Bioshock Review- Meet Big Daddy

 

So you still haven’t gotten a copy of Bioshock and are wondering “is it worth my hard earned cash?” The answer my friends is simply….YES 

While many of you have been following Bioshock for a number of years with high expectations, I’ll fill those of you who are still lurking in the dark about the newest game trom 2K. While following similar styles to that of System Shock 2, Bioshock is set in the under water city of Rapture, a place created by a man with a vision. That vision was to create a utopia, free from government control and totally self sufficiant.

Environment and Characters

Set in the 1960’s what Bioshock does, which most games have trouble doing, is to create a believable environment, that toally draws the player into the game. Featuring music that was popular in the 60’s, showcasing a real 60’s feel in the environment with the furniture, the look and feel and artwork, Rapture is one of the most memorable environments I’ve seen in a game. I could spend hours just roaming the different areas of Rapture looking at all the models and artwork, and I’ll be honest, I probably wouldn’t be bored

 

 Water effects look amazing, and you’d hope they would being based in a city beneath the water. Following a trend like games such as Fear, Bioshock really does play the environment to it’s advantage creating a tension that only some games can pull off well. 

Character models are detailed, and while it can get repetitive seeing the same splicers over and over again, all in all I felt the enemies did the game justice. The star of these were the Big Daddies of course. Giant Robot guys in old school pressure suits, with all kinds of weapons. While they become a rather prominent feature throughout the game, each time you run into one you can feel a sense of dread overcome you thinking “oh no, not another one of these bad boys” followed by a sense of accomplishment after their demise.

Enemies and Gameplay

Primarily Bioshock is a First Person Shooter, but to add to the mix it also features some elements of an RPG game. While completing objectives and  making your way across the vast city of Rapture you will encounter several species of Splicers, all of which have different weapons, modes of attacks, and weaknesses. While meeting one on one is a simple affair, as you move on in the game, they increase in numbers and offer quite a challenge.

Among the average Splicer you will run into security cameras and bots, not to mention machine gun turrents and rocket turrents, which can be hacked to be used to your advantage. Hacking becomes quite an important part of the game, and will assist in your survival. If you hack a security bot, it will now follow you around and attack your enemies

Then of course there are the Big Daddies which always pose a challenge. Thankfully you do get the chance to convince them to help you out every now and then by using the Hypnotize Plasmid, but we’ll discuss that in a moment.

Ammunition, Food, Health and Eve can be purchased from Vending Machines which can also be hacked to make everything cheaper. These are scattered throughout the city, and you will encounter them quite frequently. Thus the key is to search EVERYTHING to find as much as you can. Typical finds are bottles of alcohol, money, cigarettes and food, but you then do get the chance to find other things such as metal screws, shotgun shell casings, distilled water and such. Take these items to a U-Invent station and you can invent some really cool stuff, such as electric shotgun shells, which always come in handy

Weapons

Bioshock does not skimp on it’s weapons which is a good thing. Featuring a wrench as a melee weapon, you will soon find a pistol, shotgun, machine gun, Crossbow, Chemical Sprayer and more to have fun with. All of the weapons (except the wrench) can be upgraded at upgrade stations, which offer such things as less kickback, faster rounds, more damage etc. The weapons often offer more than one type of ammo, for instance the shotgun has 00 buck (normal ammo), Electric Buck which electrocutes enemies, and Exploding buck, which I’m sure you all know what that happens

With the abillity to upgrade weapons, and use different types of ammo, it definitely offers more choice to the player, more depth, which to me, doesn’t make any of the weapons get boring or stale. But the real masterpeice here is the implementation of Plasmids

Plasmids are genetic modifications that can be used as weapons. For instance there is the electro shock plasmid, that allows you to shoot an electo bolt out of you hand and electrocute you enemies. How you use plasmids will ultimately be up to you, but the smart player will use their environment to their advantage. While three splicers are standing in a pool of water, why not send a bolt of electricity in their and really let them fry. Getting chased by some and notice some oil on the ground, why not change to the Incinerate plasmid and set the ground on fire. There are a fairly large number of plasmids to get access to, but you will need to buy extra slots at a Gatherer’s station to carry them all.

Story

Bioshock has a complex story, but it is a FANTASTIC one at that. We start the game with a plane crash, and end up swimming to a lighthouse, and finding out way by accident to Rapture. From this moment on, the player is told the story primarily through finding diaries of the citizens of Rapture, and of course some of the characters we find along the way.

While players can whiz through the game without doing much exploring and still get the basic gist of the game, those who want to take their time and look around will get a rich, deep and complex story that will be remembered for a long, long time

Conclusion

Yes I have left a lot out of this review, and I have done so on purpose. Why? Because I don’t want to ruin your experience with a truly great game. The story is certainly above average, and everything from sounds, to character, to weapons, and the story has so much depth that you can really have a truly unique experience

Critics and fans are hailing this game one of the best games ever, and I agree for the most part. My only true criticism is that I do tend to get a little bored of seeing the same splicers over and over again, but really if that’s all I’ve got to complain about then I should be so lucky

Bioshock is truly unique and I’d definitely recommend it to basically anyone who loves a good story, and any FPS fan

9.5/10