The story is too generic.

[Default]

Spoilers.

Overall the gameplay is fantastic. Let's get that out of the way. Gameplay is great and that is why I'm going play this game for hours.

The story though... Why so painfully generic and boring?

I would ask Arkane to not make a love letter to System Shock/Bioshock next time around in the story department.

• Human enhancements already have been presented before as a moral question better in Bioshock.
  
  
• Atlas was better than January.
  
  
• Entire supporting cast done better in Bioshock.
  
  
• Bioshock did the find yourself in a unfamiliar place better.
  
  
• Bioshock oozed with atmospheric tension. Prey feels like a sandbox. That isn't terrible for gamplay but it does not help the story.
  
  
• Bioshock was actually scary at times. Prey meerly trys to bring some horror and fails miserably.
  
  
• I was invested into the world of Bioshock. Prey feels like a joke I am not in on.
  
  You can argue the minute details to death. At the end of the day I don't care about those details. Big picture this game's story is generic and not even in a loving way. It's a harhar look at what we engineers be doing up in space harhar we so smart harhar . Hamfisted is the best way I can describe this story.

[Alex_x86]

You realise that Bioshock was nothing new as well? System Shock 2 and Deus Ex done that way before Bioshock and subjectively better. For example you can argue for a very long time who is better Atlas, January or somebosy else, but real question about who is better is SHODAN or Glados (or if you include movies HAL9000)

Just be glad that once in 10 years you are getting the game like that.

[Default]

^ I completely agree that I would rather have Prey then not have Prey. I am certainly grateful that we are still getting this style of shooter.

It is a shame though that this song and dance is getting worse over time as opposed to better. Maybe the template is just stale at this point and I am in the wrong for expecting too much. However, I would like to believe this type of story can be done with the same level of atmosphere every time.

[eminam]

indeed

[TheLastLion]

You are correct, the story is indeed generic just as the characters. If you would ask me who was in the game I couldn't tell except for the chinese Gabe Newell perhaps. The twist at the end is interesting but it's to small and to late to give the story any redeeming values.

The gameplay and atmosphere carry the game all the way. I really loved how you can "fast" travel between stations outside Talos. I wish you could do the same in Rapture.

[3MBG]

My issue with bioshock was that it hit the same beats in the story at the same time. First, off to medical because someone told you to, the entertainment zone repeated the "get the things spread accross the level" thing that level 4 in SS2 did, and the polito/adam reveal felt virtually identical.

I was so pissed off that bioshock didn't even bother to do something different with Adam than ss2 did. I thought that was beyond lazy. At least prey tried to shake that up by having 3 voices telling you different things.

[Ǵ̶͓̂͑lí̴̤̀̄́tcĥ̸]

Story does follow the KISS rule (Keep It Simple Stupid). I think due to the nature of how it was made, it resumes its sort of "pitch" state which ended up good enough a simple vessel with which to carry the gameplay. I don't hate it for this - a bit more time could have done it some good, but who knows how that could have gone (Development Hell). We got a solid game that might never have existed so...love hate kind of thing.

But mostly love.

[Zu]

I wasn't invested in the story either, but I really appreciate the ending because it motivated me to replay the game with a different mindset.

All the "What if..." questions are kinda fun to think about.

[Zekiran]

I found the storytelling to be both complex and fascinating. It immediately introduced a voice you are meant to trust, at the same time providing you with reasons to wonder whether you SHOULD trust it. At pretty much every turn, I was wondering and second guessing myself, because 'what effect will this have' is a very real thing in this game.

Does it do something "completely new and different"? No, but it doesn't have to. What it does is do that same thing *considerably better* than other games with the same premise or overall level progression.

[VhagarTheLastOne]

I wouldnt change almost nothing, the game is good as its, just needs to be bigger and better in every way, imho. Diablo and Prey, Im loving Bethesda more and more, Fallout and ES are great series already

[CloudSeeker]

Well. I think that you need to think of this. Just because System Shock 2, Deus Ex, Bioshock and whatever else brought up the questions of the morals of implanting humans with something artifical doesn't mean it isn't a story worth being told. Just think of how stupid it should be if you are not allowed to make a story around the same plots.

You are not allowed to make Super Mario, Zelda or any other story where you rescue someone you care about from harm. Why? Because the Grimms' Fairy Tales already did that story.

