My Holy Grail
For any who don't know, Bioshock is (technically) a FPS set in the underwater city of Rapture, a metropolis built by the notorious Andrew Ryan (Ayn Rand) who built the city in the hope of giving free thinkers a place to express and create (a utopia, if you will). Eventually, Adam gets thrown into the mix, a genetic substance that grants all sorts of mutations and powers, and then, things in Rapture "ain't so grand".
Bioshock is great for many reasons, but the most important is story, and directly tied to that, is the atmosphere. From the moment your plane crashes and you step into the sub, you feel a connection with the character. Like a horror master, the game pulls all the right strings, balancing suspense with horror, and also, wonder. Being in the city of Rapture is an adventure in itself, never mind the fact the city is swarming with desperate Splicers willing to carve you up for any drop of Adam. The game helps establish this connection by making the player the character. When playing, you are never addressed by name, rather, all of the NPC's address you with pronouns or not at all.
The game also distinguishes itself with excellent gameplay. Bioshock may punish you if you insist on running and gunning. The easiest and most effective way to fight is to use your environment. Indeed, there is rarely an occasion when some environmental factor won't play into your hand. Examples of this include electrifying water your enemies stand in, setting gas spills (and everyone touching them) on fire, catching grenades in mid air and chucking them back. I'm sure you've heard a few of these things if you've looked into the game at all, and trust me when I say that it never gets old.
Graphically, Bioshock is amazing. Detail abounds in every corner of this game, and the framerate is always silky smooth, no matter how much heat you find yourself in. Scripted events sprinkled throughout the gameplay add to the strange reality of this game, and the voice work is the most impressive I've seen anywhere.
The only qualm I have with this game is its user base. Nearly everyone I hear about completes the game doing the evil choice, getting the bad ending. When you play through the game and see what I'm talking about, hopefully you'll be surprised and confused too!
In conclusion, Bioshock is amazing. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. You owe it to yourself to play the game that everyone has been talking about. Get it done.