BioShock

"Bioshock", like most art, is shaped from an idea, a message, a concept; in this case, it's Rapture, an underwater dystopia molded by objectivist ideals. In this Jules Verne scenario, 20.000 leagues under the sea, Andrew Ryan (a captain Nemo politician), after being fed up with government oppression, decides to build an entire underwater nation, where every "man is entitled to the sweat of his brow". In his own private utopia, justice, religion, ethics and any social considerations are absent, in favor of free commerce and free will as Law. The result, as you can guess, is nothing but disastrous. Though at first, the lack of ethical boundaries makes science, commerce and art bloom, after some time, everything goes haywire. The result is an underwater ghost city, filled with the monsters of Andrew Ryan's dreams: a plastic surgeon that makes Picasso paintings out of women, a sculptor that makes art by molding human flesh, and a capitalist entrepreneur that is willing destroy an entire society, if only to be entitled "to the sweat of his brow". Rapture is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most intelligent universes ever to grace a video game. Written by none other than Ken Levine ("Thief, the Dark Project", "System Shock 2"), this metaphor of modern capitalism and nightmare of ideological proportions, rightfully belongs in the same pantheon of dystopian masterpieces such as "1984", "Farenheit 451" "Brave New World", "Gattaca", "V for Vendetta"...

The plot itself revolves around the discovery of Rapture by an unknown man, after his plane crashed in the middle of the Ocean. Controlled by the player, he will uncover Rapture's dark past, by listening to the audio-logs of its inhabitants and by facing Andrew Ryan's objectivist monstrosities. In the end, his quest will decide the fate of Rapture, according to the moral choices of the player. And though they are binary, if they're taken seriously, they can add a level of dramatic impact to the plot, making it much more meaningful. The narrative tends to move slowly and tries to establish certain moods, allowing the player to immerse in the chaotic nature of Rapture, while at the same time, learning about its convoluted history. Curiously, few cut-scenes are used, which ends up being both a blessing and a curse. On one side, you aren't obliged to sit through important plot details, but on the other side, much of the dramatic potential of the plot feels wasted.

What manages to counterweight the absence of cut-scenes, is the sheer amount of detail and information that lies hidden in the art and music of the game. Posters, sculptures, flyer's, songs, all have something to say about the world of Rapture, and whether you want to or not, you'll apprehend a lot of information that might be otherwise hard to convey. Of course, this wouldn't be that interesting if the Art Design or Music weren't as good as they are. The fact is that "Bioshock", besides featuring one of the best narratives to grace a game, also features one of the best art designs ever to appear in one. The virtuous art deco transforms every corridor, wall and painting into marvelous works of art. The contrast between the cold, stark colors of the ocean and the flashy neon of Rapture's buildings is the perfect testament to the designers' capability of creating interactive paintings. Accompanying the visuals, a an erudite soundtrack by Garry Schyman fills in the immersion gap, with moody piano ballads and claustrophobic cacophonies establishing the player's mood perfectly.

Usually, in my reviews of artistic games, every compliment has been said by the time I get to the game-play section, which is where I commonly start "bashing". Guess what? "Bioshock" is also grand on that regard. It takes the first person shooter / rpg hybrid mechanics of "System Shock 2", removes the unneeded complications, and empowers certain abilities, creating the perfect blend of open-ended first person shooter. The player has at his disposal a great number of weapons and abilities (which he can level up), each with a particular context of use, allowing the player to choose his particular fighting style. It's nothing that hasn't been done before, but in "Bioshock", everything feels tweaked and balanced, to the point of making complex mechanics inherently fun to use, while most games, either simplify them too much, thus discarding the tactical nature of choices ("Crysis"), or complicate them to the point of being too obtuse to be fun ("Deus Ex"). Furthermore, special abilities, which range from fireballs to electric shocks, have special uses when the environment's context is right, thanks to a physics engine that defines water as electric-conducting and oil as inflammable, making special abilities all the more amusing. Perhaps the only (minor) flaw I can find in this game (that can't be regarded as nitpicking) is the sometimes overly hectic nature of the action; for the most part of the game, there is someone (or something) trying to kill you. The reason this comes out as a flaw is simple: "Bioshock" is beautiful, immersive, and mysterious, warranting exploration and attention to detail in order to sink in all the wonders of the game, but it is hard to do so, when you're constantly fighting for your life. A more paced game-play would definitely emphasize the more interesting aspects of the game, even if it would end up losing some appeal for more trigger-happy players.

