@Đipic:

given that the pc to run bioshock would cost you thousands of dollars, I think you should stop bitching and buy it.

It's the best game on the 360.

sixonedoesitall

lol... How could I forget?

Bioshock also has the worst final boss fight in the history of gaming... Makes Halo2's god awful tartarus battle look like the 2nd coming by comparison.

sixonedoesitall

Hopefully it'll be worth the wait for all you PS3 owners. Personally, I thought the game got repetitive. But that's just me, and I'm sorta hard to please.

Will read the article now.

GlassAdam?

@behrens14: My friend, all plotlines and endings sound either stupid or funny if abbreviated or miscommunicated. An old warrior killing his cloned brother that has a cyber arm? A scientist teletransported 10 years into the future to fight interdimensional aliens? A lone adventurer defeating 16 Colossi to rescue his love? (actually, that one is indeed cool.)
Not many people enjoy food because of the motion of their arms that they perform to ingest the food, nor the tight feeling in their esophagus as it journeys down. They relish the texture, the multiplicity of flavours. They bathe in the symphony of placer that erupts from a perfect dish, served by the perfect cook.
Bioshock is not great for it's ending, or it's premise. It's the verbal filling between the battles that paints the true picture of Rapture. The screams of mad souls are mixed with memoirs of a past that was worthy of gods. Ryan's endless monologue is the mortar that holds the angels of steel that adorn the city's endless corridors.
It truly makes you feel, as Ryan himself says, like a termite at Versailles.

MOP88

@Đipic: I'm on the same boat with you.

Schoolimangooli's backpack turns into a ham sandwich!

The fetch quests grow a little tiresome. I assumed the atlas training wheels would fall off and the player would be allowed to make their own decisions about what to do and where to go, but it never happened.

Go here, find some boots.

Go there, find a camera.

Go there, find rocket components.

Go there, find the ingredients to the lazarus vector...

The Writing and Voice acting definitely defined the title.

sixonedoesitall

I know it may seem wrong but I'm going to be waiting until it drops in price ($30) to pick this up. With the PC version being soo much cheaper I can't bring myself to pay full price when there are so many other titles that will be taking my time and money over the next few months. I've already waited this long to play it, I'm sure I can wait a little longer.

Đipic

my favorite game since 3-d started happening. love it.

MushroomBoy1022

For me Bioshock was a fun FPS Adventure. It wasn't perfect, but the amount of things I liked far outweighed what I didn't. Its a shame the anti-hype people won't give this game a real go, but its their loss. The game is fun and a unique experience. That alone is enough to make me want to play it again.

ShadowXion

I might have to get an XFPS and buy this game. This is one of the 3 or 4 Xbox360 games that I wished would be on PS3 back in the days.

And I like what I'm reading about the atmosphere. I love ultra stylish and immersing worlds.

Kaneda

My patience to play this on PS3 is wearing thin -- I almost succumbed to the temptation of buying the PC version. *shivers*

YHWHMystic

@EVIL_V2:
Amen brother.

Bioshock and LittleBigPlanet will be taking all of my time till I can score Fallout 3, Resistance 2 and GH:WT

SnakesSolids

I had a good time playing Bioshock. I wasn't as enamored with the storyline as alot of people, and I thought the RPG elements were sub-par (I have never played a System Shock game so I can't compare...but I was expecting something more like Fallout 3 caliber). But it was still a great game. I have found it much replayable though.

dowingba

@EVIL_V2: It's a fantastic game, and one of my personal top 5 favorites. Just don't go into it expecting revolutionary gameplay. The gameplay is solid, but it's the beautifully creepy game universe and storytelling that made it truly remarkable. In my eyes, anyway.

Toasticus

@behrens14: The 'plotline' wasn't as important as the setting, atmosphere and involvement. As is generally the case with silent, unnamed, characterless protagonists, you began to basically think of the protagonist as a proxy for yourself, so the eventual outcome was pretty heavy hitting.
It sounds mundane and predictable when spoiled, but when you discover all there is to discover yourself, in game? It was among the defining moments of 2007 in gaming.

Pombar

@EVIL_V2: I'd say it'll be worth the wait. Despite the anti-hype backlash, it's a top quality game.

Pombar

@EVIL_V2: It'll have been worth the wait, as someone who enjoyed it on the 360 I can assure you it's excellent. The atmosphere alone is breathtaking, and a year later it hasn't been bettered.

