Game Review: Bioshock

Title: Bioshock
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Platform played on: Xbox 360
Release Date: 2007
Final Score: 9/10

Okay, so, the year was 2008.

My gaming experience hadn't really gone beyond the Sega Genesis, the original Xbox, and the PS2. Halo was probably one of the "newest" games I'd played at the time. That summer, I went to hang out with my cousin at his house, and he had the Xbox 360.  The first games he put in that thing while I was there? Bioshock.

I was immediately taken in by this game. The atmosphere, the visuals, the characters, the entire God damn world of Rapture. To say this game had a big impact on my life would be a colossal understatement. It is not only the reason I bought my 360, and the reason I am such an avid fan of the medium, but it is also why I want to make games for a living.

Bioshock showed me what this medium was capable of, both as a storytelling tool and as an art form. It isn't the best game I've ever played, but it is easily my favorite for these very personal reasons, and it is still one hell of a game.

 Now, I would love to talk in depth about this game, the many ethical questions it raises, its inspired art direction, its symbolism and philosophies, etc., but I'm not going to do that. Partially because I don't want to bog down the review, which is about its actual merits as a game, but mostly because I honestly don't feel like I'd be able to do the topic justice at this point in time.

Soon though. I'm not done with you yet, my sweet.

So, you may be asking, "what is Bioshock, even?" Well, shut the fuck up and I'll tell you! Bioshock is a first person shooter with RPG elements, set in the year 1960. It begins when the main character's plane crashes in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. He (Jack) is the only one to survive the crash, and fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your view of things), he finds that the plane plummeted conveniently close to a lighthouse in the middle of the sea. Once he makes his way inside, he comes to a bathysphere terminal, which takes him to the dystopian underwater city of Rapture. I know, what a crazy coincidence, right?! (Spoiler alert: It isn't a coincidence)

The city was designed by a man named Andrew Ryan, who wanted to create a place for the best of society to flourish without government restraint, allowing for great advances in the areas of science, arts, and medicine. Unfortunately, this didn't really work out. Something that becomes apparent to the player shortly after arriving, when you witness a man getting gutted by a deformed woman with massive hooks.

Welcome to Rapture, indeed...

Most of the backstory detailing the downfall of Rapture is revealed through audiotapes that the player finds scattered throughout the game, giving insight into all of the central characters and their motivations for doing what they did. You are also given smaller doses of exposition from a man named Atlas,  who directs you through the city via a one way radio you obtain in the bathysphere. He'll give you the basic rundown of what went down before you arrived, and what you can do to help him, but you haven't truly experienced the story unless you seek out these logs.

The scientific advances in Rapture led to the discovery of ADAM, a chemical found in slugs found on the sea floor, which allowed people to alter their DNA and give them super-human abilities, which were called plasmids. Unfortunately, this discovery had the unfortunate side effect of turning its users insane and ADAM-obsessed. People were straight-up murdering each other to obtain their ADAM. You can see how this might be problematic in a Utopian society.

Well, this guy seems pretty reasonable, and not at all insane! :D

Oh yes...Bioshock is a game...It has gameplay...Maybe I should talk about that a bit...

The gameplay's pretty great! So I guess we can add this to the list of horror games that don't need shitty controls to be scary. You've got your standard video game aresnal: a wrench, revolver, shotgun, machine gun, grenade launcher, and a crossbow. All are given the old-timey makeover, to make them period-appropriate. But you will also get a wide range of ammo types for each weapon (explosive, incendiary, etc.) and the ability to upgrade the weapons in certain categories, such as the amount of damage your weapon will do. This kind of customization is where those aforementioned RPG elements come in.

You get to use the plasmids (you know, the ones that made everyone into raving lunatics), and there are a shit ton of those to choose from, such as telekinesis and the ability to shoot a swarm of bees from your wrist to attack your enemies (yes, this is a thing, and yes, it is awesome). Then you have your gene tonics, and there are a few different categories of these: combat, engineering, and physical tonics. You have the option of switching these out for ones that best suit your personal play style.

On top of that, you have the ability to hack turrets, security cameras, and bots to work in your favor and attack your enemies. As you can see, there is a wide range of ways to approach any given combat situation. This makes every encounter intense and exciting, as you can find new strategies and tactics to use against your opponents.

Unfortunately, the hacking thing is accompanied by an atrocious mini-game that brings the action to a grinding halt for a few frustrating minutes, but it's still a cool option to have.

Seriously, don't even get me started on this fucking thing.

Now, plasmids rarely come free. For some of the better ones, you need ADAM to obtain them, and the ADAM can only be found in the demented children that roam Rapture, named Little Sisters. These are young, often orphaned, girls implanted with the slugs to harvest ADAM from the corpses in Rapture, for mass production of the chemical. These girls are always accompanied by hulking men (?) in massive diving suits, called Big Daddies. You've probably seen them in every single piece of advertising or merchandising related to the franchise:

NOPE.

Now, to get to the Little Sisters, you need to kill their protectors (always a challenge), and to get the ADAM the Little Sister possesses, you're given two options. You can save the little girl by killing the slug, and get a smaller amount of ADAM, or you can harvest the slug, getting a larger amount of ADAM, but killing the little girl in the process. Therein lies the major moral dilemma in Bioshock, at least, in theory. Unless you're playing on the hard difficulty the chances of you needing a lot of ADAM are pretty slim, and when you're given a cool package stuffed with goodies for every little sister you save, harvesting has always seemed pretty useless, which I think was the opposite of the designer's intention, so yeah, this aspect tends to fall a little flat for me, but it does effect the ending of the game, so there's that.

Speaking of endings, here comes the most painful part of talking about Bioshock for me. About 3/4 of the way through, the game hits you with one of the most clever twists I've seen in any medium. I'm not going to spoil it here, but I will say this, the game should have ended immediately after that. After this point the game really starts to fall apart. There are a few interesting set pieces and some decent storytelling moments following it but they're dragged out for so long that you'll find yourself wanting badly for the game to end, something which I never experienced before the big twist. It turns into a dull and repetitive series of fetch quests and escort missions, building up to an extremely disappointing boss battle.

It's actually boring, and kind of disastrous in its final act, and after such a strong beginning and middle, it's pretty tragic to play through.

But God damn, it is so great while it lasts.

Final Thoughts: In spite of its shortcomings, Bioshock is a truly beautiful and memorable experience. It's unique setting, complex story and characters and stunning art direction make it a shining beacon of what this medium can do for us, and its rich and dynamic gameplay options make sure there is never a dull moment (before the final act anyway...). If you haven't played it already, DO THAT NOW.

9/10.

PS: So pumped for Bioshock: Infinite. There are no words to describe how strong my anticipation for this game is.