"No Gods or Kings, only Men"
Let me set the scene. Its the 1960's, you are travelling over the Atlantic on a passenger air plane, smoking a cigarette and clutching a gift. Suddenly your plane free-falls from the sky, crashing into the ocean. You awake in a daze, the plane is sinking and fire engulfs the ocean surface. You seek refuge on a isolated lighthouse, thinking it will provide a safe haven, in fact it is the portal to another world.
Bioshock is the latest offering from 2K games aka irrational studios. It is set in the world of Rapture, an underwater haven, crafted by its founder and ruler Andrew Ryan. Rapture is designed to be man's utopia, where human creativity and knowledge know no bounds, morality and religion do not constrain the human development, a place where the artist is truly free to express. In reality, Raptures limitless freedoms ultimately lead to its downfall.
Bioshock in essence is an FPS game, although to label it as such would be very short sighted as it plays more like an RPG. Bioshock's fascinating plot weaves you around the city of Rapture, on the way encountering beautifully crafted realms which contain soul-less inhabitants. The basic story revolves around the discovery and exploitation of plasmids and a substance called Adam. Combined, these allow Human upgrading, certain plasmids unlocking different skills, such as telekinesis's and the ability to conjure fire and electricity. These are not only a vital part of the gameplay but also of the story. The back story comprises of smuggling and power over the distribution of Adam and the ability to use plasmids. This story is re-created perfectly as the player progresses through the game with a series of audio diaries, genetically induced ghostly flash backs of past events and radio messages. The story is a huge part of Bioshock and has been expertly written. It is engrossing enough to keep you following for the whole game and always leaves you wanting more, the plot twists are superb and most importantly believable.
The main characters in the game split between Humans, Splicers (whose rampant plasmid and adam gorging has left them in a state of near insanity, virtually devoid of any human emotions and feeling) and the little sisters who are genetically altered children designed to extract Adam from dead people. Their protectorates are the big daddies, who are in their own right one of the most fearsome and destructive creatures in the game, their only mission being to protect the little sisters. Radio messages and audio diaries introduce a compelling back story with a diverse range of characters, all of whose actions become entwined, eventually leading to the story of the current day (in game) and revealing the protagonists past. What follows is truly a remarkable turn around and one which really exemplifies the high standard of the story and script.
Gameplay is solid and progressive expansive. New areas of the underwater world only become open once the current missions are complete, so in a sense its a fairly linear lay out, however, once in an area you as the character are free to go where you wish, harvesting splicers, dealing with little sisters,completing missions or simply admiring the beauty of the world. There is a wide range of plasmids and weapons, all of which can be upgraded and host a variety of different firing rates and ammunition.
Graphically, Bioshock is superb. The lighting and water effects add greatly to the feeling of Rapture, enabling you as the player to almost believe that it is a living, breathing entity. The lighting, radio messages and tools all add up to create a believable and intoxicating theme, the sex, drugs and rock and roll attitude of the 1960's is captured perfectly in the city, further adding to the games experience.
Bioshock never sacrifices gameplay for story or vice versa. What it does do is deliver a highly entertaining and thrilling experience. The story telling outclasses just about any other game in its genre.The gameplay is tight and intuitive to allow for solid and fun gameplay, never becoming a focus point for anger but at the same time never making the game especially easy or creating a feeling of god like invulnerability. There would be little point in being stranded in an underwater world, full to the brink with psychotic, half human beings if your character shared the superhuman gun fighting abilities of James Bond. Even if FPS games are not you thing this game will not dissapoint, it exemplifies all of the qualities a next generation game should, solid and intuitive gameplay mixed with beautiful settings and wrapped up with a compelling story with a wide range of characters that generate a storm of emotions, not unlike something you would experience at a pantomime. Bioshock is simply a must for any gamer, young or old, experienced or new. If ever there was a reason to buy an Xbox 360 console, this is surely it.
Bioshock is the latest offering from 2K games aka irrational studios. It is set in the world of Rapture, an underwater haven, crafted by its founder and ruler Andrew Ryan. Rapture is designed to be man's utopia, where human creativity and knowledge know no bounds, morality and religion do not constrain the human development, a place where the artist is truly free to express. In reality, Raptures limitless freedoms ultimately lead to its downfall.
Bioshock in essence is an FPS game, although to label it as such would be very short sighted as it plays more like an RPG. Bioshock's fascinating plot weaves you around the city of Rapture, on the way encountering beautifully crafted realms which contain soul-less inhabitants. The basic story revolves around the discovery and exploitation of plasmids and a substance called Adam. Combined, these allow Human upgrading, certain plasmids unlocking different skills, such as telekinesis's and the ability to conjure fire and electricity. These are not only a vital part of the gameplay but also of the story. The back story comprises of smuggling and power over the distribution of Adam and the ability to use plasmids. This story is re-created perfectly as the player progresses through the game with a series of audio diaries, genetically induced ghostly flash backs of past events and radio messages. The story is a huge part of Bioshock and has been expertly written. It is engrossing enough to keep you following for the whole game and always leaves you wanting more, the plot twists are superb and most importantly believable.
The main characters in the game split between Humans, Splicers (whose rampant plasmid and adam gorging has left them in a state of near insanity, virtually devoid of any human emotions and feeling) and the little sisters who are genetically altered children designed to extract Adam from dead people. Their protectorates are the big daddies, who are in their own right one of the most fearsome and destructive creatures in the game, their only mission being to protect the little sisters. Radio messages and audio diaries introduce a compelling back story with a diverse range of characters, all of whose actions become entwined, eventually leading to the story of the current day (in game) and revealing the protagonists past. What follows is truly a remarkable turn around and one which really exemplifies the high standard of the story and script.
Gameplay is solid and progressive expansive. New areas of the underwater world only become open once the current missions are complete, so in a sense its a fairly linear lay out, however, once in an area you as the character are free to go where you wish, harvesting splicers, dealing with little sisters,completing missions or simply admiring the beauty of the world. There is a wide range of plasmids and weapons, all of which can be upgraded and host a variety of different firing rates and ammunition.
Graphically, Bioshock is superb. The lighting and water effects add greatly to the feeling of Rapture, enabling you as the player to almost believe that it is a living, breathing entity. The lighting, radio messages and tools all add up to create a believable and intoxicating theme, the sex, drugs and rock and roll attitude of the 1960's is captured perfectly in the city, further adding to the games experience.
Bioshock never sacrifices gameplay for story or vice versa. What it does do is deliver a highly entertaining and thrilling experience. The story telling outclasses just about any other game in its genre.The gameplay is tight and intuitive to allow for solid and fun gameplay, never becoming a focus point for anger but at the same time never making the game especially easy or creating a feeling of god like invulnerability. There would be little point in being stranded in an underwater world, full to the brink with psychotic, half human beings if your character shared the superhuman gun fighting abilities of James Bond. Even if FPS games are not you thing this game will not dissapoint, it exemplifies all of the qualities a next generation game should, solid and intuitive gameplay mixed with beautiful settings and wrapped up with a compelling story with a wide range of characters that generate a storm of emotions, not unlike something you would experience at a pantomime. Bioshock is simply a must for any gamer, young or old, experienced or new. If ever there was a reason to buy an Xbox 360 console, this is surely it.
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