Bioshock Demo...

[Chopsticks]

An absolutely emphatic 10/10 on Eurogamer. (And everyone else seems to be bigging this game up as being about the best thing to happen to videogaming for years and years.)

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=81479

 

And with that out of the way, all that remains is to insist that anyone with a PC or a 360 goes out and buys this wonderful game on the 24th of August (or sooner if you happen to live near the street date-breaking US retailers), and send a message to the entire games industry that this is the kind of game that people want. BioShock is the ultimate rarity: not only does it live up to its lofty promise, but exceeds it through simple, old fashioned talent and imagination - not to mention verve, style,class, wit, and sheer bloody-minded ambition. It takes the tired, worn-out FPS genre by the scruff of the neck, reinvents and bend it out of shape in such a breathtaking fashion that it's going to take something very special to top this in the months and years ahead. For a game to be so outstanding in one department is one thing - to manage to tick every single box from graphics to audio to gameplay depth to atmosphere and innovation is pretty much unprecedented. Seriously - if you don't find something to love about BioShock, we'd recommend a trip to the nearest doctor to check if your heart's still beating.

[K.os Theory]

yep the official 360 magazine also gave it 10/10 ( although I tend to find official mag reviews slightly baised )...

[Chopsticks]

August 24th will be a good day for PS3 owners!

 

No wait, the other one.

[ai_Droid]

yep the official 360 magazine also gave it 10/10 ( although I tend to find official mag reviews slightly baised )...

 

Game Informer: 10/10

Games Radar: 10/10

PC Gamer UK: 95%

OXM UK: 10/10

Alternative Press: 5/5

PC Zone: 96%

Gamer.tv: 5/5

Eurogamer.net: 10/10

 

 

Is it next week yet?

 

I've preordered the collectors ed, I'm so weak!

[Chopsticks]

Good news for PC owners, if my results with the PC demo - (downloadable via Steam and I'm sure other places as well) - are anything to go buy, you don't really need a ninja PC to run this game.

 

My system is Opteron 146 @ 2.0GHz (Athlon64 3400+, basically), 2GB RAM, and a 512MB Radeon X1900XT (which overclocks easily to beyond X1900XTX speeds if required).

 

However, to try out the demo I left the card running at its stock speed.

 

1280x960, everything turned on, and high detail on everything, basically everything maxed out except I turned vsync off.

 

And it runs absolutely peachy, doesn't miss a beat at all, far slicker than I'd possibly dared to hope for.

 

I can only assume that all this talk of needing a multi-core CPU to get the most out of the game is a bit of marketing bollocks, because I've got a distinctly pedestrian single core CPU, and the game runs every bit as slick, if not slicker, than the 360 version.

 

My assumption is that the game needs a powerful GPU more than it does a powerful CPU, because my graphics card is pretty much as high-end as DX9 cards ever got, and it's certainly well up to the task of running this game.

 

Since I have an X-Fi sound card I was also able to turn on the Creative EAX sound option, which is a treat for the ears.

 

And most importantly of all of course - KEYBOARD + MOUSE CONTROLS.

 

PC version it is for me then

[ai_Droid]

You won't of course be seeing all the DX10 visual sex that's going on.

[Chopsticks]

You won't of course be seeing all the DX10 visual sex that's going on.

 

Have you seen the comparison DX9 and DX10 screenshots?

 

You need a bloody magnifying glass to tell the difference, and it's arguable that whilst the DX10 version looks a bit different, it doesn't necessarily look any better.

 

Bioshock was developed as a DX9 game, it stands to reason that any DX10 additions are only going to be fripperies at best, plus, word is that the DX10 version runs a lot slower on the same spec hardware as the DX9 version.

 

Besides which, the keyboard and mouse controls pretty much seal the deal for me, I was prepared to put up with having to turn some of the visual trickery off to get it running acceptably on my PC, so the fact it runs at 1280x960, maxed out, super smooth, is manna from heaven.

