Surprisingly, these last words of Andrew Ryan the creator of the City of Rapture; describe Bioshock itself
very accurately. Rapture is the setting for the XBOX 360 game; Bioshock. The story of Bioshock begins with your character
being in plane in 1960 when it crashes in the Atlantic Ocean. As the sole survivor your character is forced to enter a lighthouse
type area that has a bathysphere which takes your character down to the city of Rapture. On the way, a movie is played, featuring
Andrew Ryan. This cuts away to a in game video of the under sea world of Bioshock. Once the bathysphere reaches the docking
ring; the action begins all most immediately. So far, this is all shown in the demo that is available on XBOX LIVE MARKETPLACE.
The main themes of the story can be found in the works of Ayn Rand and somewhat those of Fyodor Dostoevsky. The story lines
in the game are pretty deep and well defined.
Rapture itself has been destroyed by it's own people in a civil war over the element known as Adam. Adam is the element
that allows people to get the abilities in the game and Eve, which is another substance more readily available but all ways
needed powers the plasmids. ADAM is now only harvested by the Little Sisters who were once little girls and are now the conditioned
minions of the state; collecting Adam in long needles from dead bodies of the long dead or recently killed citizens of Rapture.
These Little Sisters are one of the major moral centerpieces of the game. To get more ADAM the player must kill the Little
Sisters or if the player chooses to not kill them. The player will get much less ADAM but there are rewards for not killing
them as well. This can be a hard decision and it sets the player on a road to one of the two endings of the game. Will the
player be moral and choose to help the Little Sisters. Or will the player be greedy and choose to harvest them. Splices are
also trying to kill the Little Sisters for Adam which is where the Big Daddys come in. Large Dive suited enemies, there are
a few different types but this is their basic form(most differences are cosmetic and A.I. Based rather than form based).
Who can easily kill the player in a one on one fight if the player choose the wrong plasmids, tonics, and weapons. Splicers,
people who over genetically altered themselves(splicers also have multiple forms but they are just variations on the ones
you see in the beginning of the game). Having gone insane because of that and somewhat due to the civil war. Run the halls
of Rapture killing each other and the player if they get the chance. Splicers are in constant need of Adam, like a drug addict
needing a fix. The basic plots are: Getting out of Rapture, saving Atlas and his family, and defeating Andrew Ryan. There
are plenty of references to the works of Ayn Rand's work and ideas. As to not give too much away these are pretty evident
plots from the very beginning of the game; but that is literally what they are, basic. They get a lot more complicated as
the story goes on. Some of the basic themes of the game are that power corrupts. That people, no matter how intelligent
will be drawn toward evil endeavors. Another important theme is that even in the worst situations there can all ways be hope.
The story is told through not only traditional in game cutscenes but also through audio diaries left by the inhabitants of
Rapture. This adds an incredible amount of life and reality to Bioshock furthering the immersion factor of the game.
The graphics in Bioshock are the best I've ever seen on the XBOX 360 and with the exception of DirectX10 games like Crysis
I've never seen better. The problem with the high level of detail and beauty in Bioshock is the times when things don't work
the way they would in real life. This is odd considering the player is running around in an underwater city and lighting
people on fire with their minds through genetic manipulation but it does happen. Much like other games there will inevitably
something that doesn't make sense. For instance when wood lights on fire but doesn't burn through. Or a door that is made
of glass that the player can burn, freeze, and then smash with a wrench and the door does not break. The power of plasmids
are great against enemies or to solve puzzles but the actual effects of those high powered abilities against the actual environment
to make things easier for the player to remove obstacles or get into hidden areas doesn't really work. Finally lighting a
turret or camera on fire should destroy that turret or camera there is plenty of stuff in both that is combustible considering
it does explode when the player destroy it with a weapon. All these things are small issues and probably have to do with
design and balance issues but when a HIGHLY interactive world is created many players fall into the idea that ALL the same
rules apply as they would in the real world if the situation occurred.
Bioshock takes place in wide range of environments all with an amazing art deco style and lots of details that not only denote
the time period but also give the player the impression that the civil war that occurred happened suddenly and many corpses
poses not only explains this but also makes one wonder what happened to them that they ended up that way. The music and overall
sound direction of the game was stellar. Due to this, Bioshock is a very eerie game that has a lot of scary moments that
will make the player jump our of their chairs. The sounds of splicers in adjacent rooms or above the player and certainly
the loud noise of the Big Daddys add to this. The sounds of ocean outside also add greatly to atmosphere of the game. This
also evokes a sense of loneliness and with the exception of the occasional prodding by Atlas; the player certainly feels they
are alone against all these crazy people trying to kill them. Certainly Bioshock has more in common with Resident Evil 4
than Counter Strike or Halo.
