Take a dive into this decaying review!
Bioshock's setting is deep under the Atlantic in the decaying city of Rapture, once great, where the wealthy and visionary would be happy and prosper. But something happened down the road, and now its an underwater hell, filled with insane citizens called Splicers. The game pretty much throws you into this city with nothing but your bare hands and your will to fight through this disturbing metropolis. The story and its devolopment is in your hands; you are left to discover bits of what happened to Rapture, your history, and pretty much anything else through the enviorment and audio recordings. The story is brilliant, filled with unexpected twists, morale decisions, and a fully fleshed out underwater utopia where you may discover how it all came to be on your own time.
To clear this up, Bioshock is a shooter. Its a shooter, but has lots of other elements thrown in, such as RPG and puzzle (yes, puzzle). Its extremely unique and unlike any FPS before it. The controls feel very good and everything is very responsive, unlike Fallout 3's clunky combat that you might assume would come with a shooter-RPG hybrid. The combat is extremely varied and gives you tons of ways to go about your objective; straight up shooting with a Thompson, sneaking around or hacking turrets to your aid, or using Plasmids. Plasmids are powers you can earn and upgrade throughout the game. One shoots out a bolt of lightning, another controls objects telepathically, and one even sends swarms of bees at your enemies. Plasmids definately can change the tides of battle; one situation has you armed with a pistol and wrench, only that, and Splicers are coming down a broken staircase into a rather large puddle of water. You could beat the crap out of them with the wrench or try and conserve ammo with all headshots, but this would prove rather difficult. Remember that puddle of water those Splicers are dropping into? Remember that electric plasmid you had? Now go on and do the math yourself. I'll give you the formula to help: e+w= dead Splicers. The only problem with gameplay is that you never really feel a brooding urge to scavenge for ammo or money, there is TONS. A bit more of a survival and conservative perspective (which was promised by 2K) would have been a little better.
There is another important tool in Rapture called Adam. Adam is constantly fought over by Splicers and yourself, as it is the driving force of survival and upgrades in Rapture. These demented little girls called Little Sisters carry it. There are three in each section of Rapture. So of course, why not just rush in and take the Adam? Big Daddy's. Huge, hulking, powerful monsters wearing scuba gear protect the Sisters. Its essentially this game's boss fight. You don't have to fight Big Daddy's of course, you coul just avoid them, but not if you want Adam. If you do end up defeating one of these hulking creatures, you are presented with a choice: The Little Sister has Adam, maybe you want the Adam. But that would have you kill a little girl, twisted she may be. Or, you could save them, change them into regular little girls, feel good, get no Adam. This ulitmately decides how the game ends, one good one bad.
Rapture is a beautiful place; the artists captured the 30s an 40s feel of this city and destroyed it, and it ends up being a feast for your eyes. Technically this game is outstanding, water effects in particular looks EXACTLY like real water. Everything else is gorgeous too. Artistically the game is better, and is stated how above. However, this isn't a pretty pony world; Rapture is broken, twisted, and disturbing, as well as down right scary sometimes. The city was obviously torn apart by madness, madness which you will have to take on yourself. The music is also great, with 50-ish sounding tunes that feel eerily out of place in this hell-hole (thats a good thing however).
In the end, Bioshock comes off as a beautiful experience you'll play again and again. Its something any gamer shouldn't miss, and its a perfect example of splicing (geddit?) up the shooter genre and telling a disturbing talke not worth missing.
9.7/10