Bioshock gameplay discussion

[Kekvit Irae]

Frog, here's a tip for your grenade lobbin' friends.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Use Telekinesis to catch their grenades/molotovs and lob 'em right on back the way they came. You're out 0 ammo and almost no EVE, and you get the satisfaction of watching them explode!

I've found Telekinesis is also useful for other things...never leave home without it.

I'd love to hear how other people solve problems - I enjoy that aspect about this game, I think everyone is going to develop a unique play style and swear by it.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The problem I see with that is that it sounds like Half-Life 2 for me. Instead of using the gravity gun to pick up and return an enemy grenade, my mind is too slow to think that fast. The best I can think of during one of those scenes is "Oh crap! Grenade! RUN!"
How long do grenades and cocktails have to cook before they explode? Or are they explode on contact?

[frogbeastegg]

In response to the question in Kek's spoiler box, it seems to vary a little so I suspect it's on contact and/or when in close proximity. I haven't seen enough of them to make a proper study yet.

Out, now I want a camera very badly! I suspected that opening up the research aspect would offer all kinds of neat benefits for players who took the time.

[Kekvit Irae]

Photography? What is this, Dead Rising?

[discovery1]

Any one try a stealth approach? Supposedly it models sound propogation rather well, so it should be possible.

[frogbeastegg]

Any one try a stealth approach? Supposedly it models sound propogation rather well, so it should be possible.

I've been trying. I've had some mixed results. Sometimes I've been able to get very close to an enemy and smack them with my wrench. Others they see or hear me coming. I believe some enemies have boosted night vision, either that or certain points have them scripted to see you regardless.

I do miss being able to lean around corners - why on earth is that missing?!

[Out]

I've been trying. I've had some mixed results. Sometimes I've been able to get very close to an enemy and smack them with my wrench. Others they see or hear me coming. I believe some enemies have boosted night vision, either that or certain points have them scripted to see you regardless.

I do miss being able to lean around corners - why on earth is that missing?!

I'd agree. It seems that the tougher enemies are harder to sneak up on, due to the fact that most of the game's harder enemies [that I've seen] are based on lobbing anger at you from a distance.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I've read about some people who have used Tonics they've found to increase their damage with their Wrench and their ability to walk quietly, and have made it so that they're a one swing wrecking machine that hardly ever gets detected. I prefer to shoot mah guns. Sneakily.

[Phatose]

The camera, once you get it, should be used very very heavily. Unlike in SS2 where research primarily gives you small damage bonuses, you can get some very, very nice bonuses from researching enemies the whole way.

Little sisters give you a small health and max bonus for every level of research. Bouncers include a 50% damage bonus to everything you hit with the wrench - which, combined with a couple of the right tonics, can turn you in a doomsday wrencher.

The various splicers each tend to include a couple of helpful tonics in the research rewards, and the turrets and security bots both become instant hack success at the highest level - very very convenient.

Houdini splicers eventually yield the cloaking tonic, which is very very useful if you're playing stealth.




The audio logs, while have been generally very high quality, has one that sticks out in my mind more then any other. It's as creepy as Korenchin's Glory audiolog from SS2.


..edit: Edited out spoilers, since [spoiler] doesn't seem to work. Someone remind me the code for spoilers?]

[Tiberius of the Drake]

I completely agree with Out on the Camera . The bonuses are well worth the deaths that it sometimes causes. It Makes the End Game A LOT EASIER>

[Zenicetus]

That's good to hear about the wrench, and stealth attacks. I was worried I was over-using the wrench, mainly because I'm having trouble shooting accurately so I run low on ammo. I thought my current computer and GPU would be okay, based on the early encounters. But it's not quite smooth enough when the pace is a little more frantic with more targets. I've been playing mostly strategy games lately, and I'd forgotten how important a smooth frame rate is for a shooter like this.

Anyway, more plasmid-based and wrench-pounding tactics will hold me while I order a video card upgrade this week and install it. I'm still using a nvidia 6800 series card, so moving up to the current 8800-something should help... and maybe let me get a little more use out of this machine before getting a complete new system.

[Out]

..edit: Edited out spoilers, since [spoiler] doesn't seem to work. Someone remind me the code for spoilers?]

It's [ spoil ] and [ /spoil ], without the space characters. You had an extra er.

And don't worry - ammunition problems seem to clear up as you move along in the game, actually, so long as you take your time to search through everything.

[Papewaio]

Well I didn't get the game but my bro-in-law got the deluxe version (with Big Daddy model) for the 360... all I can say is that it is excellent and worth getting a 360 for this game alone. He has a very good 5.1 surround sound setup... and I must say that although the water and fire graphics are amazing, the sound is what gives the game its right edge.

I love the iconography in both the city and the game menus... reminds me of Fallout 2... in fact this feels like an FPS version of it.

Well integrated RPG elements into an FPS... its a bit like TW strategy is turn based, battles are real time. The selection of ones RPG elements (tonics and plasmids) are done in a more calm atmosphere, while the FPS is all blazing glory.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

When I went into the dentistry foyer and got surrounded I went beserk with the Thompson machine gun and the shotgun. Mantra of the game is reload all your weapons all the way through when it is quiet, after every shot with the shotgun I will reload if no other enemies are nearby... I have yet to have used any special ammo other then armour piercing on the pistol... and it will be along time before I get another go at this game.