Welcome to Rapture, my friends. The city that is mysteriously underwater and holds plenty of secrets came to life on our Xbox 360 systems, offering to us a beautiful world to explore. What was once viewed as a hold over game until Halo 3 was released was soon more than just that. The storyline, puzzles, and Big Daddies, all would soon terrorize and excite you, all in one fell swoop. Once Rapture has you in its grips, it's difficult to get out....
Gameplay
The game starts you off in the middle of the ocean in the wreckage of a plane crash. With the way the flames and debris are laid out, your only option is to swim to a nearby island with a lighthouse on it. Safety is important, yes, but you soon find out that the lighthouse is a little more than what it seems. Inside of the lighthouse, you end up taking a submersible pod down into the water....way down. As you continue to go further into the depths, you realize that you are on your way to an underwater city, complete with old-style buildings, cheesy advertisements, and indoor areas that are completely sealed off from the watery depths.
Your character is a little scared, needless to say. However, no sooner do you start to make your way out of the pod, you are contacted via radio by a man named Atlas. He is apparently stranded inside the city, cut off from his family. The initial goal is to figure out where his family is and to meet up with them, as well as him. You quickly learn that the going is not going to be easy, running into enemies that seem to look like some type of zombie. Conventional weapons aren't going to work very well. You're going to need something different....something stronger.
Queue up the wonderful world of Plasmids. They are your golden goose, Lord and Savior, whatever you want to call them. These Plasmids give you special powers and boosters. For instance, you start off with the ability to electrocute your enemies, giving you the chance to paralyze them and shoot them with your weaponry. However, the trick to using Plasmids is that you have to continually use what are known as Evo Kits. These bright blue canisters are somewhat tough to come by, depending on the area you are in. When you need a boost, you have to inject yourself with this liquid that looks like it's radioactive. The reaction your body has makes me believe that it is, in fact, just that dangerous.
The further you progress in the game, the more Plasmids you will have at your disposal. You will encounter more powers that do various things, such as incinerating your enemies with fire, freezing them and then making them shatter, or even causing a rift in your enemies by getting them to attack each other. The possibilities are virtually endless with what you can do with Plasmids, although you are only limited to six powers at one time. Even being all-powerful has its limitations.
Speaking of which, Plasmids aren't your primary way of killing your enemies. You will have an array of old school weaponry, which adds to the general time era that this city falls into. Pistols, machine guns, and shotguns, are all included in what you will use in order to take it to your bad guys. The weapons you find will eventually need to be upgraded in order to progress easier through the game, and those upgrades aren't exactly easy to come by, nor is the ammunition that you find along the way. The game makes you conserve what you have a lot more than other games do, and this is where the challenge comes into play.
Escaping the depths
The primary target, once you start listening to Atlas, is a man by the name of Andrew Ryan, who is the creator of the city of Rapture. You will learn secrets along the way about certain inhabitants of the city, mainly people that work under Ryan. You will find a rather crazed plastic surgeon who apparently went mad because he couldn't create the perfect person. You will also find an ex-Nazi scientist who is now having second thoughts about helping out another madman and wants to atone for her mistakes. All in all, the people in this city are pretty much insane. You can understand very quickly why Atlas wants to get him and his family out.
As you roam the city, you will come across a vast array of enemies. These bad guys are mainly known as Splicers. Splicers will come in all different shapes, sizes, and forms. Your basic splicers will charge you with wrenches, while your upgraded forms will have their own type of weaponry. At least they drop their ammo when you take them down. Searching every last nook and cranny will become vital to your survival in the city. You must keep yourself stocked up on all of your ammo and Plasmid fuel, or else you'll soon find yourself stuck in an area with no true way of shooting your way out of.
The splicers would be bad enough, but you have to throw in a little twist here and there. Enter the cover boy of the game, Big Daddy. These hulking monsters are not exactly the most pleasant monsters to deal with. They protect the Little Sisters, a group of children that seemingly run around mindlessly, saying random things to their protectors. At first, you wonder why this is happening. Eventually, you find out that these mechanical nightmares are protecting them because they have what is known as ADAM inside of them, which is the growth inside of them that will allow you to build up your Plasmid collection, among other things like physical strength and puzzle cracking ability. Big Daddies are not easy to take down. They are, however, completely optional to fight. They will not attack you unless you make a move towards them first....or attempt to get the little sister they are protecting.
