BioShock (Xbox 360, 2007)

is Irrational's finest offering to date, as well as the swan song for the Irrational brand in a way, since they recently relinquished their longstanding and well-established studio name for the more corporate, faceless tag of 2K Boston and 2K Australia. BioShock is a first-person shooter set in the fantastically unsettling city of Rapture, a metropolis built under the sea by the megalomaniacal Andrew Ryan. Throughout your lengthy stay, you'll find options for combat as intricate and enjoyable as the story and characters are to interpretation, something that only a handful of games can ever claim to offer.

But to call this game simply a first-person shooter, a game that successfully fuses gameplay and narrative, is really doing it a disservice. This game is a beacon. It's one of those monumental experiences you'll never forget, and the benchmark against which games for years to come will, and indeed must, be measured. This isn't merely an evolution of System Shock 2, but a wake-up call to the industry at large. Play this, and you'll see why you should demand something more from publishers and developers, more than all those derivative sequels forced down our throats year after year with only minor tweaks in their formulas. It's a shining example of how it's possible to bring together all elements of game design and succeed to the wildest degree.



Customizing the arsenal.Things kick off with your plane smacking into the ocean and your character having to take refuge in Rapture to survive. Irrational plays on the conventions of the first-person perspective by thrusting you through experiences that toy with and vastly strengthen that fragile, intangible bond between in-game protagonist and yourself. At times, it forces upon you moments of reflection, which is so important and rare in games, where you contemplate the nature of blindly accepted game conventions, which we can't get into for fear of spoiling things. It lays a relatively straight narrative path for you, but it never feels linear, a result of the gameplay as much as the narrative.

The target in BioShock, Andrew Ryan, is anything but a prototypical villain. He's a man of bottomless ambition who built a city under the sea, obsessed with the idea of what makes a man, what differentiates a man from a slave. He's the Randian hero, a man who holds his own creative vision above all else, and he's Rodion Raskolnikov's exceptional person, someone who can be excused for committing crimes to achieve a goal--and he knows it. His vision, Rapture, is clearly a colossal failure. The driving force behind the game is your quest to discover why this man's alluring vision of an artistic utopia failed so completely and why you've stumbled upon it. Even though Ryan spits out what seems to resemble totalitarian propaganda, you can't help but sympathize with him. He has alluring ideas, speaks them with conviction, and comes off as a sympathetic visionary despite his severe eccentricities.

As you continue through Rapture, you'll discover it speaks to the nature of what a single-player game is--why do we choose to play a game that isn't online, where you can't interact with others? Like reading a novel, it's to form your own impressions, to see the same events, hear the same words, and come away with a unique viewpoint. The thematic blending and twining of BioShock's personalities is so powerful, it acts like any good book or movie, assaulting you with its ideas, popping into your thoughts

BioShock is Irrational's finest offering to date, as well as the swan song for the Irrational brand in a way, since they recently relinquished their longstanding and well-established studio name for the more corporate, faceless tag of 2K Boston and 2K Australia. BioShock is a first-person shooter set in the fantastically unsettling city of Rapture, a metropolis built under the sea by the megalomaniacal Andrew Ryan. Throughout your lengthy stay, you'll find options for combat as intricate and enjoyable as the story and characters are to interpretation, something that only a handful of games can ever claim to offer.

But to call this game simply a first-person shooter, a game that successfully fuses gameplay and narrative, is really doing it a disservice. This game is a beacon. It's one of those monumental experiences you'll never forget, and the benchmark against which games for years to come will, and indeed must, be measured. This isn't merely an evolution of System Shock 2, but a wake-up call to the industry at large. Play this, and you'll see why you should demand something more from publishers and developers, more than all those derivative sequels forced down our throats year after year with only minor tweaks in their formulas. It's a shining example of how it's possible to bring together all elements of game design and succeed to the wildest degree.
Things kick off with your plane smacking into the ocean and your character having to take refuge in Rapture to survive. Irrational plays on the conventions of the first-person perspective by thrusting you through experiences that toy with and vastly strengthen that fragile, intangible bond between in-game protagonist and yourself. At times, it forces upon you moments of reflection, which is so important and rare in games, where you contemplate the nature of blindly accepted game conventions, which we can't get into for fear of spoiling things. It lays a relatively straight narrative path for you, but it never feels linear, a result of the gameplay as much as the narrative.

The target in BioShock, Andrew Ryan, is anything but a prototypical villain. He's a man of bottomless ambition who built a city under the sea, obsessed with the idea of what makes a man, what differentiates a man from a slave. He's the Randian hero, a man who holds his own creative vision above all else, and he's Rodion Raskolnikov's exceptional person, someone who can be excused for committing crimes to achieve a goal--and he knows it. His vision, Rapture, is clearly a colossal failure. The driving force behind the game is your quest to discover why this man's alluring vision of an artistic utopia failed so completely and why you've stumbled upon it. Even though Ryan spits out what seems to resemble totalitarian propaganda, you can't help but sympathize with him. He has alluring ideas, speaks them with conviction, and comes off as a sympathetic visionary despite his severe eccentricities.
As you continue through Rapture, you'll discover it speaks to the nature of what a single-player game is--why do we choose to play a game that isn't online, where you can't interact with others? Like reading a novel, it's to form your own impressions, to see the same events, hear the same words, and come away with a unique viewpoint. The thematic blending and twining of BioShock's personalities is so powerful, it acts like any good book or movie, assaulting you with its ideas, popping into your thoughts.

