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the_npc_man t1_j6lusox wrote

Reply to comment by Masspoint in So I heard you like sci fi survival horror... by Masspoint

I don't need to look up anything, because I've actually played both System Shock games. Being a spiritual successor to something doesn't mean it's the same thing. Also, System Shock 2 is known to be a action rpg with some survival horror mechanics.

Survival games are defined by their scarcity of resources. Horror games are supposed to be scary. Bioshock is neither (maybe a bit creepy at times).

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DrPatchet t1_j6nqohb wrote

There’s some good jumpscares and stressful moments for sure, but I would def chalk it up as just a fucking great story. with neither survival or horror being an overtone. I would say suspense or thriller maybe? Very good plot twist for sure.

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Masspoint OP t1_j6lvsq3 wrote

Spiritual succesor does mean it shows a lot of similarities and is inspired by it.

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the_npc_man t1_j6lw251 wrote

Still isn't survival horror, due to lack of survival mechanics and horror.

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Masspoint OP t1_j6lx0hg wrote

I really don't understand how you can't see bioshock as horror, maybe I'm just soft I don't know, but I personally find bioshock more scary than dead space.

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Loccyskillz t1_j6mmsef wrote

Lol more scarier than dead space? Are you serious right now? bioshock is pretty much a dark twisted action shooter with some rpg elements, it’s creepy buts it’s not scary dude.

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Masspoint OP t1_j6moeoz wrote

yeah I understand what you mean, but how bioshock creates the atmosphere is more of psychological horror.

Dead space is very good in what it does obviously, but the story doesn't have the depth bioshock has.

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MOOShoooooo t1_j6ob0u8 wrote

Outlast, SOMA, Visage are horror games. Bioshock is action thriller. Great game though and your post more than likely will make me start up the first game again tonight.

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Masspoint OP t1_j6obxdy wrote

Thrillers don't involve monsters and this much blood and gore.

OF course the game difficulty setting makes it bit too easy to call it survival horror across the board, but that changes if you put it on the survivor difficulty setting.

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Xerazal t1_j6m1q6a wrote

Then you need to get your head checked, because bioshock isn't a horror game. It's never been categorized as a horror game by anyone, even by the developers. It's a first person shooter. Having some horror elements doesn't make it a horror game, it just means it has some elements of horror to make the player feel uneasy.

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FishbowlMonarchy t1_j6mksl0 wrote

Bio shock 1 definitely felt like a horror game playing it as it came out,definitely not survival but still

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Xerazal t1_j6ng0ic wrote

I guess the reason I don't call it a horror game is because it doesn't have tons of scary moments. It just has scary moments sprinkled here and there. Horror doesn't feel like the main drive of the game, it just uses some horrific elements to sell its world and atmosphere. It does a good job of making you feel uneasy, especially on your first playthrough. But nothing that really makes you jump out of your seat. It also doesn't help that there's really no penalty to dying when playing the game on its default settings. Yeah, you can turn off the Vita Chambers if you really want to make the game more tense. But beyond that the ability to save wherever you want kind of mitigates that too.

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Masspoint OP t1_j6m38pr wrote

yes but you can pretty much define a lot of games as first person or third person shooters.

It is the spiritual successor to system shock 2, and that is classed as an action role playing survival horror game, and in many ways that is what bioshock is as well.

But it does has a lot more action though, and further in the game, when your character gets stronger, that action becomes a much bigger part, so that's why the devs kept things simple and they just called it a first person shooter, but so is call of duty, and those games aren't even comparable.

Bioshock might not be a pure horror game there a lot of references to it, even by the devs itself, from wiki.

The game's lead level designer was Bill Gardner. He cited Capcom's survival horror series Resident Evil as a significant influence on BioShock, stating there are "all these nods and all these little elements that I think you can see where Resident Evil inspired us". The team were particularly influenced by Resident Evil 4, including its approach to the environments, combat, and tools, its game design and tactical elements, its "gameplay fuelled storytelling" and inventory system, and its opening village level in terms of how it "handled the sandbox nature of the combat" and in terms of "the environment".

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Xerazal t1_j6nfcpg wrote

Let me put it to you this way, my first time playing through Bioshock I didn't die single time. The game gives you more than enough ammunition, gives you all the tools you need to survive, You never scrapped for supplies. And there's absolutely no penalty to dying if you play the game with all of its default settings because you always respawn at a vita chamber and everything is exactly as you left it when you died so you can just brute force your way through everything.

If it's a horror game, then it fails at being a horror game because there's no penalty. The game can have scary moments but still not be a horror game.

Yea early on you might be a little more strapped for everything, but even then it's not difficult. Going through and playing the game with primarily the wrenche is just as doable it's going full throttle with the shotgun or Tommy gun. If I remember correctly, you can pretty much two shot most enemies with the wrench.

Compare that to horror games, using melee is only a viable strategy if you know the ins and outs of the game. Like in Dead space for instance, shooting at their legs to get them crawling on the ground, using stasis on them to slow them down, then stomping like crazy. Or doing the same thing in resident evil 2, except with the knife. Your melee attacks are always the last resort or an advanced strategy to save on ammunition. But in BioShock you don't ever have to worry about that, you can two shot most enemies with the wrench. And if you can't two shot them, it's not really detrimental to just keep smacking them until they go down. After all, death isn't really much of a roadblock when you just respawn at the nearest buy to chamber and the enemy you were just wailing on is still standing where he killed you.

I don't dislike BioShock. It's a game that I go back and play every now and then because I love the atmosphere, setting, and themes. The game plays a lot of fun. Both BioShock 1 & 2 are some of my favorite games of that generation. But I really wouldn't classify them as horror games. Just first person shooters with horror elements. Probably the scariest scene in the first BioShock was that one flooded room with the mannequins and a single spotlight. Pretty sure just by saying that everyone that's played the game knows what I'm talking about. It's a really memorable scene and shows that if the BioShock developers wanted to make a horror game, they could pull it off pretty well. But horror wasn't the focus for BioShock, which is the reason why moments like that are few and far between.

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Xerazal t1_j6nggme wrote

By the way, if you want to play a game that's more of a spiritual successor to system shock/2 then even BioShock, play prey from 2017. Severely underrated game for the time. The amount of player choice you get is insane, then feels insanely tense because one of the basic enemy types can transform into everyday objects around the game world, so you're always going around wondering if that chair in the corner is actually a chair or if that teacup on the desk is actually a teacup. Really drives home the paranoia.

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