November 2018 Playthrough - Bioshock

[MetalFRO]

Made the first checkpoint. Maybe I just suck at FPS games, but I found this to be fairly difficult. The Big Daddies are brutal. I like the atmosphere and the period feel to it, and the random dialogue from enemies is an interesting touch, highlighting what I presume is the eventual insanity one experiences after using the Plasmids. The telekinesis skill is pretty awesome, and I like that the elemental powers actually affect things properly.

[russlyman]

Well my PS3 controller crapped out. The analog stick that moves me was in a spin. I had a wired 3rd party but when I got a weapon found out R2 didn’t work 😓
So was looking for controllers at the game stores and found this for $16
[img width=700 height=933]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181105/b3d410b0bb67d5b177ea922a74a96fa5.jpg[/img]

So now I’m playing on PS4 and I can use my usb headset.

I’m also going to live stream it
Www.youtube.com/RussLyman


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Disposed Hero]

The Big Daddies are brutal.

Yeah, the Big Daddies are tough by design, but there are some ways to take them down relatively easily. The easiest way is to use the Hypnotize Big Daddy plasmid to get two of them to battle to the death and then finish off the survivor yourself. Hacked RPG turrets usually deal a good amount of damage as well before they are inevitably destroyed. They are susceptible to Electro Bolt, so use that to stun them and buy yourself some time if you need a breather. And always use hard hitting ammo like explosive and/or armor piercing rounds against them, as standard rounds do practically no damage.

It's also a good idea to check and make sure any Big Daddy you attempt to take down is actually escorting a Little Sister before fighting them. I've killed two Big Daddies so far that didn't have a Little Sister with them and felt like I wasted a ton of resources. 

It's also important to note that Big Daddies are not immediately hostile and will not attack on sight like all other enemies in the game, so you don't have to kill every one in your path. It also gives you a chance to set up traps or an ambush using proximity mines and turrets!

[MetalFRO]

All good points, thanks for the strategies! I haven't got far enough to find the hypnotize plasmid, but I'll be sure to watch for it. One assumes you unlock the ability to equip more than 2 at some point...

[Crabmaster2000]

Made the first checkpoint today. I'm still having the same major issue that I had with it when I played it years ago. I have no idea what the hell is happening and what anyone is talking about!! Granted FPS games are not my strongest genre, but whenever Atlas is on the radio or I'm trying to listen to an audio tape that I picked up I maybe get one sentence into it and then either can't listen because I'm in combat, I've triggered an alarm or most often I just get distracted looting or navigating around. I've had to go into my inventory and re-listen to them, but even then I don't really comprehend what is going on. I'm not sure I'm supposed to this early though and I'm hoping it makes more sense to me later, but I remember coming out of this game on my initial playthrough and just thinking "wtf did I just play?". Another issue that I had during my first playthrough was with navigating. When you are far from your target you get that arrow to show you where to go which I think is basically mandatory. Everything in this game looks identical so I get lost constantly.

Please correct me if I'm wrong or overlooking something (and perhaps I missed an audiotape or two), but this is what I know/don't know so far: My plane crashed and I entered Rapture by coincidence(?). Someone named Atlas wants me to help him escape with his family. Andrew Ryan built this Rapture to exists as a free society. ADAM is a substance that was created here that can alter a persons genetic code to enhance their abilities (via plasmids) or even their appearance/gender/race/etc.. Splicers are people that have overused ADAM and it has driven them to an unstable mental state and like junkies they will do almost anything, even dangerous things, to obtain more. Most common citizens of Rapture have become splicers. Tenenbaum takes young girls specifically and makes them into Little Sisters whose job it is to harvest ADAM from fresh human remains. Big Daddies are also manufactured (by Tenenbaum or someone else, not clear yet), and their sole purpose seems to be bodyguards to the Little Sisters.

