The Next "Big Thing"

I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that I’m not the only one whose gaming time is very precious. Given the demographics of the site, many of us have very busy lives between career, family, and other competing interests. Because of that, I tend to be pretty picky with the games that I buy and play, at least more so than I would be otherwise. I don’t want to shell out money for a game that ends up mediocre and walk away feeling that the time I spent playing the game should have been used elsewhere. However, it didn’t take much research to determine Bioshock will be the next title to be worth of the funding.

There’s several questions I ask, and if a game can pass muster on each, then I’ll give it a whirl. First one of those is “Do I enjoy the genre?” While I used to be a hardcore MMO fan, back when my wife was gaming with me, now I need games that are more easily broken into smaller gaming sessions. Action games, and in particular FPSs, tend to fit nicely into the category. Most have ample save spots, or even open saving (which I’m not a fan of, because I get tempted to save too often). Bioshock is an action/adventure FPS, which is right up my alley. Check.

Then, the game needs to have an appealing backdrop and/or story for the game to have legs or offer up any replayability. Bioshock has one of the more unique settings of any game in recent memory. An underwater city, developed as a dreamed Utopia by the scientists, artists, and other “thinkers” in the 1950s? That’s original, no doubt about it. Check.

Ok…fine, let’s get this out of the way: I’m a graphics whore. I love great graphics and sound out of a game. After enough years of working towards it, I finally have the gaming environment to die for – 65” HDTV with an exceptional picture, 5.1 surround sound and no neighbors within earshot – and I like to enjoy it. So a game has to be pretty. At least it has to be visually engaging. From everything I’ve seen in the videos, Bioshock won’t disappoint me there. Check.

And finally, I want a challenge. I’m not one of those people who runs through a game on Hard and rip through something as fast as I can. I’d rather take my time, experience the game, and be challenged while doing it. This is accomplished by one of two ways in a FPS – level design or AI. While I can’t speak about the level design in Bioshock, a trailer recently released (below) gives a taste of what the AI will offer. After you watch the trailer, you’ll see why I think I’m more excited about this FPS than any other in recent memory. Reactive, unpredictable AI…holy cow. That’s the Holy Grail of the FPS campaign!!! Check out the trailer here.

Anyways, after all the research and deliberation, the 21st (or thereabouts) will provide some fun times around Balek’s house. Here’s to hoping the game makes good on the expectations…because they are really high for this one.