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Too unstable and slow support

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: September 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've more or less had it with this game. It is broken for some reason or other, whether it is because of the copy protection schema or the lack of hardware testing, it still has the same results. When it did work all it did was crash, but most of the time it just crashes without running. Sadly enough I have a recent dx10 pc setup which should work, but nothing so far has allowed me to actually play the game for any period of time.

Fun-wise, it has a lot of potential with its details, intensity and environmental detail, but that is only based on initial assessment on what I did get to see. So far their support has been mostly slow from what I have seen with their seeming attitude that something is wrong with the customer and not the software...

Unfortunately as it is still a new game, it is an expensive test to see whether or not anyone will have problems with the software or the copy protection. It may work well by the time it is in the bargain bin...but the copy protection servers may not be around to allow the game to install at all by that time.

Buyer beware...

Everyone calm down about the launch problems.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 22
Date: August 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is glorious, perfect in just about every way, exceptionally creative, a blast to play, and probably the game of the year...but you know that already, so you don't need me to say it.

Let's talk about all these 1-star "THE GAME WON'T RUN!" reviews.

1) Yes, it uses SecuROM, which means you can only install it on 5 computers, and only install it on the same computer 5 times, except there will be a patch soon so that you can remove the SecuROM info from your computer, making both those numbers effectively infinite. You just can't have it on more than 5 computers at one time. Which no one really wants to do anyway.

2) This game has an amazingly responsive tech support team, and those complaining about SecuROM making the game unplayable in the future are wrong. These people are proud of this game, and they won't let that happen.

3) Regarding technical issues - every PC game this ambitious has had launch problems. It stutters on some computers, crashes on others. Again, they are FIXING these problems. In the THREE DAYS since this has been released, they have put up fixes for many of the problems, and are working on a patch to correct more. Download the demo; if the demo doesn't work, wait for the patch.

This is the first game to comprehensively use DirectX 10, and additionally is one of the first games released that supports special features of Vista and DX10 without requiring them. So, it needs to be stable on more different kinds of computers than just about any other game out right now. It'll take more than three days (honestly people THREE DAYS) to fix everything, but it WILL be fixed.

And, bottom line is this - your chances of having something go wrong are still very low, and the game is ABSOLUTELY worth it. Do yourself, and the whole games industry, a favor and buy this game. It's a work of art, and it's the kind of game that isn't made (or published) often enough. If you have problems, submit a tech support request to 2k, and they will FIX IT. It's not like they DON'T want you to be satisfied and play the game.

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 11
Date: January 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I was disappointed in the delivery, was told it would be delivered by December 24th and I did not get it until December 27th. I had ordered other items from different sources through Amazon at the same time and received them well before the 24th.

Awesome experience!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 15
Date: August 22, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I purchased Bioshock last night and played it for a good three hours. Being a fan of System Shock 2, purchasing Bioshock was a no-brainer. I was expecting to play the most amazing game ever made after reading the critic reviews. A+ here, 100% there, as it stands now it has the highest cumulative review score ever. The story is great, the atmosphere is truly spooky and twisted. You really get the feeling that Rapture was a great city that fell into the depths of madness and despair. The character dialogue is also very engrossing. The interaction between the player and the big daddies and little sisters is very fulfilling. I twitter with anticipation everytime a hear a big daddy lumbering about. (Spare the little sisters). As for the FPS action goes, Bioshock doesn't do anything new or special in the realm of mechanics. The addition of plasmids is very interesting, but the actual gunplay leaves a lot to be desired. The enemy variety is also very weak. All in all, I don't agree with all these insane reviews, I give this game a B+ for it's amazing story and engrossing atmosphere.

This game rocks!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: August 22, 2007
Author: Amazon User

For anyone who has liked gears of war, resident evil, etc. you need to play this one

Great Gameplay, Graphics, Sound and Story

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: September 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game after my brother recommended it. I had a fairly old video card and I ended up needing to buy a new one in order to get the game to play. It was worth it.

In terms of the gameplay, the use of plasmids and weapons and the ways in which the character can use them to interact with the environment is more developed than any game I have ever played. While it is possible to go through the game using only a few different abilities, there are dozens of strategies to take out any enemy and they are higly rewarding and fun.

In terms of the graphics and sound, this game exceeds any other that I have ever played. My computer just barely meets the minimum specifications for this game and it still looks and sounds amazing. The audio is crystal clear and the voice acting is superb. The only complaint I have is that if you don't find a quiet place to go beforehand, the tape recordings can be hard to hear.

In terms of the story, I am an avid reader and I was still impressed with the depth of the story in this game. It has definitly taken the place of my favorite video game story, and it is also near the top even when including other forms of entertainment including books and movies.

