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[bobbychalkers]

It had a lot of things going for it but it squanders a lot of it by being too much of a by the numbers videogame. I remember playing through it my first time and I felt that the narrative and world that they were trying to present was at odds with the moment to moment gameplay.

 

[Memorabilia]

I remember the general sentiment towards BI when it first came out was that it sort of seemed to represent a last hurrah for the PS3/360 graphically and thematically. I actually remember people I knew (and others I just randomly met here or there) breathlessly talked about how beautiful and engaging it is. A tad over the top, sure. But, for all its flaws, it provided a rich single player narrative during a time when those had already started to fall out of favor and be replaced by watered down crap tacked on to multiplayer shootbang brofests over the previous couple years. In that sense I think Infinite deserves to be remembered fondly. Hindsight is 20/20, so its easy to see some of the hype was overblown. But its equally easy to understand why when you consider the convergence of aforementioned dudebro trends in the gaming market with the medium having grown to become somewhat accepted by mainstream media and the populace at large as a legit way to tell stories. I remember Peter Jackson coming out publicly and waxing poetic about how wonderful Infinite is... Heaping praise on the designer/writer and even going so far as to call him brilliant and visionary as a storyteller. That's got to count for something coming from Jackson. It's always easier to look back on something with cynical eyes than to understand the context and timing of a creative work.

I recognize the flaws, but I'd instantly snap up a Bioshock Trilogy Remaster if it ever sees the light of day.

 

[QuantumZebra]

BioShock Infinite was a tremendous game with a huge fanbase. Even places where games don't usually thrive, like Tumblr.

I will say that, as somebody who loves and writes about BioShock Infinite, I usually don't talk about it because of the amount of people on GAF who hate it so much.

But Last of Us definitely took some steam away, because it accomplished a lot of things Ken Levine was trying to do.

Somebody has made your exact thread in the past. Search your thread title and I'm sure you'll find it.

I think it gets a lot of hate on GAF for good reason - that being that B:I was supposed to be the next big thing after Bioshock was a huge hit, and instead we got a clunky shooter with endless "go here and then fight wave of enemies" gameplay ala Uncharted 1, and a script that would make Damon Lindelof (Lost and Prometheus) cringe.

There are a ton of video game "purists" here who likely adore System Shock 2 and have witnessed its greatness be followed up by the inferior Bioshock (which was still good) and then the garbage of B:Infinite. That in itself is a big reason for the hate I think.

I remember the general sentiment towards BI when it first came out was that it sort of seemed to represent a last hurrah for the PS3/360 graphically and thematically. For all its flaws, it provided a rich single player narrative during a time when those had already started to fall out of favor and be replaced by watered down crap tacked on to multiplayer shootbang brofests over the previous couple years. In that sense I think Infinite deserves to be remembered fondly. Hindsight is 20/20, so its easy to see some of the hype was overblown. But its equally easy to understand why when you consider the convergence of aforementioned dudebro trends in the gaming market with the medium having grown to become somewhat accepted by mainstream media and the populace at large as a legit way to tell stories. I remember Peter Jackson coming out publicly and waxing poetic about how wonderful Infinite is... Heaping praise on the designer/writer and even going so far as to call him brilliant and visionary as a storyteller. That's got to count for something coming from Jackson. It's always easier to look back on something with cynical eyes than to understand the context and timing of a creative work.

I recognize the flaws, but I'd instantly snap up a Bioshock Trilogy Remaster if it ever sees the light of day.

But... Bioshock: Infinite was a shootbang-fest with little to nothing to differentiate it. The skyhook mechanic was cool, but it just led you to X area where shootbang-fest would inevitably occur. It was far inferior to Bioshock, and that in turn was inferior to System Shock 2.

Infinite wasn't forgotten because people only cared about Brofest Shooter of Duty, it was forgotten because it wasn't very good.

 

[Suite Pee]

Solid 8/10. The combat mechanics were good but the actual combat situations were pretty mediocre.

Also, the story was pretty good for a video game.

 

[enigmatic_alex44]

Bioshock Infinite was really good, and the DLC was fantastic.

Then the ending to Burial at Sea Part 2 happened, and basically ruined the story of the base game and both DLCs. STILL pissed about that.

