Bioforge

I remember reading about this game on magazines when I was a kid, but I did not have a PC capable enough to run it. By the time I did, newer and better games (as well as Windows 98) had come out. As a DOS game, it is impressive. The character have mapped textures on them, the environment is impressive, the athmopsphere is fantastic. The story, though cliched, is interesting and your choices have an impact on it. On the negative side, the game is a product of mid-90s. Tank controls, awkward movement, menus that require multiple inputs for the same action, and great parts of the story revealed through texts instead of action. Finally, the game is uniwinnable for me. I have come across a bug in which (SPOILER WARNING) the reactor explodes even if you succesfully shut it down, and see the cinematic of the core stabilizing. I tried tweaking the cycles, tried changing to earlier DosBox version and finally, I even tried running it in VirtualBox. No luck. Even without the above flaw, I still would not recommend buying this game. Despite its impressive accomplishments during its time, it did not leave an impact on the gaming development, and has mostly been forgotten. If you are curious, I suggest you watch a playthrough of the game. It deserves at least that much.

What a great game. A lot of the reviews on this site is from people with great memories of the games, and thus a lot of games gets 5 out of 5, even though they're so outdated that you give up on them. I played Bioforge 2 years ago in dosbox, and it's still fantastic. Of course, some of it is nostalgia, but the setting, the story and even the graphics are great. And if you read some of the datapads lying around the game, I have to say, some of them are great short-stories in their own right, and gives a tremendous amount of atmosphere. Most people complain about the controls. I didn't have a problem with them, they're very alone in the dark (the old ones)ish, including the shifting camera. But I can see why it would be annoying if you haven't tried those before. And yes, there will be situations where the odd camera angles makes you die, but I just save often, and managed only to really hate them once during the game. So all in all, 5/5 recommendation from me.

Bioforge is frustrating. I've owned it since it came out on budget but I gave up on it a long time ago. This was partly because I insisted on going for hard combat, which makes fights last a bit too long. I gave it another go and have just finished it in a handful of sittings. You die a lot and there are dead ends but the game is short and dying is part of the puzzle-solving process. Usually death is telegraphed in some way, but you can often die just because you walk into the wrong room. It's a bit like an old text adventure - you wander around, die a lot, but eventually put everything together, making it all worthwhile. The combat certainly isn't that hard once you get used to it. Like Alone in the Dark, camera angles can be an issue, but unlike that game, you "lock-on" to your opponent in combat mode. Once you get used to it, even hard mode is handy enough. I would still recommend medium as I sometimes (incorrectly) thought that certain enemies were invincible because they took so long to kill. This is because some are invincible and you've got to solve a puzzle to beat them! Combat isn't a big part of Bioforge anyway and an easier difficulty level should result in less confusion. The auto-targeting is useful when firing weapons as well. It seems the folks at Origin were aware of the main issues with AitD's combat. So what's so great about Bioforge? The best things about it are what makes it a relic - there's no way a game like this would be released now as very few people would come close to completing it. Death is everywhere and there are dead ends, so injudicious saving may mean you need to restart. Thing is you won't be able to tell the difference between merely being stuck and being in an unwinnable situation. Since it's so short, looking up a guide would ruin the game... so eat, drink , dream Bioforge until you finish it. You'll find that ideas come to you when you're out and about and you'll want to go home and try them ASAP... just one more go!

Guy in Blue from JoeGameSaga here! We did a full Let's Play series covering this game over the summer. First episode here, if you want to see the game in action (or just want to know where to go next!)- http://joegamesaga.com/v/2012/06/1340497817 Highly recommend people check this classic game out, especially if you're a fan of System Shock. I know we made fun of the game but this was out of love. I've finished the game so often I've nearly memorized the script! There's more to the game than we covered though, and this is a part of gaming history. Atmosphere is awesome and first time players will enjoy the story. Controls can hamper the game though, and be prepared to save OFTEN and in different slots!

I remember playing this with friends watching. In the beginning attacking the guy with his own arm, your character says, "I have no wish to harm you!" We'd say, "as I beat you with your own severed arm. An arm which at this time has no name." We were all Highlander fans. There were no cheats to this game. If you were in a jam due to the fixed camera angle vs the clunky controls, you had to try it the scene again. I finished the game a few times, trying killing everyone, killing no one, playing the flute-like instrument...the choices you made in game affected your end story - far moreso than that of Mass Effect! There were a purported dozens of different end-stories to your character.