HL2 Vs. Bio Shock...No Comparison

[halfgixxerbill]

I have been playing bioshock for the last week or so and man it just ain't half as good as Half Life 2. I mean when I played HL2 I was enthralled with the game I couln't stop playing but I can take or leave bioshock. The game play just ain't as fun. No stategy like HL2 mainly just shoot or swing your wrench at some funky looking person. . And the story is weird and the characters all appear insane. Where as Half Life is just more fun.

Someone told me Bio Shock got game of the year if that is true HL2 got rooked. HL2 kick bioshock's butt.

 

[Russian Mafia]

HL2 was released in 2004, and Bioshock in 2007, so HL2 couln't have won game of the year. But the Orange Box should have.

 

[Pinkle]

Bioshock was neat, but I still have yet to come across a game as enthralling overall as HL2 <3

 

[fido139]

I have been playing bioshock for the last week or so and man it just ain't half as good as Half Life 2. I mean when I played HL2 I was enthralled with the game I couln't stop playing but I can take or leave bioshock. The game play just ain't as fun. No stategy like HL2 mainly just shoot or swing your wrench at some funky looking person. . And the story is weird and the characters all appear insane. Where as Half Life is just more fun.

Someone told me Bio Shock got game of the year if that is true HL2 got rooked. HL2 kick bioshock's butt.

I played the demo of Bioshock, looked so good in the ads they had on TV. Bah, humbug. Not impressed. I have played/tried many demos that are raved about, and so far have not been even remotely attracted to one over the HalfLife series. My Son plays HALO, and for the life of me I can't figure what he see's in it.

 

[fido139]

HL2 was released in 2004, and Bioshock in 2007, so HL2 couln't have won game of the year. But the Orange Box should have.

Agreed!

 

[Blaise]

I thought bioshock was pretty good, not as good as haldf life, but still a pretty enjoyable game

 

[halfgixxerbill]

I played the demo of Bioshock, looked so good in the ads they had on TV. Bah, humbug. Not impressed. I have played/tried many demos that are raved about, and so far have not been even remotely attracted to one over the HalfLife series. My Son plays HALO, and for the life of me I can't figure what he see's in it.

Yea, Halo might be good for online but as far as the story and gameplay it ain't even close. The only other games I thought were awesome and couldn't stop playing were Nin 64's Goldeneye, Castle Wolfenstein for PS2 and the GTA series. Those were addicting as well.

 

[z0mbin3]

I liked Bioshock. The storys over hyped thogh and really not that awesome. but the gameplay was nice. Loved the plasmids. Oh and halfgixxerbill the characters appear insane because they are insane. Which is weird because you didn't catch that obvious fact but you got Half-Life 2's depth.

 

[halfgixxerbill]

I liked Bioshock. The storys over hyped thogh and really not that awesome. but the gameplay was nice. Loved the plasmids. Oh and halfgixxerbill the characters appear insane because they are insane. Which is weird because you didn't catch that obvious fact but you got Half-Life 2's depth.

Naw I knew they were insane. I think the funest part of the game is just exploring and getting powered up. Heck, the hacking the electronic things is even getting ok to me. I just didn't think it was as good as projected or as good HL2 especially.

What really pissed me off is that I tried to whack the artist guy when he was coming down the stairs and screwed up my whole game for a while.

 

[z0mbin3]

What you should have done is save when he got to the bottom of the stairs then kill him and get a secret achievement and then reload and don't kill him.

 

[kupocake]

You're right that there's 'no comparrison', but not meaning that one is far, far better. It's wrong to reduce them down to simply being 'First Person Shooters' and playing them off against each other, because really, they're at polar opposites of that genre.

 

[LandStander]

I thought Bioshock was pretty good but I'm just not as interested in it as I am with Half-Life 2. Over the past few months I have been switching between Half-Life2 and Mass Effect and I have yet to be bored with the two (I'm still in the middle of my 2nd BioShock playthrough).

 

[KawaiiCuddles]

To me Bioshock was amazing in its own ways. One thing I loved about it was how deep into the world you get into and how you can pretty much become the character (same is true with Half-Life). Your character has no idea where he is and learns along the way just as you do. Of course I don't think it's better than Half-Life, but it was refreshing to take a break from all the sameness in games lately. I still play Half-Life 2 over and over and over, but there are other games I play...most of them suck compared to HL2, but Bioshock was a pretty great game among all the others that have come out recently. Though, it's kind of a 1 or 2 time thing. After that it gets boring...while Half-Life doesn't. Or Portal. I've play through it at least once a week (used to be twice a week).