You will find that taking them down efficiently is far harder than it looks. They have a lot of health and a lot of firepower. If you can find decent ways to take them down quickly, it's well worth it. They usually carry plenty of money on them, and you get the chance to get some ADAM. The twist to the little sisters is also fun. You will have the choice of either harvesting the little girls or saving them. If you save them, you pick up the child and pull the ADAM out of her without killing her. You get less ADAM for this, but it leads to other bonuses. A woman who is the head of the little sisters will eventually show gratitude for this and leave presents for you, which include a wonderful amount of ADAM and money. However, you can also decide to harvest the ADAM, which shows no regard for your actions because you kill the child in the process. You take the girl off the screen and, well, a series of rather gruesome sounds follow. This option will give you a lot more ADAM than saving the child, so you have to decide what to do each time.
One little twist that 2K Games added to this game was the ability to hack into just about anything in order to help you along the way. Vending machines will give you things to spend your hard earned money on, but you can improve your bank account by hacking these machines with a puzzle that forces you to play an old style version of "Pipes." You'll understand easy enough what you have to do in order to hack these machines successfully. Not only can you hack these, but you can also hack health stations, security drones, and cameras, all of which then aid you in your battle against the enemies of Rapture.
The beautiful city
The city of Rapture, needless to say, is absolutely stunning. The graphics are very clean and detailed, while your enemies look extremely lifelike. It's very easy to get lost in all the beauty that is this underground nightmare of a city. Even though the game is rather streamlined and not the longest game (You can probably rip through this game in about 20 hours), you will take the extra time to explore everything, as well as backtrack to certain areas that you feel you may have missed. You won't care if you are in one area for a lot longer than others, due to all of the different settings you will encounter.
While the world of Rapture is a wonderful adventure for those exploring it, there was some disappointment shown by the industry as a whole that the game is only single player. However, arguments have been made back and forth about whether or not this game should even have that. I'm on the side that says this should remain a one player game. Adventure style games like this, which mainly follow the old Resident Evil-style motif, need to stay that way. This game will scare the hell out of you, and that's what makes you come back. It's one of those games that is meant to be played in the dark, with all the lights out, the blinds down, and you sitting in the room by yourself. Do yourself a favor and play this game at midnight. You will enjoy it that much more, especially the first time a splicer jumps out at you and hits you with a wrench.
Final Thoughts
It's extremely difficult to find anything negative to say about this game. Really, the only negative I come up with is how linear the game is. While you can go back and explore certain areas, the game keeps you rolling in one forward line, usually having areas blocked out that you must unlock by defeating a boss in each area. This style is tried and tested, which is why I'm not so upset at the straight-forwardness of the game. No multiplayer seems to be a negative for some, but I don't think it is.
The game is absolutely amazing. Stunning graphics, a very intuitive battle system, difficult enemies, and a storyline that will make you want to finish the game just to figure out who Atlas is, why is Andrew Ryan so evil, and what is going on in this underground madhouse. All of these questions are answered as you progress through the game. You will love hearing the random things that splicers talk about. You'll laugh at the cheesy advertisements that come along with each Plasmid you pick up. You'll also take pleasure in how fast you manage to take down each Big Daddy.
The bottom line is this: Bioshock is a legitimate GOTY candidate on any platform. 2K Games really outdid themselves with this masterpiece. Anyone who is a fan of the adventure/shooter style games will definitely enjoy this. I know I did.
Scores/Ratings
Presentation
About as close to perfect as you get. The menu system is very easy to navigate through, the storyline grips you, and all of the extra things will keep you locked in. The graphics are nothing short of spectacular.
Score: 9.8/10
Gameplay
A wonderful storyline, a battle system that will force you to really think about what to upgrade, difficult enemies, and questions that need to be answered will all keep you coming back to Rapture. It's very difficult to find a game that has better gameplay in recent memory. With that being said, the gameplay in Bioshock earns my first perfect score on XBA.
