Bioshock

Raz Review: "Finally! An FPS with seamless RPG elements that keep the gameplay fresh and interesting, AND a compelling story. It has some very close ties to System Shock, a cult classic PC game. Placed in the past instead of the future (circa 1959), you wander an underwater Art Deco dystopia rife with corruption, greed, deception, amorality and violence.

I won't spoil the game for you (since you absolutely must go out and get it), but suffice to say genetic engineering is key. There are so many facets to gameplay, including but not limited to inventing your own ammo and upgrades, and making moral choices that affect the course of the plot.

This in no way detracts from the simple pleasure of unloading two rounds of buckshot into a Splicer's occipital lobe, or using a gene-altering Plasmid to set him on fire with pyrokinesis (whereupon he'll run around screaming and setting other things on fire - great fun). Your genetic superpowers aren't just for killing stuff, though; as with System Shock, there are puzzles and secrets that can only be unlocked with certain abilities. Also, in any given encounter, there's generally a number of ways to approach the situation depending on your upgrades and disposition - that's the sort of flexibility that makes for maximum replay value.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll jump, you'll shake your head in disbelief. Most of all - you'll come away from it profoundly disturbed and questioning the moral structure of society.

That's what I love about games like this; they actually get you thinking beyond the game itself. Ok, enough reviewing - go and get this game. Now. Right now."

Online: No
Rated: 8.5/10