 

[Druckles]

My opinion of Bioshock (should write in the recently played games thread) was an overall good. It was a great game, with some interesting features and some fun behind it. If you played it on Normal or Easy, there's no surprise there's no "strategy". The same applies to HL2 on easy. I could just run up to combine and hit them with my oddly angled crowbar. Bioshock isn't nearly as bad as you make it out to be. It's got an enthralling atmosphere, with a tinge of creepy-era to it. The plasmids and the like aren't comparible to HL2, but they make a hell of a great game. Strategy can easily be found in the way you kill people. Sure, you can wrench the hell out of a Thuggish Splicer, but you'd barely ever get away with it against a machine-gunner. You zap them with your Electroness and then wack him. Or burn them and shoot them in the head. There's plenty of strategy in the game.

You can't compare the two games easily because they came out at very different times. The graphics on Half-Life 2 were amazing, but playing it now, it's like playing HL when HL2 came out. Just funny, especially after playing something like Crysis. At one point I thought my settings weren't at full. Bioshock's graphics aren't brilliant like Crysis, but it means it's playable by most computer's standards, and its quite made up for it by the gameplay.

The twist in the plot's fantastic, and sure, I was always suspicious of that bastard "Atlas", but it was still enthralling, and the whole story behind it was great. From what I remember of Half-Life 2, it was also great, but the storyline wasn't as good as Bioshock. Simply because there was far more shooting (which I possibly prefer), and the storyline was made up for with Episode 2.

Sure, there's no comparison. You can't compare the two. Bioshock was great as a single game, but I wouldn't want, or expect, a sequel. I'd stay with the world of Half-Life, though, because I know how good Valve are at keeping up their standards.

 

[Operational]

I enjoyed BioShock but HL2 is easily better than it. However I do think that BioShock's story was better than HL2s, although HL2 has a better, more detailed, universe - if you see the distinction I'm trying to make.

HL2 was released in 2004, and Bioshock in 2007, so HL2 couln't have won game of the year. But the Orange Box should have.

The Orange Box isn't a game, it's a pack of five games.

It's wrong to reduce them down to simply being 'First Person Shooters' and playing them off against each other, because really, they're at polar opposites of that genre.

This is a very good point.

 

[Herr Mike]

Bioshock was great. The most ambitious premise I've seen for a game. In that regard it's on it's own level and nothing I know of comes close. But it was hindered by throwing in all that gameplay. Not that the gameplay was bad, it was quite good. But it was distracting. Fighting should have been used sparingly.

Plus, the boss fight seemed somehow beneath the rest of the game. I suppose the xbox crowd has to have the boss fights.

I can't say which game is better. Half-Life 2 does what it does perfectly. It gives us glorious fighting in great locales with a gripping sci-fi/soap opera storyline. It's like playing in a movie.

 

[Druckles]

The boss fight was amazing. It was wonderfully cheesey. Reminded me of the good ol' shoot the guy until he dies, fights. Was awesome.

I didn't like the hacking. Because there was so little ammo and stuff, I was constantly hacking every machine I came across, and it just got repetitive.

I did expect the boss battle to be more challenging, however. I only died once, and that was in the first section, not entirely having grasped it yet.

 

[Herr Mike]

The hacking was fun, for about the first couple dozen times. The other 10 million times were a bit annoying.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

My opinion of Bioshock (should write in the recently played games thread) was an overall good. It was a great game, with some interesting features and some fun behind it. If you played it on Normal or Easy, there's no surprise there's no "strategy". The same applies to HL2 on easy. I could just run up to combine and hit them with my oddly angled crowbar. Bioshock isn't nearly as bad as you make it out to be. It's got an enthralling atmosphere, with a tinge of creepy-era to it. The plasmids and the like aren't comparible to HL2, but they make a hell of a great game. Strategy can easily be found in the way you kill people. Sure, you can wrench the hell out of a Thuggish Splicer, but you'd barely ever get away with it against a machine-gunner. You zap them with your Electroness and then wack him. Or burn them and shoot them in the head. There's plenty of strategy in the game.

You can't compare the two games easily because they came out at very different times. The graphics on Half-Life 2 were amazing, but playing it now, it's like playing HL when HL2 came out. Just funny, especially after playing something like Crysis. At one point I thought my settings weren't at full. Bioshock's graphics aren't brilliant like Crysis, but it means it's playable by most computer's standards, and its quite made up for it by the gameplay.

The twist in the plot's fantastic, and sure, I was always suspicious of that bastard "Atlas", but it was still enthralling, and the whole story behind it was great. From what I remember of Half-Life 2, it was also great, but the storyline wasn't as good as Bioshock. Simply because there was far more shooting (which I possibly prefer), and the storyline was made up for with Episode 2.