It's not hard to understand why someone who looks upon games as an art form, would love "Bioshock" in every possible way. It's one of the few games that actually wants, from the get go, to be regarded as much more than just a toy, or just a "game". Its aesthetics are beautiful, its message is strong, intelligent and emotionally provocative, and it is an entertaining game. It is, by my definition, the perfect example of a perfect game, and one of the best works of art I've seen in the past year.

...buy this game and immediately put it into your Xbox 360 before it gets sold out?

After surviving a terrible plane crash in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a lone survivor named Jack spots and swims over to a lighthouse and enters a bathysphere, which takes him through the stunning world of Rapture, a city that was once great before things went horribly wrong.Jack is now trapped in Rapture, and the only way to get out is fight through hundreds of crazed civilians called Splicers.Just how did they become so crazy? ADAM.It is the one of the things that keep the wheels of Rapture rolling.But the people of Rapture became very addicted to it and it led to horrible side effects.With the help of a friend named Atlas, Jack struggles to defeat the splicers and kill the one man who's in charge, Andrew Ryan.

'Bioshock' is an outstanding game with state-of-the-art graphics and an interesting plot that will have you hooked into the game before you know it.But it gets even better in September, for that is the month in which 'Bioshock 2' is released.But before then, I suggest that you immediately buy the game and start playing if you haven't already.Your time and money will not go to waste.I promise you that you won't regret it.

BioShock was one of the games which I originally go "This looks OK...I'll just buy it for the sake of it" but then after a while I think "This game rocks, I'm glad I bought it in the first place". I think the gameplay is simply amazing with the numerous weapons and Plasmids, I enjoy whacking enemy Splicers with a wrench, downing them with armor-piercing revolver rounds, incinerating them with the power of a plasmid or firing electric bolts from your fingertips. The story and game simply just rocks to the best of it, I recommend this game to any who love standalone horror shooters. But I still don't get why the protagonist went down to Rapture in the first place anyway...

Note - Big Daddies in the game may be difficult but are essential to the harvesting or rescuing of Little Sisters, which give you ADAM energy useful for the continuation of the game.

By HowlingRabbit334

Pros:

• Great story and characters
• Eerie feeling of isolation
• Amazing scary atmosphere
• Great graphics
• Good variety of weapons and powers
• Amazing plot twist
• Great environmental story telling

Cons:

• Gameplay can be abit clunky

Verdict: Bioshock 1 is an amazing game that has one of the best video game plot twists.

9/10

I was hearing about Bioshock on the internet a couple of months ago and was amazed by the good reviews critics gave it. So i thought why not try it. I won the bid off ebay for 15 dollars and when it finally arrived i installed it and played it.

You are a survivor of a plane crash and with no where to go, you will have to go to the lighthouse. The light house reaches to an under water city called Rapture, built by Andrew Ryan, and you realize how corrupted it is. Throughout the game you understand stuff about rapture, it's people and how they became to be zombie-looking things and so on.

The beginning starts out boring and i thought that my money had gone to waste but as i progressed further and further i realized that this game was not a waste at all. Plasmids and Big daddies make this game, oh and i forgot that the idea for a underwater city is priceless. The guns look very different but are the same and you can also upgrade your plasmids and guns throughout the game. Every serious gamer should have at least played this game but don't expect it to be better than Half-life 2 because it's a disgrace against Hl2.

Pros- Big daddies, guns, plasmids, story... Cons- Same enemies and that's about it.