Journey through an amazing, immersive and terrifying world with BioShock. Caught between powerful forces and hunted down by genetically mutated citizens, you will come to grips with the mysterious and fascinating world of Rapture, a distinct Art Deco underwater utopia gone mad. BioShock not only challenges your capacity to adapt and survive, but brings to question your values and commitment to the inhabitants of Rapture. With smart and adaptive AI, no encounter ever plays out the same, while numerous customization options give you an experience that adapts to your playing style.
Adaptive AI – Explore a living world where the inhabitants have interesting and consequential relationships with one another that impact your gameplay experience Experience breathtaking visuals that vividly illustrate the forlorn Art Deco city, highlighted by realistic water effects and meticulously detailed environments
User Reviews
5 Stars Finally on the PS3
Last year, 2K Games unleashed Bioshock for the XBox 360 and PC, and it ranked as one of the best games of last year, and one of the most original FPS games in quite a while. Finally, Bioshock is here on the PS3, and even a year later, the game still kicks. Featuring an original and philosophical storyline to go along with one of the most wonderfully-realized environments you’ll find in an FPS period, Bioshock still packs a punch in terms of visuals and gameplay experience, and packs a good amount of shocks to boot. The game fits the PS3 like a glove, and looks just as good (if not better) here on the PS3 that it did on the 360. What’s disappointing about this eagerly anticipated port to the PS3 is that there aren’t any real new features to speak of. Even though there is a new difficulty mode that will hold the interests of established fans of the game, there really isn’t much else here that hasn’t been seen before. That aside, Bioshock is finally here on the PS3, and it is a more than welcome addition to the system’s library that has been long overdue indeed.
5 Stars Creepy
Wow! This game truly deserves all of the hype that it gets. It’s one of the best FPS’ that I’ve ever played. I am a big fan of the survival horror genre and this is one of the greatest I’ve played. ( I wasn’t even aware that it was part of this genre when I bought it.) I’ll keep this review brief due to the fact there are some great reviews for this game that have done a perfect job of nailing down the essence of this game. I will say that there are many times when you are playing this game where you have to “stop and smell the roses”. Don’t just run through this one like most FPS’. I find myself stopping to look out a window or stare at picture since the art in this game is absolutely gorgeous. The art deco feel to everything insures that this game will stand out for a long time. As you probably know the gameplay is equally as impressive. You really benefit from thinking a little first about a good strategy rather than running and gunning. With this and Fallout 3 on my shelves I will be busy for a long time. Buy this one and enjoy!
5 Stars Bioshock. A game like no other.
Note: there are basically no important spoilers here. Just minor gameplay and story spoilers which aren’t a big deal.
Wow. I’ve never had a videogame experience like this one. Everyone should experience this game at least once, even if you might hate it. And actually, I hated it after the first few hours of playing. Luckily I plowed through the rough patch in the beginning. This isn’t a run and gun shooter. You have to think. You have to use strategy. You have to search for stuff, figure out what weapons and plasmids and tonics you’re going to use, and figure out how to hack.
I wasn’t used to this because lately games aren’t complex. Games are afraid these days to be hard, we wouldn’t want to annoy the player. Before Bioshock I had just beat all the missions in Saints Row 2, and in that game you basically show up, shoot everyone on site, and you’re done. It was too easy. It’s just a matter of getting it done with basically very little thinking involved, with gameplay or story. Don’t get me wrong though SR2 is a lot of fun and I loved it.
Bioshock throws some challenges at you. First there’s the story which is not easily explained and put on a silver platter. There are no long cutscenes. You’re thrown into this eerie underwater world that resembles New York’s Times Square. The look of the game is beautiful. You get bits and pieces of information along the way from your audio guide Atlas, and these audio diaries left behind on recorders throughout the world. If you really want to understand what’s going on you have to listen closely, and it’s worth it. Because if you don’t listen you’ll miss a lot of stuff and that takes away from what this game is all about. There are interesting themes and ideas to ponder.
That brings me to the voice acting. It was top quality. My favorite being Andrew Ryan. He sounds exactly like he should as the leader of this city, and he has some great quotes. He makes it hard to decide whether to hate him or like him while he’s throwing Objectivist type philosophy at you–that you may find yourself agreeing with.
The tense atmosphere of Bioshock never lets up. You never really get a chance to relax and take a breath. There’s these crazy splicer enemies walking around and sometimes you can hear them off in the distance ranting away. They sound sad and desperate. You have to tip-toe around every corner because you never know what’s going to jump out at you. There’s turrets ready to shoot at you, and the security cameras that you dread, because if they get a long enough look they set off alarms which triggers flying bots that are a huge pain.
