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Wow, life takes over fast, doesn't it? Haven't been able to play SWTOR in a while, either. I want to say "Hello!!" to Rach and Eli for being awesome people! Also, Rach, I've been meaning to e-mail you, I haven't forgotten! Just suck is all...
I did get to watch all of Bioshock Infinite...and boy if you don't want spoilers don't read anymore after this paragraph. I can safely say that it was an amazing experience that had me glued to the television and I wasn't even playing. Mostly because FPV gives me motion sickness and I suck horribly at it. Literally. When I pick up the controller there's a strange vacuum noise...
Here be spoilers:
Okay, so the first thing I noticed was that a) Elizabeth looked exactly like Belle from Beauty and the Beast except she had blue eyes and b) she had the same AI duties as Elika (except for combat). Yay for Magical Girlfriends! Er, whoops...daughters, I guess? I'll cover that in a bit. Elizabeth was your perfect AI companion, collecting resources for your usage only, help in combat with her magic tear powers, and even giving you money. If you leave her alone she even interacts with the environment. She is pretty awesome and again, reminded me heavily of Prince of Persia's Elika. Courtney Draper did an amazing job (especially as an-almost novice) and I'm dying to get the OST just for her singing. Gameplay was otherwise pretty standard Bioshock fare which wasn't broken so it didn't really need to be fixed. The moral choices in this game were different in that no matter what you did or didn't do the outcome was usually the same and had little to no impact on the ending. That was new, at least.
Your main character is a fully realized individual with a detailed background, emotional state, face, and voice. I love Troy Baker so much, and it was a real treat to hear him throughout the game (and not being Snow!). It was also nice that Booker was actually important to the story itself and the actions taking place instead of being merely incidental to the events around him. It was a nice change of pace for Ken Levine and I think it worked really well. Infinite was all about the outcomes of choice and it was enjoyable to see this thematically, even if in-game it wasn't completely relevant. Tony and I really enjoyed the whole "There but for the grace of God go I" dichotomy presented in the Booker/Comstock character(s?). Tony really approved of the idea of baptism introducing a quantum state which I latched on to when he presented it as such. One of the voxophone recordings by Comstock sealed it with the plight of the sinner who "drowns" in the baptism. It's a neat concept we've been discussing for a while now.
I know it irritated some people to high heaven (my good friend Joel being one, and I tell him to shut-up every time he opens his mouth on the subject) that your actual choices as the player don't count for much, but I think in a game like this it works. It creates a linear path (and we know I'm all about linear story-telling) and doesn't have the issue of trying to resolve why certain characters would still be allowed to live or what to do if they were dead and trying to justify the choices players make. The tone doesn't have to shift wildly between the puppy-kicking psychopath or the holier-than-anyone-goody-two-shoes morality system you find in most games nowadays. I found that to be a refreshing change as it allowed for more morally ambiguous actions or left the player questioning if what they did really was the better option either gameplay-wise or character-wise.
My favorite character was actually Rosalind Lutece, though. A) she was voiced by the incredible Jennifer Hale, b) she had the best lines, and c) she was part of a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead routine, which is a sorely underused concept. Triple thumbs up for the Luteces and their incredible, slightly sinister accordion theme!
Anyway, these are my half-baked thoughts as I stave off sleep for longer than I should. Leave your favorite moment in the comments if you'd like. Mine was Elizabeth being mistaken for Lady Comstock by the gate to Comstock house. Anyone know if that was the voice of the Claptraps for the Borderlands series?
Take care you wonderful people.
I did get to watch all of Bioshock Infinite...and boy if you don't want spoilers don't read anymore after this paragraph. I can safely say that it was an amazing experience that had me glued to the television and I wasn't even playing. Mostly because FPV gives me motion sickness and I suck horribly at it. Literally. When I pick up the controller there's a strange vacuum noise...
Here be spoilers:
Okay, so the first thing I noticed was that a) Elizabeth looked exactly like Belle from Beauty and the Beast except she had blue eyes and b) she had the same AI duties as Elika (except for combat). Yay for Magical Girlfriends! Er, whoops...daughters, I guess? I'll cover that in a bit. Elizabeth was your perfect AI companion, collecting resources for your usage only, help in combat with her magic tear powers, and even giving you money. If you leave her alone she even interacts with the environment. She is pretty awesome and again, reminded me heavily of Prince of Persia's Elika. Courtney Draper did an amazing job (especially as an-almost novice) and I'm dying to get the OST just for her singing. Gameplay was otherwise pretty standard Bioshock fare which wasn't broken so it didn't really need to be fixed. The moral choices in this game were different in that no matter what you did or didn't do the outcome was usually the same and had little to no impact on the ending. That was new, at least.
Your main character is a fully realized individual with a detailed background, emotional state, face, and voice. I love Troy Baker so much, and it was a real treat to hear him throughout the game (and not being Snow!). It was also nice that Booker was actually important to the story itself and the actions taking place instead of being merely incidental to the events around him. It was a nice change of pace for Ken Levine and I think it worked really well. Infinite was all about the outcomes of choice and it was enjoyable to see this thematically, even if in-game it wasn't completely relevant. Tony and I really enjoyed the whole "There but for the grace of God go I" dichotomy presented in the Booker/Comstock character(s?). Tony really approved of the idea of baptism introducing a quantum state which I latched on to when he presented it as such. One of the voxophone recordings by Comstock sealed it with the plight of the sinner who "drowns" in the baptism. It's a neat concept we've been discussing for a while now.
I know it irritated some people to high heaven (my good friend Joel being one, and I tell him to shut-up every time he opens his mouth on the subject) that your actual choices as the player don't count for much, but I think in a game like this it works. It creates a linear path (and we know I'm all about linear story-telling) and doesn't have the issue of trying to resolve why certain characters would still be allowed to live or what to do if they were dead and trying to justify the choices players make. The tone doesn't have to shift wildly between the puppy-kicking psychopath or the holier-than-anyone-goody-two-shoes morality system you find in most games nowadays. I found that to be a refreshing change as it allowed for more morally ambiguous actions or left the player questioning if what they did really was the better option either gameplay-wise or character-wise.
My favorite character was actually Rosalind Lutece, though. A) she was voiced by the incredible Jennifer Hale, b) she had the best lines, and c) she was part of a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead routine, which is a sorely underused concept. Triple thumbs up for the Luteces and their incredible, slightly sinister accordion theme!
Anyway, these are my half-baked thoughts as I stave off sleep for longer than I should. Leave your favorite moment in the comments if you'd like. Mine was Elizabeth being mistaken for Lady Comstock by the gate to Comstock house. Anyone know if that was the voice of the Claptraps for the Borderlands series?
Take care you wonderful people.
