Wow! You're going to be saying that a lot with Bioshock. As I'm sure most of you have already figured, Bioshock is a tour de force that combines gameplay, storyline, and good old fashioned FPS action to create one of the most unforgettable titles in both recent console and PC history. Not since Half-Life 2 has the world seen such a masterful display of art and game. This is BioShock.
You start off your adventures in Rapture as a nameless hero who has just crashed landed in the middle of the ocean. Your only refuge is a large gothic structure that seems to rise up out of the waves just around your planes wreckage. As any good gamer knows, your only option is to swim to the structure and begin the process of investigation; and in Rapture, there is a lot to investigate.
The Look of Rapture
There are two things you will notice about your new under water home as soon as you begin the game. First, the city is gorgeous. Irrational (2K Boston and 2K Australia) did an impressive job with how Rapture combines Art Deco, gothic, and horror elements to create a scary environment where you can’t seem look away. Everything from the water to the marble tiles has a rich polygon count that helps to set Bioshock ahead of more recent Xbox 360 titles. Even more so, the bad guys of Rapture contain fluid animations, detailed models, and unique art direction. A “Big Daddy” is truly something to whiteness and I found myself sometimes just staring at them before inevitably trying to take one down.
The next thing you will notice is the size of Rapture. It’s Huge. While the game does a fantastic job at steering you in the right direction via arrows and a well made map system, exploring Rapture is half of the fun of playing it. Going off the beaten path can often net you new rewards that help enrich your gaming experience along with creating an even more formidable hero. Half of my entire BioShock experience was spent trying to uncover new items in hidden locations that helped to “buff” my hero’s overall power in the game. The key is to make sure you search every crack of Rapture because you might just uncover something that could make your stay in the underwater city that much easier.
The Story Line
There is only one thing that could be larger then the actual city of Rapture and that is the story line itself. At its core, BioShock pits an unsuspecting hero against the once great Utopian leader, Andrew Ryan. Ryan’s central belief is that all human beings have the right to work and live for the benefit of themselves above anyone else (based of Ayn Rand). While this seems to have worked for a while in Rapture, you arrive at the very end of the city’s life span. Advancements in genetics have allowed citizen to splice their DNA to allow them new abilities to “better” themselves. Unfortunately, many of these abilities have come at the cost of mental sanity and now the inmates are running the asylum. Without spoiling too much of the story, let’s just say that this core plot is expanded upon constantly throughout the games progress.
Speaking of plot, you have to ask yourself, why would you play a game that has no multi player aspect to it? If there are no people to interact with, what does a single player game need to keep you interested throughout? Bioshock answers this question time and again in two words, Character Development. As you play through, you are constantly given new information about both the history of Rapture and its current state of distress. The history is uncovered by picking up old tape recorded messages left around the city while current info is sent via short wave radio communications with the various characters in the game. The best part about this type of plot delivery is that it all happens while the game moves forward. There is no stopping and waiting for cut scenes. Instead you continue on your given path while listening to the latest intel, history, or plot development. Why break the flow of action when you can be whoop’n on some splicers and getting a history lesson at the same time?
Because of this type of constant plot revision and stunning graphics, you will soon find yourself completely immersed in the world and characters of Ratpure. BioShock uses this immersion to its advantage by playing on themes of morality and right and wrong. Throughout the game you will find yourself having to make tough decisions on how you want to react to a certain situation. Take the Big Daddy for instance. Its soul purpose is to protect the “little sisters” in Rapture while they harvest ADAM from demised victims. If you don’t bother it, you can simply walk on by and let the pair go about their business. The problem is, since you need ADAM to survive your only recourse is to kill the Big Daddy. Does that make it wrong? This same theme is played out after a BD (bid daddy) dies and you have a choice to kill a little sister or save her for less ADAM. The choice is yours.
So What Is ADAM anyway?
Everything in Rapture revolves around the once plentiful ADAM. Now that the city is in decay, ADAM has been the commodity that every splicer, bid daddy, little sister, and hero needs to survive. With it, you are able to “purchase” new abilities, called Plasmids, for your character. This could be in the form of active abilities like shooting fire balls or more passive abilities like taking less damage or better hacking skills. With the hundreds of combination of plasmids you can literally custom create your character how you like. In my most recent session with the game I built my hero to be at the peak of combat skills. Near the end I could resist damage, speed boost with my wrench, and electrocute splicers every time they went to touch me. This of course is only the surface of combat as I don’t want to spoil it all for you.
Beyond just your Plasmids, are the weapons you receive in Rapture. Each one of then can be customize up to two times with add-ons that help the weapon perform better. Want more damage out of that shotgun? Upgrade it. How about less kickback from the machine gun? Upgrade it. Each weapon can be good or better for any given situation. It all depends on how you upgrade them or what you are looking to use them for.
I’m sure by now you have noticed a theme here. BioShock is totally customizable. This creates a game that is more RPG then FPS. For instance, you can use the city’s own defenses to your advantage by hacking, or just go in guns blazing. It’s all trial and error mixed with personal preference. Since this often creates death in Rapture, BioShock was nice enough to create a fantastic Save Anywhere system. You’ll spend a lot of time trying out new combos of Plasmids to see how they work on enemies and then reloading your last save point to try out new ones. Because of this, it is advisable that you SAVE OFTEN. There is nothing worse then buying a bunch of useless Plasmids only to find that your last save point is 3 maps ago. BioShock is more about testing and re-testing, especially on the hard setting.
More More More…
You can’t possibly explain every aspect of the game because it is simply that in depth. Doing so would also spoil much of the great discovery that BioShock has to offer. The great part about the world of Rapture is being in Rapture. The single player aspect means figuring out the world for yourself and so no review can truly do the game justice. So, in order to really understand BioShock you need to play BioShock. This is a game in which many games will and should be measured. It’s not another sequel, FPS, or RPG. Instead Irrational has created something totally new out of something familiar. Even if you’re not a fan of the game, it will be impossible to deny that BioShock is not just your average game. Finally a developer has stepped up to create something more then just a Halo 4 or GTA 9. Finally we have BioShock.