TearsandScreams

I'm sorry to say I've never played beyond the demo. I had the ending spoiled for me and I thought the ending sounded like a bit of a joke and the plotline wasn't anything that wow'd me.

behrens14

i wanna play this game soooo bad, i cannot wait till it drops on the ps3

EVIL_V2

@sixonedoesitall: Sorry? I didn't realize I was bitching. And fyi I own a PC that can run pretty much anything I could throw at it. I just never got around to picking Bioshock up until now.

Đipic

Easily on my top 5 games of all time list.

Hate it if you want; this game was made for me.

Anarchist_Gamer

@solidsnak:
Just like every game out there huh? The enemies have to get harder or else the gameplay gets stagnate. Even ass far back as Super Mario Bros the enemies were consistently harder on each new level. Oblivion does it to, every time you level up they do too.

Complaining about 'too hard of enemies' is just saying you weren't good enough to beat the game...

Lazlo

@sixonedoesitall: $600 for a PC to run Bioshock. not thousands. although $200 to run it on an Arcade 360 w/memory card isn't too bad either.

ruba-dub-dub

the only thing I didn't like was the way the monsters leveled with you, taking more and more ammo to kill each time. Just when I'd feel I had plenty of ammo a group would spawn nearby and deplete most of what I had. Maybe I missed something, but wasn't the point of upgrading your weapons supposed to be making it easier to kill the monsters.

solidsnak

this game DID get repetitive. kill, loot, upgrade repeat.

it really could've benefited more from Resident Evil or Metroid-like puzzles, similar to using the fire plasmid to melt the ice and the bee plasmid to solve that ONE puzzle.

btw, i used the big daddy and electric plasmids almost exclusively. is that my fault for not taking advantage of what the game offered? maybe, but it's the game's fault for not giving me very much incentive.

I say more bad guys and bosses that used specific plasmids to dispatch them, add some more puzzles and this game would have been awesome. a better ending boss could've helped too, maybe 3 different little sister models to, i don't know, NOT make them look like clones.

ruba-dub-dub

@EVIL_V2:

I envy you, actually. I wish I could find another game that surprised and delighted me as much as Bioshock did. I didn't know anything about it, and bought it on a whim and some strong word of mouth. Hope the PS3 version does it justice!

(the last game that took me by such total surprise was how good ICO was, way back when :p )

dogcow

@YHWHMystic: Hey, if you get it off Steam, there's no computer-breaking DRM you have to worry about!

DukeOfPwn

Absolutely superb gaming experience. Sure, the plot was very similar to System Shock, but I can't complain about more of the same in a 1950's under the sea city.

HaydenTenno

@Lazlo: except with Oblivion, you never saw a change in the harder enemies if you leveled properly. just frickin glass armor. the game became a stalemate.

ruba-dub-dub

Just finished reading the article, very insightful and fascinating stuff. Definitely going to share it with some of my coworkers. Thanks for the heads-up, Maggie!

Toasticus

@sixonedoesitall:

The PC needed to run Bioshock will not cost you thousands of dollars. You can easily build one to run Bioshock under a grand.

Kenzya

@ruba-dub-dub:

10 fps on the lowest settings is going to look gorgeous.

sixonedoesitall

@Kenzya:

good news, that's only 700$ more than a 360, not to mention finding parts that are compatible and the time needed to assemble it.

sixonedoesitall

I'm one of the few that hated the game, the maps just dint have any flow to them and all the random shop locations scatted about them just felt like a cluster more so then solid design ( like the same upgrade shop being in every other room ). Heck I hated the fact there were a half dozen different upgrade / whatever shops ( really wish they could have streamlined them into one or maybe two shops or just made them part of a pause menu given they were randomly vomited all over the place anyhow ). The weapon upgrade system felt insulting limited, there wasnt that grand of a mixture of enemy types, the big daddys did nothing but inspire short bus jokes while I was playing. Oh god the stupid pipe hack game...eating trash off the floor to refill health :/ Its a FPS RPG unlike anything you ever encounterd blah blah blah.

Anyhow I liked the atemosphere ( Doom3 under water :P ). Yet in spite of my dislikes I can see how people would like the game ( same way I see how people like Madden / Guitar Hero i.e I think they lack taste and might have started gaming a only generation or two ago hahaha ). I hope the PS3 version at least has USB mouse and key support so not a total train wreck.

spacecoffin2

@Chupakun: I like to to fit my diction to the circumstances that may require a higher vocabulary...

