Monday 14 January, 2008

Bioshock: Log #2

Gameplay: As before, the game continues to keep me on the edge of my seat. For some reason prior to playing this game I had the misconception that it would be cartoony and silly, judging from the aqua man in an underwater drilling suit on the cover of the game, but after playing it for 2 and a half hours I realize that I was under a huge misconception. I like the controls of the game because they are similar to other first person shooters, however I find myself excessively spamming the E button, which is used to open and close objects as well as pick up items.
It seems like there are items everywhere and is a pain to run around every single room clicking the E button. I feel that if I miss an item, I will be at a disadvantage, and therefore have to spend a lot of my timing running alongside every side of the wall and searching all the corners of the rooms. One of the things that makes this game appealing, along with many other new FPS, is the physics engine the game uses. Most people like being able to pick up objects in the room (as seen in Bioshock) and throw them at enemies, causing explosions and intense pain to enemies.

Design:
Wow, this game has some great dynamics to it. Instead of mindlessly running around and killing monsters as seen in many other first person shooters, Bioshock makes the player think and use his or her surroundings to solve puzzles to further advance in the game. This gives the game appeal to those who enjoy aiming and firing, as well as cunning and problem solving. One instance of this that I came across during my travels, was finding a way to break into a dentist office that had been sealed off by a leakage of water that had frozen into ice. I couldn't hack and slash my way through with a wrench as I expected, but instead had to use my pyrotechnic powers to melt through the ice. Another aspect that I enjoy about this game is the element of surprise it has. One minute I will be reading up on a new skill that I have just gained and then turn around to find a crazed dentist with a drill and scalpel 1 foot away from me.

Bioshock does a really good job using the surrounding elements to enhance the effect of the game. For instance, while in the frozen over dentist office, an icy haze floods the room from above, obscuring everything from view. The next thing I know, several monsters emerge from the mist causing me to flinch into convulsion. The player stays interested because surprising new events like this are always happening, and the story continues to unfold, revealing new sadists for the player to destroy.

This is an excellent game log, and exactly what we're looking for.

Regarding the action button spamming, I'm guessing you have a history with Quake 1 or Marathon?

Oh, and congratulations, this is the first gamelog I've graded that made me giggle.

- Ian Rickard, your TA

(the following is included on all my first-round gradings, and should not be taken as any commentary on your writing.)

If you're interested, I'm happy to provide additional nit-picks of your writing. However as this course is not considered writing intensive, lapses in spelling and grammer of the type I would critique will not have any affect on your grade and so you really needn't worry about them. If you're interested in this type of feedback, email me at inio@soe and I'll provide it privately.