Somewhere beyond the sea...
First things first this game looks lovely but of course it looks lovely it's a next-gen game, the thing that impresses me about is the art style. This is the one game (along with Mario Galaxy) that you would use to back up the games as art argument. The design team have perfectly captured the 1940's art deco style and it really does make you feel immersed in the experience.
So onwards to the story and this is by far one of the best video game stories ever. You play as an un-named character who has just survived a plane crash and you swim over to a lighthouse which eventually takes you to the underwater city of Rapture which was created by Multi-Billionaire Andrew Ryan, who obviously had too much time and money on his hands. Anyway you make radio contact with the mysterious Atlas who tells you that the citizens went mad over Plasmids, which are genetic modifying boosters (which just scream the Drugs are Bad message……which they are of course kids) and now they are going to kill you because they can essentially. As the story unfolds more twists and turns occur and the voice acting is so brilliant that you can't help but feel immersed.
Right onto the gameplay and to be honest at it's heart Bioshock is just a generic shooter but there are a few things to spice it up a bit. Firstly the Plasmids you can utilize these to fire flames, ice, electricity and even Bee's (which may be the coolest video game weapon ever) but to be honest while they are useful you will find yourself going back to your guns as they just aren't powerful enough to do major damage. You also have a wrench which is ridiculously over-powered to the point where you could go through the whole game with it. Then there are the Tonics which give you special abilities such as increasing the damage your wrench does (like it needs it), reducing the amount of damage you can take and making it easier to hack things. It does add an element of RPG to the game trying to find the right combinations but your given so many slots to store them in that it detracts from it. To be fair though it all works very well and I never found myself blaming the controls for my incompetence.
One of the aspects that doesn't work so well is the Hacking element, this is used to make Turrets, Security Cameras and Vending Machines work for you (I didn't know a Turret could distinguish between friend and foe but still we'll roll with it) and this takes place in the form of a plumbing mini-game where you have to get tubes from one end to the other before the water catches up to you. To be frank it is tediously boring and ridiculously easy, plus they make you do it so much you begin to hate it more than Hitler (replace with your own chosen dictator upon your own personal taste) By the end of the game I just paid the damned things to side with me (which again raises the question how can a Turret be bought?)
One of the things the developers kept going on about was the moral aspect of the game. Where you got the choice to harvest(Kill) or Rescue the 'Little Sisters' who are the carriers of ADAM which you buy Plasmids and Tonics with. Depending on which you choose the game gives you the good ending or the bad ending and there is a huge contrast between the two (with one making you seem like Jesus and the other making you a total Bastard) but since it is own only about 30 seconds of footage it's not worth playing through the game again, my advice just Youtube it.
One of the bigger problems with this game though is that it is a bit too easy as every time you die you re-spawn in a vita chamber with all your health back for no penalty and this wouldn't be a problem but the enemies keep the same amount of damage making the game a bit too much of a Run and Gun affair for my liking. Basically this means that even the totally awesome Big Daddies (protectors of the Little Sisters) are easy to kill. Plus the game gives you so much money, health and ammo that it seems the developers didn't want to make the game difficult at all.
There is no Multi-Player at all in this game and that seems like a bit of a missed opportunity as you could have had 1 Big Daddy against 3 Humans to get the Little Sister, this should defiantly be included in Bioshock 2. Without Multi-Player there is very little to keep you playing after you finish, there are Audio Diaries and Tonics to collect but that is a little boring. There are some pretty easy achievements if you're a Gamerscore Whore but nothing else really.
For you PS3 owners this should be the game you are looking out for and not the cavalcade of mediocrity that will be Resistance 2.
So overall though I might have sounded negative in this review but this really is a great game. So if you want a fantastically designed, gorgeous, atmospheric game with a brilliant story and gameplay to match then this is the game for you and if you don't well bugger off back to Halo 3 you twit.
Pros
+ Great Story which truly immerses you
+ Gorgeous Graphics and Art Style
+ Good Gameplay with some clever touches.
+ Perfect Voice Acting that adds to an already Atmospheric game
Cons
- Hacking is annoying and Boring
- Too easy
- Can be a bit Generic
- No Multi-Player
Overall
9/10