Bioshock 2 joins the Anti-Dedicated-Servers Brigade

[Zipper5 74]

http://kotaku.com/5458493/no-lan-or-dedicated-servers-for-bioshock-2-multiplayer

Well, one of my most anticipated games for this year has no dedicated servers and no ability to host LAN matches. Seems this trend started by Dragon Rising and Modern Warfare 2 is going to go on to screw with other franchises too...

[Emberwolf 0]

Well, on the plus side it means saving money for something else, like a hobby that hasn't severely degraded in the past 20 years.

[Flash Thunder 10]

God damn are they that greedy, Dedicated servers dont cost a Billion dollars devs, if BIS can provide them then you can especially since they have 2K publishing for them. :mad:

So no support for them, No buy for Bioshock2. :(

[EricM 0]

Yeah... like the MW2 embargo worked soooo well.

And Bioshock has a strong SP, so why not. Not all games have to be 100% MP oriented.

[Bulldogs 10]

I was looking forward to Bioshock 2 til I found out that they were going with a different developer from number one (well kinda, number 1 was made by Irrational Games working for 2K, number 2 is made by 2K after dumping the IG team)

So not expecting it to be as good as the first, but still holding out hope.

[Flash Thunder 10]

Yeah... like the MW2 embargo worked soooo well.

And Bioshock has a strong SP, so why not. Not all games have to be 100% MP oriented.

I walk the walk and talk the talk.

Ill post pictures proving that I wont have it/ any hours played.

I didnt get into that stupid L4D2 or MW2 boycott because MW2 does fine on consoles without dedicated servers, I dont play MW2 on PC. ;)

Only things I play on PC is Arma 2, BF2, and some RPG games.

[Rumsfield 1]

While I don't like seeing pc games being handicapped(http://www.megagames.com/news/html/pc/futureubisoftgameswillrequireconstantinternetconnection.shtml), it won't affect me as I will only play Bioshock 2 for it's single player mode. That is if I even decide to buy it, pending good ratings and such.

[ziiip 1]

bioshock is all about SP

[Zipper5 74]

But they have been advertising its MP component quite a bit. I do agree Bioshock is SP-centric, but we expected them to have decent MP due to the promoting they've been doing it for. So, as a result, we expected them to put some effort into it. This announcement is telling us that they had more important things to do, and are not going to put in that much effort for it. I guess it will be your typical "slapped-on MP" then. A shame, to be honest.

[Richey79 10]

I was looking forward to Bioshock 2 til I found out that they were going with a different developer from number one (well kinda, number 1 was made by Irrational Games working for 2K, number 2 is made by 2K after dumping the IG team)

So not expecting it to be as good as the first, but still holding out hope.

Exactly.

For me, if ever there was a game that needed to not have a sequel, it was Bioshock. The pleasure was completely about the story-telling; it was just fantastic the way that you learned about Rapture and your character's role in its life and death. Just those opening lines on the airoplane were enough to send shivers down the spine. Such great environmental detail in the levels, too, adding depth to the story and characters at every turn. Taking photos of "sploicers" with a TLR camera - you can count the number of games with wonderful period observation like that on the fingers of one hand.

A character has a terrible Oirish accent: must be poor voice-acting. Wrong! He's not Irish at all... .

The original developers said that they found it hard to believe that they'd had such a huge hit with a game based on some seemingly random ideas they had about things they were interested in. Look up a torrent of the PDF which shows how art direction for the game developed from 'generic survival horror' into Ayn Rand-inspired 1930s decadence. Just beautiful. You get the feeling the sequel is going from this level of creativity to 'what do we need to establish this as a yearly franchise / cash cow?'

As multiplayer, the layout of Rapture and the plasmid mechanics mean that it's basically going to be a corridor shooter with the added 'novelty' that you hit your opponent with the plasmid you have equipped before shooting them. Sure, it will take place in a very atmospheric setting and have wonderful art direction, but boring!

[Madus_Maximus 0]

Didn't 2K get another development team to make the sequel? I can't see it being anything but a simple cash in because it's quite clearly not made with the passion of the original. The original was made because it was something the developers wanted to play themselves. With the sequel no doubt it'll be "what the fans/shareholders want", which very rarely ends well.

[Deadfast 43]

No matter if singleplayer comes first, even if you are at least a bit serious about the MP part you simply have to include dedicated servers.

[VanhA-ICON 11]

I personally don't understand the need for MP in story driven games like these.

One example was Deus Ex which was a fantastic piece of art and after moaning and bitching from it's community they added MP into it. Result: No-one played it.

(Not sure if it's played now by some hardcore group)

[Deadfast 43]

Yes, that's what I meant with the above. If you want to add multiplayer at least do it properly.

[Bulldogs 10]

Kinda like Doom 3. You could tell that they just strapped on the multiplayer mode, heck, it didn't work for most people on release.

It was basically the same multiplayer as Doom 2, which worked at the time for Doom 2 because it was so fast and intense, yet simple enough to become the ultimate reaction shooter. No worrying about aiming up or down, it became a game of pre-cognition where you would predict where your opponent was, turn a corner and fire that double barrel before you've even seen them..... ahh, those were the days.