[Chopsticks]

I have now played the 360 and PC demos to completion twice, because I'm a bit anal like that.

 

Conclusions are as follows:

 

1) This is a PC game, not a console game.

 

2) The way the inventory and menu screens work, along with the help, map, and information screens function, is absolute and irrefutable proof that FPS games belong on the PC.

 

3) Don't even get me started on the controls. FPS games demand a keyboard and mouse. Bioshock only delivers this on the PC.

 

4) And what about mousewheel weapon selection, eh? Show me a console pad that can do that.

 

5) They've done a truly admirable job with the 360 controls, but this is a PC game, no arguments.

 

6) My less-than-exciting PC runs the game at higher detail levels and maintains a better framerate than the 360 version manages. (2GHz Opteron146 (Athlon64), 2GB RAM, Radeon X9100XT.) There are times on the 360 when you can sort of "feel" the hardware struggling a bit, even maxed out, my PC never missed a beat.

 

7) Painless installation and configuration via Steam, although I'm sure a shop-bought disc will be little different. I only needed to change two keys to get my perfect control configuration, these guys know their stuff. You can fuck around with just about everything without having to quit the game and restart and see the effects of what you've done.

 

8) It's just familiar "use" and "jump" keys, not remembering what fucking colour button to press!

 

I'm definitely going for the PC version, because:

 

1) It's cheaper than the 360 version.

2) The controls are infinitely better.

3) It looks nicer and runs smoother (even with a DX9 card).

4) My PC is less likely to blow up just out of warranty if I keep asking it to do tricky stuff.

[Slim]

Na, 360 cos:

 

a) I can veg on the sofa with me wireless controller

b) Me tellys bigger than me monitor

c) Cos I've preorded the silly edition with a little bigdaddy figure

[Chopsticks]

Na, 360 cos:

 

a) I can veg on the sofa with me wireless controller

b) Me tellys bigger than me monitor

c) Cos I've preorded the silly edition with a little bigdaddy figure

 

Your funeral, man.

 

(Although I'm totally with you on the vegging out on the sofa side of things. But the PC version is not only a lot nicer to look at, it's a lot nicer to play as well.)

[ai_Droid]

(Although I'm totally with you on the vegging out on the sofa side of things. But the PC version is not only a lot nicer to look at, it's a lot nicer to play as well.)

 

I'm deffo on the fence. My PC's up to the job (Dual core 2, 7950gt, 2gb ram), but I really like playing on the 360 too. Feh.

 

I can't show off me achievements on the PC

[chello]

I would say pc version is much better myself,cant beat keyboard and mouse. How come u boys arnt hooking pc up to telly as i only use 3 cables ,dvi to hdmi,sound cable to amp,usb extension goes to a hub next to telly.All cables are 10 metres long as pc is in another room as its to noisy for me,my tv is the only moniter i use these days and works a treat.

[ai_Droid]

I would say pc version is much better myself,cant beat keyboard and mouse. How come u boys arnt hooking pc up to telly as i only use 3 cables ,dvi to hdmi,sound cable to amp,usb extension goes to a hub next to telly.All cables are 10 metres long as pc is in another room as its to noisy for me,my tv is the only moniter i use these days and works a treat.

 

PC's in me den, three rooms away.

 

Another score for the pc version:

http://dl.tocaedit.com/bioshockdFOV.zip

 

Fixes the widescreen choppery apparently.

[modey]

Got to say it's the 360 version all the way for me.

 

I'm the opposite of CT, i just can't get to grips with fps using a keyboard and a mouse, got to be a controller.

 

Plus it looks good on the 37" plasma with surround sound

[ai_Droid]

Minus one for the PC version;

 

"As if 2K wasn't taking enough flak from yesterday's widescreen debacle, now gamers who have spent their hard-earned cash on the PC version of BioShock are finding that they can only install the game twice, ever. The game uses SecuROM copy protection, which verifies the install of the game remotely, disabling further installs once the game has been installed twice."

 

That is utter bullshit.