MOP88

@Tyrannical: Fail.

AssassinTRIP

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): or platform war even. I guess this is the bed we made for ourselves.

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

*face-palm* everything has to degenerate into a console war these days.

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

Bioshock disapointed me. It was a great game, but it was just another FPS. I was hoping for a fps adventure game along the lines of Deus Ex.

Tyrannical

@DukeOfPwn: Thanks for the heads up, but I decided to get it for PS3, if only for the extra content. Rest assured, I'll be buying PC games via Steam from now on. (It would take a brave soul to venture outside and expose their body to the sun's killer rays!)

YHWHMystic

There was a postmortem posted in the TTLG forums a while back:

[www.ttlg.com]

I'm still holding out for a System Shock 3...

diebroken

@MOP88: Lol overkill mate.

Chupakun

@spacecoffin2: You conjure rage in my heart.

Please jog on, you mug.

Anarchist_Gamer

Wonderful game, ridiculously easy. Also the plot got a little bit thin, was down right hackneyed after the "major plot twist". Best singleplayer game of the past five or so years, easily.

PrivateJ0ker

@sixonedoesitall: $600 or $700. just like Inquisitor said. it depends on where you put together your PC. don't try to spin what you don't know buddy.

ruba-dub-dub

@sixonedoesitall: I am so frelling tired of hearing about how expensive PC gaming machines are, or how you can't play at good quality with with a less expensive system, or how it's so hard to put one together.

Because it's bullshit. So I'll make this simple:

Buy this base machine
[www.dell.com]

Add this video card
[www.newegg.com]

That will be enough to get you solid 30+ fps at 1280x1024 high detail, and it will get to about $700 with tax and shipping. Hardly a huge expense considering that you get a decent modern gaming machine, plus a very nice all purpose desktop computer. And hardly very difficult to stick a video card into a slot.

The_Inquisitor

@Anarchist_Gamer: Truth make mad, no want see truth, I never noticed the game could have been designed by a random roll of the dice for half its features!!! NOOOOO!!!!!!

Dont get filled with rage, I dint point out anything untrue about the game, I just dint like the crap. And if you read some interviews with the developer he admits they they sorta made the game up as they went along and just started to stack more and more stuff into the basic template they had and that there was no overall start to finish grand design. Some people dig the haphazzard make what you will of it style other might desire something a bit more cohesive. It is what it is ( system shock was much the same way and I dint like that game ).

@Tyrannical: Ahhhh Dues Ex :)

spacecoffin2

@Anemone: people just love the atmosphere and setting. it's not a very typical one, we are used to more sci fi presentations. but when you strip it down, it's pretty bare bones.

ruba-dub-dub

Having just recently bought a 360 I've been playing Bioshock. Honestly I'm not impressed with the game. The setting, atmosphere, and story are all rather engaging and, for the first two, top notch. Unfortunately It plays like the worst shooter that I've has the misfortune of playing since Gunz: The Duel. All the same, I plan on beating it, but I've put the game on easy so I can skate through it and just enjoy what I'm experiencing while ignoring the terrible gameplay.

Anemone

@spacecoffin2: Agreed.
@Tyrannical:Deus Ex is exatly the type of thing we should have recieved. That game truely was a worth successor to the greatness that was Shock2

I kinda find it hard to believe that somone could have played Shock2 and then accept something like BioShock as great.

Undyne

If you really want a show, read the technical post-mortem for Bioshock, which was written last year. Incredible stuff.

ishatra

She talks in the article about how they shifted focus halfway through from being a System Shock-esque RPG/FPS to a plain FPS with some customizability, and how changing focus later in the process compromised some aspects of the game. Maybe the desire to relate the game to System Shock soured Bioshock to that game's fans. That plus the rampant hype that inevitably causes a backlash related more to image than actual content.

In any case, I am not a fan of FPSs in general, but I enjoyed BioShock.

concrete_d

I wasn't crazy about Bioshock. It had an interesting premise, but I wish it would have ended about 2 hours earlier. The final boss just ruined the earlier stuff. The atmosphere was cool, but it just didn't quite do it for me.
As for the gameplay, it was pretty by the numbers. They made a big deal out of the plasmids, but there was really very little reason to use them. Most of them weren't very good, and the ones that were weren't really as fun to use (fire, ice, etc). I actually enjoyed Strangehold more, which came out about the same time. Sure it wasn't as deep, but it was more fun, and thats what matters to me.

