Bioshock is a fascinating game that creates a bizarre surreal atmosphere that draws you in even amongst a few flaws. The game is especially interesting because of the philosophical undertones presented throughout the game.
Story:
Andrew Ryan - a man who wants to get away from the typical confines of governments and institutions of the world during the early- mid 1900’s, creates an underwater utopia called Rapture. He wanted man to not be constrained by the typical boundaries set on the world. Where there would be no constraints. This eventually leads Rapture to its downfall.
You start off as someone who is a victim of an airplane crash in the sea, near the entrance of Rapture. At this point of time the Utopia has failed. Mostly everyone (not only the citizens but some characters that play a bigger role) has gone bezerk due to plasmids and Adam, and other reasons. Plasmids and Adam enhance the body to be able to perform special abilities that only make people even more insane and are valuable items in the world of Rapture. Girls called little sisters that almost seem possessed, retrieve Adam from dead bodies guarded by massive robotic-like creatures, called big daddies.
You meet some interesting characters along the way that are quite crazy themselves as well, such as Dr. Steinman, and Sander Cohen. As you progress throughout the story you find out more on what has transpired in the world of Rapture. Things aren’t totally what they seem. With a few twists and turns.
Sound:
This game is the perfect game to turn the lights off and turn your surround system up, and to get immersed in the world of rapture.
The world of rapture creates a very interesting environment. Hearing the strange whispers and crazy things people say throughout Rapture is sometimes really cool. Sometimes it’s interesting to sit quietly to hear what people have to say, but sadly, you hear different people say the same thing after a while. Even better are the voice journals that give a better idea on what has happened down in Rapture before you got there.
Not only is that interesting, but the music of the time and the musical score of the game is wonderfully done. Hearing Bobby Darin’s “Beyond the Sea” playing in the background while the crazed inhabitants of rapture attack you, creates an interesting experience. The downside is that there isn’t enough music of the time, playing throughout the game.
Graphics:
The atmosphere it creates also exceeds the sound design. The water effects, the architecture, shadows, the places, create a strange alternate reality of the early to mid 1900’s. The graphics are fairly good, not the best, but it most defiantly convincing, especially combined with the sound design. Aside from the water effects, which are probably the best water effects I have seen.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is where some of its flaws are present. One, dying doesn’t really have too much consequence since you will respawn from a nearby chamber scattered throughout Rapture. Second, hacking machines gets a little annoying after a while. However you can use money to bypass this. So really the drawbacks are fairly minor. Since the game is more about the experience and environment, it doesn’t take too much away from the game.
Even amongst the flaws in the gameplay, it still gives a solid experience. The controls are easy to master, the weapons are customizable, and the powers are useful, and can be quite fun to use. The camera is really the only thing that seems almost worthless.
Overall bioshock is an excellent game, leaving you wanted more to play. There are alternate endings depending on how you play the game, so it does offer some re-playability
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Would you kindly copy a different seminal shooter from 2007?
GF365: "There are some games with extraordinary visuals that impress us to this day. Here are old games with outstanding graphics."
Same as Killzone 2 and 3, uncharted 2 and 3, Infamous 2, Heavy Rain, Resistance 3
I wish this was entirely true, but you might want to load up Killzone 2 and Resistance 3 again.
@jason I watched some gameplay videos of KZ2 and R3 on my full screen. They are on par or succeed graphically to the first person shooters mentioned in the article that also launched on the seventh generation of consoles. Try the same and see what you think
Killzone 3 was super impressive! I could not believe the graphics back then as I was regularly pausing the game to stand in awe looking at the surroundings! Resistance however did not impress me that much. Heavy rain is also another amazing graphically speaking game. It almost felt next gen
I always thought the first 3 Gears of War games looked great and still hold up for today.
They did for their day. I recently played gears judgement with on the 360 and the draw distance was so blurry. The characters up close look great though
Far Cry 2 was awesome. In addition to having demonstrably better physics and AI than later games in the series, it had a lot of design decisions that, criticized at the time, have since been praised in games like BOTW and Dark Souls.
It might not be super amazing by today's standard but I thought Mgs3 looked really good
Really nice review. This game is the only reason I wish I had a Xbox. I hope they port it to the PS3 in a year.
best. enemies. ever.
I loved the character development in Bioshock... little sisters, big daddy's and the above mentioned
Great review I agree with the score
Thanks for a great review!
I think I would give it an 8.5 because I dont like the gameplay much and that is the main part of a game.