BioShock is one of a kind expierience, only if you can comprehend it.
...I will disagree with the mainstream forever. Now, lets slander BioShock a little, shall we?
Our hero was just trippin` over the Atlantic, but then, BOOM, the plane goes down, the protagonist survives and has no choice but to swim to the nearest lighthouse, yes, a lighthouse in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. And then, guess what, he finds a bathysphere, which takes him Down Below - to a underwater city, yes, you heard it right, a bloody underwater city. A city built under water. With restaurants, theatres, brothels - everything a city needs. All of that under water. Then, a guy, Andrew Ryan, introduces us with Rapture - the place free of forced ideology, oppressive political and religious authority - in other words - a paradise for those who seek it. But something`s wrong. Reeealy wrong. For example, little girls with dangerously looking hypos followed by guys in heavy diving suits, crazy and violent British speaking, Clockwork Orange-esque freaks, who once were lawyers, housewives and janitors - they all share the same dream - rip you apart.
After picking up a heavy wrench and being guided via radio by possibly the only sane person here, Atlas, the protagonist ventures deep into the streets of Rapture, discovering what had happened here before everyone went crazy by reading audio diaries of former inhabitants and avoiding the deadly traps of now paranoid Andrew Ryan, who believes that our hero is an agent sent by government.
It sounds crazy, but believe me, the environment, atmosphere and whole plot is incredibly detailed, explained and overall superb. BioShock isn`t just blasting splicers - the inhabitants of Rapture - high up in the sky, it`s an universal satire about social - political philosophy related questions: viability of ulitarism ideas in post-WWII world, critique of communism and capitalism, society`s tendency of self-destruction and proof, that even the best ideals collapses under their own weight.
Of course, a casual gamer just wouldn`t care. It`s incredibly difficult to get all this by a single walkthrough, also it requires huge knowledge about philosophy and politics, everything, that an average gamer just doesn`t have. In fact, immersing in BioShock`s wold is hard. Heck, for the first half of the game I was hugely disappointed, but then I got the `click` and immediately fell in love with it.
The audio diaries I mentioned are not easy to get. They are mostly at places where their former owners could have left them, but collecting can be tiresome, yet essential for understanding the storyline. Once again, casual gamers woudn`t give a damn.
Now for the gameplay. It`s not all that simple - yep, usual arsenal - pistol, shotgun, machine gun, etc. - are in place, but we can upgrade them in special vending machines. Upgrades must be chosen carefully - once used, the terminal is closed forever. Interesting, that all the enhancements are visible on the weapon, even if they look silly. Each gun has 3 types of ammo. For usual guns is just normal, anti-personnel and armor piercing rounds, but flame thrower, for example, can put the enemy on fire or freeze it.
Ammo can be purchased in vending machines or made by yourself - if you find the right components of course. And it also happens through vendors. Or you can just buy all you need - cash exists here, just loot corpses and cabinets. Unfortunately, to keep the game balanced, our wallet`s size is very limited. Or you might as well just screw everything and hack the device to get stuff for lover prices and access some more exotic items. The hacking minigame is smart, fun and doesn`t get old.
Plasmids - the sauce of the game - are genetic material, what enhances human power in quite, well, unusual ways - from flame-throwing hand to hornet launching fist, from icy touch to telekinesis. So called `tonics` can be also installed in your body - they are passive skills, that help you when you don`t even know it, like reducing hacking difficulty, finding better loot or simply making you better at killing/defending yourself. Plasmids and tonics can also be upgraded, but there are limited amount of slots - so choose carefully.
To buy Plasmids (yep, from vendors again -ain`t those some remarkable machines?) we need ADAM - genetic material which helps the user to get new skills or upgrade the existing ones. Using your Plasmid or some of the tonics, your EVE - local mana - runs short, so look out for EVE hypos or alcohol. In fact, eating some snacks for your health can lower your EVE status.
So, how do we get the ADAM? Y`know it isn`t just something that can be found in the middle of the street. ADAM causes addiction (but not for our hero), so everyone wants it. Everyone needs it. And guess what, the ones who have it and can extract it from corpses, are Little Sisters - small girls with serious protection - Big Daddies. Here the game introduces us with a moral choice - harvest them (respectively, get ADAM) or save them and hope they won`t forget your kindness. In both ways, Big Daddies must be killed first. Little Sisters are the thing that triggers the ending. BUT if you kill more than ONE Little Sis, you automatically get the EVIL ending. It really made me angry that by just harvesting about 4 of them I automatically wanted to nuke the entire humanity just because.
But how can you survive without ADAM? Simple. Save Little Sisters and they will give you generous `presents` - teddy bears wit ADAM and other goodies in it. So, kill or not to kill? Not to kill. Presents are a little too generous, so you can just be the Mr. Nice Guy all the way.
You must bt getting your pants wet by now, eh? I mean, all that combat variety an all. Sorry to disappoint you folks, but the combat system is way too fast paced an too chaotic to enjoy. That`s a true pity. Also, splicers aren`t too intelligent, same for Big Daddies. It doesn`t get in the way, but still creates a feeling of disappointment. So, formula `aim - shoot - reload` works in full swing. Sure, Plasmids vary the combat situations, but I expected something more innovative (superpowers aren`t really the most original thing in video games).
To straighten your chances of surviving, we can also photograph enemies to know their weaknesses (bullet types that work best) and improve the damage done against them. Unfortunately, the entire idea looks ridiculous - seriously, why would I do 15% more damage to a splicer just because I photographed 5 of them? And bullet types are logical, so no explanation isn`t really necessary.
I would like to bash the level design a little. No, artistically it`s extremely good, but the planning... I don`t believe that Rapture is a city at all! Rooms simply sticked to corridors create sense of disorganization and disbelief. The navigation is overall poor, using the map is a pain in the butt.
What I found most disappointing was the difficulty. Is so darn easy, that even a child could do it. First of all, the hero is immortal. Rapture is full of Vita - Chambers what magically saves you from death (but for some reason, no one else). After a bloody death, we`re back with half health and more fury to unleash.
Graphically, BioShock is superb. The potential of Unreal Engine 3 seems to have reached it`s limits. Everything is incredibly detailed, though sometimes animations are a little glitchy, some bugs here and there, interactivity is low. Engine requires a powerful PC to run and loading times are simply annoying. But overall, BioShock is a true next-gen looking game.
From ambient sounds to voice acting, everything is superb, creating, living, breathing world. Splicers remind of Kubrick`s Clockwork Orange, Ryan, Atlas and other characters are voiced simply awesome. Music really helps you get in the game as well as the sounds. So there really are no flaws here.
If you own a console, I recommend you to rent the game. After completing BioShock once, you might want to go for another round, but since there is no multiplayer, the box inevitably be placed to `completed games` stack. But it doesn`t matter. BioShock should be played by anyone, who likes deep, complex stories or is just missing intelligent and breathtaking games like Deus Ex.