COULD432

Never got to play it on the 360, but I'm stoked about the PS3 version. God, October is going to be an expensive month...

jerimas

I'm sorry GREAT game probs my favorate of last year BUT the ending WHAT THE FUCK it was effin ghastly

holybarbie

is bioshock for PS3 going to be 1080p? there's so many games that have the jaggies on my TV (40-inch) just because 95% of good games are in 720p.....

At least MGS took 1080p seriously. that game looks aamzing.

kevinl

@kevinl: Too bad MGS4 isn't in 1080P.

mind in rewind

@MOP88: Very well said! When I read "A lone adventurer defeating 16 Colossi to rescue his love?" I thought the same thing you did. That made me laugh. I was thinking "Hey, they one actually sounds pretty awesome!" lol

And it was. :)

As for Bioshock, I love how you draw parallels between playing a great game and savoring delicious food. I'm one of the people waiting for the PS3 version. Not having an HDTV, I'm tempted to play it on the PC, but I figure it can go in my "replay as soon as I get an HDTV" pile. ;)

This generation is equal parts wonderful and frustrating because of the graphics. They look great, but you spend so much between a console(s) and an HDTV just to play the games the way they are meant to be played. But I digress, as that is a different topic entirely.

Mobus

@MOP88: Even BETTER said! Wow!

magictroll

@Pombar: Well said!

magictroll

@Tyrannical: True true. Reading the article explains that Hybrid Fps/Rpgs are not accessible/marketable & that even when a team sets out to make said game, they'll change it at 11th hour because a bunch of random play testers never played System Shock 2 (probably a requirement).

So basically Irrational had 2 choices, they could have made another Shock with all the dismal sales & poor fps mechanics that 20,000 jerks like me would appreciate- or they could have made a game that would finally put them on the map & give them the financial warchest they deserve (Ironically giving it all to 2k, including their name).

I loved Bioshock - even as a bastard shooter of a legendary game. Its sad to know after reading the article that Bioshock could have been so much more faithful & awesome to the Shock name, but it doesnt change the fact that its one of, if not the, best game this gen.

Dr Terror

This reads like the same exact article published in Game Developer from last year. I'm not sure why they dated it so recently.

I've always found these articles pretty interesting, though. It gives an insight as to what making the game was like in just a few pages. I think the most interesting one I've read so far was for Pac-man.

SirDanF

@kevinl: MGS4 1080p? You might want to invest in a better TV, because BioShock is flat out SEXY on my 52inch DLP, and it is not 1080p.

Bii-Nii-Wii-Nii

Speaking of the PS3 BioShock has there been a confirmation on the suggested retail price? I am guessing it will be around $30-$40. Anything above $40 makes it a tough sell for me seeing how late this version is.

Bii-Nii-Wii-Nii

Loved everything about Bioshock except for the ending. I don't understand how the presentation for the game was so amazing up to the end, then they decided to half-ass it with a lame picture and a lean amount of info.

nitromic

@sixonedoesitall: Surely you haven't played Halo 3, if you think Bioshock had the worst final boss. Though yeah, the Big Daddies were more fun and more difficult to kill than that last guy, anyway.

Bioshock, for me, is the closest we've got to a current-gen Ocarina of Time or Final Fantasy VII. As in, certainly it's not flawless (though some might argue that any of the games in question is indeed flawless as far as they are concerned), but it's such a good time as to warrant it a 10 anyway, or at least a very high 9 out of 10.

Though, like with any "10"-worthy title, there are quite a few people who won't get why the game deserved any hype at all, and still more who will boycott the game to spite the hype.

No no, you only do that to Halo. Remember your whipping boy, consumer!

Xiatter

@sixonedoesitall: Gimme a break, just goes to show how uninformed you are. I built a friends PC that OWNS Bioshock for about 600 dollars. PC parts are cheap right now and video cards are downright ludicrously cheap. So don't spout nonsense that you understand nothing about. Sure you can by a 360 for 300 dollars, but you still need a decent HDTV to view it on. With a PC you can now hook it up to your expensive HDTV and push even better graphics than you could on your 360. It may be 2wice as much but you are getting 2wice the resolution and much of the time better graphics settings.

nitromic

@Tyrannical: Agreed. Bioshock is a bit shallow. The vita chamber made getting through it by just brute force boring. A couple years from now it was be viewed as one of the most over-rated games.

