F:
K. It was symptomatic of a broader trend among games developers to include guns in first-person perspective games when there's absolutely no need for them. Bioshock was ruined by below average gunplay.
A:
Wow. You think too much.
F:
The cramped environments meant that the combat was like shooting fish in a lunch box, but the respawn feature whereby, when the player dies, enemies keep their damage levels, is ludicrous. It means you can mindlessly wear the enemy down regardless of the damage you're taking, instead of using the plasmids (basically magic spells), which are the game's truly interesting feature.
A:
Isn't that the player's fault, though? If they choose not to exploit a massive aspect of the gameplay?
F:
Partially, but why not guide the player a little. Throw in some puzzles or some scripted events in which plasmids must be used to succeed; or offer Xbox achievements for avoiding the use of guns; or best of all, take out the guns entirely.
A:
I guess the public isn't ready for the FPS without the S.
F:
That point is often made but I think the success of Portal proves it to be untrue. Half Life 2, and especially Episode 1, while using guns also suggest gamer are hungry for more cerebral first-person games.
A:
I'm going to replay Bioshock without using guns.
F:
Cool, but if you want to make it really interesting, you're not allowed to use the incinerate plasmid directly against an enemy either.