As you’re walking around the levels you can walk right past one of your enemies, the Big Daddys. It’s funny how you can walk right past them when they’re in non-attack mode, knowing that eventually you’re going to have to battle them, ultimately to make a decision about the little girl they’re protecting: a Little Sister. And in the first half of the game they are a tough battle. Later on when you get some decent weapons they become much easier, thankfully.
The best level for me was Fort Frolic. It’s the centerpiece of the game. I would like to talk more about it but I will avoid spoilers. I’ll just say that there are moments that are the most surreal I’ve yet experienced in a video game. There are scenes that a lesser game would have used a cutscene to present. In Bioshock you’re free to walk around while this cutscene-like stuff is happening. The whole thing is colorful and brilliant.
I found the hacking minigame to be addictive. It’s a nice little diversion to take a break from the regular gameplay. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t stressful. To be honest at first I sucked at it. I used a few tonics to make it a lot easier as the game progressed. Sometimes it’s damn near impossible. You can even decide how to deal with these things, whether to spend an autohack tool, buy it out, use tonics, ignore it completely or just try to hack it and risk setting off alarms or get shocked by a short circuit. That’s what I liked about Bioshock. Even in this little minigame, they give you choices. It’s up to you what strategy you’re going to use.
There are a lot of different weapons and plasmids to use, but I have a feeling a lot of people rely on the same trusted ones, like electricity. I tried experimenting with all of them. I noticed the guns are underpowered in this game. Which is good, it forces you to strategize instead of just blowing everyone away. Thankfully they got the shotgun right. As we know there’s nothing better than blasting somebody ten feet with exploding buckshot.
Another nice little thing which adds yet more gameplay is the camera. You can research your enemies by taking pictures of them, and you gain different bonuses depending on picture quality. It’s funny when a splicer is storming at you like like a maniac, before you fight them you’re frantically trying to hurry and get a good picture.
Bioshock can be difficult at times, especially if you try to rush. To ease things there are Vita-chambers spread throughtout. They respawn you close to where you died, and any enemies loss of health remains. So you can keep dying and keep trying and some people complain that makes the game too easy. But who wants to keep dying over and over until you get it right? I like to play right in the first place. Just because the chambers are there doesn’t mean you should use them as a crutch. Not to mention you lose all your health kits and start again with very little health. The chambers didn’t make the gameplay easier, just less frustrating because you don’t have to redo the same thing over and over.
One of my problems with the game is switching between all your weapons, ammo and plasmids, especially in the middle of a fight. It can get awkward. Sometimes it isn’t smooth and mistakes are made. There are also a few framerate problems here and there. Other than that the game looks beautiful on the PS3, particularly the water, which is gorgeous. I was also happy there were trophies and I racked up quite a few.
Towards the end of the game I was getting disappointed because I didn’t want it to end. That’s why I started it again on hard mode. Games like this only come around once in awhile…actually they never come around. There is no game quite like this.
Here’s a cool quote by Andrew Ryan:
“What is the difference between a man and a parasite? A man builds, a parasite asks ‘Where’s my share?’ A man creates, a parasite says ‘What will the neighbors think?’ A man invents, a parasite says ‘Watch out, or you might tread on the toes of God…’”
5 Stars Would you kindly play this game?
How’s this for a story? A man becomes annoyed with the current world, a world where the great are taken for granted and told that their toils are either for the people, for God or for the government. In response, he creates a fantastic environment, free from all of these turmoils. A place where all the great men and women of the world can create their own inventions without fear of consequence. In this place, men and women could do what they wanted.
If this sounds like Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, you’d be correct. However, in this particular case, it’s also the background story behind Rapture, the under-water city that takes centerplace in Bioshock. Many words have been bandied about about video games and their ability (or inability) to become art; you have folks like Roger Ebert saying the medium as a whole can never attain that goal. My personal thought on this matter was that, as a medium, games haven’t made enough strides toward that lofty goal. But Bioshock certainly takes a huge step forward.
Andrew Ryan is a visionary the likes of which his namesake Ayn Rand would possibly write about in Atlas Shrugged. He exemplifies the qualities of a Randian hero and showcases Rand’s philosophy of objectivism. He created the city of Rapture and filled it, much like John Galt in Atlas Shrugged, with the visionaries of his land. Rapture soon was a thriving city that emphasized science and growth and the importance of the individual. They dabbled in creating plasmids that changed a person’s DNA, enabling them to do feats the likes of which had never been seen before.
Then something happened.
Flying over the Atlantic sea, you are Jack, a person who was destined for greatness, if you ask his parents, and whose plane is now crashing into the sea. Jack is apparently the only survivor of the plane wreck and swims to a lone building, a light house it seems, that beckons him onward. Eventually, he goes into a blathysphere and enters into the world of Rapture. But this isn’t the Rapture originally envisioned in the pre-recorded film he watches as he journeys into the city. It is a city comprised of deadly machines, once-human monstrosities named Splicers who are insane and, of course, the Big Daddies and Little Sisters.