Score: 10/10
Features
Plasmids, weaponry, puzzles that will help make the game easier. The game is a challenge, plain and simple, and you will get that wonderful feeling of accomplishment once you defeat it.
Score: 9.5/10
Final Score: 9.7/10
Gameplay
The game starts you off in the middle of the ocean in the wreckage of a plane crash. With the way the flames and debris are laid out, your only option is to swim to a nearby island with a lighthouse on it. Safety is important, yes, but you soon find out that the lighthouse is a little more than what it seems. Inside of the lighthouse, you end up taking a submersible pod down into the water....way down. As you continue to go further into the depths, you realize that you are on your way to an underwater city, complete with old-style buildings, cheesy advertisements, and indoor areas that are completely sealed off from the watery depths.
Your character is a little scared, needless to say. However, no sooner do you start to make your way out of the pod, you are contacted via radio by a man named Atlas. He is apparently stranded inside the city, cut off from his family. The initial goal is to figure out where his family is and to meet up with them, as well as him. You quickly learn that the going is not going to be easy, running into enemies that seem to look like some type of zombie. Conventional weapons aren't going to work very well. You're going to need something different....something stronger.
Queue up the wonderful world of Plasmids. They are your golden goose, Lord and Savior, whatever you want to call them. These Plasmids give you special powers and boosters. For instance, you start off with the ability to electrocute your enemies, giving you the chance to paralyze them and shoot them with your weaponry. However, the trick to using Plasmids is that you have to continually use what are known as Evo Kits. These bright blue canisters are somewhat tough to come by, depending on the area you are in. When you need a boost, you have to inject yourself with this liquid that looks like it's radioactive. The reaction your body has makes me believe that it is, in fact, just that dangerous.
The further you progress in the game, the more Plasmids you will have at your disposal. You will encounter more powers that do various things, such as incinerating your enemies with fire, freezing them and then making them shatter, or even causing a rift in your enemies by getting them to attack each other. The possibilities are virtually endless with what you can do with Plasmids, although you are only limited to six powers at one time. Even being all-powerful has its limitations.
Speaking of which, Plasmids aren't your primary way of killing your enemies. You will have an array of old school weaponry, which adds to the general time era that this city falls into. Pistols, machine guns, and shotguns, are all included in what you will use in order to take it to your bad guys. The weapons you find will eventually need to be upgraded in order to progress easier through the game, and those upgrades aren't exactly easy to come by, nor is the ammunition that you find along the way. The game makes you conserve what you have a lot more than other games do, and this is where the challenge comes into play.
Escaping the depths
The primary target, once you start listening to Atlas, is a man by the name of Andrew Ryan, who is the creator of the city of Rapture. You will learn secrets along the way about certain inhabitants of the city, mainly people that work under Ryan. You will find a rather crazed plastic surgeon who apparently went mad because he couldn't create the perfect person. You will also find an ex-Nazi scientist who is now having second thoughts about helping out another madman and wants to atone for her mistakes. All in all, the people in this city are pretty much insane. You can understand very quickly why Atlas wants to get him and his family out.
As you roam the city, you will come across a vast array of enemies. These bad guys are mainly known as Splicers. Splicers will come in all different shapes, sizes, and forms. Your basic splicers will charge you with wrenches, while your upgraded forms will have their own type of weaponry. At least they drop their ammo when you take them down. Searching every last nook and cranny will become vital to your survival in the city. You must keep yourself stocked up on all of your ammo and Plasmid fuel, or else you'll soon find yourself stuck in an area with no true way of shooting your way out of.
The splicers would be bad enough, but you have to throw in a little twist here and there. Enter the cover boy of the game, Big Daddy. These hulking monsters are not exactly the most pleasant monsters to deal with. They protect the Little Sisters, a group of children that seemingly run around mindlessly, saying random things to their protectors. At first, you wonder why this is happening. Eventually, you find out that these mechanical nightmares are protecting them because they have what is known as ADAM inside of them, which is the growth inside of them that will allow you to build up your Plasmid collection, among other things like physical strength and puzzle cracking ability. Big Daddies are not easy to take down. They are, however, completely optional to fight. They will not attack you unless you make a move towards them first....or attempt to get the little sister they are protecting.
