Score
Gameplay:	9
Graphics:	9
Sound:	9
FunFactor:	9
PlasmaFactor:	9
Overall:	9

BioShock Review
September 8, 2007 by Phil Carpenter

Choices, choices . . . what to do? Run in shooting? Sneak in and pick off the enemy with your new powers? Get some assistance from a security drone? Lure the enemy into a security turret? So many choices, and yet so much that needs to be done. The choice is never clear in the madness of Rapture.

Welcome to Rapture!

 

2K games finally released their long awaited masterpiece, Bioshock. The video game community has been salivating over screenshots, video clips and trailers for quite some time now. The story of Bioshock goes like this; you play as Jack, a man that is the only survivor of a plan crash in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in the year 1960. After coming to the surface, he swims to a lighthouse that leads to the underwater city of Rapture. Rapture was created by Andrew Ryan as an escape from government and religious influence on science and art. The main focus of the science being developed in Rapture is genetic modification. The scientists here have created plasmids, instant DNA modifications that affect the body in various ways, giving the recipient superhuman abilities in most cases. Unfortunately, as the citizens of Rapture come to find, overuse of the plasmids warps and breaks the user’s body and mind. So now most of the people in the city are horribly disfigured and insane. Fun!

The development and creation of the plasmids requires a substance called Adam, which is collected and processed by the little sisters, small girls that have been altered to harvest the Adam from the dead of rapture. Each little sister travels with a big daddy, a giant protector in a massive diving suit carrying either a huge drill or a rivet gun. Also spread throughout Rapture are the security drones and turrets.

The gameplay of Bioshock is all about choices. There are always several ways a particular area can be dealt with. 2K games has given you a set of tools and a story, you decide how to proceed. You can customize weapons, alter health and item machines by hacking them, and alter your body with plasmids and gene tonics. Plasmids are active powers, while the gene tonics are passive; giving you enhanced performance in combat, in hacking, or any number of other enhancements. To get the Adam required to acquire more plasmids, you have to find the little sisters as there is no other source for this. Even here, you are given a choice: do you save the little sister from being a monster, and only get a limited amount of Adam, or do you harvest them and get a larger amount? Or do you only use the plasmids you find throughout the game, and never deal with the little sisters or the big daddies?

The maddened citizens of Rapture have been transformed into the splicers. These men and women are corrupted shells of their former selves. They babble and scream, and attack you because you are unfamiliar to their deranged minds. There are several types of splicers, from physical thuggish splicers to the acrobatic wall crawling spider ones (there are even gun happy leadhead types) and several more variations. They are all dangerous and unstable.

Throughout Rapture, there are multiple vending machines, giving various different items. There are basic item machines, ones that dispense plasmids, health stations, ammo machines, weapon upgrade stations, and invention machines. The last one I mentioned gives you seemingly unusable items which are later turned into functional items and sometimes even additional plasmids. Most of these can be hacked, which involves playing a pipe mini-game. This can get a little repetitive, but even with this you are given a choice, you can pay a fee to automatically hack the machine or use auto-hacking tools that complete the hack but are expended in doing so. You can also hack the security bots, which will become friendly and attack your enemies for you.

The Bioshock’s controls are tight and responsive. The controller layout is intuitive, and for the most part, standard for first person shooters. The right and left sticks control movement and aiming respectively. The left trigger uses your plasmids, left bumper cycling though the plasmids or if held brings up a menu of them. The right bumper and right trigger serve the same function but for your weapons. The d-pad changes your ammo type. A interacts with the environment, X reloads, B uses first aid kits, and Y jumps. Clicking the right stick toggles the zoom for better aiming, and clicking the left stick changes between standing and crouching. The game play is absolutely phenomenal. With the wealth of choices you are given, and the A.I. of the enemy, you have to think and rely on reflexes throughout the whole game. Bioshock rarely gives you a break, as Rapture is a living, breathing city, and more splicers will eventually come wandering around.

Bioshock and Awe

 

The visuals of Bioshock are absolutely stunning. The art deco style of the 50’s permeates Rapture entirely. The art direction is flawless. Nothing looks out of place. Everything seems as it should be, as if Rapture was an actual place. The character models are amazing, from the various horrifying splicers to the darkly adorable little sisters and the awe inducing big daddies. Each of the plasmids affects your body, and the different levels of them progressively alter the look of your hand, showing that you are giving up some of your humanity for the increased powers. When you upgrade a weapon, its look is altered to reflect it. The most incredible thing about the graphics in Bioshock is the water and fire affects. These are some of the best I have ever seen and show what can be done with a next gen system.

Somewhere, Beyond the Sea. . .

 

The audio quality of Bioshock is flawless. From the voice acting to music and ambient sounds, everything is perfect. The music is comprised of licensed tracks from the 50’s and is tailor made for Rapture. This, once again, lends to the feeling that Rapture is truly a real place. The audio diaries and radio communications are voiced in exemplary fashion. The tone, inflection and cadence of the performances are spot-on.

Choices, Choices...

 

Bioshock is incredibly fun to play. The controls are perfect, the story is deep and compelling, and the personalization of the main character makes it so that no one will play the game the same way. Anyone playing will have their own unique experience in Rapture. Some have complained about the fact that there is no multiplayer. The game doesn’t need it. Personally, I think that it wouldn’t fit in the perfect package of the story 2K has created.

A Man Chooses; A Slave Obeys

 

There is no one thing that makes Bioshock a good game. It is the total combination of story, gameplay, and presentation that makes this game outstanding. Nothing was overlooked or wasn’t lovingly polished. The game is perfect.

 

Buy this game now.

 

If you own an Xbox 360, Bioshock should be in your collection. It serves as a pinnacle of what can be accomplished by a game developer and the power of the 360. Everything is done absolutely well here (definitely a heavy contender for game of the year). The one bad thing I can say is that it is not available on the Playstation 3, so Sony fans won’t be able to experience the excellence that is Bioshock.