Yeah, that's it.. (not native English, obviously).. :P

Btw, I probably should deduct more points for not having MP if I deduct 0.4 to 0.5 for having a short SP game.. MP adds a lot of value, probably even more then a lenghty SP game.. But tbh it depends on what you're looking for in a game.. Some care more about SP, some more about MP..

On the art of reviewing games, once you have a solid review ratingsystem down and look at past games and what's standard in the genre at that moment in time, I think reviewing games is not that hard.. I would love to do it for some big gaming website or magazine.. Plenty of gaming experience under the belt, so no problem there..

But only if paid well, because I'm not giving up my current job for it.. And it should be in Dutch, or someone has to check my English text, LOL! :P

Docking points because of a lack of MP is pretty dumb. Since when do all games need it? People have brought up LoZ:OoT and RE4...neither of those had multiplayer; did it make them lesser games because of it? No! Is it because Bioshock is an FPS that instantly requires that it needs a MP mode? I don't quite agree with that.

Besides, Halo 3 and CoD4 are coming out soon. NOBODY would be playing Bioshock's MP if it had one when those MP giants come out. It simply would've been a waste of resources to put it in, and by the sound of it, focusing all of their attention on the single player is REALLY paying off with regards to reviews...in spite of the lack of a player shadow and an uninspired minigame.

You don't know.. Bioshock MP could be very interesting in the Raptor setting with it's combinations of powers and weapons.. Maybe way more interesting then the same old Halo3 and CoD4..

But gamers are generally conservative, that's true, and a lot only play what's popular and/or what their friends play.. So yeah in that regard Halo3 and CoD4 probably would be much more popular, because they are well known and have the MP legacy..

And having a lengthy SP game could compensate for the lack of MP, no problem.. Lets hope Bioshock really offers at least 20 hours of gameplay for the average gamer, otherwise I would really deduct points for not having enough value for it's 60 bucks..

Ken Levine has often said in interviews that if they were to do a multiplayer mode they would not have been able to make the single player experience as special as it obviously is. The resources for the multiplayer would have had to come from somewhere, that somewhere being single player.

Does every game really need MP? Others have already mentioned some great games that didn't have it: RE4, Oblivion, ZOoT. Plus, like Ronsauce said, people are just going to be playing Halo 3, and COD 4 MP anyways so 2K Boston would have just been wasting their time doing a MP mode.

I do think Bioshock MP would be interesting, but I don't think it would get enough play to warrant the resources necessary to make it happen. Trying to balance the MP with all of the different customizable weapons, ammo, plasmids, tonics, would just be an absolute nightmare. MP has to be balanced or it doesn't work. Plus games like this just sometimes don't translate well in MP, like Metroid. I remember reading reviews for the first Metroid on the GC and they were saying the same thing. Great game with wonderful atmosphere, pacing, platforming for FPS, etc... but it's lacking MP. Then they do MP for the next one and everyone calls it crap.

That's why I'm happy they concentrated on the SP. They made an absolutely stunning, groundbreaking game that they might not have been able to make if they were worrying about whether or not something would work in MP.

I am so glad this game is getting so many perfect scores, without even a hint of a multiplayer mode.

Multiplay, just like a lot of things in a game, IS NOT A REQUISITE, BUT AN OPTION. Scoring perfectly fantastic games lower than they deserve for not including an optional feature is complete and total bullshit and holds no merit. That's like rating PC games a lower score because they did not support the optional gamepad style controller. The lack of online, does not make the game any less of an awesome experience, and it is long past time that the industry put this stupid practice to rest, once and for all. Is KotOR any less of a genre redefining role-play experience because it is not an MMO? Hells no!!! And BioShock, and any other game with a solid single player experience, is no less of what they are sans an online mode - period. Scoring them any lower because of that, has got have been one of the most asinine things ever and thank goodness for BioShock being around to finally put an end to the practice.

How soon too many people (I assume younger gamers, mostly) forget, that videogames were around and kicking ass for 20 years before the first online multiplayer game started making the rounds. I guess all those thousands of games that were coming out then, are all lesser titles because they too lacked the online option.

