Bioshock Infinite – Iain Douglas Stewart

2013 videogame targets update and 2014 videogame targets

By Iain 1 January 2014Reflections, VideogamesNo Comments

I made three posts in January of 2013 outlining some targets I had for the coming year, and all of them started well, but fizzled out towards the end. I reckon that if I acknowledge my mistakes, I can learn from them. I’m tackling the videogame targets in this post – You can find the original one here, if you’re interested.

http://www.trueachievements.com/gamergoals.aspx?gamerid=2710

As you can see if you follow that link – I failed my attempt at reaching 100,000 Gamerscore in 2013. I’m not really bothered by this, as I (finally) learned that my time is worth more than some arbitrary number, and I had fun playing some great games in 2013, and that’s what counts. Still, I have made a new target, which roughly works out at 50% of the Achievement score of all the games in my pile of shame, I think. I reckon 50% is about right for any story or Campaign related Achievements in all the games on the list.

Videogame targets

By Iain 31 January 2013Reflections, VideogamesNo Comments

http://www.trueachievements.com/gamergoals.aspx?gamerid=2710 I know I was debating not having a target this year, but with all these other targets I thought "Why not, eh?". Can I get to 100,000 in eleven months? It's an increase of around 14,000 - I managed that last year. If I can find enough short and easy games then it won't take long, but I'm kind…

Bioshock-ingly good

By Iain 16 July 2012Reviews, VideogamesNo Comments

This game was like an albatross around my neck. I started it in February 2011 after David and Katie got me Bioshock 2 for Christmas 2010. I didn’t fancy diving straight into the sequel, so I picked up the original Bioshock cheap from Gamestation. I didn’t play it for very long, I admit. It just didn’t grab me, and the PC-esque UI put me off.

Thirteen months later, I picked up from where I left off, and within seconds I was hooked. Why? I had my first proper Big Daddy/Little Sister encounter. From there, I completed the first game within a week, and Bioshock 2 (Campaign modes and single player DLC, at least) was finished off a week later. I was actually obsessed with the thing, and Bioshock Infinite seems so far away. I feel sorry for anyone who played these games years ago and have had to wait even longer for Bioshock Infinite.

Caution – there will be spoilers for both games in this non-review. I’ll be focusing on the stories a fair bit as they are the strongest elements. The gameplay itself was great, but the grand stories, deep characters and super-imaginative world is what will make Bioshock stick in my head for a very long time.

Bioshock then. Do I really need to explain the basics? I’m sure that by now, anyone who is even remotely tempted to read my blog would know about Rapture. No? Ok then. Rapture is a city, the dream of one man, the embodiment of conviction himself, Andrew Ryan. Oh yeah, and it’s an underwater city. In Rapture, genetic engineering is prolific. “Splicing” is not confined to simply changing your height, build or skin colour – you could go as far as shooting flames, electricity or ice from your hands, or turning invisible when you stood still. We join the story just after a civil war – one that you can actually play in Bioshock 2’s multiplayer – but we’ll get to that later. Splicing has got out of hand (excuse the pun), and things are generally quite fucked up.