question about BS before i buy

[oczad]

I saw it's 5 bucks on steam which is a deal. I played the demo long ago and liked it enough to at least buy it when it got cheap but i never did. So at 5 bucks i'm ready to buy it thru steam except for one thing that has me worried about the game. I can't imagine this is true, but if it were it would make the game rather worthless to me. At a forum elsewhere somebody said one of the reasons they didn't like the game is that you cannot die ! Now like i said, i cannot imagine this is true, as if it were there would be no challenge that i can see. When io played the demo i don't recall that being the case, but it has been a long time.

So can someone explain to me what you think this person could have meant by saying that you cannot die? Maybe he just meant the game is so easy that it's much to easy to keep from dying? Any thoughts?

[Adam And Eve]

It's not true. You can die, unless you are playing on easy, you can still die on that level but you have to be an unimaginably horrible player to do so.

[oczad]

Ok, thanks. So does the hardness level get up to where it's a challenge at the highest ones?

[Adam And Eve]

easy and medium are recommened if you want to explore the areas thouroughly. Hard is if you're looking to challenge yourself.

[oczad]

ok, so i'll assume hard is reasonably challenging.

[Daryl]

trust me I found the game a challenge the first time I played it on normal since I wasn't used to this style of game play :P I am more cod and halo stuff but I loved this! And it is a super challenge trying to complete hard without dieing :P but I have heard people do this with only a wrench.... that's sick :P

[A. Rand]

The vita chamber is the reason you never die. Its a respawn point. However the enemies don't respawn as well so you can wear down the bosses. The game does give you the option to not use them. Then you would have to start from your last save point, just like any other game.

[oczad]

can i ask how to do that in the menus? I would much prefer the traditional F5 or 6 save option.

[headkase]

Bioshock is also about the exploration of Rapture. Death is not permanent unless you turn off the Vita-Chamber option. Allowing you to continue from the last chamber you passed is a design decision that emphasizes the story over twitch reactions. Rapture is an engrossing place and the first couple of times through it is all about the story. There is a reason it won game of the year 2007 :D. If you want to make Bioshock into a traditional shooter then said Vita-Chamber disabling gives you that freedom too!

[Diesel]

Yeah, it's not that you don't die, it's that you don't get a huge punishment for death. It helps keep you from hating the game for not letting you progress. But if you turn off the Vita Chambers it'll play just like any other FPS except auto saves are rare so you'll be finding yourself getting quite annoyed if you forgot to save for a while. I know I did on my Brass Balls achievment run through.

[oczad]

Am i then to assume turning off this chamber does NOT mean i can manual save like most games via hittingF5, but that then only saves are auto saves?

[Bioshocking123]

^
The game automatically saves at each level, but you are able to save anywhere you like.



So can someone explain to me what you think this person could have meant by saying that you cannot die? Maybe he just meant the game is so easy that it's much to easy to keep from dying? Any thoughts?

Ah, that person is silly! :D Bioshock is a challenging game (depending on which difficulty you are on), and you do die, but you just end up in a Vita Chamer (checkpoint) after. What, do you think that people would be happier being sent back to the start menu? :p

[japester]

Comments about BioShock being "too easy" generally come from the diehard First Person Shooter crowd. BioShock was never intended to compete with hardcore FPS games. You don't sit behind cover, blind-firing at wave after wave of bad guys. It's a game about story and exploration and atmosphere.

I think it boils down to your taste in games. If you like pure visceral overload and want a game to fly in your face, this may not be the one for you. If you can appreciate something with a bit more depth and subtlety, you'll love it.

[Cohen's Masterpiece]

i think they meant through vita-chambers, which you can disable.