Bioshock Xbox 360 patch causing problems?

Posted Sep 6, 2007 at 8:19AM by QJ Staff Listed in: Xbox 360 Tags: 2K Games, Rapture, Volition

If you're planning to enjoy a round of 2K Games' FPS that involves big men in diving suits and little girls with a macabre sense of fashion, Bioshock (Xbox 360, PC), on your Xbox 360, then you might want to sit up and pay attention. It seems a patch for the game that was recently released is causing all kinds of havoc on gameplay after its automatic download and installation, rendering the once silky-smooth experience into a glitch-filled and lag-infested ride. Ouch.

So what's the deal with the patch? No one knows for sure, but it's certainly causing panic amongst those who want to resume their Big Daddy-hunting, Little Sister-rescuing jaunt in Rapture. One player speaks of the update itself not having a blade pop-up or notification before it installs - it just does so on its own volition as soon as you sign on and slip the Bioshock disc in.

From then on, it's a nightmarish sequence of events - repeated sign-offs from Live, darkening screens, and the worst of the bunch, utter lag on gameplay, even while walking through empty corridors. Not a very good update, this.

What's the official word on this patch, then? Nothing from 2K Games yet, unfortunately. And to be fair, there are cases of users installing the patch and being able to play the game with no hitches at all. As tempting as it may seem to update, though, it's probably better if you held off from doing so, at least until the guys behind the critically-acclaimed shooter can come up with an explanation for the patch (as well as a patch for it). A patch for a patch!

If you've already installed the patch, simply clear your Xbox 360's cache to get Jack back in top form. Go to the Systems Blade, then Memory. Highlight the Hard Drive and hit Y. Then, press X, X, Left Bumper, Right Bumper, X, X. Choose Yes to perform System Maintenance, and every downloaded patch will be cleared (including the one for Bioshock). After that, it's merely an issue about avoiding the patch download.

Downloadable patches are always welcome, if they resolve issues that detract from the full enjoyment of a game - but not very much when they actually become that little annoyance. Here's hoping that 2K Games has a plasmid for this little quirk soon.

Thanks to nosushi4you for the tip!

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Comments

# how odd — Guest 2007-09-06 03:27

Well thats a bit odd really you wouldve thought quality control wouldve tested this properly. but never mind.

On a different note oh look im 1st lol.........

# Sounds like rubbish to me — Guest 2007-09-06 04:12

Yer seems weird mine updated and so did everyone else I know on my friends list and it runs fine, could be another silly rumor but who knows or cares they will sort it out if its true anyway.

# Well who the fuuck want to update a patch... — Guest 2007-09-06 04:14

There is no reason to update a patch because the game arleady runs perfectly and of course there are no multiplayer so no reason to update.

# No problems here — Guest 2007-09-06 04:53

I downloaded the patch last night, and yes it does ask if you want to install it... I have had no problems, still seems like the same game to me.

# Slight Lag during gameplay — Guest 2007-09-06 04:59

I had a bit of lag during gameply. Nothing to significant, but definitely something new. That is the only issue I've had.

# switch from the Camera back to weapon — Guest 2007-09-06 05:31

I too had the problem.. The point is if you save and relaod same thing.. Very DARK Screen. One fix i found "DO NOT SAVE OVER A PREVIOS SAVE" also the darkness happens if you are carrying the camera in hand. switch back to a weapon and the screen clears back up .. Future switching to the camera is fine .. If get's dark switch back. re save

# Scary — Guest 2007-09-06 05:34

I love Consoles over PC because normally is like DVD in and Play.. no Patches, no Problems.. just play.. but with the new Gen, with Harddrives and whatsoever, this Plus of having fun without having to worry about anything else is fading away... :(

# This sucks... — Guest 2007-09-06 05:44

Mine runs terrible now. Ever since I updated the game I can't even play it because it freezes during gameplay constantly... Good thing they provided a way to delete patches. I'm getting rid of mine.

# all ok — Guest 2007-09-06 07:18

no problems here after update

save: ok

load: ok

darkening screens: none

lag: none

# lag for me — Guest 2007-09-06 08:00

mine lags sightly when i play about every 20 seconds it skips, and at first i thought it was my 360 but at least I hear its the game now.......

# my update worked fine — Guest 2007-09-06 08:08

and it didnt install itself it does ask you if you want to install the update.

# . — Guest 2007-09-06 08:52

Works for me, nothing to complain.

# ! — Guest 2007-09-06 09:42

seems these guys (2k) are sabbotaging their own game - very odd.

# UPDATE — Guest 2007-09-06 09:46

My game was lagging without the patch, but after I installed the patch, no lag!

# look forward to it more in the future — Guest 2007-09-06 12:17

its too much for the 360 and helps in less RED RING OF DEATH incidents

good news......yay!!!

# to the above — Guest 2007-09-06 17:06

Dude you are a complete ***** i n g moron. Jesus h christ. Such a complete little boy loser with no ***** i n g. Go home tell cry to your whore mummy.

Anyways mine game now runs like crap.

# Same here — Guest 2007-09-06 17:08

No problems with mine either.

Maybe this is simply a case of some guy installing the patch, then his game just decided to act funny for that one play session, so he immediately blamed the patch. The game does act odd at times, it did even before the patch, occasional freezing or lag for one or two seconds for no reason. Nothing to complain about, since it doesn't happen very often, but maybe it just never happened to this guy before and it did for the first time after he installed the patch, so he figured it was the reason.

# ... — Guest 2007-09-06 17:58

Sounds like you're having a good day...

Dude, I bet "lmao" up there is writing that message from a Windows OS, lol. Guess who just sucked Bill Gates' nutZ. Ha.

# Now that you mention it... — Guest 2007-09-07 00:21

The darkening of the screen definitely happened to me prior to the new patch. And I too, used the weapon swap trick to clear it up.

# THANKS 2K7 — Guest 2007-09-07 04:30

THE PATCH DOWNLOAD ALONE AND NOW THE GAME IS LAG, MAKING THE GAME IMPOSIBLE TO PLAY THANKS 2K7

YOU EUCK A GOOD GAME.

# Definite Issues Here — Guest 2007-09-10 03:29

I have one friend that ran the patch, and hardly has any issues... except that now when he plays a diary sometimes, it then plays the previous diary right after the most recent one.

As for me, I have several of the issues mentioned in the article ever since the patch. The game ran smooth as butter before, maybe a slight hic every once in a great while.

Now, I get a second or two of lag fairly often, as if I was running a top of the line game on an old video card or with out enough RAM. And even worse then that, the game now crashes altogether now and then... very frustrating.

I will have to clear the cache and see what happens... not sure what will happen to my game saves, though. They might be useless if I remove the update ; in PC games they usually are. Here's hoping...

# Yes and No — Guest 2007-09-10 03:36

I can see the point here, but games do get patched for a number of reasons. Sometimes it is an issue of the game performance, but sometimes it had more to do with the game storyline/event sequence. In this case, I have not heard of any need for an update.... but sometimes games will have issues if you do things (or don't do things) in a certain order, and you end up stuck in some way that the game designers never really intended.

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