Sunday, October 14, 2007

BioShock (Xbox 360) First Game for Full Achievements


Tuesday evening I completed BioShock (Xbox 360) for the 2nd time, and it also has the honour of being the first game ever on the Xbox 360 where I gained all its Achievements, earning a full 1000/1000 Gamer Points.

Aside from all the issues I had with the Title Update and my scuffed disc, BioShock _is_ a great game. While it has a few hick ups here and there, I must say that my only real gripe is that even on Hard, the game is way too easy, and this is all due to the Vita Chambers.

Right from the get go, you are completely immortal. Granted, you can die, but you're brought back at 50% Health at the nearest Vita Chamber at absolutely no cost to you. Because of this, I actually stopped using Medkits or First Aid Stations except in rare circumstances, simply because there was no point in using them. Why, when I can just come back for free, and that takes away any form of penalty for your actions and makes all challenges a complete breeze.

Honestly, what they should have done, was charged you Money for every time you revive at a Vita Chamber. I'd say $50.00 on Easy, $100.00 on Normal, and $150.00 on Hard. That would certainly have had players playing more cautiously.

I'd also have greatly limited the amount of ammo scattered around the levels, as well as the amounts of Money. Also reducing the amount of Adam you get from either Harvesting or Rescuing on the higher difficulties would have been much more interesting.

These are all handicaps that System Shock 2 employed on its harder settings, and it was a much better game for it. The lack of any challenge in BioShock is what's going to seriously hurt its replay value.

Regardless though, BioShock is still a great game with one of the deepest, most immersive stories I've ever had the privilege to play through, though honestly there's not that huge of a difference between the game's moral choices/paths. Still a rare jewel in a sea of clone games.

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