Bioshock concerns itself with the gray area between right and wrong. This dichotomy between right and wrong is what fuels everything in Rapture. Roaming the landscape, the Little Sisters are twisted abominations of little girls who locate corpses (which they call “Angels”) and harvest Adam from them with a long needle. More grotesque is that bottle at the other end of the needle that the Little Sisters drink from. Dutifully following them are the Big Daddies, giant brutes in ancient diving gear. These…things…are at the heart of the story and Jack’s survival depends on them and whether he can harvest the Little Sisters or set them free.
The conscience of the gamer is represented in two mysterious figures, Atlas (another allusion to Rand) and Dr. Tenenbaum. Atlas seemingly wants Jack to save his family and explains that the Little Sisters are anything but the human girls they appear. He nudges Jack to put them out of their misery and take the Adam they harvest so he can survive and save Atlas and his family. On the other shoulder perches Tenenbaum, another mysterious individual who created the Little Sisters and seems to want to do anything possible to save them. They are the obvious angel and devil sitting on Jack’s shoulder, but the question is…which one is the angel?
To go into further detail would be to spoil this amazing story. Along the route, twists and turns abound with moral, ethical and philosophical questions aplenty. What’s interesting is the way Bioshock presents a stark opposition to Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. Rand’s heroes always contain the same qualities that Andrew Ryan exemplifies. But here, the artists behind Bioshock seem to be questioning these qualities by presenting a situation so familiar to Atlas Shrugged, and yet, so far removed.
It is literate, thoughtful, disturbing and moving. Even if the gameplay didn’t live up to the story, Bioshock would be worthy just for this reason.
Luckily, that’s not the case. For the gun hungry, sure, Rapture is filled with guns aplenty and even presents opportunities for you to craft your own upgrades. But that is just scratching the surface. Everything goes back to the story. Plasmids are located across the ruined debris of Rapture and contain the keys to recreating your DNA. Some early examples of Plasmids are the ability to shoot electricity from your hands to being able to set things on fire to telekinesis.
But these plasmids aren’t only used for fighting. Minor puzzle-solving crops up, some of which require plasmids in the same way as gear in Legend of Zelda. The biggest puzzle is how to take down the game’s variety of enemies. While you can definitely charge in, guns blazing and sometimes survive, cases will present themselves where such tactics will end with you on the bad end of the Big Daddies’ drill. Instead, you can create your own traps and war zones. Using plasmids, the environment and, of course, your weapons, you can create elaborate traps that will bring a smile to your face.
A lot of games coming out right now that use the Unreal 3 engine don’t look as spectacular as they could. In particular, character models tend to look shiny and/or completely ugly. This is not the case with Bioshock. Everything comes together, from the disturbing scenery, the art deco architecture to the the insane creatures and characters populating the world. Shadows and lighting also create a sense of atmosphere that drips heavily, much like the water pouring down the walls. It’s stunning. The only complaint (and it is minor) is that the frozen portions you can melt don’t look very convincing. When things melt, they don’t leave anything behind. The only reason it sticks out is that the rest of the game is absolutely beautiful and amazingly crafted.
None of this would be as effective, though, without superior sound. And Bioshock has that (mostly) in spades. The voice work is stunning throughout and the actors provide a great sense of dread. The audio diaries do an exemplary job of providing the backstory, but also work the best in crafting dread and terror. Some of the most disturbing things occur listening to them. Unfortunately, sometimes the characters’ lines are repeated too often, ruining the disturbing nature of their dialogue. Musically, the game is also amazing. It flits into the picture at key moments, increasing the tension before it will flow away. You might not even notice it’s there, but that’s why it’s so good.
You know, the funny thing about hype is how people react to it. Game journalists can go blue in the face trying to get people interested in forgotten gems such as Psychonauts, Beyond Good & Evil and Stranger’s Wrath, and since they weren’t financially successful they become these gems. When a game sells incredibly well and is hyped to the max (both of which fit Bioshock), people say “over-rated.”
Ignore the hype machine. I know you’re tired of hearing about it. But give Bioshock a try, if you haven’t yet. Download the demo for your PC or try it on the Playstation 3 Network. It is a game that’s definitely worth everything that’s been said about it and more.
It is art. And no words by ignorant movie critics will change that.
4 Stars Really fun game but disappointed by some things
This is a fun game to play. It has its scary moments or maybe I’m just a big baby. The graphics are really good. The only cons I have is that sense you can respawn so easily the game isnt very challenging. Also I really dislike the fact that its only a one player game. I wanted my other family members to be able to play also. The problem is that they have to create a new game and that messes up the auto save stuff. You can save your progress but you cant add your name to what game you saved, so it gets confusing if other people in your house want to play.
