Review – Bioshock (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
One glance makes it readily apparent that Bioshock is a game steeped in atmosphere. From the opening sequence, the game pulls you into the environment until you are fully immersed in the underwater world of Rapture, in both the literal and figurative sense.
You start in a plane over the mid-Atlantic, smoking a cigarette and gazing at a gift in your hands. As the Bioshock logo fills the screen, you hear the sounds of your plane crashing into the ocean. After the logo disappears, you find yourself underwater and swim to the surface as debris from the wreck sinks past. It is at this point that you take control of your character, swimming through the burning wreckage to find a set of steps leading out of the water to a tall lighthouse in the middle of the ocean. Making your way inside, you discover more stairs that take you down to a small submarine. Activating the submarine takes you back below the surface, and after viewing a short tourism video from an individual named Andrew Ryan about his vision of a perfect society where “the great would not be contained by the small”, you arrive at the underwater city of Rapture.
It turns out that Rapture isn’t quite the utopia promised in Andrew Ryan’s video during your ride down from the surface. There are very few normal humans left in the city after it was ravaged during a failed revolution. Most of the people are dead, and those that aren’t have lost their minds. The populace of Rapture became a little too enthralled with commercialized genetic modifications, going insane after one too many “splices”. A man going by the name of Atlas contacts you soon after arriving in Rapture, telling you that he is trying to escape with his family. Unfortunately, he has been cut off from them, and he asks for your help. In order to do that, you’ll have to fight through the many enemies lurking in the dark of Rapture, including Andrew Ryan himself.
Bioshock could be described as a first-person shooter, survival horror, role-playing game. Most of the gameplay involves finding and shooting your enemies, but there are also several character attributes that can be improved over the course of the game, similar to any RPG. The dark setting and creepy atmosphere also invoke many of the same feelings found in a survival horror game. This blend of attributes comes together in a unique recipe that is a lot of fun to play.
Prowling in the shadows are several varieties of Splicers, the insane former citizens of Rapture. You will run up against a large number of these general enemies during your stay at the bottom of the ocean. Some will shoot at you while others will simply try to bash your head in. Splicers usually aren’t much of a threat individually, but you can quickly find yourself in trouble when attacked by a large mob of them. There is also a security system set up in Rapture to help keep you on your toes. You will find that a fair number of automated gun turrets just happen to be in your way, and setting off an alarm (usually via a security camera) will bring a swarm of flying bots after you. By far, the most imposing of the enemies waiting for you in Rapture are the Big Daddies, lumbering hulks in deep-sea diving suits. And just like the Incredible Hulk, you wouldn’t like them when they’re angry.
If you want to survive your trip to Rapture and make it back to the surface, then you’ll have to take advantage of the genetic modifications that drove most of the city insane. These come in two different forms, Plasmids and Gene Tonics. Gene Tonics are passive upgrades to your character’s abilities that don’t require any “ammo” to use. Tonics can affect many different things including your movement speed, resistance to damage, and engineering abilities. Plasmids are “active” upgrades that do require ammo to use, in this case a blue substance called EVE. When you use up all your available EVE, you must “reload” by injecting yourself with more of the substance using a syringe. Most Plasmids are used as offensive weapons, including such abilities as Electroshock and Incinerate. Only a small number of Tonics and Plasmids can be equipped at a time, although this number can be upgraded throughout the game.
So how do you go about acquiring all these upgrades? While you will find a few tonics lying about, most of your upgrades must be purchased from a Gather’s Garden vending machine. However, these machines don’t take money. That would be too easy. No, the currency of choice for these machines is the raw genetic material known as ADAM in the Bioshock universe. Unfortunately, you can’t just go out and find ADAM for yourself. The only place to find this valuable substance is within the bodies of the Little Sisters. These little girls wander around Rapture, harvesting ADAM from the dead. In turn, you must find a Little Sister and harvest all the ADAM from her body, killing her in the process, or you can take just enough to free her from the grip it has on her mind.
Oh yeah…did I mention that each and every Little Sister is guarded by a Big Daddy? When you happen upon this unusual pair, they will go about their business, leaving you alone. The rumbling brute only attacks when provoked or when his small companion is in danger. If you wish, you can choose to leave them be, but sooner or later you will have to come face to face with the Big Daddies in order to get the precious ADAM from the Little Sisters. Unlucky for you, each Big Daddy is a force to be reckoned with, packing an effective arsenal of weapons, not the least of which is the giant drill on one arm. Their diving suits also function as very effective armor, so it’s going to take a lot of firepower (and perhaps a little bit of planning) to take one down. On the plus side, if you are killed, you’ll be able to pick up the fight where you left off once you are resurrected by one of Rapture’s plentiful Vita-Chamber devices.