This game is a high concept FPS. The main mechanics are those of a FPS but these are merely the basic mechanics of Bioshock.
The main differentiator in the game are the plasmids and tonics. These allow your character to preform actions ranging from
throwing electric bolts to stun your enemies to bonuses for researching enemies when your character takes pictures of them.
The player gets to choose from a range of weapons that can modified at the Weapon Upgrade stations,"POWER TO THE PEOPLE!"
The weapons are, to name a few: shotgun, pistol, crossbow, grenade launcher, and the melee weapon wrench.
Once most weapons are upgraded once or twice they are VERY POWERFUL and usually feel a lot more like a weapon in a normal
FPS rather than the marginally effective weapons in the beginning. In the beginning it is very necessary to aim weapons like
the pistol at the enemies head rather than anywhere else in order to get the maximum amount of damage. The strategy though,
is to use plasmids and weapons and even environment to take down enemies. Doing this results in some amazingly satisfying
gameplay. Setting an enemy on fire and then when they run into a pool of water to put out the fire, hitting that pool with
an electric bolt and watching the enemy getting electrified to death is great. This is only one example, while playing it
is not impossible to freeze enemies in midair and shatter them as they fall to the ground. Also hacking security bots and
turrets can add some protection when a few enemies decide to come after the player at once.
If the player chooses to hack machines in the game they have three options: to hack the machine straight by playing a little
mini game that makes the player carry water from one end of the screen to the other using pipes. This works fine for the
first third of the game but after that the water moves much too fast even using hacking plasmids and is just annoying. Second,
the player can choose to pay off the machine and automatically hack the machine. Third and easiest of the three, is to use
the autohack tool that you can make using the U-Vent machines in the game. These autohack tools are destroyed after every
use but it isn't hard to find enough parts to keep the player in autohacks throughout the majority of the second half of the
game.
As difficult as the game can get from time to time there are plenty of ways to keep the enjoyment in the game. First and
foremost there are three difficulty settings for the player to choose from in the beginning. Second, the player can save
anywhere in the game. Third, the player cannot die. The player just respawns in a Vita chamber which allows the player to
continue more or less where the player left off. This is great, but it will probably cause most FPS fans to choose a higher
difficulty than they normally would in another game. I made it my business to never die in Bioshock. I died in the demo
plenty of times but never in the actual game. It wasn't difficult to do this, but it certainly added an extra level of intensity
to some of the fights. To me, the boss battles in the game other than the Big Daddys really need that sense of punishment
to make them more exciting.
The game is very good at keeping the player on track. There are arrows that point the player in the right direction
of where to go and what the player needs to do. There are two instances where this isn't the case, where you have to collect
items. This is a problem because it is difficult to tell what to do and how to proceed. The player will be able to figure
it out, but it isn't as simple and easy as the rest of the game. There are plenty of hints and a map in the game that makes
the goals normally pretty easy to complete. All of these things contribute to the fact that the designers must have really
been focused on ease of use and that the greatest number of players possible will be able to appreciate and finish the game.
But these helping hands can go against the idea of exploration in the game. There are definite advantages to veering off
the beaten path and looking for trouble and treasure in other areas. Also collecting the all important audio tape diaries
will also many times make it necessary to do this.
The hitches and tearing that many reviewers have mentioned did not occur in my game. At one time I was playing
for 3-4 hours at a stretch and I have a launch system; so I can only speak from my experience.
Overall the game is amazing and probably the best title I've played in the last year. My problems with the game
are few and probably minor quibbles with a game as good as this. However, these are the problems that kept the game from
getting a higher score. First and foremost, as long as Bioshock is (20-30 hours depending on how much exploring the player
does), the ending is sudden and short. There are many loose ends that are not resolved and perhaps this is in preparation
of a sequel but it just doesn't seem to satisfy what I was expecting. Second, enemies respawn in areas too frequently to
be realistic and it sometimes take the player out of the mood of the game. Third, there is no multiplayer. I know that this
is kind of a lot to ask; but in order to get a higher rating the game would need some multiplayer. I can imagine a really
good system based on Ken Levine's comments and certainly this would be welcomed as a standalone title or a sequel. But having
said all of that, the game is incredible and it is an instant classic.