You are not allowed to make a story where someones greed wronged you, you got p!ssed which in a backhanded way led to your best friends death which made you filled with raged so that you slaughtered your enemies. Your rage never stopped until the leader of your enemies begged at your feets for you to please calm down to the dead can be buried. Why? Because the Iliad already made it.

You are not allowed to write about a group of clan/family members going on a epic journey to reclaim something that they lost. Why? Because the Hobbit already had that story.


When it comes to writing most of the stuff you like is stolen from other authors, you might just not know who those authors are. Just because you have played bioshock doesn't mean other people have. Bioshock 1 was released in 2007, that is more then 10 years ago now. Someone can literally been born then, and are now in 3rd grade. That is how long ago Bioshock 1 was released. You sound like some kind of fanboy and purist that can not stand that a similar story is being made again because you don't want people to not worship bioshock as much. If you ask me you should more praise games like this because they bring back something the game industry have completely forgotten over the years and the fact they rather want games as services and loot boxes in everything. If you can put your fanboyism aside for a while you might be able to bring back more story driven games when you show there is a demand for them instead of hating on them because they do not bring a story that you want or isn't written by some kind of gods.

[ScienziatoAfro]

Originally posted by Default:

Spoilers.

Overall the gameplay is fantastic. Let's get that out of the way. Gameplay is great and that is why I'm going play this game for hours.

The story though... Why so painfully generic and boring?

I would ask Arkane to not make a love letter to System Shock/Bioshock next time around in the story department.

• Human enhancements already have been presented before as a moral question better in Bioshock.
  
  
• Atlas was better than January.
  
  
• Bioshock oozed with atmospheric tension. Prey feels like a sandbox. That isn't terrible for gamplay but it does not help the story.
  
  
  You can argue the minute details to death. At the end of the day I don't care about those details. Big picture this game's story is generic and not even in a loving way. It's a harhar look at what we engineers be doing up in space harhar we so smart harhar . Hamfisted is the best way I can describe this story.

Human enhancement and science gone too far aren't a Bioshock exclusive, they're in many games. Not to mention that Bioshock treated the subject worse than Prey and Deus Ex, it doesn't make you decide and everything is good or bad, black and white. In Deus Ex and Prey you human enhancement has pros and cons and there isn't a "bad" or "wrong" choice after all, in Bioshock Adam is simply an horrible thing and it doesn't have any good aspect. The game doesn't even make any choice about this subject or anything else (besides the repetitive kill/save little sister).

Polito was better than Atlas.

The tension in Bioshock isn't that much and if there is tension it disappearsduring the first hours of the game, then it becomes a repetitive FPS where the only solution to every problem is shoot until it dies.

If you want to call a game generic and seen before don't mention another game who copied almost everything storyside by a game came out 8 years before (even Bioshock main plot twist and best moment is stolen from his predecessor). Not to mention that Bioshock is much more simplified compared to SS2, Deus Ex, Prey etc., it is only an FPS, you don't have to make choices, the levels are almost corridors with doors locked for no reason that open when the game wants them to and there is no replayability or multiple solutions to a problem.

[Zekiran]

Prey did everything that Bioshock did, and far, far better. Bioshock was so overhyped and overrated. It was fun, sure, it had lots of interesting things... But the storytelling in it was *garbage*. There was zero subtelty about it, it was constantly smacking you over the head with its preachy morality.

Bioshock oozed something, but it wasn't story, tension, or skill. All the things you ascribe as good, and Prey bad, I can literally switch the names of the games and be satisfied. Bioshock's story was as generic as they come, and poorly told to boot. This one, while not "innovatively new storyline", it was told marvelously, with detail - and if you're saying to ignore the details, I suppose that Bioshock would be the right game for you, as it *completely lacked* any nuance.

[TheLastLion]

Zekiran you old hag. Get back to DoTO forum with your retarded opinion. Take your Alzheimer medicine next time so you won't end up here again.

[Bankai9212]

Originally posted by DonGurke:

Zekiran you old hag. Get back to DoTO forum with your retarded opinion. Take your Alzheimer medicine next time so you won't end up here again.

It's just his opinion I do agree with him prey handled it a bit better. Then again bioshock wasn't trying to replicate system shock 2 100%

[Zekiran]

Oh don't mind Don, he's got some kind of affliction where he stalks my posts and insults me like that. Also, I'm a woman, but no harm no foul. I will however continue to report those insults as many times as necessary.