 

[Mupod]

I thought it was decent but I mentally categorize it in the same realm of shooter as Timeshift and Singularity. The main difference is that while those I consider 'unknown but worth recommending' I don't need to bring up Bioshock because everyone already knows about it. But yeah, I thought it played okay, nothing special. Game balance was super broken and I just crowed everything to death with no challenge whatsoever presented to me.

I don't put it anywhere near TLOU, not for reasons of storytelling or presentation or whatever. TLOU was just a way more interesting game.

 

[Dr. Black Jack]

It was great until the

Spoiler

alternate dimension/timeline/whatever bullshit

, where it completely fell off the rails. The

Spoiler

SMOTHER SMOTHER SMOTHER line from Elizabeth

is my least favorite line of dialogue in video game history. The game got crushed under the weight of it's convoluted narrative.

Gameplay was fun though, and the setting was really cool.

 

[PanicFreak]

I loved Bioshock Infinite. I rarely play games twice and I fired up my second playthrough the second that I finished my first. The skills are still fun to tinker with and the alternate dimension story was pretty well told as video games go. I would give it a solid A-.

The OP forgot that GTA V came out later that year as well.

 

[thelastcrusader]

I played Infinite for like 6 hours and had zero interest to continue playing it. As a guy who loved 1 and 2, Infinite just felt so meh. Still haven't gone back to it and probably never will.

 

[mindsale]

My two favorite games. Both Troy Baker on not-annoying escort quests with underexplored themes like paternalism and, hell, paternity.

If you think Infinite's lost any of its lustre, re-watch the ascension to Rapture with its Disneylike oversaturation and caricatures and try not to get chills when the pod prompt whispers, "Hallelujah." Game is and always will be a marvel.

 

[CertifiedFP]

What happened was we all got sucked in by the hype.

And then soon after we realized, well... The game sucked.

 

[DNAbro]

After I finished BI, I thought it was one of the best games ever. A month later not so much. BI is a much better made game than the original though. I could barely get through that one.

 

[Pro from Dover]

Loved Infinite, but that's my problem.

 

[Alebrije]

Infinite was fun , but I like my Bioshoks under water.

 

[Adry9]

It wasn't that good, that's what happened

 

[Coffee Dog]

BioShock Infinite is a story focused corridor shooter about a big strong man protecting a frail little girl that got bettered in every way by another one that released a few months later.

It took too long to release or people would have said it was a precursor to TLOU. As it is it's a footnote.

 

[HueyFreeman]

Kind of stunned at these comparisons to TLOU.

The games have absolutely nothing in common thematically, only a tenuous connection with protecting a young girl. WTF

 

[Pops Maellard]

+ Great world concept
+ Great setpieces
+ Great central conflict/historical themes
+ Great main characters (better than BioShock 1&2 IMO)

- Nonsensical multiverse logic and ending
- Lackluster game systems, especially Vigors, Tonics, vending machines, and of course the arena shooter bullshit
- Gameplay scenarios never quite felt like a good expression of the game's themes
- Map layout and design wasn't anywhere near as interesting as the first two

Turns out the positives were all things that people gush about at first glance, and the negatives are all things that sour a game's reputation over time.

I disagree about the ending, but this is probably the best way to explain the backlash. I still would argue that Infinite is an incredible game, but it's most impactful elements are fleeting and underscored by lasting mechanical issues.

 

[MattGalvatron]

It has a large cult following. I constantly see bioshock infinite cosplayers at every convention I go to. It also pops up in discussions every once in a while. I know people hate talking about remasters but I really hope a bioshock collection happens. With improve shooting, textures and more...(my dream game).

They still make new Bioshock infinite products like monthly that are sold at http://store.irrationalgames.com/store/tk2irr/en_US/home So I don't think it's forgot it just has gone into the cult like genre.

 

[Joei]

BS 1 and 2 are fantastic, BI is a crappy arena shooter. It needs to be forgotten.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

It was a game with fun gunplay and a stupid story that didn't make a lick of sense. It managed to be less memorable than Bioshock despite it being the mechanically superior game. If you really liked it then there's nothing wrong with that because it's a fun game, but there's nothing about it that really garners discussion years later.