I think that's all the major story beats up to this point, but like I said above please correct me if I missed or misinterpreted somethings because I am determined to make sense of this game this time around.

The shooting and the Plasmid use are pretty straightforward. Didn't initially understand the health and plasmid system until I started dying and recovering health so the numbers next to each bar started to make sense after that. I feel like I've spent 25% of my time hacking, 25% looting, 25% exploring, and a combined 25% in combat/listening to audiotapes and characters talk/using vending machines. Does that sound about right for everyone else's experience?

Has it explained how the Vita-Chambers work lore-wise yet? Why can I use them and not the splicers or even some of the more prominent characters like Steinman? Why can't I talk to anyone? I'm pretty sure my character said stuff during the opening before the plane crashed, but doesn't seem to be able to once in Rapture. Most splicers I come across are looting bodies and other items/machines. Why is there still so much loot around, did this event that destroyed Rapture happen incredibly recently before my arrival? What's with all of the automated Turrets/Drones around? Seems like any area with a security system (which I can't seem to avoid, I feel like I'm missing something because I'm pretty sure I've activated all of them multiple times so far) has unlimited drones. How do you hack a safe? Am I going to be 400lbs at the end of this with all the Chips, Candy Bars, Booze and Smokes I am consuming?

While it would be awesome to have the extra ADAM I can't bring myself to kill a Little Sister to obtain that extra bit of ADAM. It's a kid or at least was a kid and it just feels ichy to go that far. Like my first playthrough I'm going to have to rescue any I come across. Sure the Big Daddy is tough, but because you can regen at the Vita-Chamber and he keeps on him whatever damage he already had you can just Wrench him a bit-respawn-Wrench him again-respawn-repeat if you want to conserve your ammo supply. I'm not a fan of this kind of death mechanic in a game because it doesn't encourage you to get better at the game or even try and adapt. You can just brute force your way through any situation by taking advantage of the Vita-Chamber. Also the Playstation Vita will not let me pronounce that word like this game wants me too anymore. 

[douglie007]

Started the game, and it head phones with all the background talking.. I don't know if they are all baddies or if some are just background

[MetalFRO]

Crabby - not to derail the thread with mindless philosophizing, but the gist of the story is that Rapture is supposed to be an Objectivist paradise. Andrew Ryan is an anagram for Ayn Rand, the foremost objectivist thinker, and the game's story serves as a bit of a critique of that mindset.

[Crabmaster2000]

Crabby - not to derail the thread with mindless philosophizing, but the gist of the story is that Rapture is supposed to be an Objectivist paradise. Andrew Ryan is an anagram for Ayn Rand, the foremost objectivist thinker, and the game's story serves as a bit of a critique of that mindset.

I've heard that before. Im just more curious to know of the game does a good job of laying that out or if its just something we know from interviews with Ken Levine and the crew.

[Duke.Togo]

@Crabby: The Vita-chamber thing gets explained later. You're entering Rapture not long after everything has gone off the rails. Back when we did Infinite, I don't recall if you did the DLC or not - but it ties together.

I'm going to try to run by the local used game shop and look for copy of the collection. May have time to catch up.

[Disposed Hero]

Please correct me if I'm wrong or overlooking something (and perhaps I missed an audiotape or two), but this is what I know/don't know so far: My plane crashed and I entered Rapture by coincidence(?). Someone named Atlas wants me to help him escape with his family. Andrew Ryan built this Rapture to exists as a free society. ADAM is a substance that was created here that can alter a persons genetic code to enhance their abilities (via plasmids) or even their appearance/gender/race/etc.. Splicers are people that have overused ADAM and it has driven them to an unstable mental state and like junkies they will do almost anything, even dangerous things, to obtain more. Most common citizens of Rapture have become splicers. Tenenbaum takes young girls specifically and makes them into Little Sisters whose job it is to harvest ADAM from fresh human remains. Big Daddies are also manufactured (by Tenenbaum or someone else, not clear yet), and their sole purpose seems to be bodyguards to the Little Sisters.