Sure, there's no comparison. You can't compare the two. Bioshock was great as a single game, but I wouldn't want, or expect, a sequel. I'd stay with the world of Half-Life, though, because I know how good Valve are at keeping up their standards.

I agree with this.

 

[nokori3byo]

I'll admit that I'm enjoying Bioshock (only on the fifth level now).

I guess it's too early to say if it's as good as HL2 or not, but my inclination is to say no. While I like the baroqueness of the game's environment, it lacks subtlety in some respects and all those foul-mouthed splicers start to get on my nerves after a while. I also can't shake the feeling that the creators took a winning design concept and smeared it with the blood of a b-grade slasher flick. As a result, some of it is genuinely creepy, while other stuff is simply unpleasant.

Also, having recently played through HL2: Ep 2 and Portal, I like Valve's approach to game-making a lot more. Ep2 features much tighter gameplay than BS, and Portal achieves an ambience no less impressive than Bioshock's while resorting to about a tenth of the gimmickry.

 

[Asknoone]

I really enjoyed Bioshock but I prefer HL2+Episodes. I'm a fan of the tight, carefully tuned gameplay that's woven into the Half-life series which Bioshock really does lack and eventually just becomes repetitive to the point of nausea. The “would you kindly” twist is also something HL2 did before it with much more subtly and class.

 

[halfgixxerbill]

Just finished the game yesterday. I was a little hard on it I guess. Parts of it were pretty cool. Still not as good as half life 2. The developers also seems to rip off alot from HL2 and call it something different like Telekenis instead of gravity gun. The crossbow was so close it was almost a total ripoff. None the yet, I did have fun playing it and it was a wild story(matter of fact) I am lost on a couple of things. It was funny though I thought the little sisters were carrying around roses at first and not atom syringes. Didn't really figure that out till you guard em almost at the end of the game.

 

[Herr Mike]

Huh? When did HL2 do mind control?

Here's my thinking - Looking Glass should have done System Shock 3 with most of what became Bioshock. Not the setting, but the gameplay aspects. They all came from System Shock 2 anyway.

Then what became Bioshock should have been a different game altogether. More of an adventure game.

 

[Herr Mike]

Just finished the game yesterday. I was a little hard on it I guess. Parts of it were pretty cool. Still not as good as half life 2. The developers also seems to rip off alot from HL2 and call it something different like Telekenis instead of gravity gun.

A lot of the plasmids came from System Shock. Except in that they were cybernetic enhancements. There was a TK power.

The crossbow was so close it was almost a total ripoff. None the yet, I did have fun playing it and it was a wild story(matter of fact) I am lost on a couple of things.

Like what? I might be able to answer your questions. Of course, it's probably best to post them in the Bioshock thread.

 

[Druckles]

If you think that the crossbow was a total rip-off...

Half-Life 2 didn't invent the crossbow, and System Shock (I believe) came before the original Half-Life, and definitely before Half-Life 2.

 

[Herr Mike]

The original System Shock, which I've never played, came out in 1994 I think. System Shock 2 came out a little after Half-Life in, in 1999. I found it to be a much more engrossing game than HL, but sadly no one else played it.

SS2 left a clear window for a sequel. Bioshock seemed to be a pretty success so hopefully we'll see one.

 

[halfgixxerbill]

Like what? I might be able to answer your questions. Of course, it's probably best to post them in the Bioshock thread.

Ok if you don't mind. What is Atom(why were the little sister carrying around syringes to get atom?) What are the little sisters infected with(that weird alien looking thing that you pull out when you harvest? ) Why was fontaine retrained at the end of the game? Did Ryan want the player to kill him seems like he did? That was weird too. AT the very end of the game who was killing the rescuers on the surface the little sisters or slicers?

 

[Herr Mike]

First off, Bioshock MAJOR SPOILERS below.

Ok if you don't mind. What is Atom(why were the little sister carrying around syringes to get atom?) What are the little sisters infected with(that weird alien looking thing that you pull out when you harvest? ) Why was fontaine retrained at the end of the game? Did Ryan want the player to kill him seems like he did? That was weird too. AT the very end of the game who was killing the rescuers on the surface the little sisters or slicers?

Atom = Adam. Super stem cells harvested from a previously undiscovered sea slug. In gameplay terms it's the material that allows the genetic modification. It's what made the splicers insane.

The Little Sisters were created by Tannenbaum to collect the Adam. They get it from corpses, which they call "angels". I didn't harvest them but I saw a video clip of the harvest, I assume that is the sea slug. Why you end up holding it I don't know. They are indeed actual little girls, so it must be because of all the Adam they are filled with.

Fontaine wasn't restrained, it's how he replenishes his strength.

