Bioshock is a fresh, orginal game that is sure to join the ranks of HL:2, F.E.A.R, and others in the FPS genre.
To start the game takes place in 1960 in a city known as Rapture that is completely underwater. Much like a futuristic Atlantis. It was created by one man whose dream was a peaceful and equal society. Now you come into this via a plane crash in which you are the lone survivor. Your stranded next to this light house and upon entering it you find a sphere that sucks you down to this great city. But not all is right in the empire of Rapture, hideous mutants roam the streets, the city is crumbling, life is nowhere to be found. Turns out you might have been better off stranded.
The story in this game is certianly one of its high points. As you play the story will unfold and you will learn about Raptures past and how this once great city ended up this way. And along your journey you will encounter many twists and suprises and disturbing events, along with interesting characters, that overall keep you completely immersed. If BioShock were a movie, it would certainly be a psychological thriller.
In terms of gameplay, BioShock is your typical FPS with your typical weapons. You have your melee weapon, your underpowered pistol, machine gun, shotgun, grenade launcher, and so on. And you also have your different ammo types such as anti-personnel and rockets. Sounds boring right? Wrong. Let me introduce you to the wonders of plasmids! As you traverse the city of Rapture you will come across locations where you can purchase or find plasmids which are basically very interesting power ups. These "power ups" genetically modify your character that can include anything from increasing you melee swing time, to discharging electric bolts, to increase your health and magic which is known as eve. The catch is, you can only have 3 active at any time, however plasmids your not using are stored for when you need them. At first you only have two slots for you plasmids but as you play the game you will come across something known as Adam which is basically the source of your abilities and also allows you to upgrade, obtain new slots, and obtain new abilities. I wont go into great detail so as to not spoil anything, but you need Adam to survive and you must overcome enemies to obtain it.
BioShock is fairly linear in terms of gameplay. The levels are somewhat big but get old quickly as they all seem to look the same. Unfortunately many FPS games are suffering from that these days. Also there are moments where you are given tedious objectives where your have to roam around looking for things. This tends to get quite boring and annoying, however it doesnt happen alot, and if you get through it you'll find the story picks back up and grabs your attention once more.
Now, BioShock was certainly hyped up by its graphics, and in my opinion it does not disappoint. Now at this point im sure you've heard about how amazing the water looks. Well, thats because it does look amazing. No game to date has come close to making water look this good, its incredible life like and makes you want to touch the screen to see if its real. The city scape looks incredible as well as the characters and overall effects. The best part is you don't need a NASA super computer to enjoy it, as long as you have a roughly up to date computer you will have a wonderful visual experience. Even on low settings this game shines.
The sound in this game is not something that should be overlooked. Froms the soundtrack, to sound effects, to voice acting. All is done very well and seriously contributes to the outstanding gameplay. You'll wish other games put this much attention and effort into there sound development.
Overall BioShock is a great experience. It offers outstanding gameplay, story, graphics and sound. This is one game you shouldnt pass up, and as many games today are compare to games the like of HL:2 and Doom 3. Future games will surely be compared to BioShock!