This game is a piece of art. The visual and audio delight the senses and the story is amazing. This game can be played like any other mindless first person shooter, but if you take the time to pay attention to the story and work out different fighting strategies, it is well worth it in the end.

How to fix all your problems with Bioshock

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: December 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Setting the MaxChannels to 32 and StreamBufferSize to 128 fixed all my problems with Bioshock. The video and sound both stuttered because I was using my old Sound Blaster Live! sound card.

Here is a guide to fixing all the problems you'll probably have with Bioshock. An update came out in early December of 2007 too.

http://www.tweakguides.com/Bioshock_7.html

Immersive Gameplaying Experience

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is quite simply one of the most amazing gameplay experiences ever. The graphics are spectacular and very atmospheric, the voice acting is top notch, but the story is what really blew me away. The story unfolds in everything around you--graffiti, posters, radio diaries, intercom messages, and a few survivors of a tragedy all contribute dramatically to the world that is Rapture. Some messages are written in blood, making you wonder who wrote it--was it a resident that has gone crazy from gene splicing? Or was it put there to lead you away from the truth? Even upon finishing the game, you are still rewarded as you play through the game again (there are multiple endings, depending on the choices you make throughout the game).

This game also scared the **** out of me several times---some of your enemies sneak up behind you when you're rummaging around, and the instant you turn around they're swinging a lead pipe at your head...if you set someone on fire, they'll run around screaming trying to find water...sometimes the lights go out, and you can hear the deranged citizens of Rapture laughing maniacally in the darkness, but you don't know where they are...and even worse, some of your enemies pretend like they're dead until you come up to search their bodies for loot.

The gameplay is simply fantastic as well. Nobody plays the exact same way, as there are dozens of different ways to dispatch your enemies---freeze them into a solid block of ice, and then shatter them with a wrench; set them on fire; use telekinesis to hurl explosive barrels and crates at your enemies; "tag" your enemies so they set off security cameras, sending in gun-turrets that will take care of them for you; you can even set traps by placing mines, electrified trip wires, or even a combination...one of the most interesting ways is to find an oil slick; place a mine on the ceiling above it, and then place a cyclone trap (it blows your opponents up into the air) right beneath it....the first enemy that comes by gets launched into the mine, only to land on top of the oil slick, setting the whole area on fire. Half of the fun is finding out all the different ways of dispatching/distracting your enemies.

And I don't know what all the talk is about the game constantly crashing---I have a 3.2 GHz (single core) processor, 2GB RAM, an 8600GTS BFG video card, and the game hasn't crashed on me yet. I can play it with the detail all the way up, mid-resolution, and the game is simply amazing. You can also download a game demo for free, and you can get an idea of what the gameplay and story are like. That's what sold me--

Trouble with Bioshock

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: January 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Nagatives: The Mouse Control is very poor, it feels like you are using a broken mouse -even in the setup protion, before starting the game. The controls are so poor that you feel like a retarded newbie playing for the first time, because you cannot move correctly. Just image playing Doom with a broken mouse.

Positives: The Story is very interesting, you are this Andrew Ryan, and you go to this under water world to save your son Ralph Ryan. Andrew's Ex-Wife was crazy and was out there killing kids...

THIS IS THE REVIEW 2K Games DOES NOT WANT YOU TO SEE - REDUX...4

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: September 05, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Let's keep this sweet, organized and fair.

UNDISPUTED FACT:
BIOSHOCK will only install for a limited number of times (it was 3 but - after a deluge of eMails and bad reviews - it was upped to 5). So, if you install it you will be reluctant to uninstall once finished and will have to carry those 9GB on your HardDrive for a long time. On top of that, its resale value is down the drain the moment one pops the box open...
One has to ask: even after paying $50 for it, WHO ACTUALLY OWNS MY COPY?

UNDISPUTED FACT:
The game utilizes an overzealous version of SecuROM 7. They either activated all its available options or had a special version custom made. No other game company dared behaving in such heavy-handed way. This means that the game will not even install if you operate virtual drives and will block certain non-DRM certified Drives.

DISPUTED FACT :
It has been widely reported that BIOSHOCK installs a RootKit. Both MICROSOFT's ROOTKIT DETECTION TOOL and AVG ANTI-VIRUS detected either the RootKit or its actions. Recently, AVG was made to release a special update (just for BIOSHOCK) to ignore this alert.
In hacker lingo, to "take someone's Root" means to insert a procedure that "will allow the intruders to maintain root access (highest privilege) on the system without the system administrator even seeing them" (Source: WIKIPEDIA).
Official BIOSHOCK announcements (and their "unofficial" reviewers here at AMAZON) will try to persuade everyone who would listen that there is nothing there, so stop looking and don't even mention it.
Understandable reaction since, the existence of a RootKit would be a solid basis for class-action litigation.
Weight the facts and judge for yourself.