FriedConsole

This article is a reprint from Game Developer Magazine, right? I could've sworn I read this not long after the game launched...like a year ago.

billnabors65

"The product focus changed from RPG hybrid to shooter."

Gah! My heart, the vomiting... it continues.

Ping5000

When I played through bioshock I just couldn't help but feel like I was playing a FPS, the only RPG mechanic I could decern was the looting system.

The game's a trip though and I reccomend it to all my PS3 brothers and sisters out there.. or play it on a vista rig, the DX10 stuff is pretty shiny.

relax_guy

Anyone who walked away from this game thinking it was an average FPS/adventure game entirely missed the point. Anyone who picked up every last damn tape recorder and periodically gazed out the glass windows to see the outside of Rapture, didn't. The game is f'ing brilliant.

Sakilla

@Sakilla: gazed out the window to see the horrible effect on the other side?

magicbologna

@mind in rewind:

I think he's confused about texture resolution vs the output resolution. It's one of the downfalls of multiplatform titles imho -- thankfully MGS4 got to make use of the extra video memory due to the architecture. Many multiplatform titles use part of the local store ( "video memory" ) for audio, since they have designed around a smaller texture cache budget on the 360. The flipside of that is setting up that cache isn't as fast since it has to go across the bus, but we've been dealing with that on PC for years... being able to stream from an HDD is nice, but isn't as effective as a good cache algorithm. ;)

Mongoosekun

im just glad that bioshock did so well. if it the sales number tanked like wit other great "artsy" games like okami, that would probably encourage more and more developers to churn out eitehr cliched rpg's, shooters, or wut have you.

maraxusofk

@Sakilla: i made it a point to gather every recorder and scrap of info. hell, i even made it a point to upgrade all that i could and did countless security hacks. it was a fun time, but i really don't see the brilliance.

ruba-dub-dub

I'd still like to strangle the idiot that came up with the idea of enemies respawning whenever entering already explored area. I just couldn't bother finishing the game because of the endless enemies. Few random enemies in explored areas would have been cool, but all of them again and again? Just stupid.

ara

one other thing with bioshock was that basicaly every hole had a little sister, a some differences with the sisters. but thats mostly the hair color. at one lvl i meet 2 little sisters at the same time, it was supposed to be one left in the area...

basseman

i played system shock 2 the difference between bioshock and that is basically that ss2 has very much statistic gameplay. Much lvling and weapons destroing of use. the bad thing was that didn´t you lvl up good weapons at the end it would be almost impossible. And the story is very similar. at least that you are guided.

basseman

It seems some of the backlash towards Bioshock comes from jaded gamers disappointed that it didn't reinvent the wheel. And since the game came out over a year ago, many people must wonder what all the hype was about.

Bioshock delivered a game with a great atmosphere that wasn't the usual crap we've been seeing for years. I don't believe anyone expected Bioshock to have any revolutionary gameplay, except the novel idea of gameplay that works without distracting you from the game. I think one of the reasons Bioshock is succesful is how refreshing it felt playing the game. Taken by themselves, the various components of Bioshock are competent to above-average; nothing too jaw-dropping and what we've come to expect from any decent FPS. But put all those pieces together and Bioshock becomes more than just another fps.

coalhalo

@The_Inquisitor:
How much does it cost for a PC that will play Bioshock when it's never hooked into a network?

sqlrob

I loved Bioshock. I'll certainly agree that it didn't have any one component that radically broke new ground with.

In addition, all of the boss fights were fairly lame and felt unnecessary. Fighting the Big Daddies essentially left the linear boss battles totally unwelcome me as they only had one way to go about winning, which was "shoot until dead". I appreciated the fact that you could go about fighting the daddies in almost whatever fashion you saw fit.

Another gripe is that the plot stretched on slightly too long towards the very end. When the experience surmounted to what would have been a very satisfying climax, the game just slapped me in the face and said "lol, idk. hav anuther fetch quest. tat was an epic fake-out, huh?"

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the fake widescreen support on the 360 version? What the hell was up with that? Everything felt so claustrophobic.

