Bioshock

Bioshock has been one of the most anticipated games ever to be released, it managed to get one million demo downloads faster than any other game. Once released, Bioshock still managed to rack up the awards as it was nominated for the most awards at the Interactive Achievement Awards (game) with no less than twelve nominations and managed to win four of them.

With people being unable to wait for Bioshock, the amazing awards and reviews that it has achieved, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, so I went out and bought a copy and here are my thoughts.

The game does not need ground breaking hardware to be run on PC and the PS3 version does not use the consoles full potential, but even so the graphics that the game manages to achieve are hard to match. The game gives stunning graphics of everything and its water graphics are better than they are on any other game, this was proven when Bioshock won the award for the most realistic water effects.

The game constantly has near photo perfect game play and the graphical quality never drops during game play. Even though it doesn’t need a fully speced out PC to run perfectly and it doesn’t use a PS3 to its full potential who cares if the graphics look this good and the water looks this realistic.

It can be argued whether Bioshock is based on a true story or not but here are the facts. There is a real place called Rapture and it is located in the sea in the middle of nowhere, whether there are mad scientists and big daddys I will leave that up to you. Either way the story line has been well thought out and it keeps leaving you wanting more and more.

After surviving an air crash, you swim to the nearest thing you see, which happens to be a light house in the middle of nowhere. You seem to be the only survivor and once you get inside the light house you see your first little glimpse of Rapture.

After walking down you get to a submarine, once you walk in, you hear the voice of Andrew Ryan the mad scientist who created Rapture. Seeming to be the only way out, you make your way off the submarine and into Rapture. The story builds itself up as you go through the game, you are introduced to new characters some good, some bad, some both but you need to listen to all of them if you want to make it through Rapture.

Throughout your journey you realize you are not alone. You are equipped with a walkie talkie, which allows you to be contacted by Atlas, a person who is living in Rapture but hopes to escape. You assist him by trying to find his wife and son and also help them to escape. The game gives you a remarkable choice as to how you want to end the game.

There are three endings; they are ‘happy’, ‘sad’ and ‘evil’. Basically the way you play the game determines the ending. This is one the most innovative game play story line ideas that I have ever encountered and it really makes you want to play the game again and again to get each and every ending.

The game uses the Unreal 2 engine which you may notice is a bit old, even though the game was released when Unreal’s third engine was released, but no matter what engine is used or how old it is, it still manages to give impressive game play and gives physics that are beyond belief. The Game is based under water so as you would expect the water physics are so realistic, you would be forgiven for mistaking it for real water.

The splashes and gasses that you see when you walk through the water is better than you would expect it too. Most objects in Bioshock are not destructible but can be moved. Whether you use your gun or you walk into the objects or if you use the plasmid special move (which only moves some objects) the reaction would l be different.

The AI in the game react completely differently from any other game I have played, it acts more like the AI out of Crysis which is impressive. The AI only reacts if it can see, however it does use other senses such as sound and the AI can also notice changes in the environment, which it would use to try and see where you are.

There are many different types of enemies that you have to go up against however the main type are the Splicers, who are basically the residents of Rapture, these are the most common of all, but don’t be fooled they may be common but they are not easy to defeat. These enemies are quick on their feet and most of the time would jump around everywhere.

Another type of enemy is the robotic security system these are like the security systems of Rapture they are no easier to defeat then the Splicers, but unlike the Splicers these can be used to your advantage, you can hack all of the devices that you come across which then triggers them to change sides, and they begin to kill your enemies and protect you.

Even though the systems can be your friends, they are still dangerous and it would be wise to stay out of their paths. Last but not least is the Big Daddy’s, they have now become no less than an icon for Bioshock and for good reason these are the toughest, most brutal and most heartless enemy you are going to come across in the game.

While, protecting the little Sisters you would need to face them and if you wish to get the precious Adam.

The Big Daddy’s will attack any thing that gets too close to the little sister, but they would not attack you unless you provoke them. But do not fear these can also be used to your advantage once you unlock them, there is a power that will allow you to use the Big Daddy as back up, but if you do so then you would not be able to get the Little Sister, as they will just run away.

Even when the Big Daddy’s are on your side don’t think that it won’t switch back , because if it takes any damage from you it will quickly swap sides and then must be prepared to attack.

2k has really out done themselves this time with the amazing weapons and gadgets that you are given in the game. The idea on making yourself a weapon against all evil is just inspirational, but the fact that all of the powers that you have are used to make your way through the game, is epic.

The best thing is if you don’t have a certain power on you at that time you can work your way around without even needing that power up. The power ups aren’t the only weapons that you get you also get a mini arsenal that you can use to get through the whole game.

And each weapon has the ability to be modded up and can be made more powerful which is important to defeat the enemies that you will go up against later on in the game. Examples of some of the weapons you get are; Grenade Launchers, Tommy Guns and Revolvers. Most of these weapons are more powerful than you would think.

Also the type of ammo that you use would make a difference to you weapons as well, for example the revolver has three types of ammo. Armor Piercing Bullets which are best used against the Big Daddy’s and the security systems, Anti Personnel Bullets which are best used for the Splicers, and the normal rounds which can be used on all enemies but do not do as much damage as the specialized rounds would on your specific enemy.

The Single player mode is the only mode that you get in the game, there is no online mode or no arcade mode on the PC, however PS3 gamers would be happy to hear that the new downloadable content gives them a new form of arcade mode.

So the single player campaign must be pretty good, and guess what? It is. The single player campaign is one of the best that I have ever played on any platform. The single player mode is excellent; it brings together everything the game has to offer and in perfect doses.

The campaign takes you everywhere in Rapture but be careful it does not force you to go into every room and every place, so you may miss out on some collectables you need to look around and you need to take your time when you are playing the game. The game’s best bit is the fact that it gives you the chance to use your problem solving skills to hack certain devices.

It is not only a first person shooter game but it also has parts from different genres of games, but make no mistake the game is still a first person shooter but gives you a break from the intense action which is nice. Overall the single player campaign gives the gamer more choice as to how they wish to play the game than any other game and it is refreshing to see a first person shooter game bring something different to the genre.

Overall the game has many good points with only one or two bad points, the developers have obliviously thought very hard about the game before they rushed into making it and I am glad that they have, otherwise the game would not be as good as it is.

The game lacks of any multiplayer mode which does let the game down and we hope that Bioshock 2 introduces an online option though the game makes up for it with its amazing graphics and hard to beat single player mode.

The game is the best FPS that I have played in a long time and I truly recommend that anyone who likes a good old FPS to buy this game because, there are hardly any games as good as this, other than Crysis which most people can’t run.