Mass Effect or Bioshock - Father's Day Clearance Buy

[Eco-Logic]

Hey all,

I noticed tonight at Target that Mass Effect and Bioshock both sell for $19.99.  I'm about to finish Prototype and I'm eager to play something else.  I haven't played either of these.

Which do you recommend?  It is worth noting that I'm not one of those that thrives on 100 hour games.  The longest game I've finished is probably KOTOR.  I regularly finish games similar in length to Halo 3, Prototype, Far Cry 2.

Looking forward to your thoughts.  One of these two games?  Or something completely different?

Eco

[Captain Caveman]

Based on your criteria, I'd recommend Bioshock, though Mass Effect is great too.

[Greggy_D]

Seriously.....get both.  Different games....but they both rock.

[WinoMcCougarstein]

Buy ME and rent Bioshock.  You could easily plow through Bioshock in a rental.  I recently purchased ME and I'm loving it so far.  I wasn't too hot on KOTOR so I'm a little surprised at how much I like ME.

[Mithridates]

I loved Bioshock.  One of my favorite games EVER.  Mass Effect, I have to give another shot this summer.  The first two times I've tried I couldn't get hooked.

[CeeKay]

Buy ME and rent Bioshock.  You could easily plow through Bioshock in a rental.  I recently purchased ME and I'm loving it so far.  I wasn't too hot on KOTOR so I'm a little surprised at how much I like ME.

+1.  ME is fairly lengthy (30 hours or so IIRC) but doesn't feel like it.  plus that's doing everything possible in the game.

[Goldchamp]

Another vote for Mass Effect. Took me a couple tries to get hooked but once i did I fell in love.

[Huw the Poo]

You could honestly play Mass Effect through fairly quickly, and it's a great game.  But my vote would be for Bioshock because it's one of the best games ever developed in my opinion.  As if my avatar wasn't clue enough.

[metallicorphan]

both great games

hasnt a double pack of Bioshock and Oblivion just come out?...that would be an awesome double pack,if i didnt already own them

[Gratch]

Seriously.....get both.  Different games....but they both rock.

This.  The only downside to Bioshock is it's shitty ending.  Other than that, it's absolutely stellar.  And if you enjoyed KotOR, my guess is that you'll like ME as well.

[Kevin Grey]

Mass Effect.  If you don't want to pad the experience then ignore the exploring the galaxy aspect. 

[faide]

I'd recommend ME for purchase and Bioshock as a rental.  They're both excellent games, but I think ME has more replay value.

Also if you stick to just the story line and none of the side quests, ME is relatively short.  I think I beat it around the 13 hour mark doing it that way.  However there are tons of side quests to do that make it a 40-50 hour game if you want to go that route.

[PeteRock]

I enjoyed Mass Effect far more than Bioshock.  I played Mass Effect straight through to the very end, including all side missions, all optional quests, and all additional exploration.  I'm still struggling to complete Bioshock, and I purchased it the day it was released.  The story, dialogue, cinematic presentation, music, it all combined for a stellar sci-fi experience.  Bioshock is a FPS with a very interesting storyline and environment, but for some reason I can only play it in small doses.  They're very different games.  I think Mass Effect was a better game, but it is also a very different game.

Mass Effect is very dialogue heavy with a lot of exploration, Bioshock is a slower-paced action FPS.

[stimpy]

I enjoyed Mass Effect far more than Bioshock.
Mass Effect is very dialogue heavy

Hmmm......I wonder why?

[jersoc]

get bioshock since the sequel is out in a few months. ME2 won't hit til early next year, probably feb or march.

[denoginizer]

I enjoyed Mass Effect far more than Bioshock.  I played Mass Effect straight through to the very end, including all side missions, all optional quests, and all additional exploration.  I'm still struggling to complete Bioshock, and I purchased it the day it was released.  The story, dialogue, cinematic presentation, music, it all combined for a stellar sci-fi experience.  Bioshock is a FPS with a very interesting storyline and environment, but for some reason I can only play it in small doses.  They're very different games.  I think Mass Effect was a better game, but it is also a very different game.

