Infinite > Minerva's Den > BioShock > BioShock 2

Was Minerva really that good? I didn't really want to have to deal with buying DLC via GFWL/XBOX/whatever...

To me, yes.

It is only a couple hours, but it is some of the best gaming I had this console generation. Anytime I recommend BioShock 2, the reason is that DLC.

I don't think you can go wrong with the one that started it all. In any case, I can't really rank them because they all do something specific very well. Bioshock has the best story. Bioshock 2 has the best combat. Infinite strikes some kind of strange medium that I can't explain. I like it...it's good...I just--yeah--my brain is still fried.

Maybe I'll just watch a let's play of it, it seems way more trouble that it's worth to get it then =\

Numero uno.

Rapture is an unbeatable setting for a videogame. I would always pause whenever I saw a giant window and just stared at it. I also liked how the levels were pretty open and allowed for exploration beyond "there's a room off to the side." Great VO too.

Yeah, Infinite reminded me how much I loved Rapture as a setting.

System Shock 2 was the best Bioshock game.

Disliked the first hour of the first Bioshock greatly - confusing level design and bad shootsing. Skipped Bio2, and I'm currently loving Infinite, so... my favorite is Infinite.

Honestly, I would have loved it if they brought back inventory; I have never liked compulsively consuming everything you find on the spot.

I was very undecided on if I liked Bioshock or Infinite more, but after the live GB spoilercast video thingy I have concluded that I like Infinite more. That ultimately makes Infinite my favorite game ever, then, since Bioshock was already my favorite game ever. Infinite is just so well made.

I still haven't played Infinite, which is very, very unfortunate, though I am determined to play it soon. It's bothering me that I haven't played it yet. As for the other ones, I think the original Bioshock is nearly perfect, though the last time going through it, which was a few days before Infinite's release, I was a little less impressed and surprised at just how fast I got through it since my previous playthroughs on 360, PC, and PS3 (multiple times through) were all pretty long, and I had been doing more than I had ever done, like getting all the researching complete, and the final enemy felt less fulfilling than ever, but I still love it.

I think Bioshock 2 is superb, but less significant feeling than the first; you go back to the memory of the first time you played the first, and it's hard to beat that. Going into Bioshock 2 is like going to your favorite spot on vacation: it's still fantastic, but the thrill of seeing it for the first time isn't quite there anymore, but I love nearly everything about it, I just wish I got it on 360 instead of PS3. As for Minerva's Den, I thought that was cool and interesting, but I got somewhat bored of it after a short while, though that ending was a very big surprise, which was a delight. I really want to play Infinite, like I said, it's bothersome to me.

Anyways, I think it goes, for me at least so far:

1. Bioshock

2: Bioshock 2

3: Minerva's Den

All above what I would consider merely great, but Minerva's Den isn't wholly superb. Bioshock 2 is just on superb, and Bioshock is bordering on perfect in my opinion.

The first one.

The setting, the story, the atmosphere, all of that was so amazing the first time. The story in the first game probably holds up better under scrutiny but the story in Infinite was a little more interesting. I liked the combat a lot less in Infinite than I did in the first and second games. It didn't have the same punch for me, it wasn't as tense or as interesting, though keep in mind that I most recently played the first one with Vita chambers off and on the hardest difficulty. I tried to play Bioshock Infinite on the hardest difficulty and it wasn't tense or interesting, just annoying. The second game's combat is the best, but everything else is worse. Not bad, just not as good.

To be honest, the gameplay is really the defining factor for me. All three games have good atmosphere, interesting stories, and well-done settings, but it's the first one where those three things come together best as far as I'm concerned. Combine that with gameplay that's almost as good as the second game's and you have a recipe for the game in the series that I like most.

Bioshock was excellent because it was the first introduction to Rapture and it had great story and characters. Bioshock 2, on the other hand, is the game I felt just played best of all three of them, and had the most fun with simply as a game. So I'll be the odd duck out and pick Bioshock 2.

