Bioshock mild disappointment

Bioshock is probably my most anticipated game in years. I missed out on the System Shock series, but I've heard so many good things about them. I've tried playing Bioshock for about 2 hours, and I must say I've been mildly disappointed so far. The graphics, atmosphere, and story seem great. But there are just far too many annoyances in this game for my taste. Keep in mind these are just my impressions from the first two hours of the game. Hopefully, things change later in the game.



TOO DARK
I love dark games. I really do. I enjoyed Doom 3 and Condemned (PC) far more than most people. So why do I find Bioshock's darkness annoying? Because there's no flashlight. I'm the kind of player who takes things slowly, exploring every nook, corner, and cranny of each area. With Bioshock, I'm finding myself blindly walking into pitch black corners and corridors. Many of the objects (weapons, first aid kits, food, etc) I can't see at all unless I activate the "glitter" function. Maybe things will lighten up later in the game. But in the first 2 hours, I was desperately hoping for a flashlight.


TOO CRAMPED, TOO LINEAR
The level design in the first two hours reminded me of other games suffering from Console-itis. Very cramped, very compartmentalized, and very linear. I guess I was hoping for a bit more open areas, and a far less linear level design. I was hoping for a "Deux Ex"-like experience, not "Deux Ex Invisible War".


TOO FAST
A game like this just begs to be played at a slow, deliberate pace. Unfortunately, there's no walk button! That would've been ok for a game like Quake or Doom... but not for a game like this. I'm constantly running full speed all the time, knocking over chairs and appliances like some A.D.D. kid on a caffeine high. It diminishes the experience, in my opinion.

POOR POSITIONAL AUDIO
I don't know if this is due to bad coding, or due to incompatible AlChemy/Audigy drivers on Vista. But positional audio in Bioshock sounds horrible on my computer. I do get a good sense of direction from my 5.1 speakers, but no sense of distance. Chatter from people talking 2 rooms across or 2 floors above sound like they're coming from right next to me. Sound effects from far across the hall sound like they're right beside me. Confuses the heck out of me, because it's difficult to judge distance. I hear the banging of a stuck elevator from around the corner... and it turns out it's faaar across the hallway.


EXAGERATED PHYSICS
I like realistic physics. I really do. But exagerated physics annoy the heck out of me. If I accidentally hit a lamp with my wrench during melee, it shouldn't be flung 100 feet away and bounce off 3 walls. Also, I don't want to knock over every single object I graze while I'm moving around. If I knock a chair against a wall, I don't want it to be continously rocking back and fort, positioning and repositioning for 5 minutes in some weird continous loop. I don't want every single appliance on the kitchen to shake violently and simultaneously just because I accidentally ran into one object. This "exagerated physics" is something I first noticed in Half-Life 2. I hated it then, and I still hate it now.


I know I sounded very negative towards Bioshock. I'm sure it'll turn out to be a good game. But there are just too many annoyances in it that distract me.

I like the darkness without flashlights it adds to the creepyness. Yeah.... hoping it was more open too. It's basically a hallway with doors. Same... slightly fast. I hate STALKER it was good game I just hated for some reason. I have onboard sound... LOVE RAGDOLL nuff said