 

[JZA]

Environments look great, but the way the NPC "inhabitants" were so stiff and wooden was just off-putting. They reminded me of the animatronics in the Hall of Presidents at Disney World. Bioshock 1 and the multiplayer of Bioshock 2 are still the most endearing to me, Columbia was great but it wasn't Rapture.

 

[Nestunt]

On my all time top 10

 

[fvng]

Do you know something we don't?

Wasn't this a big story last week?

 

[Bjoern the Smexy]

Bioshock Infinite was an awesome game with an awesome story.
The sad part is that it was an FPS.

It should've been an Adventure game. Point & Click even.
As an FPS it's extremely flat. Enemy wave after enemy wave, no real puzzles to speak of.

The two-part DLC made everything better, but still not good.
It's a very, very enjoyable story with very, very repetitive gameplay.

Though I will never forget the game, as the Songbird statue still has it's worthy place on my desk.

 

[Lingitiz]

It had nothing to do with TLOU and all to do with Infinite being an even more stripped down shooter than Bioshock was. All RPG progression elements and exploration were basically removed in favor of a super linear arena shooter that was simply okay at best. It banked hard on it's twist ending and after the initial shock wears off, I don't think it holds up that well.

 

[LegendofLex]

I disagree about the ending

I'll explain myself - I just played the game for the first time a month-ish ago, so my impressions are still pretty fresh, and might be remedied with a replay:

- The sequence of events actually made good sense. You can imagine how the different decisions about dealing with his grief could have influenced Booker's character development in the ways presented in the ending.

- The delivery of the ending was pretty wildly terrible, though. In a game that's otherwise grounded in magic realism ("tears" as a means of time travel), pivoting to literal "doors" (which would normally be allegorical images and not literal ones) as transitions between the ending scenes really broke the logic of the story for me. All the other metaphors were woven in plausibly; the weird Rapture/lighthouse stuff was not.

 

[UCBooties]

Turns out the positives were all things that people gush about at first glance, and the negatives are all things that sour a game's reputation over time.

This is an excellent summary.

 

[Älg]

and A.I mechanic with Ellie FAR out-trumped Elizabeth's in comparison

Weeeell...

To be honest I think both games suffer from the same problem, albeit Bioshock more than TLoU. Both games were great to look at, and not as great to play. TLoU had better gamepay than Bioshock, but I think people judge it to singularly. It feel as if people's logic is that since it was a good experience (which I think it was) it must've been good at everything (which I think it wasn't).

 

[HardRojo]

I love the game, and BTW more than The Last of Us (sorry TLOS gaf lovers, your dear child is not loved inconditionally by everyone in the world or even gaf) but im not going to praise it everytime (even if im reminded of how much I like it someday thinking at my home, or at work).
If the topic makes it easy to talk about it, I will talk about it, but im not going to talk about BI years after release to compare it to another game that was released years ago, just because im bored at home.

What i know is haters remember it more than people who loved the game, thats for sure.

Wow. That was not necessary man.

On topic: I actually feel I would have enjoyed the game a lot more as a movie or visual novel/adventure. Hated the gameplay, enjoyed the story. And yes, TLoU came out and overshadowed it completely, that's very clear.

 

[Psychoward]

Gameplay was worse than 2 but better than 1 and much better than TLOU, setting was great and the story was pretty good for most of the game. Why they implemented a 2 weapon limit though I'll have no idea.

 

[roytheone]

I think bioshock infinite is the most talked about "forgotten game" ever,which is kind of ironic. Seriously, I remember like at least 5 other threads that had the exact same subject as this one.

 

[Grief.exe]

I love Bioshock never understood the criticism it got.

Well, here's your chance to read an entire thread of criticism.

 

[LegendofDragoonLives]

Great game that lost all its steam when game of the generation released a few months later. Nothing you can do about it.

 

[TedNindo]

While it was a fun ride. That`s what it felt like. A ride.

While I feel I experienced the original more. I remember it more as a place I visited than a choreographed experience.

Bioshock Infinite was too well choreographed imo and that made it more forgettable to me because it required less of me.

 

[Ganondorfo]

No, there are still many Elizabeth cosplaying females. System Shock 2 on the other hand is forgotten since it launched in 1999 I think.

