BioShock is getting Game-Of-The-Year (GOTY) class reviews and judging by major E3 06-07 awards it has won so far, it's clear that this is a game to watch for. But do you have pure faith in this game? Do you absolutely believe in BioShock? Here are 10 reasons to make you believe:
1.Crysis Quality Graphics: BioShock after Crysis is the game that durig E3 06 was the biggest contender for best graphics awards and while Crysis rightfully won most of the tech awards, many praised the BioShock even when it was using Unreal Engine 2.5. Now, designers have completely shifted to Unreal Engine 3 and the result is a sight to behold. We have the textures that are amazingly realistic, great real-time light and shadow effects that are top-notch, the particle and special effects that are beautiful and complicated and finally, the amazing models for enemies and other characters that give more than life to those little sisters and big daddies.
2.Sound Effects To Match Call Of Duty: You are trapped in an underwater city, you are alone and then you suddenly hear frighteningly heavy footsteps. Then voice of a small girl is heard. You follow the child's sound, only to find an monstrous Big Daddy. The designers have put unbelievable effort into making all the required sound effects. Big Daddy's heavy grunts in one hand Little Sister's cries, screams and many other reactions are just for this encounter! Sound of the water or broken elevator door or unusual noises of environment are followed by classic 40s music and great voice acting from game's few but important talking characters.
3.Rapture, The Living City: We have seen so little of BioShock and the under water city of Rapture but the few locations that we've met so far are more than interesting. The thing to remember is that Rapture is here for us to exploit and there are more than enough tools to do so. From mechanical guard posts to moving water in city's corridors, Rapture has everything you need to enjoy the game but its definitely not the place you want to end up by yourself.
4.Remember SWAT4's AI: Ken Levine mentioned in an interview that SWAT4 was a good experience for them specially in terms of crafting a perfect AI for all NPC characters. For for BioShock, they have outdone themselves and that title's unmatched AI. It's not just enemies and allies anymore, these creatures live here and not all of them want to kill you. A good example is Big Daddy who just wants to protect the little Sister and will do anything to achieve his goal. The Sister has her own varied and unique responses from hiding behind that Daddy to running for her life; "This is living".
5.The Choice, Fighting for Freedom: Many games promise freedom but only a few achieve this feat. BioShock is not just a game with freedom, it IS the freedom. It is the whole point of the game. When you are in trouble (Be it an angry Big Daddy or a bunch of deformed Rapture citizens) there is not just more than one way out. The possibilities are endless. In a very simple example shown in the "3 Ways video" (It's old now but in case you missed it before, watch it here http://gamevideos.com/video/id/12480), the designers showed 3 different methods to handle the situation. Now imagine, not only every creature and object inside Rapture is a tool for you, you also have all your other power-ups. Ultimately the fate of Rapture and all of its inhabitants rests in your hands. Will you exploit those little Sisters or help them? The choice is yours but so are the short and long term consequences.
6.Deus Ex!: Named the best PC game of all time by CVG, Deus Ex was the game that perfectly mixed RPG and FPS into one entity. It had augmentation and other up-grades for player's body and many other unique abilities and weapons. BioShock has Plasmids that have a similair functionality to those augmentations and are removable and can be up-graded. Though instead of experience points you need Adam and creatures of Rapture would kill for it. Would you do the same and kill a little Sister to extract Adam from her body?
7.Half-Life Had A Great Story: A FPS game, told entirely from eyes of the game's hero Dr. Freeman, simply revolutionized story telling in video games and allowed player to experience everything from his or her own eyes. Now in BioShock you end up in the under water city with a fallen civilization. You don't know what's going on and what caused all this but to get out, finding answers might be the first logical step. And this the thing beyond Gordon's adventure here is that BioShock is a completely non-linear game and you as the player create your own story and every time you start over it's a new experience. The ending of story? It's in your hands.
