It's next to useless to go on and on about what didn't make it into a game, instead you should judge it by what's there, and frankly this game far surpasses Bioshock one, though Rapture always seems to get my attention in ways Columbia doesn't. Probably because of my love of Atlantis myth.

That said I loved this game with a passion, and the fact your character actually had one and wasn't just a blank slate.

That said...

Spoiler

I felt that the first tears that Elizabeth/Anna opened didn't transport them to different realities so much as alter the one they were in. Kinda like taking things that happened in one reality and pasting them to theirs.

Above all I got the same sense of loss for Columbia that I did Rapture. Such innovation and technological marvels forever destroyed because of pettiness and greed, I would have loved to have lived in either city.

Just kinda sad seeing something so cool burn to the ground.

 

Playing through that intro sequence, right up until everything goes to shit and the shooting starts was incredible. Makes me wish that Bioshock Infinite was an actual RPG rather than just an FPS with some plot. I'd love a chance to explore Columbia without having to murder hundreds of people every time I enter a new area.

 

Well I decided I couldn't wait and risk being spoiled, so I got a hold of it and powered through it over the past couple days. While I disagree that it's the "perfect game" or whatever I've been hearing, I think it is a pretty good one, all things considered. I'll probably have to run through it again soon to get any content I might've missed the first time, but I think I was pretty thorough.

That bit about game cuts and such is interesting. I agree that the final product differs a bit from what we saw in trailers and demos earlier, and there was definitely a major change in the direction of the story about halfway through that feels a little rough, though I still enjoyed it for what it was.

There's some lingering thoughts I have about the ending. Spoilered for courtesy.

Spoiler

I think Tehan's analysis of the ending pretty much hit all the important notes, but there are some points I'm unsure on.

First, and most importantly in my mind: what's the verdict on Rapture? Did drowning Booker and erasing Comstock and other alternate universes affect Rapture at all? If it's erased too I'll be pissed. There's no reason this game has to alter the previous games at all when it seems to work perfectly fine as a self-contained story. I'd prefer to just believe that Rapture exists in the future of the final, apparently fused timeline we see in the post-credits scene.

The final state of Booker and Elizabeth/Anna is more than a little vague. Booker seems to remember something in order to be concerned about Anna, but how much would he remember? Would Elizabeth remember anything even if she's an infant again? Is she even an infant again or is she an adult still? We didn't see in the crib, and the credits started before we saw the last version of Elizabeth in the baptism river dissipate like the others. I'm sure the encouragement of speculation is intentional, but I'd like to hear more thoughts on it.

I'm also unsure about the Luteces. Given their unique state of existence I'm not sure if they can really be removed just by cutting out some timelines. I think (and hope -- they were real fun characters, I'd hate for them to just disappear) they might be constants themselves in the multiverse now.

As for the Songbird theory proposed by Tehan at the end there... well, I dunno about that. I didn't really see anything to indicate as such, but I might've missed something. I thought it was just a creepy (yet cool) mechanical bird thing.

 

Spoiler

Whenever Comstockverse changes both Annalizabeth and Booker remember it because they're both foreigners to that reality. It can be argued that all that Anna changed was the Comstock reality, and the changes made rewound the Bookerverse to when Comstock originally tried to buy Anna - so both Anna and Booker would remember it, even though they're in significantly younger bodies now. And given that they're back in their original universe they're likely to have lost all reality-warping powers, though it would be easy enough to handwave a reason for them to have not to.

In the beginning the Luteces refer to a thought experiment, and in that ending that's what the game would have been - an extremely long and educational thought experiment for both of them. And the Luteces could have survived, given that even though their origin as they are in the game was from the Comstockverse, they were scattered throughout all realities, including the Bookerverse that male Lutece was from. And if the Luteces were wiped, there'd still be a male Lutece running around Bookerverse getting up to shenanigans.

As for Bioshock, there's some pretty far-out theories that it's a version of Columbia that's cropped up after million of derivations from the original, but given that the tears are used to raid the future for technology and music all the time, Anna probably just used it as a convenient way to drown the Songbird and segue into the lighthouse talk. The Booker = Songbird thing is just another amusing theory - I don't buy it, personally, because the game's all about two Bookers at war in infinite universes, due to the timeline split at the baptism. Where would a third Booker come from?

 

I thought Bioshock 1's gameplay was dull. I really enjoyed the artwork but after some hours the fighting and annoying mini games sucked all the motivation out of me back then.

 

Spoiler

Rapture is a different universe where Columbia never happened, maybe it happens in the most recent universe without meddling, tears etc.

Some of the tears are definitely from the future and that's how Comstock made himself appear as a prophet. But also the music and even the very first tear Elizabeth opens has a movie theatre playing a Star Wars movie.

 

This game.....

So I pre-ordered it with the steam deal and finished it in 2 sittings, punctuated by sleep.

Half way through, it became my favourite game.

The opening, the ending, Elizabeth, the tiny clues to the plot, the twins, Columbia, they all added pieces to a puzzle that is this amazing game. It hooked me from the moment the announcer said hallelujah, to even now, nearly a week after I finished the game. I'd reccomend this to anyone who enjoys a good game.

