Replay value

[zombiehorde]

I've been thinking about pre-ordering bioshock for a while now.The only thing that has stopped me is i don't know how much replay value the game will have.Why buy a game when you can rent it,beat it,then bring it back.I'm not saying that bioshock isn't worth the purchase,but we all know games with no multiplayer have less replay value.On the other hand,some single player only games have ways to increase the replay value.Such as letting you go through the game with the stats and equipment of your first play through.Another thing some games have used is secret items you must find,such as the cog tags in gears of war.My question is do you think bioshock will have enough replay value to be beaten once,maybe twice,and still not be bored with it?

[borgdrone89]

the replayabilily comes down to it being a player-development fps with some great ai.

in otherwords, player willing, no two playthroughs will be the same, and no two people will play through the game exactly the same. one time you may choose to be evil, and another time you may be good. or you could be in the grey area between. you could abstain from plasmids or guns. etc..

that is what replayability is.

[Ruptured Rapture]

Well, for instance you could play the whole game through with just guns, or just plasmids. You could play purely a hacker and rely heavily on the security systems, ect. With a game like Bx that has many different gameplay features like that, you can have alot of replayability with specialization like that just for fun.

Of course, stuff like that is made even better since everything is fluid and will seem different because of the way the AI works.

[smallsey]

if you beat the game will it still be fun?
forget all the "enemies respawn in different places" and "you can upgrade your weapons and plazmids in different ways" while "the ass kicking AI will come at you differently"
will the game still be FUN the second or third time through?

most FPS's are not. hell,i dunno about the rest of you but i only played farcry and halflife 1+2 once each. the second time it was like "yeah its innovative and stuff...but who cares?"

but this is THE shooter 2.0...so im guessing it will be replayable atleast a few times

[Ruptured Rapture]

Who can say for sure?

All I know is i've played SS2 4+ times. Back to back? not really, but the point is it did have that replayability for lots of people. I dont see why this should be any different

[smallsey]

thats true...i would have played SS2 more had xp not killed it (damn you microsoft)
guess we have to wait and see

[v.dog]

All is not yet lost:
How To Run System Shock 2 on Windows XP/2000 (TTLG).
System Shock 2 WinXP/2000 Fix

[smallsey]

suppose i should go and re-buy the game lol

[v.dog]

On the subject of enemies being in different places, I just hope they don't pull a STALKER and have enemies spawn in the room you are in as you reload, even tho' it was empty when you saved, nor have enemies that sneak up behind you from a dead end room that you cleared out just momments ago.

[Psyclone]

A form of replay value would probably be saving all the little sisters in the first playthrough and harvesting them all in the second.

I also though of the using only plasmids or only using guns. I kind of regret that apparently there is only one ending. I'd like to see one ending if you've managed to remain somewhat human and another if you've become so irreversibly mutated.

Actually, there would be a short and sweet way of doing this: instead of having a full blown different ending, at the end of the game, you would find a mirror. That would trigger a cutscene (pretty much like the one where the guy falls from the balcony after getting the electrovolt plasmid) where the character looks at what he's become. If he remained human, he would just walk away to the sub or whatever. If he didn't, he would let out a blood curdling scream. That, IMHO would be enough.

[lurchibald]

well if that is the case they will have totally lost me (and quite a few friends) as customers, because, this game is all about choice and is predominantly marketed around that point so i would doubt that there will be only one ending, it would make those "choices" a rather moot fact because they would not have mattered

[DarthMario7]

it will be a good replay value because one time you can just play it to beat it and another time you can take the time to search for all ammo, plasmids, enemies, and all the LS which you can harvest or save

[somecut8]

Well, I don't really play single player campaigns that much, and have never replayed any campaign (only small sections here and there). I normally play multiplayer online, unless, it is some sports game like Madden or NBA 2k7. That's where I spend most of my hours playing video games. So when it comes to Bioshock, I am hoping for an almost sandbox experience, so that I will either play the game again, because I have seen only a tiny bit of it, or spend numerous hours on it because there are so many things to explore, even though I'm still only playing through it once.

[TrekTek]

A form of replay value would probably be saving all the little sisters in the first playthrough and harvesting them all in the second.

I also though of the using only plasmids or only using guns. I kind of regret that apparently there is only one ending. I'd like to see one ending if you've managed to remain somewhat human and another if you've become so irreversibly mutated.