That sounds pretty accurate to me. The story definitely begins as a mystery but should become clearer as you go along.

I kind of agree with your points about the Vita Chambers, but honestly I forget they're there most of the time, so I'm always trying my best to stay alive. Relying too heavily on them and brute forcing my way through the game like you described doesn't sound appealing to me at all, but I like being able to jump right back into the fray and not lose any progress when I die. I guess it's really up to the player whether they choose to exploit them or not. There is also an option in the menu to turn them off entirely if you'd rather go that route.

I haven't had any trouble avoiding alarms. Once spotted by a camera, you have a pretty generous amount of time to get out of sight before the alarm actually activates. Using electrobolt and then hacking/destroying the cameras (I always opt for hacking when I can) should minimize the threat of cameras/alarms, as well as turrets and drones.

I'm also going 100% rescue on the Little Sisters. You actually don't lose out on much ADAM in the long run since you get the bonuses/gifts after every third (?) rescued Little Sister.

[Crabmaster2000]

@Duke - I didn't touch the DLC on any game ever, lol.  I really don't remember much of the plot across any of the 3 games in this series even though I've beaten them all. They left almost no impact on me.

@Disposed Hero - Thanks for the confirmation. I really want to make sure I'm getting a good grasp on things so having this broken up into checkpoints for me to swallow it might actually be the best way to play.

Abusing the Vita-Chambers is not my favorite way to play either, but if a player is running low on resources it's easily abused to keep your coffers filled.

Is there a trick to spotting the cameras? I honestly didn't even realize there were cameras. I was looking for trip wires, turrets or enemies that got alerted and assumed that was what was triggering the alarms. Is it like Goldeneye and you can shoot them out so they don't alert the area to your presence?

[Disposed Hero]

Is there a trick to spotting the cameras? I honestly didn't even realize there were cameras. I was looking for trip wires, turrets or enemies that got alerted and assumed that was what was triggering the alarms. Is it like Goldeneye and you can shoot them out so they don't alert the area to your presence?

Yes, the cameras are always up on the walls. You should see the red light they emit on the ground, which is the biggest giveaway that one is nearby. You can shoot them out, but keep in mind that shooting them begins to set off the alarm (unless they're stunned from electrobolt), and they take several shots to destroy, so you'll have to be quick. I find hacking them to be preferable so that the enemies will set them off instead (drones won't attack you if the enemy sets off the alarm).

[img width=700 height=394]https://portforward.com/games/walkthroughs/BioShock/BioShock-large-202.jpg[/img]

[GrayGhost81]

Week one is over and I went ahead and checkpointed the rest of the game. So far there isn't much to talk about with the story, but things will heat up going forward. For now, let's save Atlas' family.

I always shot out the cameras. In addition to the red light sweeping the area, they make a distinct sound. Sometimes it's tricky to find them once you start looking up.

It is really hard to harvest little sisters, and in multiple playthroughs of this game, I have never done it once. Ken Levine, in an interview on the remaster, said he wished he'd made it more punishing to save them. By the end of my playthrough I had tons of Adam and wasn't close to using it all by the time I finished.

[russlyman]

So much great chatter in here. I am def pass the first check point and streamed the game 3 times so far.
I tried to stream straight from the PS4 but it’s blocked. So just have to use the elgato and go through the computer.

Enjoying the game a lot and enjoying the story.

I too have saved all the sisters


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Disposed Hero]

I just wanted to give a heads up that some of you guys may want to make some strategic save files while in the Fort Frolic area. I just encountered a glitch during a particular spot that has basically made it so that I cannot progress any further, and I believe my only recourse now is to restart the entire area from my autosave and lose over an hour of progress. After doing some searching, this appears to be a fairly common problem and is not specific to any game version or platform. I'm being intentionally vague for the sake of spoilers, but I can give more details upon request.