BioShock could easy be seen to as an unofficially squeal the System Shock 2. After your plane crashes into icy uncharted waters, you discover a rusted bathysphere. a spherical deep-sea diving submersible which is lowered into bodies of water with a cable. You then descend into Rapture, a city hidden city beneath the sea. Constructed as an idealistic society for a hand picked group of scientists, artists and industrialists. The idealism is no more most of the people are dead or change in to some genetic altered creature. The once great city is now the city of the dead. BioShock is a unique game that mixes a spine chilling sound and music. Sounds of or random half crazy former Rapture citizen chanting, or footsteps of something approaching can be heard ad over all realism effect to a city that is nearly dead. The well design architecture levels are free for you to explore. But most of the time your to busy try to survive as you repeatedly slice your DNA to become more a powerful killing machine to stay alive. A sci-fi theme of biogenetic mutation and self-modification, along with a deep storyline with open-choice along with the freedom to interact with the world as you choose. This unique first-person action shooter requires you to think every time you pull the trigger similar to System Shock 2 which is still hail by many as one of the greatest game of all time. Bioshock holds many similar to System Shock 2 as varies types effect for each weapon, spooky atmosphere, hacking system and superior story line. System shock 2 was a master piece and that not a statement to take lightly. BioShock can also easily be seen as a master piece as well. Bioshock is like a quest of self discovery as you can choose to kill or not to kill little girls for unlimited power. Work against the moral consequences to obtain power or rescue the little girls know as sisters. The implications of the decision to intentionally murdering a ten-year-old girl for your own personal gain cannot be overstated, and BioShock will never let you forget what you've become whether it be savior or heartless super human bastard. Forced to survive in a a hidden city littered with corpses of the dead. Powerful guardians roam the corridors as little girls loot the dead, and genetically mutated citizens ambush you at every turn. Be warned, this game contains game contains Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language. I recommend for Mature audience. Besides it may scary some kids to death.

Buy this game and love it, undoubtedly playing through it at least two or four times. There is a huge variety of choices you can make coupled with the genuine consequences that follow require numerous play-throughs just so you can see what happens if you try something different. The game is rather short. It takes around 25 hours to complete more or less depending what you do. You may just be looking around being amazed by the art, sea life, under water effects and detail and all it's haunting artistic glory.

Put simply, BioShock is an unparalleled achievement. No other game comes even remotely close to it in terms of raw emotional connection. If you still want more after playing this I recommend System Shock and System Shock 2.

This review can be seen in its entirety @ http://gnadegames.blogspot.com

I had no intention of buying Bioshock. Yeah the graphics looked great and it was getting some buzz, but it had no multiplayer and Halo 3 is coming out in a month or so. Then I played the (painfully short) demo and wanted more, and when the first stellar reviews started coming in, I was sold. Bioshock is a great single player experience, probably the best FPS single player experience I have ever had. Yes, it's that good.

Gameplay: 10/10
Pros: A perfect blend of RPG elements into a FPS. Extreme flexibility in the way the game is played...you can strategize and set traps, use plasmids (magic attacks), hack machines to do your dirty work, research every creature as a photographer, specialize in weapons, or just go guns blazing and focus on twitch gameplay. It is absolutely fantastic. Add in amazing enemy AI, a fantastic story, and stat building and you have an incredibly addictive and fun game.

Graphics: 10/10
Gears of What? Bioshock is a gorgeous game...simply play the demo and by the time the tail of the plane crashes into the tube spraying water everywhere (see video above) you should be convinced. It uses the same Unreal engine that every graphic gem seems to use on the 360, but has so many effects, subtleties and touches that it just outshines them all. The art style is truly one of a kind and the futuristic underwater city is both futuristic, yet horrifyingly familiar and historic as well since the game is brilliantly set in 1960.

Sound/Music: 10/10
The Voicework is top-notch and film quality. In fact the music, score, and voicework is so excellent that you cannot help but think Bioshock film. Like all other aspects of the game, the polish and detail is just exceptional...even the piano notes played when you cycle the start menu, capture the tone and immersion of this game.

Lasting Appeal: 9/10
Pros: The single player experience is a long and investing one. The world encourages you to explore and learn more about it. The gameplay is great and it encourages more play throughs just playing around in the world. The game is never frustrating...even when you die against a tough boss, you're instantly revived at a chamber nearby and your enemies are as hurt as they were when you left them...unless they heal at a health station...this aspect makes you lose yourself in the game and literally lose hours immersed in the city of Rapture.
Cons: There is no multiplayer experience and while this is understandable due to the depth of the single player experience, one can't help but wish that multiplayer was included. I imagine the multiplayer would have been reminiscent of shadowrun...or how shadowrun should've been executed. This game is so good that any end to it is a con.

Average: 97.5%
Tilt: +2.00%

When all is said and done, this game is a work of art. Every aspect is cohesive, immersive, intriguing, and ultimately satisfying. This game is like a fantastic book that you curl up with, get immersed in, and then go to bed with nightmares about. A definitive gaming moment in the era of next gen gaming.

Verdict: 99.5%

by far one of the best game I have played in some time now BioShock is a revolution in the shooter genre that will forever change the expectations for the FPS. Going beyond "run and gun corridors," "monster-closet AIs" and static worlds, BioShock creates a living, unique and unpredictable FPS experience. BioShock is the Shooter 2.0. After your plane crashes into icy uncharted waters, you discover a rusted bathysphere and descend into Rapture, a city hidden beneath the sea. Constructed as an idealistic society for a hand picked group of scientists, artists and industrialists, the idealism is no more. Now the city is littered with corpses, while wildly powerful guardians roam the corridors, mutated little girls scavenge the dead, and genetically modified citizens ambush you at every turn. Players must ultimately make meaningful choices and mature decisions, culminating in the grand question: do you exploit the innocent survivors of Rapture...or save them?