Actually, there would be a short and sweet way of doing this: instead of having a full blown different ending, at the end of the game, you would find a mirror. That would trigger a cutscene (pretty much like the one where the guy falls from the balcony after getting the electrovolt plasmid) where the character looks at what he's become. If he remained human, he would just walk away to the sub or whatever. If he didn't, he would let out a blood curdling scream. That, IMHO would be enough.

Theres 2 endings

[lurchibald]

hey where did you get that info from?

[FreshLaundryX]

Sorry, this is an off-topic post, but I dare not resurrect an old thread. Remember the dude that posted saying he was disappointed that all the enemies were human and not monsters?

How about these little fellas? I've seen this screenshot but never noticed them before...

http://www.kindagamey.com/limages/bi.../centipede.jpg
(Go on, tell me "there's already a thread about those!"...)

[lurchibald]

Sorry, this is an off-topic post, but I dare not resurrect an old thread. Remember the dude that posted saying he was disappointed that all the enemies were human and not monsters?

How about these little fellas? I've seen this screenshot but never noticed them before...

(Go on, tell me "there's already a thread about those!"...)

i think it's ok to resurrect a old thread when you have new info to add to it i just dont think people should resurrect old threads by replying with "me too" or any other jargon that doesnt add anything to the thread

[Jeff]

Exactly lurch.

Nice find on that one Fresh, I don't think I've seen any discussion on those little bad-boys, they don't look particularily enemy-ish, but it's possible they're leech-like and spring from their haunt towards you, which would cause much drama because if you end up shooting them (probably a one shot kill) the noise would definately attract other enemies.

[TrekTek]

hey where did you get that info from?

I remember reading in one of the threads, a developer said that there was going to be two endings

[Poison17]

I remember reading in one of the threads, a developer said that there was going to be two endings

It was Alexx I remember him saying that there is more then one ending but he didn't say if there was only two or not so there might be more then two, but there is atleast two endings.

[TrekTek]

Oh ok. Good. For a while I thought I might of been crazy since no one seemed to remember that he had said that there was more then one ending.

[lurchibald]

It was Alexx I remember him saying that there is more then one ending but he didn't say if there was only two or not so there might be more then two, but there is atleast two endings.

well from what i know of bioshock so far it seems it will probably have even more than two endings just based on the different choices that you can make

[Psyclone]

Thank god there's more than one. When I posted my previous message I was thinking of this post. I haven't read this thread because I was trying to stay spoiler free.

I hope one of the endings is related to how mutated you are. After all, a key theme in this game is "sacrificing your humanity".

[Oceansama]

I too am relieved to hear that there will be 2, or more, endings. I just hope they are good endings. So many games have I played where you fight and struggle to beat it and the ending they give you seems like it was an afterthought and tacked on at the last minute.

[Carrick]

I'm kinda wondering if it's going to be a game where you can have everything. All the skills and all the powers, upgrades, ect or if you will be limited in what you can choose so playing it through again will enable you to try the things you didn't the first time around.

[lurchibald]

i believe it will/should be limited because that in itself doubles replayability

[Ruptured Rapture]

As for that screenshot.. that is incredibly old, I believe. Theres a reason you dont see it on the main page.

[v.dog]

Indeed. I believe that was from Bx's 'Arctic Nazis' days.

[MultiVaC]

Indeed. I believe that was from Bx's 'Arctic Nazis' days.

Yeah, that picture is a render from years ago when BioShock was still set in a secret Nazi bunker (cue "Heute Ist Mein Tag"). Don't expect to see anything from that picture in the game.

[Raveness]

Replay value ultimately comes from the willingness of the player to experience the game over and over again before they tire of it. A really good narrative can make an interested player use any difference as an excuse to replay. Something as simple as trying on another difficulty level, or getting a new Big Daddy skin to try out, or different Little Sister audio logs recorded by the community. All these could provide small incentives to replay the game.

The major replay value comes from the sandbox approach Ken has aspired Bioshock to deliver. Not to mention the 60 or so plasmids, the different approach to the LS's, the possibility of joining Tenenbaum or Ryan or another undiscovered group, the variations in traps and style of combat, potential downloadable content, an SDK release, etc....

[WakeUpInFlames]

With all of the choices to make, and the fact that the AI is never the same, and that your choices can change the outcome makes me think that I'll play through it a couple of times.