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About Rapture: Epic spoilers for the entire series
A couple of flaws in the reasoning, but interesting nonetheless.

 

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Eh... I don't know if I buy that. DeWitt and Comstock may conform to the same general archetype as Andrew Ryan and Jack, but that doesn't mean they're actually, physically, genetically the same people. There's "a man, a girl and a lighthouse" in all these scenarios, but it's A man and A girl, not THE man and THE girl, as in these men and these girls are literally the same people every time. It can be anyone in those roles. Booker and Comstock just happen to be the ones in the Columbia scenario.

Frankly I think it's making a mountain out of a molehill. I find it more likely that the writers forgot about the DNA lock on the bathyspheres (which was only shown in a single audio diary anyway, IIRC, so it's easy to overlook or retcon away), or that this was a Rapture variant where the bathyspheres were never DNA locked to Ryan and his close genetic relations. It's an incredibly minor thing that likely means nothing, especially since the whole Rapture thing was just used, as Tehan put it, as a segue into the multiverse aspect.

How would the bathyspheres be DNA locked anyway? You literally just pull a metal and wood lever and it moves. There's no computer reading your palm prints or skin or anything. Honestly it's a part of the game I wouldn't mind seeing gone. Pretty much the same thing is achieved by having the Vita-Chambers DNA locked to Ryan.

Anyway, here's a cool drawing of the Lutece twins.

 

So, I'm going to be getting this. But I'm trying to decide between Xbox, PS3 or PC. I have the PC requirements to play it, but I'm not quite at the 'recommended' list for PC.

I've seen and read the reviews. As an afficianado of storytelling, I'm quite psyched, but I can't decide which medium.

 

I've heard a lot about the graphics on PC, so there's that. I played it on 360, and they were good/great but nothing mind blowing beyond some of the skylines you see. I can't imagine the gameplay is all that different between the two consoles and between the consoles and pc, beyond the usual fps differences. I'd just go with whichever one you prefer playing shooters on, unless graphics are a major factor for you.

And man, the reviews just don't do the story, or the characters justice. One piece of advice, don't speed through it. Take your time, explore everywhere, collect everything and the story gets so much richer.

 

From what I understand, on PC you don't have to pause-mid battle to change Vigors, so that's an upside.. and yeah, you have a point. I'm far superior on PC when it comes to shooters. PC it is.

 

You, kinda, don't have to in the consoles either. It lets you pick your two favorites out and then you switch between them by tapping L1, holding it will bring up the menu that has all of them.

 

Seriously, don't read this unless you've beat the game.

Spoiler

Don't fucking click this unless you want to be spoiled somewhat.

Go to 14 seconds. Now, unless somebody added that in just to fuck with people, it sounds like the Songbird's death made an appearance in the original Bioshock. I'd check, but I don't have my copy of Bioshock anymore. If that's real, just holy shit. That's a ridiculous amount of planning on the part of Levine and Irrational.

 

Spoiler

Very interesting. I have a BioShock game still, though I'm only in the first area. Maybe I'll play through and try to confirm it.

 

Did anyone else having a saving issue whilst playing this game?

I got halfway through a chapter (Comstock Rooftops, I think) and stopped after it autosaved then the next day I was back at the start. So then I did the entire chapter in one go but the next time I was back at that starting point again.

 

So, I just completed this, and it has jumped straight to my top three all-time favourite games. Never before have I found myself so immersed within a world; this is not just a result of the story - which is a remarkable achievement in and of itself - but also of the art, and the incredible soundtrack, creating a truly remarkable, palpable feel to the city of Columbia.

In some ways, though, I find it bittersweet; I worry that it may be some time before I play anything that can match this level of storytelling and immersion.

 

Honestly, I thought the ending was subpar, many of the plot elements were underused and the combat was a bit simplified. The latter doesn't really bother me that much- I play single player games like Bioshock more for the story than for the gameplay- but the ending was pretty poor in my opinion.

Spoiler

The revelation about Booker was interesting, but the Elizabeth's coming to drown him so that she can't exist- way to be nihilistic. Songbird was also under-used- you never really go why the giant robot thingy was the way it was. It appeared about 3 times and then it dies- and you don't even kill it.

Don't get me wrong. Definitely one of the better games I've played. It told an interesting story, the twins were freaking awesome, the combat was fun if not repetitive, and Elizabeth grew on you as the game went on, and you could understand Booker's changing mindset as he began to empathise with her more and more. Honestly, it's probably just the ending that shits me- it feels complicated for the sake of being complicated, erasing the past just because...

Bitches should have gone to Paris instead

 

Thanks for the spoiler tags, Shezza

 

It's been out for how long?

If you haven't played it, probably shouldn't be reading a thread where people are talking about it then. It's gone far past a recommendation thread now- we've had analytical essays and theorycrafting.

 

Spoiler

As for the ending Shezza I got the feeling it wasn't nihilistic at all. The divergence of Comstock and Booker was that Comstock went through with the baptism and Booker didn't. When Anna/Elizabeth drowned Booker it changed the possibility's. Either Booker doesn't get baptized and doesn't get drowned, which explains the after credits scene, or he chose to get baptized and drowned instead of becoming Comstock.

At least it seemed that way to me anyway.