Why so fixated on the fact this isn't an RPG? Is this still about the fact that the original Bioshock was listed as an RPG on Steam?
This goes back much further than Steam listings. I remember the initial launch of Bioshock, and how the initial hype, descriptions, and reviews stressed its RPG points. I even remember the PC Gamer podcast talking about it. After playing Elder Scrolls 4 and liking it, I discovered that I liked RPGs. Up until then, my video game diet was shooters and strategy games (not counting that Diablo stint about a decade prior).
I was disappointed that when I finished it, I was still looking for the RPG. The gameplay struck me as 100% shooter. It didn't play in the least bit like Oblivion did. There were no classes. There was no inventory. Sure, Bioshock featured magic, equipment upgrades, and resource gathering, but lots of genres have that. I've never heard anyone accusing the WarCraft RTS games of being RPGs. (One friend accused StarCraft of being an RPG, because the Protoss (high templars, especially) used "magic".) Granted, Bioshock had choices, albeit limited (you're either Mother Teresa or Hitler), but I classify that as more of a story function, and not RPG specific.
Maybe I'm approaching it the wrong way. Perhaps it was intended to be a more obvious RPG, but since the 360 was the new hot ****, they needed to dumb it down. And since Big Gaming needs to appeal to the widest possible audience, you gotta make it be an FPS.
Why so fixated on the fact this isn't an RPG? Is this still about the fact that the original Bioshock was listed as an RPG on Steam?
This goes back much further than Steam listings. I remember the initial launch of Bioshock, and how the initial hype, descriptions, and reviews stressed its RPG points. I even remember the PC Gamer podcast talking about it. After playing Elder Scrolls 4 and liking it, I discovered that I liked RPGs. Up until then, my video game diet was shooters and strategy games (not counting that Diablo stint about a decade prior).
I was disappointed that when I finished it, I was still looking for the RPG. The gameplay struck me as 100% shooter. It didn't play in the least bit like Oblivion did. There were no classes. There was no inventory. Sure, Bioshock featured magic, equipment upgrades, and resource gathering, but lots of genres have that. I've never heard anyone accusing the WarCraft RTS games of being RPGs. (One friend accused StarCraft of being an RPG, because the Protoss (high templars, especially) used "magic".) Granted, Bioshock had choices, albeit limited (you're either Mother Teresa or Hitler), but I classify that as more of a story function, and not RPG specific.
Maybe I'm approaching it the wrong way. Perhaps it was intended to be a more obvious RPG, but since the 360 was the new hot ****, they needed to dumb it down. And since Big Gaming needs to appeal to the widest possible audience, you gotta make it be an FPS.