Just finished my first two playthroughs of Bioshock, read the novel, now I need a palate cleanser before savoring Bioshock 2. Unplayed games on the shelf include Portal, and Halflife 2 . . . Any other suggestions?

If what you're looking for is a palate cleanser, then the first Portal game would be n excellent choice.  I was going to suggest Journey.

Defiantly go with Portal. It's a great game.

You haven't played Portal yet? Get on that. It's only like 4 hours, but it's some of the best 4 hours of gameplay ever.

There is a novel? Is that any good? I would suggest something that is not a shooter or long.

You're also going to need a palate cleanser AFTER BioShock 2 to get the awful taste of that game out of your mouth.

You're also going to need a palate cleanser AFTER BioShock 2 to get the awful taste of that game out of your mouth.

I have played and enjoyed Journey . . . looks like a lot of votes for Portal . . . I thought the novel (prequel) was very good, and added depth to my second playthrough . . . Hope the dis of Bioshock 2 will be something I end up disagreeing with.

@grahammcgrew said:

I have played and enjoyed Journey . . . looks like a lot of votes for Portal . . . I thought the novel (prequel) was very good, and added depth to my second playthrough . . . Hope the dis of Bioshock 2 will be something I end up disagreeing with.

The story of Bioshock 2 is very inferior to Bioshock 1's, but the gameplay is just as good. You won't get the same sense of discovery, wonder, and fear as in Bioshock 1, but you'll still enjoy playing it.

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

There is a novel?

It's called Atlas Shrugged.

@Video_Game_King said:

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

There is a novel?

It's called Atlas Shrugged.

@President_Barackbar said:

You're also going to need a palate cleanser AFTER BioShock 2 to get the awful taste of that game out of your mouth.

Bioshock 2 improved on everything in Bioshock. The only problem was that people basically burned out on the first one.

Plus, Minerva's Den is awesome and is a really great Bioshock game in a nutshell.

Portal. Definitely. Short, sweet, and amazing.

@SomeDeliCook said:

@President_Barackbar said:

You're also going to need a palate cleanser AFTER BioShock 2 to get the awful taste of that game out of your mouth.

Bioshock 2 improved on everything in Bioshock. The only problem was that people basically burned out on the first one.

Plus, Minerva's Den is awesome and is a really great Bioshock game in a nutshell.

I like Bioshock 2 a whole lot, I think the level design is vastly better than the first game's, but that first game is ultimately more timeless to me. All of the first game's systems were at least a little better in the second game but for me it just didn't have the same level of tension or atmosphere that the first one did. It wasn't because I was burned out, either - I beat the first one a year or two before I even touched the second.

@believer258 said:

Portal. Definitely. Short, sweet, and amazing.

@SomeDeliCook said:

@President_Barackbar said:

You're also going to need a palate cleanser AFTER BioShock 2 to get the awful taste of that game out of your mouth.

Bioshock 2 improved on everything in Bioshock. The only problem was that people basically burned out on the first one.

Plus, Minerva's Den is awesome and is a really great Bioshock game in a nutshell.

I like Bioshock 2 a whole lot, I think the level design is vastly better than the first game's, but that first game is ultimately more timeless to me. All of the first game's systems were at least a little better in the second game but for me it just didn't have the same level of tension or atmosphere that the first one did. It wasn't because I was burned out, either - I beat the first one a year or two before I even touched the second.

Burned out was probably the wrong term. The problem with Bioshock 2 is that it was a sequel. Just about everyone played the first one first and so everyone already went through the initial shock and awe factor of the setting that it would've been impossible for the second one to replicate it. Even Bioshock Infinite with a completely different setting still won't have the same impact as Bioshock because its still going to be a similar game with similar themes everyone already experienced.

Its the same with sequels to really good movies. Even if the second one is way better in every way, everyone will still remember the first one because it was the introduction and everyone's first experience.

@SomeDeliCook said:

@believer258 said:

Portal. Definitely. Short, sweet, and amazing.

@SomeDeliCook said:

@President_Barackbar said:

You're also going to need a palate cleanser AFTER BioShock 2 to get the awful taste of that game out of your mouth.

Bioshock 2 improved on everything in Bioshock. The only problem was that people basically burned out on the first one.

Plus, Minerva's Den is awesome and is a really great Bioshock game in a nutshell.

I like Bioshock 2 a whole lot, I think the level design is vastly better than the first game's, but that first game is ultimately more timeless to me. All of the first game's systems were at least a little better in the second game but for me it just didn't have the same level of tension or atmosphere that the first one did. It wasn't because I was burned out, either - I beat the first one a year or two before I even touched the second.