I have had the complete opposite experience.  Bioshock is one of the very few games I have finished twice.  While I have restarted Mass Effect 3 times and can't seem to get into it.  The combat in Bioshock is amazingly varied and deep.  There are tons of ways to approach encounters.  While the combat in Mass Effect just feels clunky to me.  I also prefer how you get story snippets in Bioshock through the recordings that you can listen to while you are playing. Instead of the static conversations between wooden looking characters in ME.

Also while Rapture is amazingly atmospheric and detailed, many of the "planets" in Mass Effect feel generic. If I try Mass Effect again I plan to skip all of the side missions completely and focus just on the main story arc.

[Gratch]

I enjoyed Mass Effect far more than Bioshock.  I played Mass Effect straight through to the very end, including all side missions, all optional quests, and all additional exploration.  I'm still struggling to complete Bioshock, and I purchased it the day it was released.  The story, dialogue, cinematic presentation, music, it all combined for a stellar sci-fi experience.  Bioshock is a FPS with a very interesting storyline and environment, but for some reason I can only play it in small doses.  They're very different games.  I think Mass Effect was a better game, but it is also a very different game.

I have had the complete opposite experience.  Bioshock is one of the very few games I have finished twice.  While I have restarted Mass Effect 3 times and can't seem to get into it.  The combat in Bioshock is amazingly varied and deep.  There are tons of ways to approach encounters.  While the combat in Mass Effect just feels clunky to me.  I also prefer how you get story snippets in Bioshock through the recordings that you can listen to while you are playing. Instead of the static conversations between wooden looking characters in ME.

Also while Rapture is amazingly atmospheric and detailed, many of the "planets" in Mass Effect feel generic. If I try Mass Effect again I plan to skip all of the side missions completely and focus just on the main story arc.

Yeah, but you hate RPG's. 

[denoginizer]

Yeah, but you hate RPG's. 

I feel like I should like Mass Effect though.  It has combat similar to a cover based shooter.  It doesn't have the typical 12 year old androgynous emo central character.  And it isn't strictly on rails story wise.  I want to love it. 

[farley2k]

I never could finish Mass Effect.  I hated the combat.  It was bad so I turned down the difficulty but then it just got boring with many fights ending almost before I saw the enemy (teammates were good shots though).  I did finish Bioshock though and thought it was one of the most atmospheric games I have ever played.  It does run out of steam at the end but it is so cool for 95% of the game that I overlooked the cheesy ending.

[msteelers]

I'll echo denoginizer's comments. Bioshock hooked me from the start and it's one of my favorite games from this generation. I enjoyed everything about the game, from the combat to the story.

As for Mass Effect...it just didn't click for me. I wanted to love it. KOTOR is one of my favorite games of all time, and I had high hopes for Mass Effect. But I just never got it. I think part of my problem was I wanted to explore every inch of KOTOR, but with Mass Effect I was bored out of my mind. I felt like I was missing something, even though I was probably looking right through it trying to find something that wasn't there. After one or two of the side missions, I just quit. At some point, I fully plan on trying ME again with a fresh perspective, but the first time through I was very disappointed.

[CeeKay]

get both, play Bioshock up to the escort level then switch to Mass Effect.

[Huw the Poo]

I thought Bioshock's ending was really good!

Well, the good one anyway.  I didn't see the bad one.

[MonkeyFinger]

A friend of mine and I finished Bioshock about the same time - I got the good ending, he got the bad one so we got to compare notes. I thought it was interesting the difference in the Little Sister's attitude and banter towards the end that we had seen.

[Eco-Logic]

So I decided to get Bioshock.  We picked it up today at Gamestop (used, so I can trade it for ME if it doesn't excite me).

It would be sweet if I could beat it in the next 7 days and exchange it for Mass Effect. 

Thanks for all the great insight!

[CeeKay]

So I decided to get Bioshock.  We picked it up today at Gamestop (used, so I can trade it for ME if it doesn't excite me).

It would be sweet if I could beat it in the next 7 days and exchange it for Mass Effect. 

Thanks for all the great insight!

they're doing their buy 2 get one free used this weekend, you could have got both and a third title 

[metallicorphan]

looks like Mass Effect 1 is getting more DLC,so i reckon you should of got that  ...Bioshock only had some extra Plasmids to download(unless you get the PS3 version)

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/20009/Mass-Effect-Update/


and i reckon you have a good chance of beating Bioshock in 7 days,depending on how much you are on that is of course,i beat Bioshock in about 12 or so hours i think