I digress, though. Overall, Bioshock still did so much more satisfyingly right than it did wrong. For that I can't deny the dev team the credit they deserve for creating an almost palpable world that had it's own history and seemed to hold many interesting untold stories and secrets.

2k studios, would you kindly get cracking on another epic tale?

Destrudo

I enjoyed this game on 360 but as other people said after the twist the game seemed to stagnate, I think it would've done better to end at THAT point. The voice acting was impeccable and there has ben no other game where I have paid attention to the neviorment in such detail (for example reading discarded papers and protest signs).

Megamoppy

@nitromic:

Woe unto the Liar for he shall be Thrust down to hell.

Never try to tell another pc gamer that pc gaming is anywhere near the cost of console gaiming.

Please, the bullshit that's spewing out of your mouth, it's covering everything.

sixonedoesitall

@sixonedoesitall: "given that the pc to run bioshock would cost you thousands of dollars, I think you should stop bitching and buy it."

Honestly, if you manage to spend more than a thousand dollars on gaming PC you are either stupid, got scammed or have neurotic urge to pay double price for ~3% performance gain.

Just looking at my box I can tell that less than a grand gets you at least quad core CPU, 8GB of RAM, overclocked GF8800 and ridiculous Veloci Raptor HDD's. All parts picked with best caps available. And I can guarantee that Bioshock runs in full HD resolution with all details maxed out, way better than ever on Xbox360 or PS3.

ara

@sixonedoesitall: I made my PC in late 2005 for just over 1K USD and Bioshock ran well. (though i think one needs more than 256MB video RAM) A computer better than that could have been bought in 2007 for less than 600 USD.

Anyways, if everyone gets only one thing from BioShock, it should be that Ann Rand is a crazy Russian bitch.

Akin

this was in game developer mag like 6-9 months ago

Andromatic

damn good game, but way overrated

PITwelve

@ruba-dub-dub: Spending 20-30 hours feeling claustrophobic in an underwater failed utopia so excellently realized...and to pull it all off with such class...I think that's brilliant. But I find I'm far more forgiving towards games than others.

And this isn't directed at you, but people constantly use the word, "overrated" when speaking about big releases. What game isn't overrated? Games that get far less press and make much less money. Yes, I can point to many a game and accuse it of missing it's due success, but I think games like GTA4, Bioshock, and yes, even Halo 3, are not overrated, they are fine, fine games (although anyone will admit the marketing campaign for Halo 3 got ridiculous). But regardless, games like Bioshock were appreciated by millions and made millions of gamers happy. How is that overrated? A game pleases the masses...a game IS good. You may not like said game, you may not get it, you may not care, but the damn game isn't overrated, it's just rated, and between sales figures and pleased gamers, you can't really argue.

Sakilla

@magicbologna: Graphics and art direction are two separate things in a way. Art direction is far more important and useful for analysis and discussion.

Sakilla

Bioshock sits alongside Silent Hill (PSone version) as my favourite game of all-time. Sure it's flawed in places, but what game isn't?

There are some truly great moments within this game, great story elements, and the general art-style of the game is fantastic. Sure it gets a bit muddled in the final sections (and the final boss is hatefully crap), but I can forgive it that, for giving me some memorable gaming moments (great ones, before some smart-ass misconstrues what I'm saying) that I will never forget.

mikeck

What's amazing to me is how many of people's complaints here are reflected as positive choices within the context of the article, explaining the game's design.

Slatz_Grobnik

Until MGS4 came out, Bioshock was the best game of this generation (for me at least). I would strongly recommend it to everyone who hasn't picked it up, even those who spoiled the story or the ending. The game was a blast to play and the environmental designs are breath taking. AAA title in all respects IMO.

gencid

Bioshock was one of the greatest games I have ever played and I am really struggling to find something even comparable. I'm glad the PS3 is getting Bioshock, it is to good of a game to not be on both systems.

BONERJAM

@Sakilla: the atmosphere, graphics were brilliant. gameplay not so much.

ruba-dub-dub

@ruba-dub-dub: Gameplay wasn't the emphasis in the case of this game, so I don't have a problem with that. It wasn't the emphasis anymore than story is in a Contra title. But it accomplished what it set out to achieve, and it's a major accomplishment, so I don't believe that average or slightly above average gameplay detracts from the overall experience. Games should be viewed as the sum of their parts; this is why nitpicking reveals little about the quality of a game.

Sakilla