Burned out was probably the wrong term. The problem with Bioshock 2 is that it was a sequel. Just about everyone played the first one first and so everyone already went through the initial shock and awe factor of the setting that it would've been impossible for the second one to replicate it. Even Bioshock Infinite with a completely different setting still won't have the same impact as Bioshock because its still going to be a similar game with similar themes everyone already experienced.

Its the same with sequels to really good movies. Even if the second one is way better in every way, everyone will still remember the first one because it was the introduction and everyone's first experience.

But that's not really what I meant. Every time I jump into the Bioshock 1, I get a similar sense of atmosphere and tension and interest. It isn't nostalgia that's driving it, either, it's just a very well made game. I don't get that with Bioshock 2. It's just a less wondrous, less interesting game. Not that it doesn't have those qualities, it just doesn't have them in as much capacity as the first game.

Both are great games, I would just pick the first one over the second any day of the week.

@believer258 said:

@SomeDeliCook said:

@believer258 said:

Portal. Definitely. Short, sweet, and amazing.

@SomeDeliCook said:

@President_Barackbar said:

You're also going to need a palate cleanser AFTER BioShock 2 to get the awful taste of that game out of your mouth.

Bioshock 2 improved on everything in Bioshock. The only problem was that people basically burned out on the first one.

Plus, Minerva's Den is awesome and is a really great Bioshock game in a nutshell.

I like Bioshock 2 a whole lot, I think the level design is vastly better than the first game's, but that first game is ultimately more timeless to me. All of the first game's systems were at least a little better in the second game but for me it just didn't have the same level of tension or atmosphere that the first one did. It wasn't because I was burned out, either - I beat the first one a year or two before I even touched the second.

Burned out was probably the wrong term. The problem with Bioshock 2 is that it was a sequel. Just about everyone played the first one first and so everyone already went through the initial shock and awe factor of the setting that it would've been impossible for the second one to replicate it. Even Bioshock Infinite with a completely different setting still won't have the same impact as Bioshock because its still going to be a similar game with similar themes everyone already experienced.

Its the same with sequels to really good movies. Even if the second one is way better in every way, everyone will still remember the first one because it was the introduction and everyone's first experience.

But that's not really what I meant. Every time I jump into the Bioshock 1, I get a similar sense of atmosphere and tension and interest. It isn't nostalgia that's driving it, either, it's just a very well made game. I don't get that with Bioshock 2. It's just a less wondrous, less interesting game. Not that it doesn't have those qualities, it just doesn't have them in as much capacity as the first game.

Both are great games, I would just pick the first one over the second any day of the week.

I'll definitely agree, I prefer Bioshock for a few reasons. The biggest are the tommygun, Fontaine Fisheries, and Fort Frolic, while I love just the Pauper's Drop and Siren Alley levels in Bioshock 2.

Its just that Bioshock 2 should be the better game because it improves so much on the gameplay. And I wonder what would happen if Bioshock 2 came out first.

Either way, I think its stupid to say Bioshock 2 was a bad game or that it tainted the Bioshock series or universe or whatever.

Try a lemon sorbet or a shot of vodka.

Portal would be an excellent palate cleanser also.

@SomeDeliCook:Let me jump back in here. I didn't like BioShock 2 mainly because I felt like they were trying to mine more material out of a worn out premise. BioShock had the creepy deserted opulent art deco city thing in spades, and BioShock 2 came along and...did the same thing. I also really disliked them trying to shoehorn Sophia Lamb into everything like she was some really important person we conveniently never heard anyone talk about ever throughout the entire first game even though it seemed like everyone knew who she was. I also didn't care for the Big Daddy character you were playing, I never really felt like I had any motivation to do anything. To be fair, the first one was a lot like that too, but you at least had a reason (escaping) and they even came up with a story conceit for why you were doing all these seemingly unimportant things (the mind control). BioShock 2 to me felt like they were trying to get more water out of a well they already tapped out in the first one.

Portal is incredible and well worth playing.

No, I think it'd be a better idea not to play for a while and do something else as you wait to play Bioshock 2. It's better to keep the same franchise on your mind I think than to play something else that can attract your attention.

@SexyToad: DEFIANTLY!?! YOU BASTARD.

@EarlessShrimp said:

@SexyToad: DEFIANTLY!?! YOU BASTARD.

It was auto-correct, I swear!