So good it's shocking: Bioshock
Matthew Tyson
Issue date: 8/30/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
|
The game begins with a plane crash that sends our protagonist into the ocean. There is only one place to go to survive, and that is the beautiful underwater city of Rapture. Thus begins your journey to escape and put an end to the evil ways of the cities creator Andrew Ryan. Bioshock has a story that has many twists and turns, and therefore I do not wish to say anything beyond this. You simply must experience it for yourself.
Bioshock is a shooter at heart, but it's almost unfair to classify it as such. You will have plenty of weapons at your disposal, including the standard shotguns, machine guns and grenade launchers you come to expect these days. Weapon upgrade stations can be found at different parts of the game which will allow you to upgrade different aspects of each weapon. Every gun has three different types of ammo that you can collect or make.
Plasmids are the key combat addition that set Bioshock apart from the standard FPS. These genetic altering power-ups allow you to engulf foes in a blaze, electrocute baddies standing in a pool of water and even freeze an enemy for some wrench-shattering fun. Plasmids provide an alternate way to tackle enemies which is a breath of fresh air for a game of this nature. The list of plasmids increase as you progress through the game, and upgrades for old plasmids will also become available to the player on certain levels. Using a plasmid in the right way will give you the edge needed to escape Rapture in one piece.
Another collectible and helpful item is tonics. There are over 50 different tonics in the game, and each one will give the player an advantage in a certain aspect. Combat tonics will strengthen certain weapons such as adding damage and wielding speed to the wrench. Physical tonics can add benefits such as making it easier to evade the security cameras that can be found all over the city. Engineering tonics will help improve your hacking skill in many ways.
Hacking is a very useful tool in eliminating the many turret guns and security bots you will encounter, as well as vending and U-invent machines. When you choose to hack a machine, a menu pops up with many uncovered blocks. Under each block is a piece of pipe that must be used to create a stream of current from a starting point to an ending point with no interruption. The hacking mini-game is quite fun, but can get quite old once you have done it a hundred times.
Splicers are the enemy that you will encounter most during the game. These genetically altered humans have gone crazy and will do anything to make your stay in Rapture a short one. There are several variations of splicers and each provides a scary look into just how crazy life is in Ryan's city.
In each level there are Little Sisters running about extracting ADAM from the corpses of the fallen. These tiny tots are exactly as the name implies, except they are evil. Each Little Sister is guarded by a Big Daddy, a huge metal beast with a drill for an arm. You will be forced to do battle with these Big Daddies in order to save or kill the Little Sister. These battles can be fierce. Later in the game, the Big Daddy battles become easier, but can still pose a challenge at any level. When the Big Daddy is fallen you are given the choice to either harvest the Little Sister for her ADAM or let her free.
Bioshock is an absolute gorgeous game, and is definitely one of the prettiest Xbox 360 games available. Rapture has been created with extreme detail, and really adds to the overall experience. Each level has been crafted differently, giving it a style of its own that keeps the game fresh and exciting from start to finish. The detail on the Big Daddy characters is especially jaw dropping.
The sound in Bioshock is probably it's biggest strength. The sounds of Rapture help set the dark mood that will put chills down your spine while playing. Audio diaries can be collected in each level that help paint the picture of what the city was like in the past. These diaries help the already amazing story flow even better.
There are a few problems with the game, but nothing major. The difficulty is a little on the easy side, even on the hard difficulty setting. Ammo, health packs and money are common in every level. Death results in a respawn at the closest Vita-Chamber. The problem with these is that current ammo and enemy health bars remain the same as when you died, so no penalty is given for dying. It would have been better for the game's difficultly if it was on the standard checkpoint system.
The game will take around 18 hours to complete the first time through depending on how much exploring you do. It is definitely a title that you will want to play through more than once, as there are many ways to tackle each of the games levels.
Bioshock is a game that simply cannot be recommended enough. Everything about the game screams quality, and you can tell that the development time was used to create one of the most amazing experiences on Xbox 360 to date. Irrational Games (now 2k Boston) has done a great job of blurring the line between technology and art. Bioshock is a wonderful achievement in gaming that must be experienced.
A+
Chris Pittman is the Web Editor of The Chanticleer. He can be reached at (256) 782-4704 or at chantyweb@gmail.com.
Be the first to comment on this story