Bioshock and I are going through a rough patch at the moment. We're fighting over the fighting. Now, I'm willing to chalk part of this up to me being shit at this game. Even more so having watched this slightly spoilerific video where Adam Sessler, Jeff Gerstmann and Kevin Van Ord describe the game as easy and the combat as fun and not hectic enough. PART of this. Because I still feel the combat in this game is flawed. A few replies to frustrated 'FUCK DIS GAME AND IT'S STUPID GUN FIGHT BULLSHIT' tweets of mine in regards to this and discussions with friends siding with me on this one indicate that it isn't just me.
Bioshock's combat system is pretty run of the mill for an FPS. But Bioshock isn't like most FPS games. Enemies have powers, can jump / teleport and refuse to keep their distance. And trying to keep that distance is difficult when you are constantly running low on ammo and are unable to use your powers because your gauge is depleted (Note: Elizabeth wasn't throwing me anywhere near the amount of ammo and salts at the beginning as she did during the later portion of the game). And this isn't factoring in that the combat zones are often pretty big, multi tiered and hectic. With you often skyrailing around not able to tell your arse from your elbow, let alone where the enemies are shooting you from.
During my constant dying and skyrailing around in circles wondering how I'm going to kill all of these enemies with no ammo and some shitty power, I couldn't help but think that Bioshock's combat system is not robust enough to facilitate many of the situations it throws you into. It clearly works a some level, because you are able to make it through the game and there are players who love it and find it perfect. But I have had to struggle and hustle for my life through battles, only just managing to make it through. This did provide me with a sense of satisfaction, but that didn't ever mean I felt the game wasn't being unfair. And he combat is so troublesome for me at times, that I am playing the game in constant fear of being jumped by a squad of enemies, because I know I'm going to die, I'm going to drop more F-bombs than Dunkirk and that I am going to be praying to white Jesus that there is a shotgun somewhere with lots of ammo and salt bottles generously dotted around like ketchup sachets at a McDonalds.
There have been very few occasions thus far where I felt a battle was won because of my own tactics and management of the situation. I'm shit at this game and suck at FPS' full stop. I'll make no qualms about admitting this. But I've completed Goldeneye 007 on its hardest difficulty dammit! So I can't be THAT terrible at this game, surely!? I have found it difficult to go into battles and execute any form of tactic when the game throws an enemy in the mix that flicks everything regarding any tactic straight out of a window and has you resorting to just skyrailing and aiming (completely off target) in the hopes that the enemy might just die if you do it for long enough.
You end up fighting enemies who are over powered and have weak spots, but you aren't ever given much of a chance to exploit this weak spot, because...you rarely ever can. How many of you bothered to shoot Patriots in their back? Did any of you so much as get a clear shot at the Handyman's heart whilst it's bounding around like a Gorilla and you're flying from skyrail to skyrail to avoid it? Didn't think so. The game never allows you the breathing space to make any use of an enemy's weak spot; not whilst you've got 15 soldiers, a guy with a rocket launcher and 2 sentry guns to deal with. Then there's the skyrail, which is context sensitive - so you have to wait for a prompt to appear before you can use it. It's sod's law that when you're being shot at and need to high tail it, that the prompt doesn't appear or it flickers so you that can't just hang on dat thang and zip away.
I know there are lots of players out there who are huge fans of the combat in this game. And whilst there were certain battles in this game I did thoroughly enjoy, I still stand firmly that the combat system isn't facilitated for some of the situations it throws you into, and that battles do not always allow you to be as tactical as you'd like, despite some of the elements being there. The oil slick you can set fire to. The puddle of water you can electrify. The automated gun you can turn on enemies. All things you sometimes never notice until you've already wiped out all of the enemies in an epic hustle. The battles are so frantic that they never really allow you a chance to pick up on these tactical elements. Perhaps you would if you've played Bioshock 1 or 2. But for a Bioshock virgin such as myself, nope. Not picked up on that shit on a first glance when the airships are shooting at me, some man with a bucket on his head is firing rockets in my face and a guy swarmed by crows is crowbarring my arse down in a corner.
