reviews

I finally decided, with the release of Bioshock 2 this week, to give the original game the fair go it deserved. I had started playing it on Xbox 360, but PC gaming overthrew that. I had been gifted the game on Steam by a friend during the Christmas sale, and since it was sitting on my hard drive ready to be played, I felt it was time to see if the story was as good (and as anticlimactic) as I’d heard.

Playing through the game is a treat. As most gamers will be aware, Bioshock is based in an underwater city in the 1960s. The environment of the game, while crazy technology-wise (robots, gene-altering “potions”, and mutants) still retains the classic feel of the American 60’s, as we’ve seen in old gangster movies and the like. Throughout the game, it was easy to become lost in the atmosphere, and spend time exploring instead of completing the tasks set out for me.

For those who are for some reason out of the loop, Bioshock puts the player in a plane crash, and from that crash, the player swims to the entrance to the underwater city of Rapture. In Rapture, the player tries to make sense of what’s going on, and with the assistance of a character who goes by the name of Atlas, attempt to escape. Like a classic FPS game, weapons are lying around for the player to grab and use against the onslaught of creatures in the city, but rather than just the usual assortment of pistols and shotguns, the game introduces what could be referred to as “superpowers” for the player. Electricity, fire, telepathy and other powers are available literally at the players fingertips for use in various situations in game. It’s a very surreal experience running up to an enemy “Splicer” (called as such because they’ve spliced their genes with various powers and abilities to the point of insanity.) stunning him with electricity, then shooting him in the head with a pistol (which you’ve subsequently modified to hold more ammo).

But while I could go on about this for ages, I’m cutting that short, because I wanted to address the story. I don’t want to give anything away, so forgive me if there seems to be any holes in this. Consider this me preserving the experience. The plot presented to you starts off cliché, with the “some guy wants to kill you, another guy wants to save you,” style we’ve all become accustomed to. However, as the game goes on and more secrets are unveiled through the discovery of audio diaries and the traditional story-cues, the true intent of the story becomes clear. Then, just as you think it’s all over and you’ve won, a giant twist comes and shakes the entire foundation you’d built the experience on. It comes as quite a thrill when you’re that absorbed in the gameplay. You genuinely feel shocked.

I loved every minute of the game, and with Bioshock 2 already out, I guess I might need to start saving my money and grab it. For now, I can drool over the images and impressions shared by other people who were clever enough to purchase the game already, such as this gentlemen.

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