For me, it's a tough choice, but I have to go with the original Bioshock. In Infinite, I really liked Elizabeth and thought Columbia was an interesting idea for a setting. However, I don't think that the storytelling in it was as strong as the first game's. Also, the first time I saw Rapture, I was completely in awe. Discovering Rapture's history bit by bit via audio logs and the environments was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had gaming. The last part of the game may have been weak, but up until that famous twist, it was a sick ride.

It's pretty much a toss-up between the original and Infinite. Bioshock has the better, more interesting setting and an amazing intro, but a disappointing last few hours. Infinite tells a better story and is more consistent from start to finish, but the combat never really evolved all that much and Columbia just didn't have the impact Rapture had.

I guess I'll go with Infinite, but it's definitely not Bioshock 2. I should play it someday, though.

BioShock the First. I don't remember a lot about the second game (and thus hold nothing against it), and while I acknowledge Infinite as a good game, I simply don't like it.

BioShock. Even though the gameplay is more technically fun in both 2 and Infinite, the story and atmosphere in the first can't be topped, in my mind. It just really stuck with me. Still, I like both the sequel and Inifinite and think the series as a whole is fantastic.

agreed

Haven't played 2 but I am in love with Infinite, just a wow game for me in the same way ME2 was.

Bioshock. Most impactful and memorable of the three for me overall. In terms of combat specifically, 2 for sure. So that basically puts Infinite at the bottom of my list. I recognize that Infinite's an objectively outstanding game, but I just didn't love my time with it so much. I found the gameplay quite dry and middling, some of the level design (the whole gunsmith and ghost mom sections, specifically) poor, unintuitive, and excessively linear for the most part, and the story meandering and nonsensical (and a bit "too easy," i.e., in an infinite parallel universes setting, you can make anything happen without having to explain it very well, and thus cover up weak writing with an overly convoluted story).

I liked them all for different reasons. Bioshock 1 had the best setting, Infinite had the best story, and Bioshock 2 had the drill-charge attack, my favorite attack in any game ever (charge wasn't great in Infinite since you had to babysit your shield the entire game and avoid melee range).

In retrospect, I think my main sticking point with Bioshock 1 is that it literally has the exact same twist as System Shock 2, which would be more excusable if it wasn't the same developer doing it. It still has amazing atmosphere and world-building, but then I remember the back third of that game and...eh. Never played the second one. I have it on steam. Is it at all worth looking at? Yes yes, Minerva's Den. But besides that?

Infinite is a bit too recent for us to really look back on with any amount of perspective, but I think making it character-focused goes a long way. I don't think their vision of Columbia is quite as cohesive as Rapture, but it's the only game of this year that has inspired a significant amount of debate and for that it should be lauded.

What about gay marriage in Fire Emblem? Or sexism in Tomb Raider? Or....did the new Devil May Cry come out this year? It had to, right?

Tomb Raider...yes, though I feel like the debate around that game was more focused on the dichotomy between the gameplay and the story (or to use a Klepek-ism "Ostensible Ludonarrative Dissonance Scenario") and the sexism thing is more because that's the kick that "Games Journalism" is on right now and Tomb Raider happens to star a pretty lady.

Was Fire Emblem Gay Marriage a thing? Maybe I don't lurk on the Serenes Forest forums as much as you do, but those people are crazy and that isn't a debate worth having. Devil May Cry did come out this year but any or all debate around it involved crazy people hating it for irrational reasons.

That's more a problem with games in general, though. Hell, I think BioShock started it.

I don't really lurk around Serenes Forest, at least on the forums. I've just heard people complaining about the lack of gay marriage in Awakening ever since Fire Emblem became suddenly relevant. I still have yet to play Awakening, so I can't really comment on any of it, so instead enjoy Penny Arcade's take on the affair.