The game is trying to keep you on your toes, make you feel over powered, that the odds are against you and that Comstock really wants you dead. I get that that. And I like that. But... I dunno. The combat in this game has just irked me and on multiple occasions and made me shout 'FUCK THIS SHIT! FUCK IT ALL AND IT'S UNFAIR RUBBISH COMBAT!'
Bioshock's combat system is pretty run of the mill for an FPS. But Bioshock isn't like most FPS games. Enemies have powers, can jump / teleport and refuse to keep their distance. And trying to keep that distance is difficult when you are constantly running low on ammo and are unable to use your powers because your gauge is depleted (Note: Elizabeth wasn't throwing me anywhere near the amount of ammo and salts at the beginning as she did during the later portion of the game). And this isn't factoring in that the combat zones are often pretty big, multi tiered and hectic. With you often skyrailing around not able to tell your arse from your elbow, let alone where the enemies are shooting you from.
During my constant dying and skyrailing around in circles wondering how I'm going to kill all of these enemies with no ammo and some shitty power, I couldn't help but think that Bioshock's combat system is not robust enough to facilitate many of the situations it throws you into. It clearly works a some level, because you are able to make it through the game and there are players who love it and find it perfect. But I have had to struggle and hustle for my life through battles, only just managing to make it through. This did provide me with a sense of satisfaction, but that didn't ever mean I felt the game wasn't being unfair. And he combat is so troublesome for me at times, that I am playing the game in constant fear of being jumped by a squad of enemies, because I know I'm going to die, I'm going to drop more F-bombs than Dunkirk and that I am going to be praying to white Jesus that there is a shotgun somewhere with lots of ammo and salt bottles generously dotted around like ketchup sachets at a McDonalds.
There have been very few occasions thus far where I felt a battle was won because of my own tactics and management of the situation. I'm shit at this game and suck at FPS' full stop. I'll make no qualms about admitting this. But I've completed Goldeneye 007 on its hardest difficulty dammit! So I can't be THAT terrible at this game, surely!? I have found it difficult to go into battles and execute any form of tactic when the game throws an enemy in the mix that flicks everything regarding any tactic straight out of a window and has you resorting to just skyrailing and aiming (completely off target) in the hopes that the enemy might just die if you do it for long enough.
You end up fighting enemies who are over powered and have weak spots, but you aren't ever given much of a chance to exploit this weak spot, because...you rarely ever can. How many of you bothered to shoot Patriots in their back? Did any of you so much as get a clear shot at the Handyman's heart whilst it's bounding around like a Gorilla and you're flying from skyrail to skyrail to avoid it? Didn't think so. The game never allows you the breathing space to make any use of an enemy's weak spot; not whilst you've got 15 soldiers, a guy with a rocket launcher and 2 sentry guns to deal with. Then there's the skyrail, which is context sensitive - so you have to wait for a prompt to appear before you can use it. It's sod's law that when you're being shot at and need to high tail it, that the prompt doesn't appear or it flickers so you that can't just hang on dat thang and zip away.
I know there are lots of players out there who are huge fans of the combat in this game. And whilst there were certain battles in this game I did thoroughly enjoy, I still stand firmly that the combat system isn't facilitated for some of the situations it throws you into, and that battles do not always allow you to be as tactical as you'd like, despite some of the elements being there. The oil slick you can set fire to. The puddle of water you can electrify. The automated gun you can turn on enemies. All things you sometimes never notice until you've already wiped out all of the enemies in an epic hustle. The battles are so frantic that they never really allow you a chance to pick up on these tactical elements. Perhaps you would if you've played Bioshock 1 or 2. But for a Bioshock virgin such as myself, nope. Not picked up on that shit on a first glance when the airships are shooting at me, some man with a bucket on his head is firing rockets in my face and a guy swarmed by crows is crowbarring my arse down in a corner.
The game is trying to keep you on your toes, make you feel over powered, that the odds are against you and that Comstock really wants you dead. I get that that. And I like that. But... I dunno. The combat in this game has just irked me and on multiple occasions and made me shout 'FUCK THIS SHIT! FUCK IT ALL AND IT'S UNFAIR RUBBISH COMBAT!'