OK, I've played both Stalker and Bioshock about a quarter of the way
through, and whereas it's very difficult to find a good time to load
Stalker back up, it's the opposite with Bioshock. It's so damned
inviting, it's hard not to race through it.

Paul and I have long agreed that Mafia had pretty much the best
atmosphere of any PC game, but this may take the prize - every tiny
aspect of the design and sound for the game is crafted to make the
experience as immersive as possible.

I can't go into detail on further gameplay elements, but so far the
upgrading skills idea seems as complete and satisfying as Deus Ex was -
to the point where I can see huge replay potential by focusing on
different skills (I played Deus Ex as an invisible, super fast ghost,
and then as a massive, unstoppable killing machine, for instance).

It looks really, really beautiful on my pc, and while I'm sure it'll
need the effects dialling down for slower rigs, it's a lot more
friendly than Stalker and it's weather effects.

It's a pity Strider left the group - I'd love to find out if he's
playing it the amoral 'kill everything that moves' way he played HL, or
whether the moral and emotional challenges you get given make him hold
back. It's a given for me - I couldn't even kill the scientists in HL,
let alone Barney - I'll come out of Bioshock with ethics intact, even
at the expense of a harder route to take.

So - PC games, eh? There ARE other ones than World of Warcraft after
all, I find. Wonder if there are any others around worth botheri.....
oh, the Orange pack is due next month... :D

___
Neil
aka HighVis

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