Remember those engineering abilities I brought up before? These skills will help you take advantage of the many mechanical devices lying about Rapture. Just about any turret, vending machine, health station, locked safe, or security camera can be hacked, making the machines work for you. In order to do so, you must bypass their circuits by completing a hacking mini-game reminiscent of Pipe Dream. You must swap differently shaped pipe pieces on a grid in order to redirect to flow of water to the exit on the other side. Some machines are harder to hack than others, placing alarm and short circuit tiles in your way and increasing the flow speed of the water. You can also utilize special machines to invent new ammo types, hacking tools, and even a few gene tonics. Additionally, several “Power to the People” machines are hidden throughout Rapture that allow you to upgrade the capabilities of your weapons.
Bioshock’s unique setting is the game’s strongest asset. Rapture feels like a once thriving place that has fallen into disarray. The art deco visual style and underwater location combine to create something completely different than all the shooters set in WWII or sci-fi environments. The water-drenched graphics are absolutely gorgeous. I often found myself exploring every nook and cranny just to look at all the well-crafted objects I could find. Bioshock also features some of the best water I have ever seen in a video game. All of the water in the game looks great whether it is lying in a pool on the ground or bursting through the cracks in a glass porthole.
As much as the visuals contribute to the look and feel of Rapture, it is the excellent sound design and eerie soundtrack that create most of Bioshock’s moody atmosphere. The sound effects are excellent across the board from the dripping water noises to the powerful thuds of the Big Daddy footsteps. The voice acting from the main cast is very well done, as are all the one-liners from the Splicers and the many audiotape diary entries lying around that help to fill out the back story and world of Rapture from before you arrived. Bioshock’s music also goes a long way towards creating mood and emotion throughout the game. The soundtrack is tense and creepy when it needs to be, sentimental in spots, and rousing and exciting when the action kicks into high gear. I particularly enjoyed all the jukeboxes and record players around Rapture that were still playing jazzy Big Band tunes as they helped to cement the picture in my head of what the city would have been like in its prime.
Bioshock is not the kind of game that comes around every day. Compelling gameplay elements, a unique setting, top-notch level design, gorgeous graphics, and an excellent soundscape all came together to create an atmospheric adventure that is a blast to experience. While I felt the overall story wasn’t quite as successful as it could have been, it is still several steps ahead of what is usually offered in most other shooters. If you are late to the Bioshock party like I was, don’t hesitate to take the journey to Rapture. You’ll be glad you did.
Overall Grade: A-
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Without a doubt, my favorite game for the 360. I for one actually enjoyed the story quite a bit. Although I did believe it peaked well before the game was over. It ended up leaving me with the, “Wait…there is more?” kind of feeling that never goes over well when you still have 1/3 the game to go. But I can’t can’t count against the overall story just because there was more tacked on to the story that I felt was wonderful. Still, the biggest twists and turns were phenomenally done. The audio log tapes that you found laying around were crazy cool. My favorite was easily the one involving the dog (I’ll be intentionally vague there to avoid spoilers).
Anyone that hasn’t played this game is doing themselves a disservice. The funny thing was that a week or so before the game, this wasn’t even on my radar. I have no interest in the typical survivor horror game. However, once I saw that this game got it’s creep on from the atmosphere rather than cheap scare tactics, I was there.
I also consider the demo for the game to be the greatest demo I’ve ever seen. It’s just the opening first couple minutes, but it was totally enough to sell me on the game. Maybe I should say that the game has the best opening I’ve ever seen instead. From the plane crash, to entering rapture’s doors, to the ride to rapture itself, to the initial splicer attack. It’s all beautifully orchestrated. And then there is the baby carriage seen, which I thought was one of the coolest in-game scenes I’ve ever seen in my life.
I can’t wait for the sequel, and still hope someday for a prequel. However, whatever we get, I’ll hold it to completely different standards. It was obvious this game was never intended to be anything more than a single game. So I can’t expect too much from whatever comes next.
Dang, I must of missed the dog audio log. I hope its on youtube.
Not the best audio quality, but:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5dMz782k6c
I also really liked:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLhKd3ETE5Y
Good stuff.
This is a game I think for me was crushed under all the hype id been hearing about it. After hearding about it being the be all and end all of FPS i bought it and was dissapointed. The way the game handled and looked reminded me of the ps2 game timesplitters 2 (wich i loved but I was expecting more after all the talk I was hearing).
