Why can't they all be this good?

15 Aug 07

I played the Bioshock demo on the Xbox 360 yesterday. It did exactly what a demo should do. It made me excited to play the game and want to play it now. I've played plenty of demos recently that haven't done that. Beautiful Katamari was short and felt like more of the same (though not bad for people who didn't play the first games). Stranglehold looked great and played like an action movie, but I felt pretty satisfied after playing it and didn't really want more. Dynasty Warriors: Gundam was more fun than I was expecting, but the combat still felt too limited and repetitive to generate enough interest. Shadowrun had some very neat ideas, but I don't like bunny hopping in normal shooters. Adding in teleporting, gliding and other magic made me feel lost and slow not empowered. Heavenly Sword was so short that I didn't get a good feel for the game. I did replay it a few times and began to understand some of the depth of the combat system, but I'm not counting the days until it's released. I actually played The Darkness demo on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, but that was mostly to compare the two. I thought the PS3 version looked a little better. I might pick it up as a bargain bin game. That's probably not the response they were looking for. Eternal Sonata looked gorgeous, but I was bored before I finished the demo. I won't even mention the mess that was the Def Jam: Icon demo.

Clearly publishers need to look at the Bioshock demo to see how it's done. It went through the first part of the game (perhaps slightly condensed?). It went through my plane crash, the discovery of the lighthouse/entrance to Rapture. Then I got to play a bit through a restaurant and theater area. The first thing I noticed was how beautiful the game was. Sure, I've seen Unreal tech before. Gears of War is stunning at times. Bioshock combines a more beautiful and striking art style with the lighting and models to create an amazing atmosphere. You can see the beauty and the pride and decay all at the same time. Also impressive is the sense of water around you all the time.

The game controls very well on the 360. Normally, I prefer shooters on the PC. It really feels like the 360 was the lead platform for development though. The controls are spot on. Objects have weight. Enemies can move fast but the aiming keeps right with them. I never felt like I was fighting the controls.

The sound was great as well. It was System Shock 2 great. From the voices and chatter to the weapons and, of course, the water, you felt like you were there. The triggering of a distant alarm set off your nerves. Even with the small sample, the voice acting was top notch. The splicers sounded like part human monsters while the (presumed) humans sounded like real people dealing with extraordinary events.

The demo was pretty short. It was probably less than thirty minutes. I only saw three weapons, two powers, a handful of enemies and two security systems. I really felt I had a taste of the game though. The hacking wasn't too hard. The different enemies moved and reacted individually. It felt like stepping into another world.

If the AI works as promised and encounters play out dynamically based on your timing, actions and plans, this could be a great game for story telling. The movie at the end had some nice power demonstrations, telekinetically moving traps, freezing and shattering enemies, modifying weapons and turning enemies against each other. Even if it played very linear and traditionally like a shooter, it would be worth playing for the tight controls and great production values. If it truly opens up, it could be a classic in the making.

Jason