Looks like Rapture has been Ruptured... Andrew Ryan - a genious with poor followers or a fool with no foresight?
The obvious thing is that makes Bioshock great is that it has one of the most immersive plots that any game has ever had. Rapture is epitomy of dystopia, and Andrew Ryan seems to be its face. im not going to spoil the storyline but i love the 'Big twist' that comes in that level with the strangly spelt name begining with 'H'. The storyline is so immersive in fact that you almost feel obliged to find a nice quiet corner just so you can listen to the various diary messages left around the world for you to find. Its more of a movie in the way that you respond to it than a game, which is good for those seeking to be intrigued but not so good for those not willing to think about what they are doing (this is certainly not one of those FPS's like Doom where the main objective is to empty a magazine of lead into a single enemy and repeat a million times until you either die or finish the game). as for the combat in Bioshock, the enemies possess satisfying AI capabilities but are not entirely organised in whatever they are doing (By which i mean you dont have to be tactical-minded to undo some sort of vast array of enemy communication network), instead, it focuses primarily on you trying to work out the best type of means to defeat each type of enemy that you will encounter, which, unfortunately, do not number more than 10 in variety.
On the harder settings, things really do get intense. the game does not let you die (You respawn), but if you play it on hard theres a 100 point achievement for you if you can stay alive the whole time. On hard, you really do have to know your surroundings before trying to fight the stronger enemies in the game, or else they will have your non-death record broken in a matter of seconds. The big daddies, which appear frequently throughout the game, are truly among the hardest FPS enemies that i have ever fought. The bouncers especially dont give any quarter to a player that they happen to corner. Defeating them really does give the player a sense of achievment, and it also gives the player a choice. games nowerdays seem to favour the whole morality choice issue, and few implement it quite so well as Bioshock does. Basically, you either kill a child and get stronger, or you let them live. The choices you make will influence the ending which occurs, as expected, as a pinnicle of the compelling storyline that you will have undoubtably grown to appreciate by then.
THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH CONTAINS A MINOR SPOILER...
One of the biggest promises Bioshock makes can be found in the achievemnet list. for a newcomer to this game, the achievement named "Become a big daddy" made me really want to become one, however, it was fairly dissapointing because it doesnt really heighten you powers, rather it seems only to narrow your scope in a part of the game where your peripheral vision is really important. i didnt get the point of it at all to be honest, even though the heavy footsteps and the moaning voice sound cool.
Bioshocks most innovative change to the FPS's gameplay is that it has effectively implemented "Spells" that would be at home in a fantasy world like Oblivion. These spells really do make Bioshock worth playing, as they open up an entire RPG element to it as you can customize and upgrade a character and the spells that they know how to use. these spells are called Plasmids, and are the driving force behind the dystopia that Rapture has degraded into.
Combining great gameplay, excellent storylines and compelling enemies more than makes up for the lack of variety in the enemy types... oh yeah... and the cheesy 1940's music that can be found somehow still playing through grammerphones despite the carnage that has befallen rapture.