BioShock is more a story-centric experience than a mechanic-centric one, and by this I mean that we play the game not to slaughter Big Daddies because they pose tactical challenges, not because plasmids vary our gameplay, but because we value the story and are made invested into the outcome of its actors. And this means that BioShock is a great, single-flash experience, to be consumed at the player’s own pace and then set aside so it may accrue its warranted accolades.
Continue reading ‘BioShock, Part Three: Ah-ha! Linearity and the Plot Shift’
“The Deadliest Tournament in the Universe Comes to the Mac.”
Says the Destineer website for Unreal Tournament III for Mac, dated 18th December 2007.
Where the hell is it then? UT3 was released for PC back in November 2007. That was 28 months ago! In that time we’ve had BioShock, an Unreal 2.5 powered title ported to the Mac by Feral. Can porting UT3 for Mac be that hard? If it is, someone should say something, anything. Squeak at us. Run past my house and whisper it, I’ll hear it and post it here!
All Destineer tell me is that UT3 for Mac is still in development. Enough already: UT3 for Mac is dead. It’s not being released. It’s vapourware.
A Continuance on Tension and How I Can Translate It to What I Know (Which Isn’t Much)
With fear of simplifying too much, I say that a story’s fuel resides in the pull of opposing forces, whatever size they be.
Continue reading ‘BioShock, part two: Tension, the Hero, and the Writer’s Contract with His Consumer’
What first caught my interest are the polarities in BioShock: stasis versus progression, perpetual celebration versus a pragmatic need for rescue, permanence versus the possibility of permanence.
Continue reading ‘BioShock, part one: Tension is Abound!’
This is the first of a multipart series to discuss
BioShock,
Feral’s recent Mac port of the PC and console hit. I’ve just received my review copy and I’m installing as I type.
Continue reading ‘BioShock for Mac, an Introduction’
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