Ryan was a dead man anyway. He knew Atlas had control over you and that he had sent you to kill him. So he was going to die no matter what. I suppose he wanted to die on his own terms, at least to the extent he could.

You got the evil ending, in which we presume you move on to wreak havoc on the surface. It's a splicer. And that's a nuke. If you rescue the little sisters, you get a different ending.

 

[halfgixxerbill]

First off, Bioshock MAJOR SPOILERS below.










Atom = Adam. Super stem cells harvested from a previously undiscovered sea slug. In gameplay terms it's the material that allows the genetic modification. It's what made the splicers insane.

The Little Sisters were created by Tannenbaum to collect the Adam. They get it from corpses, which they call "angels". I didn't harvest them but I saw a video clip of the harvest, I assume that is the sea slug. Why you end up holding it I don't know. They are indeed actual little girls, so it must be because of all the Adam they are filled with.

Fontaine wasn't restrained, it's how he replenishes his strength.

Ryan was a dead man anyway. He knew Atlas had control over you and that he had sent you to kill him. So he was going to die no matter what. I suppose he wanted to die on his own terms, at least to the extent he could.

You got the evil ending, in which we presume you move on to wreak havoc on the surface. It's a splicer. And that's a nuke. If you rescue the little sisters, you get a different ending.

Thanks for the answers. That makes more sense now. btw I am not a creaton for harvesting the little sisters I just harvested one to see what would happen. I rescued the rest of the them. :angel:

 

[Herr Mike]

Yeah, I think you have to rescue all of them to get the good ending. I did, and I always had plenty of Adam.

 

[Druckles]

Aaah, I thought there must be a different ending for Harvesting. Damn, I wanna play it again now

Yeah, Herr Mike seems to have explained everything. I believe I harvested one, just for kicks, so I'm assuming you have to harvest most of them or something to get the "evil ending".

I believe that Ryan was trying to tell you something. Get it into your head that you had a choice. And even if it didn't mean much exactly, it was kind've creepy, and it did tell you alot. I felt it was a great cutscene. Awesomely creepy

 

[halfgixxerbill]

Aaah, I thought there must be a different ending for Harvesting. Damn, I wanna play it again now

Yeah, Herr Mike seems to have explained everything. I believe I harvested one, just for kicks, so I'm assuming you have to harvest most of them or something to get the "evil ending".

I believe that Ryan was trying to tell you something. Get it into your head that you had a choice. And even if it didn't mean much exactly, it was kind've creepy, and it did tell you alot. I felt it was a great cutscene. Awesomely creepy

Yea, it was dang violent felt like I was watching Casino with Pecci getting wacked by the bat.

 

[nokori3byo]

Aaah, I thought there must be a different ending for Harvesting. Damn, I wanna play it again now

Yeah, Herr Mike seems to have explained everything. I believe I harvested one, just for kicks, so I'm assuming you have to harvest most of them or something to get the "evil ending".

I believe that Ryan was trying to tell you something. Get it into your head that you had a choice. And even if it didn't mean much exactly, it was kind've creepy, and it did tell you alot. I felt it was a great cutscene. Awesomely creepy

Nope, harvesting just one is enough to get you the milder of the two evil endings and it isn't much milder. I'm guessing that if you did, in fact, harvest a little one, you reloaded your game afterwards.

 

[Druckles]

Nope, harvesting just one is enough to get you the milder of the two evil endings and it isn't much milder. I'm guessing that if you did, in fact, harvest a little one, you reloaded your game afterwards.

No, I actually did Harvest one.

 

[nokori3byo]

Weird. I didn't harvest any Little Sisters, but everything I've read about the game says you have to spare them all to see the good ending.

 

[Druckles]

Weird. I didn't harvest any Little Sisters, but everything I've read about the game says you have to spare them all to see the good ending.

:/

Quick question, are there supposed to be an infinite number of Big Daddys?

 

[el Chi]

The ?would you kindly? twist is also something HL2 did before it with much more subtly and class.

How exactly?

 

[nokori3byo]

:/

Quick question, are there supposed to be an infinite number of Big Daddys?

I think they keep respawning, even after all the Sisters have been dealt with. Handy if you're still gunning for a research achievement.

 

[Druckles]

I think they keep respawning, even after all the Sisters have been dealt with. Handy if you're still gunning for a research achievement.

Ah, I thought I had some bug, as after harvesting the little sister there was a Big Daddy wandering the same spot. But yeah, I've noticed after dealing with the little sisters the Big Daddy's often knock on the openings to no avail.

 

[nokori3byo]

Thse extraneous Big Daddies are great if you have the hypnotize plasmid equipped. They'll take down whole rooms full of splicers and occasionally bosses as well. I even managed to start a Bouncer on Bouncer fight in Hepaestus. Classic stuff.