BioShock tells a wonderful story with intriguing characters, but lacks real strength in the gameplay department.
Allow me to explain. The story in this game is absolutely spectacular and the game does the job of bringing morality into gaming rather well, though a little off kilter (you get an achievement worth 100 points for saving the Little Sisters and nothing for harvesting them, thereby rewarding you for either action) and the characters in the story are not only fleshed out quite nicely but also usually feature deranged and intriguing personas that beg to be studied. However, in the aforely mentioned body of the game there are a few minor hang-ups. To be quite honest this game features one thing that no game in my opinion can have and truly be called next-gen: collecting missions. Several times you are tasked with collecting items (some as random as distilled water, or boots [found in a library no less[), leaving you to backtrack through the level and search for your junk. Another thing that disappointed me was the combat. While it wasn't outright broken, it wasn't especially exciting. It featured the same guns as many games (granted, with the addition of interesting ammunition types) and many plasmids (essentially magic) that one would consider obvious and predictable (fire, ice, electricity).
This game has also achieved one negative thing that I thought was not possible in a video game: the game feels too long, whereas the story feels too short. There could have easily been a second plot twist (though the major one in the story, as discussed below, was definitely amazing).
Alas I have mentioned only the negative aspects of this game (I have a habit of doing that; I apologize) and now let us explore the positives. As I've said, one of the major positives of the game is its amazing storyline and twisted characters. Each major person you meet has his own deranged and perverted psyche, each one more disturbingly intriguing than the last.
Another thing: the graphics. While the major graphics in the game are not particularly good, the water effects stand out as the best I've ever seen (and I watch for these things) and the character models are especially detailed. However, on the flipside of the same coin, The characters have odd death animations and strange ragdoll physics. The final and possibly most wonderful thing about BioShock is the world itself. The world is falling apart, just like the people in it, and not only does the game show where the world is dying, but it also tells you why in the form of specific audio diaries. Possibly the most wonderful thing about the world of Rapture is the fact that it is set in 1960, an era usually forgotten in video games and an era with its own music, art and architecture. This game is possibly worth picking up just for the wonderful art and such.
In conclusion, the amazing storyline of BioShock does manage to make up for the lackluster gameplay, but it is important to point out that through the entire game I would for a moment pause and wonder, "Is this what next-gen is supposed to be? Sure, that guy reacted relatively realistically. Sure, that water is fancy. But gameplay-wise and even story-wise (thought I'm not knocking the story, mind you) everything in this game but the Big Daddy/Little Sister concept has pretty much been done before."
In summation (though I pretty much said that at the beginning of the last paragraph) I hereby issue a complaint against the video game industry. We, as gamers, want, no demand not only more and faster, but chiefly better games. As a very final thought, BioShock is a wonderful experience that anyone with an XBOX 360 should at least try, so pick it up, would you kindly?