8.Falloutish Art Direction: All of the technology in the world alone can't make art. Only an artist's mind is able to create real art. BioShock has such a unique and exquisite art direction that few games can match. Exotic locations of the underwater city and the classic and old feel of the world are more than nostalogic. Remember how original Fallout mixed post-apocalyptic future with 50s mood and feel? BioShock is doing that miles under the sea and is using the state-of-the-art technology of 2007 to do so. As a tribute to the timeless classic Fallout, you can see the Vault Boy in BioShock as a cute easter egg. Just don't expect to find a Vault after you follow that Vault Boy to Mens Room.
9.System Shock's Atmosphere: If you ever tried the incredible original System Shock game, you how much a good mood and atmosphere can help the game experience. Irrational made System Shock 2, a game that virtually every gaming site and magazine has chosen as the scariest game of all time and all of them agreed that it has the best mood and atmosphere ever seen in a game. Now, not only BioShock is the spiritual sequel to that game, its coming from the same team and many are already claiming that it has surpassed System Shock 2. All of those elements from graphics and AI to story and characters to voice acting and sound effects make BioShock's atmosphere so unforgettable.
10.Shooter 2.0: While original Doom came after Wolf 3D, it is still considered the father of all FPS games. It was Doom that showed many now routine standards to developers inclduing level design, controls, multiplayer and AI. After Doom, many other great FPS games have come from Unreal series and id's own Quake to Half Life and GoldenEye. They have all improved different aspects of FPS games but recently many have started complaining that FPS is a genre that hasn't changed that much since it's birth (Much like fighting games that are mostly the same as the arcade days). Now, BioShock doens't have multiplayer (Yet) but other than that its a totally different and unique experience from all those previous games. And it's different from Deus Ex, System Shock, Half-Life and many other classics while has many similarities to them. When Irrational (Now broken in two thanks to 2K Games' dumbness) started working on BioShock years ago and before 2K Games became its publisher, they promised that this title would be "Shooter 2.0" compared to all those games that were shooter 1.0 to shooter 1.5.
In the end, BioShock is game that makes you think. Thinking about your options, goals, actions and their consequences. This is not an puzzle adventure but big guns are not always the best solution here. Your ultimate weapon is your brain not the controller or mouse & keyboard.
If you still are not fully convinced then go and buy a lame yearly sports title from EA or something. If you have become a true believer, then welcome to Rapture. This is Red, signing out.
Helldivers 2 has become the talk of the town as players are seen discussing the game in real life with their friends and even strangers.
It's a sure sign of scraping the bottom of the barrel when you are "creating" "news" out of Reddit posts.
Stellar Blade launches tomorrow, and that’s just the beginning of Eve’s mission to save humanity one slice at a time. Today we at Shift Up are excited to reveal that New Game Plus will be coming to Stellar Blade at launch on April 26, so players can continue their journey across Xion after the credits roll. The new mode included expanded gear levels, new costumes to wear, and a suite of new skills.
Everyone expected that the Order to defend 10 planets would fail. But, Helldivers 2 players did the impossible, surprising everyone.
All this stuff only makes me want the game even more. Hopefully, all those long time "BioShock on PS3" "rumors" are true. I am not a PC gamer nor ... . Anyways, well written article. :)
I hate you MK_Red, I really do. Just when you think you can't look forward to a game any more already, someone makes an article like this. I was a little disappointed that you didn't go over the level of customization you can put into your (various) weapons, including around three types of ammo for each gun (for different types of enemies) etc.
Also, I think it would've been cool to add the level of interaction with your environment. Examples of this are: using puddles of water to increase electrical damage on enemies, light a teddy bear on fire and then throw it at others etc. And I've already told you my views on multiplayer, so I think that about covers it! Overall, very good article and it only makes me anticipate the game even more.
Good job, it was a very well thought out article.
thats some good writing MK
number 3 and 8 are what drew me in :D
Next gen graphics, AI, story, etc... OH YEAH BABY! My 360 is definitely delivering the goods!