2K: BioShock Infinite Will Have People "Talking About It For A Long Time To Come"

Yeah, talking about it...as in how disappointing it was.

Zing. /skepticism

Remember the last time someone said that? I remember. I also remember they were right. People wouldn't stop talking about a mistake so severe and so obvious that a high school student could point it out and provide correction. They then tried to cloak that mistake in 'art' and stupid people fell for it. I severely doubt the game will be as challenging or immersive as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. or System Shock 2.

Stalker was challengingbut boring. I still have it sitting on my HDD and have a hard time getting back into it. I bought System Shock 2 off of GoG on day one and...well let's say it's really unbalanced.

Stalker, boring? Hmmm. Different strokes for different folks and all that...

System Shock 2 isn't anywhere near as bad in the 'unbalanced' department as Bioshock. Exactly three plasmids are required to get through the game and everything else is window dressing. On the hardest difficulty with every relevant setting configured to make progress as challenging as possible it's never as demanding as System Shock 2 on normal. If the player is even nominally paying attention to the information Bioshock gives them they'll figure out a build to break the back of the game's already weak balance and challenge curve and find themselves overpowered that no enemy poses a major threat about the time they're done with Fort Frolic. At anything above Normal with System Shock 2 and the player has to make very careful decisions about how to spend modules on upgrades and the pressure on that point never lets up. That's good design.

Maybe I'm playing Stalker wrong? Got any tips? I love the setting and all, but the I just find myself lost and don't know where to go. I'm constantly getting lost in SS2 as well.

STALKER: Check your PDA. See what objective you're tracking. There's enough information in your PDA map to follow through the world and notes on the objective to finish it. From it you can see where you are (a small button on top of the map screen centers the view on the player) and which direction you must go to reach your goal. Try to avoid doing this in unsafe areas if possible. Reading the map, past messages, objective info and sorting your inventory (anything short of backing out to the game menu, basically) is not a free action like in Fallout, Deus Ex or TES. Enemies can come for you.

General Tips: Due to realism rifles are king. Semi-Auto is best, burst and auto are for desperation maneuvers. The only shotguns worth getting are only available later on. Once you can rely on a good rifle a pistol is largely optional. Don't carry too much stuff around. It's more important to stay mobile. Bread is better to carry than sausages or canned food. Vodka can quell radiation poisoning but anti-rad drugs are better. Don't use Vodka to quell rads if you're in immediate danger. Body armor is helpful but will not make the user invincible. Don't pick up fetch quests for goods unless you already have the good as fetch quests have time limits. In general avoid doing fetch quests which require you to sacrifice valuable artifacts for money.

(Don't read these unless you're willing to get a few spoilers and such)

Special Tips: At a certain point a member of the Ecologists will ask you to escort him to a certain place in Yantar. Do this job. It is worth it. Do every job they ask you to do. If the escortee dies reload and try again. Failure is an option but a terrible one. Also, if the last leg of a job involves checking in with whoever and confirming the job done please, for the love of Andrei Tarkovsky, DO IT! The best armor in the game is behind just such a requirement. If you intend to use the sniper rifles keep collecting 7.62X54R as early as possible and don't ever sell it or throw it away. The only time you should be parting with that ammo is when it's flying out the barrel of your shiny Dragunov and at something which needs a bullet to the head. If you're finding the game too unstable to play happily I recommend installing the Complete mod. It also brings in new textures, models, animations and other things to make the game look better.

Finally, very late in the game Sidorivich will ask you to retrieve some information for him from the military base in the Cordon. The job is extremely dangerous but optional. Do it. The best ending is only available if you do it.

System Shock 2:

1 - Check your message logs from the person talking to you
2 - Play back all found audio logs. Mission critical information is often stashed on them
3 - If you're lost retrace your steps back to a familiar place and then start out again
4 - Check your map frequently
5 - Using the 'N' key you can leave markers on your map to denote areas of special interest
6 - Keep track of where the upgrade stations are
7 - Plan ahead when purchasing upgrades
8 - Research every damn organ.
Minor spoilers/metagamey bits
8 - Exotic weapons are never worth it
9 - Energy weapons are only useful against robots and robots are a minority enemy
10 - The only heavy weapon worth the trouble is the grenade launcher
11 - Maintenance and hack are the most useful tech skills, and the only ones you actually need
12 - Modify and repair are worthless: single-shot devices get it done without spending modules
13 - Telekinesis pull is the most useful psi power and the only one a non-OSI should get.
14 - The Assault Rifle is the best gun in the game.
15 - Research above level one is a waste.
16 - Strength need only be pushed to meet weapon and armor requirements.

Thanks! There's some stuff there I didn't even know. I have been mostly upgrading my SS2 character like you said. I did do repair to 2 and modify to 1 but I will stop there. In Stalker I have been carrying around as much as I can so I can sell it like in Fallout, guess that's bad. I have been using the double barrel as a main weapon along with the AK 47 (I think it's an AK, haven't turned the game on in months). I also have a silenced pistol. I will follow those tips, and I already have the Complete mod which helps.

I'd take a day off work to play it...But that date is reserved for Grand Theft Auto 5

When it comes to Ken Levine...I'll believe it. I have the Songbird edition pre-ordered and I can not wait for this.

Isn't it a little late to be making that statement?? We have been talking about it for a long time, because it's taken so long for this game to come out.