Bioshock Collector's Edition - Initial Impression
The game itself? Simply incredible. The world is totally immersive. The architecture, lighting, and ambient sounds of distant music and cries of anguish help flesh out this fantasy world. It seems like a real place, a place in which people actually lived. It is a refreshing change of pace to the endless warehouses and corridors of many FPSs. This game has a lot of character, prodding the player to explore every nook and cranny.
The gameplay itself is a refreshing change of pace from most FPSs. It is easy to switch between conventional weapons and plasmid powers quickly, encouraging the player to use them in tandem to defeat enemies. The variety of powers make it fun to attempt different strategies.
The hacking minigame is a lot of fun, too. It's a puzzle game in which the player must connect one end to another by replacing tiles with different pipe shapes. It's fun just trying to hack the different machines, but failure can result in lost health.
The difficulty is probably too easy. The enemies are predictable and the only times I was challenged was when I was confronted by multiple enemies.
Though I have only played the game a couple of hours, it shows great promise. It seems as though I have just started to tap the potential of the game. I have not yet finished the first level, taking my time to explore all rooms to see what the developers have created. All of the game's elements come together to create an interesting world, telling a fascinating story that is a joy to explore.