Bioshock Review
Following a previous review that was done for Mass Effect, the decision was made to revisit some of the games that had either been missed or flat out good enough to be played again. Bioshock was one of the games that were missed when it was released and with a high value of opinions surrounding it, it was a good competitor for an evaluation. At the time of its release in 2007, it was hard to find a review that gave this game less than 90%. The reception was outstanding and the game went on to win numerous awards.
Bioshock is a first person shooter with a heavy focus on character progression, much like what can be seen in many role playing games today. This similar combination is somewhat comparable to System Shock 2, though more recently a game like Fallout 3 would suffice as a recent comparison. You play as the character Jack, who has ended up finding his way into an underwater city known as Rapture, but upon entering the city you realise that Rapture doesn’t seem like such a great place to be. The game mostly revolves around a heavy story line presented in snippets via the use of a radio, which the other main characters all communicate through. This story line mostly guides you down a linear path, which often entails trying to find an area, and killing everything in your path.
There are numerous collection missions, mostly having you search the current areas you are in for items that will aid your progress. The design of the levels allows the player to use multiple routes and tactics in order to gain entry to areas, such as being able to gain access due to the direction you have decided to upgrade your character. Towards the end of the game it started to feel like the mission structure had been exhausted, having many occasions which needed me to collect a 3 or 4 different things to fulfil one goal. It is understandable that this structure was used to give the player a sense of exploration, but it didn’t feel like the overall outcome of my labour was worth the time it spent to do them, even when it was an integral part of the story.
The game also contains a hacking mechanic that is used throughout in order to perform certain tasks. The hacking is closely representative of Pipe Mania, in which you are trying to set up a path for the liquid to flow where you require it to, the complexity of which is represented in the size of the grid used for the hack, or how quickly the liquid flows. Through the completion of these hacks you are able to do such things as opening safes, using turrets and surveillance bots to attack your enemies and hacking vending machines to lower the cost of their goods. This whole mechanic alone is implemented really well, as it provides the player the grounds to get progressively better at hacking things, whilst producing different rewards. The difficulty scaling for the different things to hack works really well and really adds a sense of urgency to the game, making everything you hack end with a sigh of relief and a revel in the reward.
The combat in Bioshock is handled with a combination of weapons and genetic enhancements. A variety of weapons become available throughout the game, ammo of which can be bought from vending machines or picked up from dead enemies, which there are thankfully more than enough of. These enhancements come in the form of plasmids and gene tonics, which are often purchasable using the Adam mutagen that is harvested from the “Little Sisters” that roam Rapture. The only problem being that each “Little Sister” is individually protected by their “Big Daddy”, a genetically enhanced human in altered diving suits that start attacking anything that harms the child they are protecting. Fighting the “Big Daddys” can often be tough, but the game doesn’t give much of a punishment for dying. Throughout the areas check points are triggered, whenever you die, you simply respawn back at one of these checkpoints. This is a really weird situation as, yes it gets you back into the game quicker, but it allows you to just charge fully into any enemy with not cause for concern, as you will respawn instantly, and can charge back into the enemy. It is easily imaginable that in some situations that is not the best course of action, but ultimately it removes any fear that the enemies would normally give. The feel of the combat generally feels a little sluggish and towards the end of the game became horribly repetitive.
The art direction taken for the design of Rapture really gives you a sense of both surrounding and isolation. The lack of interaction physically with anyone who isn’t insane is also a large contributing factor to this, sometimes it can often make you feel like you’re just as crazy as everyone else in Rapture, and that no one can honestly trust anyone else. The design of the “Big Daddys” and the surrounding interactive props really do give the game a unique sense of realism, almost being a slight exaggeration of what is available to us today. Though Bioshock host great artistic design, it was quite easy to get lost in Rapture, despite the landmarks placed around the locale for directional purposes.
Graphically the game looks wonderful, despite it being near enough 4 years old. It is evident that a lot of time and effort went into every asset, as well as heavy lighting considerations. The environments all look stunning and it is very easy to soak up the atmosphere around you. As well as that, all of the animations for the game don’t feel forced, and look as natural as could be portrayed considering the environment the characters are in. All of the tapes that are picked up as well as radio talk is all voice acted beautifully, and really helps invest in the characters you find yourself surrounded by.
It does feel dignified to state here that Bioshock has a well crafted story, with good use of all of the components that it could possibly offer itself. The easiest part of this game was following the story and appreciating it unfold around me. The story really builds itself up well and unleashes some key information about two thirds through the game, which not only makes you want to break some deserving teeth, but also changes your play style for the last third. Bioshock does a really good job of using simple plot devices, inside of an overall complex narrative.
Now, Bioshock is by no means a “perfect” game, but it is by all means enjoyable. It does a fabulous job of immersing you in the city of Rapture, and willingly invites you to uncover its past in an easily accessible and enjoyable way. So many different stories can be heard in the audio tapes you collect; it helps flesh out both rapture and its characters on a scale which is both rich in information, and accessible to the pace of game play. Bioshock does have a few flaws which can sometimes feel annoying, but it is hard to let them weigh you down for too long as the accessibility of the design outweighs the small issues you have to deal with. Bioshock does a wonderful job of compiling all of these aspects together to make an enjoyable game, one which any sequel should be proud to have as its basis, thematically and technically.