UNDISPUTED FACT:
BIOSHOCK effectively revokes our Administrator rights on our own computers. Here is what happens: even after completely uninstalling the game there is a mystery folder that canNOT be removed, no matter what!
On WinXP it is located here:
"C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Application Data\SecuRom"
As administrators, we could (unwisely) delete even Windows System folders - yet BIOSHOCK's mystery folder apparently claims a higher authority level? What this folder does and why should it get placed into OUR computers so that we cannot remove it even as Administrators, is beyond me. And I, for one, do NOT appreciate it one bit. (A quick internet search revealed a number of suggestions on how to get rid of it, ranging from clearly unsafe to catastrophic...)
True, almost every game leaves one or two folders behind after uninstalled - but this NEVER REVOKES OUR ADMINISTRATOR RIGHTS to delete them!

I do understand that there are production and publishing costs to get recovered as well as profit projections to be reached. Companies that wish to protect their investment will always try to fight piracy. This is only reasonable and expected.
However, with BIOSHOCK, as it is currently available by 2K GAMES, it gets WAY OUT OF HAND & WELL BEYOND RIDICULOUS!!

No one in the game-publishing industry seems to learn from past mistakes: every security system eventually gets cracked and every "OnLine activation requirement" eventually gets bypassed. So, utilizing an overly intrusive, inconvenient and possibly dangerous security kit only serves in penalizing the people who actually paid good money for their product - and manage to shoot their sales in the foot at the same time.
Look what happened with HALF-LIFE 2: legitimate buyers still have to put up with activating the game every time we want to play - and of course VALVE paid the price: unprotected HL1 had sold TWICE as many units as STEAM-"secured" HL2 ever did (8million and 4million respectively, Source: THE WASHINGHTON POST)

Since I would NEVER install a contraption such as BIOSHOCK onto my computer and wished to have hands-on experience before I reviewed the game, I asked around and a colleague of mine had already made the mistake of purchasing it and installing on his laptop.
THIS IS NOT A BAD GAME.
The environments are well designed and have a pleasant retro patina; the graphics are very nice, even though they do not meet the hype. They are subpar even to older games such as HL2 (not to mention STALKER).
You see, dark is not always moody, and blurry cannot always be mistaken for dreamy.
I did love the music though! Both the collection of happy-go-lucky and romantic 1940's songs (contrasting with the bleak environment) as well as their smart timing, added to the overall experience.

It was the gameplay I was the least impressed.
Totally linear - as it is has come to be expected from any FPS today I am afraid. To be fair, I cannot imagine a Single Player holding a storyline without being more or less linear (even "free"-roaming FAR CRY did not escape this curse) - but then again, that is why I am not a game designer. And unless the publishers release their creative suffocation of the true game artists, there is no hope for a worthy successor to SYSTEM SHOCK 2.

The controls are not hard to get used to; if not, they are remapable; nevertheless, I would love to have an inventory: cycling between which plasmid and which ammo for which gun can get pretty frustrating. Fast.
And, finally: dying. Regeneration chambers turn the game into a check-point one - and I hate checkpoint-games. Most often than not, they are chosen in order to artificially augment the gameplay duration (having us replay the same segments over and over - instead of saving wherever we feel like it). Moreover, when progressing, you usually end up getting killed just before the next regeneration chamber (and having to repeat quite a distance from the previous one) whereas, when facing a Boss, regeneration takes away all the suspense. Keep respawning, you will eventually get him, his health does not increase if you do.

So, all in all, BIOSHOCK IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH WORTH ITS TROUBLE.
It is only a slightly above-average game; and if 2K GAMES did not have the guts to publish it for PCs (and is hiding it within an intrusive security Kit) it should have stuck with X-BOX.

Even BIOSHOCK designers acknowledge there is a serious issue with the security measures forced upon them by the publisher. These measures are hurting their game and, so, THERE IS AN UPDATED VERSION COMING IN THE NEAR FUTURE TO FIX THIS!
Don't take my word for it. Google for "Ken Levin-Interview" and "BIOSHOCK-Fixed-Version" and see for yourself. (I tried to add links but Amazon, apparently, does not allow them)

BIOSHOCK has it all: temperamental and Limited number of Installations, overzealous Drive-Blockers, possible cloaked RootKits, irremovable folders...NONE of which is Clearly marked on the product description!!

As it is, it will come NOWHERE NEAR MY SYSTEM!

I would advise waiting for 6 months, they will either clear it up or it will find its way to the clearance bins...Just last week I bought RISE & FALL: CIVILIZATIONS AT WAR for $2.99 (less than 8 months after its release) - and that nugget featured STARFORCE of all things!

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