Date: 2007/09/13
Review last edited on 2007/09/13 for grammar and wording
Platform: PC (also available for XBOX 360)
My Specs: nVidia 8800GTS 384MB, Pentium Quad Core, 4GB RAM, Vista Home Premium, running 1600x1080 resolution, DX10. Using this configuration the game played with zero problems. Maybe half a dozen instances of framerate glitches during my whole time playing the game.
Genre: First Person Shooter (FPS) (with Action RPG elements)
Official Site: http://www.2kgames.com/bioshock/
Played So Far: Completed one ending on Medium difficulty
Bioshock is a new first person shooter developed by Irrational Games. It takes place in an alternate history sometime around the 1950's where a visionary builds an underwater city devoted to a purely capitalist society without moral limitations. Eventually people get to mucking with their own bodies and genetic makeup and a breakthrough creates the ability to do super-powered modifications. When you arrive after a plane crash and stumble upon the submarine city things have taken a clear turn for the worse.
First off wow, this game really makes an impression! The retro set design and interesting location, impressive graphics, and spooky sound creates one of the most immersive gaming experiences I've had with a first person shooter. The excellent presentation is combined with gameplay features that aren't often seen in a FPS.
The graphics portray the underwater city environment well. The retro 1950's designs really stand out in a genre crowded with aliens and world war II environments. The different levels each present some variety throughout the game, with the common theme of a fallen and decayed environment. The game often feels like playing a horror movie.
The sound complements the visuals perfectly, from old time music to the mad ramblings of the enemies, to the lumbering moans of the "Big Daddies". Like a good horror flick, the sound contributes nearly as much as the visuals.
The character design is also off the beaten path, if somewhat limited in scope. The "Splicers" (insane, mutated enemies) show real character, ranting, raving, and arguing when on their own, then turning to cries of anguish, anger, and insane taunts once engaged. The innocent/creepy "little sisters" are far too cheerful for their cold black eyes and the dark, eerie environment. The enemies and characters really do seem to have plans and goals of their own apart from just waiting around to shoot you.
So how does it play? If you've played first person shooters before you pretty much know what you are getting into for the basic control scheme. With Bioshock's game play is that Irrational has really added a lot of options to the typical shooter mix. Of course there are your superpowers (called "plasmids") which offer direct and indirect methods of attack. The weapons in the game have four different types of ammo each and can be upgraded. Included in some of the weapon/ammo combos are a few different traps or environmental type attacks. The city itself provides you with more options for combat such as putting sentry guns etc under your control through "hacking". There are also three categories of passive upgrades to your speed and abilities.
The weapons cover the FPS basics, pistols, machine guns, and shotguns etc. They have thrown in a few different weapons with their own little twists. One thing you will have to quickly come to terms with is that you're not wielding the latest assault rifle. The weapons tend more towards clumsy and brutal then lethal and efficient. But you can do things like set fire to oil pools, lay down mines or other traps etc. The ammo choices are situational and it takes a critical few seconds to reload with a new ammo type. There are standard round, anti-personnel, armour-piercing and then the more exotic types depending on the weapon. Running into an enraged Big Daddy when your machine gun is loaded with pitiful anti-personnel rounds leads to some quick "oh crap" back pedaling as you try to reload with more appropriate munitions.
The much vaunted plasmids mix up the game, although there is some crossover with the weapon functions. Some superpowers do direct damage, some can help setup traps, and some can distract your enemies. You start out with a very limited range of abilities (one or two at a time) but you can swap them out for other options at various points during the game as well as "buy" new slots to keep more powers at the ready. The three sets of secondary upgrade slots, called "tonics" function in much the same way forcing you to choose carefully at first. Getting your loadout just right is one of great parts of the game especially in the early stages.
Apart from combat you can buy supplies at various vending machines using cash or "Adam". The cash based machines can be hacked to dispense new items at better prices. A third "currency" is spare parts that you'll find later on which in varying ratios can be used to build more supplies. Security cameras and turrets can be made to work for you as well. Hacking is accomplished with one of those pipe tile games, or in some cases you can use an "auto-hack" tool or use your cash. Even health-stations can be hacked to give you cheaper top-ups. The mini-game doesn't take long, is usually fairly easy but can be a bit frantic. By the end of the game you'll probably be tired of it, they probably should've included a few different styles of mini-games instead of just one.
Death is handled with "vita-chambers" which are basically respawn points. Vita-Chambers probably represent the biggest weak point of the game. There is no penalty for dying, you simply pop up at the nearest spawn point. The enemies have the same health as when you died, you don't lose any supplies. So an otherwise difficult encounter can end up being just tedious instead. Attack...Die..Spawn...Attack..Die..Spawn over and over until you win. It didn't ruin the game overall for me, but it does hold it back and makes the game a bit easy overall.
The other beef would be that by the end of the game you probably will have been able to acquire most of the powers if not all of them. I plan on playing it at least one more time, but past that there probably isn't a whole lot more to discover.
Overall this game features brilliant presentation, great gameplay, and provides a fresh shooter experience. The year isn't over yet, but Bioshock definitely should be a contender for game of the year. It may even become a classic, one of those games I end up playing through again every so often just to go through the experience again. Bioshock is one great experience over all and is definitely something every shooter fan should try.
Quentin
Discuss in our forums.
Half Life I think Bioshock is comparable to half-life in some ways. Mainly due to the encounters and how the enemies interact, as well as the in-game story telling. Overall it's more open then half-life and I enjoyed the story more. Time will tell if the game has the same draw to play through it again down the road to try something different with those encounters. If you like Half-Life there's a fair chance you'll probably like Bioshock!
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic This is probably the game I would actually pin Bioshock closest to. It's a "shooter plus" with some RPG elements, but firmly rooted in the action realm. Dark Messiah probably handles the advancement better, forcing you to choose at least somewhat. Bioshock lets you more or less sample everything on your first go through. Bioshock's gameplay and interactivity is probably better than Dark Messiahs. I found DM spike traps and stacks of boxes to tip over on the enemies to be more contrived. Bioshock scatters it's environmental trap set-ups more evenly and I didn't usually find myself thinking "oh hear's an oil pool to set fire to, I guess there's an enemy nearby". I'm sure if you enjoyed Dark Messiah of Might and Magic you'll enjoy Bioshock, unless it's mainly the fantasy theme you enjoyed.
F.E.A.R. The comparison here is to the horror aspects which Bioshock handles more effectively. Alma can be quite freaky, but it's more a quick BOO sort of scare then Bioshock's pervasive creepiness. Other than that I wouldn't compare the two games at all, both are excellent at what they do. If you are looking for the same hectic shooting Bioshock probably isn't quite what you're looking for.
System Shock 2 (and Deus Ex etc) Ah yes, now here is the internet flamewar bone of contention. There were rumblings, rumours, and such that Bioshock was going to be the new System Shock. Even when Irrational was being very careful to categorize Bioshock as "just a shooter", the scent of a new RPG in the System Shock lineage through the RPG's fans off the trail. SS2 was an RPG in a first person perspective, Bioshock is not and RPG and if you're going to buy it thinking it's System Shock don't, I guarantee you will be disappointed! It's a first person shooter, not an RPG!