As much as I thought the graphics and audio was good, there was nothing I found to be too special.
I dont want to feel like I just hate the game though, I thought the ability to “hack” machines was really good, and the Vita-Chamber was a greatly effective way to respawn. The story of Rapture and its people also provided great intrest, leaving me eager to find out exatly what happend and why and listening to the audio tapes was intresting, well done and in many cases unsettling (one’s with the doctor generally made me feel uncomfortable) wich I find most games try and try and never pull off.
There was alot I liked about the game and I feel like I should give it a second chance on a ps3 or 360. (I got the PC version and while I used to be PC all the way on fps, lately iv been swinging the other way)
If you played the game expecting an end all be all FPS, that would definitely explain why you was disappointed. I’m not sure I would ever explain the game using the term FPS, much less to say that it was the best of that category. I see the first person shooting as a means to an end, not as a defining characteristic or genre.
First person shooters are almost always run and gun, or duck and cover. This was a game that was nothing like that. The plasmids alone break that game play style, IMO.
I get what you mean, I think I said that wrong because most FPS nowdays do have that something more that I admit I take for granted. I knew about the rpg elements, and I appreciated them.
Saying I expected the be all end all fps was being abit over exagerated on my part, I was really just trying to convay the hype. I put it next to halo in that way, all i heard was amazing it was ect, and by the time I played it i was left wondering what the big deal was.
I didnt expect it to be the best game ever, I never do as nomatter how good the game your sure to be dissapointed if you go in with that outlook, and not saying the game wasnt good, but for me personally I thought it was just alright.
I will probly play it again before I play the second one, and maby i’ll change my mind…as has happend to me with many games before, but this is just an opinion I got from playing it the once.
It’s all in the atmosphere. Play it with only that in mind, and I think you will enjoy it.
Now having played the entirety of Bioshock, I have to say that it most definitely owes a great debt to System Shock 2. When they said that Bioshock is a spiritual successor to that game, they weren’t kidding. The games share so many similarities that the creators of System Shock could probably have sued the makers of Bioshock if it hadn’t been themselves.
There are many similarities from the vita chambers respawn; to hacking cameras, turrets and other machines; to “magic” powers; to diaries lying around; to creepiness established through a claustrophobic setting; to similar plot twists and developments; to upgradable abilities that have to be equipped; to an antagonist that talks to you over the radio….just about every major feature of Bioshock had a similar counterpart in System Shock 2. Had Bioshock been set on a space station, it could have easily been called System Shock 3 as it is a refined version of the same game structure found in System Shock 2.
Of course, that doesn’t really take anything away from Bioshock (especially if you’ve never played System Shock before). It is still a great game. I was just struck at times by how similar it felt to System Shock while I was playing it, and closer examination reveals the games to be awfully similar. Although Bioshock forgot to include zombie monkeys…..that’s too bad. ;)
Well, yeah. If they could have made System Shock 3, they would have. However, they don’t own the rights to the name, so they couldn’t. With that said, I’ve heard there are some pretty big differences between the games. Fans of System Shock swear that Bioshock is watered down (No pun intended). To be honest, the setting of Bioshock is what appealed to me the most. That, and the big daddies, which is another reason I’m cautiously optimistic about the sequel. I don’t Big Daddies to be taken out or play a smaller role.
I have my Big Daddy and Little Sister on my shelf beside me. :)
Oh yeah, there are certainly difference between the games as well. Bioshock isn’t a carbon copy or anything. In particular, the RPG elements in Bioshock are toned down a lot from what System Shock 2 has.
For example, in SS2 you have to choose between different character classes (basically choosing whether you want your strengths to be in weapons, psychic abilities, or engineering), and you had to worry about a limited inventory system. You also had to repair your weapons because they would wear out as you used them, eventually breaking. Also, I don’t remember there being a Big Daddy equivalent in the System Shock games.
I can also imagine SS2 being a lot creepier, since it’s in space. Ala Dead Space.
I played through the game once as a good guy but I was never able to bring myself to play again as a bad guy and harvest all the little sisters. I had to give in and watch the evil ending on youtube.
That says something about the power of the whole plot, IMO. KOTOR is the only game where I felt obligated to go to a certain alliance. I actually played good in this game, but it was mostly because the loot was better ;)
I thought I was getting soft :)
Thanks for the youtube links, awesome stuff. (but the puppy thing was messed up)
Could I Possibly give you a game for you to write a review on?
Ok I downloaded the demo for the ps3, and I am think im going to buy this soon (again). I think it works MUCH better as a system game,vit didnt feel right on pc.
I picked this up after your review. Loved it! Thanks