Zero Punctuation Reviews: Bioshock 2

Sorry, forgot to post this last week. So today is a two-fer.

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Zero Punctuation Bioshock Review

I was seriously considering writing a bioshock review, even after all the posts I've made about it thus far, but then I saw this British guy do it better than I ever could, expressing just about every opinion I have on the matter save for the awful things I've already said.

So... go watch this.

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Two More Reasons Bioshock = Worst Launch Evar

(1), Your Radeon 9800 pro 256, which still sells on pricewatch for over 100 bucks (it was 200 back in the day), won't run bioshock because it doesn't use shader model 3. Never mind that it has more video muscle than many cards that do. Thank goodness somebody over at http://shadershock.tk is willing to kludge the backward-compatibility that 2k thinks is so negligible.

(2) Sharing with your brother IST VERBOTEN! Das wird nicht erlaubt! Way to play right into the pirates' hands, 2k.

Read the other reasons.

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Worst. Launch. Evar.

So almost a week into the launch of BioShock, and all is not Rapture in the underwater city (heh heh, you see what I did there? Gawd I'm clever).

Turns out the DRM/Copy protection on Bioshock makes HL2 look like that copy of sopwith you gave to all your friends back in middle school on 5 1/4" floppies. First of all, the thing *infects* you with SecuRom, probably the most odious corporate rootkit ever. Then it insists on checking in over the internet with every installation. If you're not on the internet, you're just hosed, fyi. No Bioshock for you... even though the game is exclusively single player. Then to add insult to injury the damned thing tries to keep track of how many times you install it, and if it exceeds TWO installs, you're out of luck and can't install any more. Oh sure, they claim all you have to do to get an "install token" (what a putrid word, having to invent an imaginary coin to represent how many times you're allowed to install software you bought) back is to go through the uninstall... but show of hands out there... who's ever actually gone through an "uninstall" process all that often? Anyone? No? Of course not. You just head on into c:\program files and delete the sucker out. But that's a one-way ticket to Bonedville with Bioshock.

But wait, there's more!

Most people like widescreen monitors because they show you more of what's to the sides, right? Because every single game in existence that supports widescreen does that... takes the standard 4:3 ratio and adds more to the sides, yes? Not so with bioshock. To adapt the 4:3 ratio to widescreen, 2K Games apparently decided to TRIM OFF viewable area from the top and bottom of the 4:3 screen and then enlarge the remaining letterbox to fill your widescreen monitor.

Let's get back to the DRM for a minute though... would you like to know what you have to do if you somehow screw up and lock yourself out of your copy? Would ya? Huh? Well, it's simple...

Read up on the matter -
http://kotaku.com/gaming/pc/bioshock-widescreen-+-the-sad-conclusion-292269.php
http://kotaku.com/gaming/son-of-sad-panda/levine-responds-to-bioshock-copy-protecton-woes-292834.php
http://kotaku.com/gaming/xbox-360/levines-replies-to-bioshock-widescreen-cropping-292071.php
http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6750

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Bioshock Ships

Like so much else, I read it on bluesnews.

New York, NY - August 21, 2007 - 2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), announced today that BioShock is now available in North America for Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Games for Windows®, and will be available in Europe beginning August 24. Developed by 2K Boston and 2K Australia, BioShock is a "genetically enhanced" first-person shooter that lets players do things never before possible in the genre.

Gamers enter the game as a castaway in Rapture, an underwater utopia torn apart by civil war. Caught between powerful forces and hunted down by genetically modified "splicers" and deadly security systems, players have to come to grips with a deadly, mysterious world filled with powerful technology and fascinating characters. No encounter ever plays out the same and no two gamers will play BioShock the same way.
"With the release of BioShock, we are redefining the shooter experience by providing players with the freedom to decide how to proceed and which actions to take," said Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K. "The teams at 2K Boston and 2K Australia have captured the essence of this underwater world and brought it to vivid life in the art design and open-ended storyline. Welcome to Rapture."

In the decaying art deco underwater city of Rapture, players can turn everything they encounter into a weapon, biologically modify their body with plasmids, hack devices and security systems, upgrade weapons, craft new ammo variants, and experiment with different battle techniques.

"The development team has been working on BioShock for years to push the limits in every way possible, so we are excited for gamers to finally experience BioShock as we've always imagined it," said Ken Levine, President and Creative Director of 2K Boston. "We delivered on our promise of bringing gamers a unique and enriching first-person shooter experience that not only challenges their capacity to adapt and survive, but tests their values and commitment to the inhabitants of Rapture."

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Bioshock Gameplay - Shotgun Video

Thanks as always to GameTrailers.

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