You will find that taking them down efficiently is far harder than it looks. They have a lot of health and a lot of firepower. If you can find decent ways to take them down quickly, it's well worth it. They usually carry plenty of money on them, and you get the chance to get some ADAM. The twist to the little sisters is also fun. You will have the choice of either harvesting the little girls or saving them. If you save them, you pick up the child and pull the ADAM out of her without killing her. You get less ADAM for this, but it leads to other bonuses. A woman who is the head of the little sisters will eventually show gratitude for this and leave presents for you, which include a wonderful amount of ADAM and money. However, you can also decide to harvest the ADAM, which shows no regard for your actions because you kill the child in the process. You take the girl off the screen and, well, a series of rather gruesome sounds follow. This option will give you a lot more ADAM than saving the child, so you have to decide what to do each time.
One little twist that 2K Games added to this game was the ability to hack into just about anything in order to help you along the way. Vending machines will give you things to spend your hard earned money on, but you can improve your bank account by hacking these machines with a puzzle that forces you to play an old style version of "Pipes." You'll understand easy enough what you have to do in order to hack these machines successfully. Not only can you hack these, but you can also hack health stations, security drones, and cameras, all of which then aid you in your battle against the enemies of Rapture.
The beautiful city
The city of Rapture, needless to say, is absolutely stunning. The graphics are very clean and detailed, while your enemies look extremely lifelike. It's very easy to get lost in all the beauty that is this underground nightmare of a city. Even though the game is rather streamlined and not the longest game (You can probably rip through this game in about 20 hours), you will take the extra time to explore everything, as well as backtrack to certain areas that you feel you may have missed. You won't care if you are in one area for a lot longer than others, due to all of the different settings you will encounter.
While the world of Rapture is a wonderful adventure for those exploring it, there was some disappointment shown by the industry as a whole that the game is only single player. However, arguments have been made back and forth about whether or not this game should even have that. I'm on the side that says this should remain a one player game. Adventure style games like this, which mainly follow the old Resident Evil-style motif, need to stay that way. This game will scare the hell out of you, and that's what makes you come back. It's one of those games that is meant to be played in the dark, with all the lights out, the blinds down, and you sitting in the room by yourself. Do yourself a favor and play this game at midnight. You will enjoy it that much more, especially the first time a splicer jumps out at you and hits you with a wrench.
Final Thoughts
It's extremely difficult to find anything negative to say about this game. Really, the only negative I come up with is how linear the game is. While you can go back and explore certain areas, the game keeps you rolling in one forward line, usually having areas blocked out that you must unlock by defeating a boss in each area. This style is tried and tested, which is why I'm not so upset at the straight-forwardness of the game. No multiplayer seems to be a negative for some, but I don't think it is.
The game is absolutely amazing. Stunning graphics, a very intuitive battle system, difficult enemies, and a storyline that will make you want to finish the game just to figure out who Atlas is, why is Andrew Ryan so evil, and what is going on in this underground madhouse. All of these questions are answered as you progress through the game. You will love hearing the random things that splicers talk about. You'll laugh at the cheesy advertisements that come along with each Plasmid you pick up. You'll also take pleasure in how fast you manage to take down each Big Daddy.
The bottom line is this: Bioshock is a legitimate GOTY candidate on any platform. 2K Games really outdid themselves with this masterpiece. Anyone who is a fan of the adventure/shooter style games will definitely enjoy this. I know I did.
Scores/Ratings
Presentation
About as close to perfect as you get. The menu system is very easy to navigate through, the storyline grips you, and all of the extra things will keep you locked in. The graphics are nothing short of spectacular.
Score: 9.8/10
Gameplay
A wonderful storyline, a battle system that will force you to really think about what to upgrade, difficult enemies, and questions that need to be answered will all keep you coming back to Rapture. It's very difficult to find a game that has better gameplay in recent memory. With that being said, the gameplay in Bioshock earns my first perfect score on XBA.
Score: 10/10
Features
Plasmids, weaponry, puzzles that will help make the game easier. The game is a challenge, plain and simple, and you will get that wonderful feeling of accomplishment once you defeat it.
Score: 9.5/10
Final Score: 9.7/10