 

[Demoskinos]

I don't really hold Last of Us in any high regard. I think its pretty overrated. I do really however like Bioshock Infinite and still do. Now that is a HD remaster I wouldn't mind getting. Along with GTA V I think Infinite is among the best last gen had to offer.

 

[JumpJeff84]

I played the game right when it came out. Loved the beginning, loved the setting but found the gameplay boring. By the time I reached the end of the game I was playing just for the story, then I ended up hating the story just as much as the gameplay.

Some people love the game, but I thought it was incredibly mediocre.

 

[DomsPlaying]

I will never forget Bioshock Infinite. It's one of the games where I went to replay it the moment I finished it, which says a lot.

Then again, I think I'm in the minority here. Most people are more apt to forget Infinite than say the original Bioshock.

 

[FaintDeftone]

A fantastic story with a fantastic sense of atmosphere that was dragged down by mediocre gameplay. I still love the game but it is a chore to play through again.

 

[Sheriff_Battlesnake]

I like the multiverse so it was fun. I loved the ending. Didn't play great but it got me through to the end.

 

[batrush]

Mediocre gameplay, barely mediocre writing. I'd forgotten about the game until this thread popped up.

 

[Wuthering_Heights]

It was a nice little diversion.

But what I really wanted was more Rapture.

 

[HotHamBoy]

I thought Bioshock 2 was better than 1, and I really enjoyed 1. I actually almost didn't play 2 because people always shit on it, but damned if it doesn't have the superior gameplay and that's what I play games for. I don't expect *good* stories from games, that's what just about every other medium is for. I do appreciate an entertaining story, though, and Infinite was not very entertaining after a couple hours. To me, one of the biggest sins a game can make is to think its story is important and Infinite sure does have some lofty, misguided aspirations. It's a pretty bad story and the ending is really quite stupid. I could probably deal with that if the gameplay was tight - most games have really stupid stories - but I found the gameplay to be abhorent. I slogged through the whole game hoping it would get better and it never did. Gone was the potent atmosphere, gone was creeping through halways, saving your best ammo, scrounging to survive as you dug into the mystery. The level design opened up for the worse. Enemies were dumb bullet sponges. The streamlining and pairing down of the gameplay systems was a major turnoff and the skyhook was a silly gimmick.

I think Infinite placed more importance on telling this grand, sweeping thriller with its pretentious (sorry) meta-commentary than it did on being a proper gameplay iteration. I know the game had a long, expensive and troubled development and I suspect that several major gameplay elements were scrapped because they couldn't get them to work (multiplayer, for instance). The game was probably revealed far too early and made far too many promises. I also didn't appreciate the Elizibeth redesigns, it seemed to show a lack of confidence. Her original haircut and cheekbones were more interesting and the downsizing of her breasts was weird to me. For one thing, they weren't even that big originally, but for another it seemed to be a direct response to some criticism that I felt was unwarranted. I didn't think she seemed over-sexualized but now we're acting like breasts are obscene, which seems like a whole different kind of sexism and a bit of a superficial takeaway,

 

[MattGalvatron]

Also again to hit the point that it's not really forgotten it's literally on the front page of most gaming sites today. Elizabeth holding a lighter is both on ign and pc gamer.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/11/23/yes-there-will-almost-certainly-be-more-bioshock-games

 

[Astral Dog]

makes sense, it was a pretty forgettable game

it's one of those games where you play through it once and then that's that

This, there are a lot of games like Infinte, does not mean it was bad, far from it. But maybe not a classic.

 

[Stereogatari]

It was so forgettable. The lore and gameplay was good.

Enemy design and level design was shit. If it was more mazey and fights were tactical (got to use this type of magic on this enemy or w/e). But it was a bit of a free for all just spam attack and win.

 

[Langdon Alger]

It doesn't deserve to be remembered.

 

[Bl@de]

Fantastic game. Still remember a lot about it. Great DLC too

 

[Mobius and pet octopus]

I think Bioshock infinite was and is great. But it is also just a single player game. Why would I or many other people constantly talk about a SP game that came out 2 years ago? I don't understand this thing about gamers that they think a game is forgotten if we're not actively talking about it. Same deal with titanfall, its really ... pointless (to put it nicely) ... to me that this thread was even made.