BioShock: One of the Greatest Games to Date

Developer: Feral Interactive, 2K China, Digital Extremes, 2K Marin, 2K Games, Irrational Games, 2K Australia

Publisher: Feral Interactive, 2K Games

Format: PC, XBOX 360, PS3, DreamCast

Alright, time to talk about one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time, BioShock. BioShock is a game about a dystopian, underwater civilization called Rapture, where you come across after a plane crash. Well you see, Rapture as gone to ruin, with horrible splicers(think of them as bandits) and other baddies savagely ransacking the place. You come into contact with a man named Atlas, who wants you to help him help his family. You go through a lot of things after that point.

You have a lot of things at your disposal when it comes to combat. You have weapons ranging from crossbows to chemical throwers to tommy guns to revolvers, all accessible at all times. No carrying around two weapons and a knife here! You also have a wide variety of Plasmids at your disposal. Plasmids are essentially genetic re-modification in a way to where you have superhuman and seemingly magical abilities. You can get electricity or fire or ice, and even more interesting ones like the telekinesis or sending out a swarm of bees/wasps. All plasmids run on an "ammo" of sorts, called EVE. You can carry around a select amount of plasmids, dependent on how many slots you have available. So yeah, plenty to work and experiment with.

There are two types of currency available: money and ADAM. Money is used at venting machines for buying anything from ammo to health kits to drinks. You know, standard stuff, usually found on splicers or in containers of any kind. Now ADAM is a bit different. ADAM is kinda like the currency for genetic modification, be it buying new plasmids or gene tonics. Gene tonics serve as perks, and can buff certain things, like more health from food or health kits, or slower timer for hacking, or maybe just a higher defense. Like plasmids, you have a certain amount of slots that you can put your gene tonics in, making you debate on which ones you should use.

The enemies are varied enough. You have your standard crazed melee people, your standard crazed gunner, and even a few neater splicers, like the ones with hook hands, who are able to climb on walls and the ceiling, or maybe the ones with plasmids of their own, able to teleport and shoot fireballs. The less frequent but more popular enemy would be the Big Daddies. These are big, bulky powerhouses used for maintaining Rapture before it went under, and are usually followed by Little Sisters, the only source of ADAM. Big Daddies come in two forms in this game: One with a rivet gun and land mines, and the more popular one with the drill. These guys are tough, making you want to prepare before taking them on. They do no fight unless you attack them first, so you do have the time to prepare.

The combat is solid. You have to switch between your guns and your plasmid hand (because you, as a human, cannot use both at once), making switching in between durring a scuffle frantic or panic inducing. Using all the weapons is nice, the plasmids are fun and pack a punch, and even the wrench can be useful, given the right tonic. You'll be scavenging for health items, ammo, and EVE often, searching the turrets, corpses, and trashcans alike. The only complaints mechanic wise is that the hacking mini game is pretty annoying, and takes you out of the game feel all together.

Now lets talk atmosphere here for a moment. This game hits the right spot when it comes to the dystopian, post-retro horror feel it was going for. The enemies are intimidating, and sometimes downright creepy. The frantic switching between weapons and plasmids can be a bit annoying, but really does add a layer of panic to fights. The lighting, setting, and locations are fun, interesting, and done right. You are immersed into a fully fleshed out and detailed world, keeping the game interesting all the way throughout.

Now you see, BioShock was most praised by the story, and for good reasons. I kinda felt like the story was boring and lacked detail, until the plot twist came along. This suddenly opened my eyes, made me truly see the enemy, and immediately made the game a whole lot more both emotional and intense. I really don't wanna spoil anything, but when I say that the plot twist will get you good, I mean it'll get you like a sucker punch knocking you out within the last 5 seconds of the bell durring the last round of a boxing match.

So yeah, you could say BioShock was a great experience. It had decent controls, great world building, fantastic immersion, and a damn good story. It's a well designed game with lots in it. The one true bad thing about this game is mainly the fact that once you're done, you never really get the urge to play it over again. You know the huge bomb of a plot twist, and since it's really a story driven game, you don't care to much about anything else past beating the game. Despite this, BioShock was a fantastic experience, definitely one I would suggest playing, even for the story alone.

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