As deep as the ocean's darkest corners...
Bioshock is many things. Yes, on the surface, it's a first person shooter. Dig deeper, and you'll find that it has several role playing elements involved with it's vast plasmid system. Fire up the game proper, and it starts lookin' like a piece of interactive fiction, like a Myst. But, actually play it, and I mean PLAY IT, and you'll find the experience really defies an explanation or label. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, just one of the best all around games I've ever played, and it's from the way all the various elements within' come together.
The story really starts out somewhat simply. It's 1960, you're the sole survivor of a plane crash over the Atlantic Ocean, and you find yourself in view of a mysterious lighthouse. Upon entering it, you find a giant gold bust of a man named Andrew Ryan with the words "No Gods or Kings, only man" adorned upon a red banner across the front of said bust. You eventually find yourself in a bathysphere taking you down to Ryan's life labor, the underwater city of Rapture, a haven for "artists" and other oppressed individuals during the time of the Cold War, where they weren't tethered by the government, by God, or by their own morals. You'll soon see that this way of thinking didn't necessarily result in utopia, as now, due to the radical "splicing" of the human genetic code in an attempt to harness amazing powers within' normal people, most of the citizens have become crazed monsters. Huge goliaths walk the halls guarding little girls, who cheerfully walk skip around the corpses, using giant syringes to extract genetic material from the dead. A voice comes over the radio, a man named Atlas, who claims to need your help to escape his own entrapment in Rapture. Another voice tells you he is Andrew Ryan, and his own paranoid delusions seem to go against said wishes. And it's with these basic tools, the game begins.
Really, the story of Bioshock and the way it's presented is really the star of the show. Part of the presentation is, obviously, the graphics, which are just gorgeous. Characters are hauntingly expressive and environments are fantastically rendered to make you actually believe that this was once a bustling 1940s city, complete with goofy vending machines and campy advertising that'll make you smile between having the living crap scared outta you by many of the games amazing sequences. The sound... especially the some of the spectacular voice performances, is equally great in tying together the tragic and horrifying setting of Rapture and it's many levels.
Gameplay isn't ignored either. You'll get a decent arsenal of traditional weapons to use, and though these might not pack as much punch as you'd expect and you'll be frequently running out of ammo and other resources, all this seems to just serve as a tension builder throughout most of the game, and makes sure that you use a good mix of the upgradeable traditional weapons and the games staple... the plasmid system.
The game's RPG elements come into play with plasmids, various genetic mutations you can purchase and use ranging from directly damaging one like Electro Bolt, letting you shock your enemies with lightening, or indirect ones like Security Bullseye, which sets all security systems on a target you mark. There are also various tonics in three distinct areas, physical, combat, and engineering, and these act like talents in RPGs, and all the various plasmids and tonics and weapon upgrades give this game a sorta water cooler effect, in that, you'll really want to discuss with others various methods used within' the game.
Overall, Bioshock is just an astounding piece of gaming. Anyone interested in any one of the many features within the game should do well to, nay, do themselves a FAVOR, and check this one out. It really can't be missed.
The story really starts out somewhat simply. It's 1960, you're the sole survivor of a plane crash over the Atlantic Ocean, and you find yourself in view of a mysterious lighthouse. Upon entering it, you find a giant gold bust of a man named Andrew Ryan with the words "No Gods or Kings, only man" adorned upon a red banner across the front of said bust. You eventually find yourself in a bathysphere taking you down to Ryan's life labor, the underwater city of Rapture, a haven for "artists" and other oppressed individuals during the time of the Cold War, where they weren't tethered by the government, by God, or by their own morals. You'll soon see that this way of thinking didn't necessarily result in utopia, as now, due to the radical "splicing" of the human genetic code in an attempt to harness amazing powers within' normal people, most of the citizens have become crazed monsters. Huge goliaths walk the halls guarding little girls, who cheerfully walk skip around the corpses, using giant syringes to extract genetic material from the dead. A voice comes over the radio, a man named Atlas, who claims to need your help to escape his own entrapment in Rapture. Another voice tells you he is Andrew Ryan, and his own paranoid delusions seem to go against said wishes. And it's with these basic tools, the game begins.
Really, the story of Bioshock and the way it's presented is really the star of the show. Part of the presentation is, obviously, the graphics, which are just gorgeous. Characters are hauntingly expressive and environments are fantastically rendered to make you actually believe that this was once a bustling 1940s city, complete with goofy vending machines and campy advertising that'll make you smile between having the living crap scared outta you by many of the games amazing sequences. The sound... especially the some of the spectacular voice performances, is equally great in tying together the tragic and horrifying setting of Rapture and it's many levels.
Gameplay isn't ignored either. You'll get a decent arsenal of traditional weapons to use, and though these might not pack as much punch as you'd expect and you'll be frequently running out of ammo and other resources, all this seems to just serve as a tension builder throughout most of the game, and makes sure that you use a good mix of the upgradeable traditional weapons and the games staple... the plasmid system.
The game's RPG elements come into play with plasmids, various genetic mutations you can purchase and use ranging from directly damaging one like Electro Bolt, letting you shock your enemies with lightening, or indirect ones like Security Bullseye, which sets all security systems on a target you mark. There are also various tonics in three distinct areas, physical, combat, and engineering, and these act like talents in RPGs, and all the various plasmids and tonics and weapon upgrades give this game a sorta water cooler effect, in that, you'll really want to discuss with others various methods used within' the game.
Overall, Bioshock is just an astounding piece of gaming. Anyone interested in any one of the many features within the game should do well to, nay, do themselves a FAVOR, and check this one out. It really can't be missed.
