In my time as a gamer, I've played a lot of great titles. I've taken down gods, ripped alien species a new one, stomped on countless turtle shells, and so on. But one game amongst hundreds stands out as the greatest piece of entertainment I have ever experienced.
BioShock.
Bioshock: An Entertainment Masterpiece
It's funny, too, because prior to BioShock's release, I had no interest in it. I knew it was being developed by Irrational Games, who had already been responsible for two of my favorite games, Freedom Force and System Shock 2, so that was appealing. I read about it in a Game Informer cover article, and that got me a little more excited. All of this faded away when I saw a trailer of the game. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with what was show; it just didn't look like something that appealed to me.
So, I stopped following the game. I saw clips of it in montages here and there, but I stopped caring about the game. Besides, this was in 2007, one of the greatest years in gaming history. There was no way a game like Bioshock could be better than games like Halo 3, Mass Effect, Uncharted, Assassin's Creed, or Call of Duty 4, right?
By the time the reviews started popping up on various websites, I pretty much had no clue what the game was anymore. I remember the first review I saw was on IGN, and the score was a 9.7/10. I was shocked. I read the review, and that was all the convincing I needed before I went out to buy the game. The moment I got back from the store, I popped it in and played from start to finish, only stopping for meals and bathroom breaks.
What makes Bioshock so special to me isn't just the story or the gameplay or the graphics. It's how each individual element that the game brought to the table fit perfectly with everything else. Not one moment ever felt like a throwaway. Of course, the beautifully sculpted world of Rapture was the main star. It's ruined halls filled with genetically mutated freaks was something I had seen nothing like in a game before. The opening to this game alone sets the mood and atmosphere, and provides dozens of water-cooler moments people are still talking about today.
I remember the Big Daddy plowing his drill into the torso of a Splicer who threatened the seemingly innocent Little Sister. I watched as a mad doctor destroyed his plastic-surgery patient, obsessed with making the faces of people perfect. I frantically scrambled through the darkness with a shotgun as Splicers danced around me. I murdered civilized people to complete an insane man's masterpiece. I unwillingly plunged a gold club into the leader's skull.
Bioshock is something you simply have to play. It is the greatest game of all time. Would you kindly enter Rapture, and experience the best video games have to offer?
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