How a 4-year-old game blew my mind
So I bought Bioshock ~2 years ago when it was on sale for real cheap on Direct2Drive because I knew the reviews were pretty much universally phenomenal and so I should buy it. I had installed it a few times and never managed to get past the first area, which (as I discovered later) is when the game really opens up and becomes amazing. I'm quite glad I went back to it, because this game was unequivocally awesome.
Story
So the game starts with you on a plane. That plane crashes into the ocean and, somehow, you survive. Plus, you're conveniently right outside the surface entrance to Rapture, the underwater city built by eccentric genius Andrew Ryan. You're guided through the radio by a man calling himself Atlas, who tells you that Ryan has lost his mind and needs to be stopped. That's the gist.
Do I like the story? Overall, yes, I do. I think the concept of a city built on the bottom of the ocean is great, and Ryan's ideals are interesting and sufficiently scary. The problems I have, though, are a few:
First of all, there isn't enough back story. The audio logs that are scattered around are great and well-acted, but they almost all reflect only on Andrew Ryan and the downfall of Rapture. We never really find out anything else that happens.
Second, throughout the game it's revealed that Ryan is in conflict over Rapture with a guy named Frank Fontaine. In contrast to Andrew Ryan's true (slightly insane) charisma, Fontaine is really only a con-man who has made his hay by stirring up the people unhappy with Ryan's policies. The problem I have is simple: why are they fighting over this dump of a city? The only people you ever meet are spliced-up lunatics. There is absolutely no sign that any regular people are left anywhere.
Basically, I like the swerve they throw at you, but the final boss is kind of lame.
Graphics
These are slightly weak, though I'm pretty much giving them a pass for it being a 4-year-old Xbox game. The textures aren't super great, and the modeling isn't super great, but what is there is atmospheric and serves the setting wonderfully. The Big Daddies look sufficiently beefy, the Little Sisters are totally creepy, and the splicers are nasty and crazy. I like it a lot.
Sound
The sound in Bioshock is, in a word, brilliant. You can hear the Big Daddies stomping around long before you ever see them, you can hear the lunatic splicers mumbling and ranting to themselves, and the things the Little Sisters say are positively spine-chilling. Armin Shimerman's performance as the megalomaniacal Andrew Ryan is superlative. I don't totally buy Tenenbaum's accent, but it's not terrible. Altogether, one of the best sounding games I've ever played.
Gameplay
Here's (obviously) where the game will grab people or lose them. I said in the beginning that I couldn't get past the opening area and that's true. If you can stick it out for just a little while, however, I think you'll see what really grabbed me about the game. At the start you don't know where you are, what's going on, or how to get out, but as you progress and unlock more plasmids, tonics, and weapons, you definitely feel yourself acclimating to the world and increasing in strength and competence. I was quite a fan of the zap-and-whack which they teach you very early on in the game.
I will say, though, that the difficulty curve on fighting the Big Daddies is VERY uneven. The first two in the game are regular guys with the drill and you can kill them without a terrible problem. In the second area they change to Rosies, and Rosies have a rivet gun and throw grenades, which are both ranged, and he can take much more damage than you can. Later on you can upgrade your weapon to kill a Big Daddy without reloading or even allowing it to move, so yeah it's a bit uneven.
Final Verdict
This game was amazing and I'm sad that I waited so long to play it. Have you not played it? You're crazier than me. PLAY IT PLAY IT PLAY IT PLAY IT!!! Seriously.
