movement with the smart pistol to make aiming easy.

Yeah, player intention matters hugely for preserving spatial awareness. You might go really fast and make major elevation and angle changes but since youā€™re anticipating it you can anticipate where to find the targets afterwards; if youā€™re carried along on a rollercoaster the best they can do is long straightways for you to shoot which they then make you vulnerable on anyway.

Apparently the best environment for me to play this game is to (1) be on a time limit so I play really aggressively, (2) have two cats all over my desk and face.

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Throw Ken Levine in a burning dumpster.

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When was he last out of one?

I already told my jewel, didnā€™t I?

ā€¦ oh itā€™s right up there before GYPT was nuked

never forget Kenā€™s crimes:

Iā€™ve worked with the Story Director of Bioshock Infinite (donā€™t worry sheā€™s cool). I mentioned how uncomfortable I was by Elizabethā€™s continuing undress and sexy levels (remember how much more SEX_METER she was in early previews, too?) when the story is about fatherhood. Thatā€™s sure muddled, I say, was this just an accident of the character designer going overboard?

ā€œOh no, originally you slept with her before the plot twist.ā€

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I wanna kiss you on the mouth.

Iā€™ll be one of your pussy-s

I keep playing Gunstar Heroes because thereā€™s a Genesis and PVM on my desk, but I only ever play the first four levels on expert because killing Seven Force is like the sloppiest orgasm except with deep, dank FM explosions instead of ejaculate

this metaphor makes sense, right

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sry to be a fkn dork but can you post pics of yr setup? Iā€™m never gonna get a pvm/bvm so I live vicariously through others

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prepare to be underwhelmed

if you look closely, youā€™ll see the brightness and picture (contrast) knobs are out. thatā€™s because my phoneā€™s camera cannot deal with the blinding brilliance of a CRT. Luluco is there for scale, to hammer the point home that, yes, itā€™s just a tiny ass PVM.

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I wouldnt want a screen much larger than that, honestly