For me it's Infinite>2>1. There were many outside forces conspiring against me to make playing the original an unpleasant experience. 2 made some meaningful changes to the gameplay that I thought made it more fun, and not having nearly the entire story spoiled for me was a plus as well. That's why I enjoyed 2 more than 1, as for Infinite I basically liked it better in every respect. Which probably isn't a fair comparison because the team had probably learned a lot of lessons in the half a decade between those games, but ehh.

I was torn between Infinite and the original BioShock, but I'd have to say at the end of the day Infinite wins it for me. As much as I feel like Andrew Ryan was probably one of the best antagonists I've seen in a video game with his face-to-face encounter being one of my all-time favorite climactic twist moments in a video game, the actual final arc and ending for the original BioShock could've been better. BioShock 2 was pretty good but didn't impact me as much as its predecessor or successor.

Infinite feels far more complete and was even more ambitious about the kind of story arcs and twists involved. As much as Andrew Ryan stole the show for BioShock to me, I feel like the completeness and resolution to Infinite was ultimately the most satisfying out of the games, and thus Infinite my favorite game in the franchise.

Bioshock 1. I wasn't wild about Infinites narrative.

I like the freedom of 1, the narrative, setting, plasmids (much better than inifinte's), Voice Acting, weapons, mechanics, smart AI, Big Daddies. I enjoyed how everything was tied together.

Infinite was alright, I didn't have high expectations but, I was let down by the narrative and linearity. I like the setting and some of the plasmids and weapons, Other then those things Infinite was meh.

Bioshock 1>Infinite>Bioshock 2

Bioshock 1 was just such a refreshing experience for me at the time, I played the whole game in one sitting. While Infinite was good, I thought the narrative was a little loose and the symbolism's not quite as effective.

Bioshock 2>Bioshock>Infinite

Rapture is much more interesting than Columbia and Infinites middle part was two hours longer than it needed.

I loved everything about Bioshock 2

Alright. I'd say it goes Bioshock, Bioshock Infinite, and very, very closely behind it is Bioshock 2. I'd have a lot of explaining to do if I wanted to get into detail as to what exactly I like more or less about this and that so I'll just not get into it.

Probably Minerva's Den. Best Bioshock gameplay. Bioshock 2 also has great gameplay (way better than B1 and slightly better than B:I), -BUT- The story is kind of weak. I mean, it's not bad, but it's definitely weaker than all the other entries.

So... I don't know. I'd say Minerva's Den, then Bioshock Infinite and then Bioshock 2. I really like B1, and it was the first one in the series, and the rapture reveal is amazing, but I just can't play it anymore- the gameplay is so damn boring.

So there you go. Play Bioshock 2 people. I was sceptical when I started, but by the end I realized it's a really awesome game.

TLDR:

Minerva's Den > Bioshock Infinite >/= Bioshock 2

First Bioshock left tons of unforgettable expressions, though i should admit Bioshock Infinite is the best one in the series.

-Dan http://greenavis.com/

I'm going to have to say Bioshock 2, the combat and gameplay is the best in the series and the story overall is probably the best out of the three. Bioshock and Infinite's stories have spiralling high points, I thought 2's story was more consistent throughout the game, and it resonated with me more than the other two games. Bioshock comes in a close second, and Infinte gets third; Infinite felt like there was just something lacking or missing in many areas, which would take me a lot more thought nail down to specifics.

I thought the setting was absolutely brilliant in Infinite, but I also feel that it had the weakest gameplay and story. Gonna have to say either System Shock 2 or Bioshock.

There should have been a 'Minerva's Den' option in this poll, but I voted for the original Bioshock. I highly enjoyed Infinite, but I feel the original had a bigger impact on me and I prefer the more "metroid"-ish feel of it.

1. Bioshock Infinite

2. Minerva's Den

3. Bioshock

4. Bioshock 2

Though I gotta say B2 is real close at replacing B1's spot. I just think the gameplay in 2 is much better.

I dunno man, the original BioShock lost all steam after the twist. Something just changed and I couldn't have been less interested in it from that moment on. I guess I always felt the gameplay was too middling to sustain my interest on its own and the plot became incredibly rote. And I never played 2.