It's about value a.k.a. time a game will give you gaming pleasure..

Most people play thru a SP game only once, so if Bioshock offers 20 hours of gameplay that's 20 hours of value.. Most MP games are played much longer, so obviously offer more value in terms of time spend with the game..

Is a game that only offers 20 hours worth the same 60 bucks as a game that offers hundereds of hours (thru MP)? That's the question..

It also the reason why I hardly ever buy SP-only games.. I've been doing this since Quake1 bassicly.. Only SP-only games I buy are sandbox games really, because they offer tons of value aswell.. Another thing that can give a SP game value is co-op.. I played Gears of War SP 3 times in co-op with different friends.. But co-op is something Bioshock also doesn't offer.. So yeah, it better be a damn good 20 hours, and deliver on the replayability promise.. Otherwise it will be another game I've spend 60 bucks on and are done with in only a few days..

How do you know this exactly? I mean, you might, your friends might, but there are plenty of people that give games multiple playthroughs...whether on harder difficulties, for different story paths/endings, or just because they enjoyed it immensely the first time.

I don't think not buying SP-only games is a bad thing because people do want the best value. That said, renting is still a viable option to enjoy a potentially great game.Heh, the funny thing is, had they included a multiplayer mode that felt a tad tacked on, the game probably would have recieved lower review scores overall because the shoddy MP would've been taken into account (assuming the MP would have turned out shoddy).

The Darkness MP is totally abysmal. Ken has said that he knows what he wants Bioshock Mp to be, but that this time around they wanted to focus solely on the single player experience and did not have time for it.

I've picked that up in articles and comments from people in the industry over the years, and I think the lastest Steam stats show it aswell..

http://www.steampowered.com/status/ep1/

+/- 50% didn't even finish HL2:EP1 once.. And that's only a 4-5 hours orso long game..

You could argue offcourse that if people don't even finish a game once they probably also don't care it offers less value (in time).. If 50% doesn't even finish a 4-5 hour long game, what will that number be with longer SP games?

lol, inspireless.

Google it, I'm not the 1st to use it.. :P

They don't sound like they're into single-player games if they can't spend a few hours to beat a short game.

Is that meant to be a joke? I simply can't see it being taken any other way. I mean, it's not even good biased fanboy writing.

No
Just leave it alone.

I think that it is a joke, but knowing the SDF, it may not be. Of course, I also highly doubt anyone at SDF has gotten a reviewable copy of the game (or any game for that matter). I will tell you what it is. Bad comedy. Of course I know I will get a good laugh out of their efforts to downplay the quality of the game, and fully expect to see similar "reviews" surrounding Halo 3, Mass Effect and Super Mario Galaxy.

Anyway, the real reason I came back just now was to post this. I found this on another forum I regular, and called my local Gamestop to double check, and was told a similar story.So all I can say, if you are looking to get the limited edition BioShock on release day, do not dawdle around and get your pre-order in no later than closing today. I know quite a few gamers do not believe in making pre-orders as most games you can just walk in the store and grab it, even on day one. But I think that BioShock may have taken the industry by surprise. Most gamers I talk to on most forums, just a couple of weeks ago, were not even thinking about picking up the game at all this year. When you think about it, there was hardly anything on the current level of hype said about the game last month at E3, and I am sure more than a few gamers were willing to just ignore the game. The difference that a few well placed, perfect 10 scores can do for a game's fortune at retail is amazing.

Oh, and one other little thing. While on the phone with my local Gamestop, I was informed they will be getting their copies of BioShock no later than Monday, so they can meet the street date on Tuesday at open. So for anyone seriously fiending for this game, you can pick it up whenever your local GS opens on Tuesday morning and not have to worry about picking it up on your lunch break or during the commute after work. With that news in mind, I quickly informed my boss that I will be taking a personal day off next Tuesday. The local GS opens at 09:00, and I expect to spend the majority of the day making sweet love to the Big Daddies.

EDIT - That last bit, sounded wrong.

^^ be sure to tell your boss the exact same words you just wrote here :)

I'm not going to lie I found that review extremely funny :)