I was reading a lot of development things from Irrational Games (developers of Bioshock 1). They kept mentioning how their only idea was that they wanted a game that felt like you were trapped on a desert island. They went through many iterations to test out what worked best, even making a desert island with Nazi's at one stage, til they finally decided that they didn't care what anyone else wanted, they wanted a cool retro 1930's underwater city.

That's why regardless of Multiplayer or whatnot, hearing that a sequel was being made just didn't feel right, then finding out that Irrational Games had been replaced with another developer (in house 2k Marin/2k Australia) kinda made me lose interest even more.

I guess the only bonus being that 2k Marin mentioned that they aren't making dedicated servers or LAN play because they wanted to focus on more important things (guessing they meant the singleplayer), and if that's the case, then maybe it won't be too bad after all.

[CameronMcDonald 146]

If Bioshock 2 chokes, I'll cry.

Of course, the original Bioshock was almost nothing on the SS series that it was intended to be a spiritual successor to (stupid consoles causing dumb-downage), but it had excellent atmosphere and was a good SP bash.

[bangtail 0]

If Bioshock 2 chokes, I'll cry.

Of course, the original Bioshock was almost nothing on the SS series that it was intended to be a spiritual successor to (stupid consoles causing dumb-downage), but it had excellent atmosphere and was a good SP bash.

Meh, that "comparison" always annoyed me.

SS is to PC games what Bladerunner is to SciFi movies.

Bioshock was good but not even CLOSE to SS.

[Bulldogs 10]

The reason for the comparison is because the developers who made Bioshock also made SS2, but I find the comparison stupid too. Nothing alike.

[bangtail 0]

The reason for the comparison is because the developers who made Bioshock also made SS2, but I find the comparison stupid too. Nothing alike.

Yah, I know, but as you say, a very stupid comparison.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Nova:_Strike_Force_Centauri

That was another AWESOME game they made :)

[celery 8]

The reason for the comparison is because the developers who made Bioshock also made SS2, but I find the comparison stupid too. Nothing alike.

The comparison is made because it was clear from the beginning that Bioshock will be the spiritual sequel to System Shock 2, even the devs said that. SS2 is a survival horror fps with rpg elements and so is BS, FYI not a very broad genre of games, so what is there not to compare? Whether or not Bioshock lives up to its predecessor is another matter.

Edited January 30, 2010 by Celery

[bangtail 0]

The comparison is made because it was clear from the beginning that Bioshock will be the spiritual sequel to System Shock 2, even the devs said that. SS2 is a survival horror fps with rpg elements and so is BS, FYI not a very broad genre of games, so what is there not to compare? Whether or not Bioshock lives up to its predecessor is another matter.

I think we all realise WHY the comparison is made but SS is in a class of it's own tbh.

That's not to say Bisoshock is a bad game as I thouroughly enjoyed it.

[celery 8]

I think we all realise WHY the comparison is made but SS is in a class of it's own tbh.

That's not to say Bisoshock is a bad game as I thouroughly enjoyed it.

That's a different thing than saying that the comparison is stupid. The comparison is obvious.

[bangtail 0]

That's a different thing than saying that the comparison is stupid. The comparison is obvious.

No, you're missing the point but it's all good :)

It is obvious but it is also stupid as they have nothing to do with each other in terms of gameplay, premise etc. I guess you could say they are both survivial horror but if you've actually played SS, you know that's where the similarities end.

Point being, I wouldn't compare RE to Bioshock and they are both survival horror games.

They simply said that to con SS fans into buying Bioshock.

Anyway, no point in arguing.

Edited January 31, 2010 by BangTail

[celery 8]

It is obvious but it is also stupid as they have nothing to do with each other in terms of gameply, premise etc. I guess you could say they are both survivial horror but if you've actually played SS, you know that's where the similarities end.

Point being, I wouldn't compare RE to Bioshock and they are both survival horror games.

They have everything to do with each other. The difference between a starship and an underwater city is a matter of æsthetics. Comparing BS and SS2 is only logical no matter how one-sided it may be.

If stating that Bioshock is nowhere close to System Shock (in quality or otherwise) isn't comparing the two, then what is it? I'm not entirely sure what you mean with comparing if it's not putting two related things on the same line and seeing which one does what better.

[bangtail 0]

They have everything to do with each other. The difference between a starship and an underwater city is a matter of æsthetics. Comparing BS and SS2 is only logical no matter how one-sided it may be.

If stating that Bioshock is nowhere close to System Shock (in quality or otherwise) isn't comparing the two, then what is it? I'm not entirely sure what you mean with comparing if it's not putting two related things on the same line and seeing which one does what better.

I don't agree with you and I'm seriously wondering whether you've actually played SS and if you did, if your recollection of it is clear.

I played it (for about the 10th time) a few years ago and Im afraid they are nothing alike.

Anyway, that's subjective at the end of the day but I don't agree at all.

And you can stop playing with semantics while you're at it, I said they weren't comparable which isn't comparing. Other people choose to compare them which I think is stupid, as I have said, IMHO, they aren't comparable.

Edited January 30, 2010 by BangTail