OK, I admit this game has been user-reviewed to Mordor and back but I want to have a crack at it.
Info
Name - Bioshock
Format - Xbox 360
Developer - 2k Boston and 2k Austrailia
Bioshock is the new game from the team that changed FPS expectations forever with the System Shock games. As such there is massive expectation behind the game, fans of System Shock won't be disappointed, but this isn't a game all players will enjoy.
First of all I'll talk about the story. In the 1940s a man named Andrew Ryan decided to create a world free from the constraints of morality. A world where artists would not fear censorship and doctors and scientists could work without fear of interference on moral grounds. The place was named Rapture, a city where freedom could lead to proper progress while the world above continued to live oblivious of the world below the sea. With no moral worried it wasn't long before genetic engineering gave rise to devices known as Plasmids. These tonics would change the user's DNA to give them special powers, but something went horribly wrong and Rapture was turned from a utopia into a wasteland.
You join the story 20 years after the city's creation in 1960. A plane crash leaves you stranded in the ocean and you head to a nearby lighthouse, this is the entrance to Rapture. Using a submersible lift known as a bathsphere you descend into the world below, a short film plays with Ryan introducing himself and describing Rapture. The world seems perfect from what you can see out of the sphere window, a truly stunning cityscape that shows off the graphical prowess of the host machine.
That's when things start to go wrong for you, when the bathsphere lands the first thing you see is a strange creature ripping a defenceless human to shreds. Its not long before the creature comes after you, as it attempts to tear through the roof of the sphere you're contacted by a man named Atlas who opens the sphere and starts to guide you through the halls of Rapture.
As an opening, its one of the best I've seen. The problem with Bioshock is its story, its just too good and ends up highlighting the games major flaws. Firstly its horribly linear, you're always told where to go and never really need your map screen. Exploration can find extra items such as ammo and health but also small tape recorders that act as diaries, these provide extra details that flesh out the plot and give you more idea of what happened down here. However there's no major game changing reward for exploring, it makes life a bit easier but gives no real incentive. This is unless you're chasing the ever elusive and life-destroying 1000 gamerpoints, which in Bioshock are going to give some people nightmares.
Secondly the game is rather un-original. The normal weapons you get are fairly standard stuff like a pistol, shotgun and grenade launcher, the wrench you're given as a first weapon might as well be the Half-Life crowbar. Not even the plasmid system is original, doing damage using your body has been around for years and was perfected in the Free Radical game Second Sight. Then there's the research camera which is ripped straight from Dead Rising.
Finally its repetetive. The enemies all follow certain movement patterns and there are only 6 different types of basic enemy including the now famous Big Daddy's. The Daddy's are the hardest enemies you'll find in the game, but dying has no penalty, enemies will stay dead and damage done to Big Daddy's will remain. This makes the game incredibly easy.
Bioshock's story is incredible to be sure and it includes some truly inspired set pieces, however what it tacks onto is a fairly standard FPS with only a few ideas of its own. If you want a decent FPS with a great story then its the game for you, however if you want a challenge with your story then stay away.
Rent It
Info
Name - Bioshock
Format - Xbox 360
Developer - 2k Boston and 2k Austrailia
Bioshock is the new game from the team that changed FPS expectations forever with the System Shock games. As such there is massive expectation behind the game, fans of System Shock won't be disappointed, but this isn't a game all players will enjoy.
First of all I'll talk about the story. In the 1940s a man named Andrew Ryan decided to create a world free from the constraints of morality. A world where artists would not fear censorship and doctors and scientists could work without fear of interference on moral grounds. The place was named Rapture, a city where freedom could lead to proper progress while the world above continued to live oblivious of the world below the sea. With no moral worried it wasn't long before genetic engineering gave rise to devices known as Plasmids. These tonics would change the user's DNA to give them special powers, but something went horribly wrong and Rapture was turned from a utopia into a wasteland.
You join the story 20 years after the city's creation in 1960. A plane crash leaves you stranded in the ocean and you head to a nearby lighthouse, this is the entrance to Rapture. Using a submersible lift known as a bathsphere you descend into the world below, a short film plays with Ryan introducing himself and describing Rapture. The world seems perfect from what you can see out of the sphere window, a truly stunning cityscape that shows off the graphical prowess of the host machine.
That's when things start to go wrong for you, when the bathsphere lands the first thing you see is a strange creature ripping a defenceless human to shreds. Its not long before the creature comes after you, as it attempts to tear through the roof of the sphere you're contacted by a man named Atlas who opens the sphere and starts to guide you through the halls of Rapture.
As an opening, its one of the best I've seen. The problem with Bioshock is its story, its just too good and ends up highlighting the games major flaws. Firstly its horribly linear, you're always told where to go and never really need your map screen. Exploration can find extra items such as ammo and health but also small tape recorders that act as diaries, these provide extra details that flesh out the plot and give you more idea of what happened down here. However there's no major game changing reward for exploring, it makes life a bit easier but gives no real incentive. This is unless you're chasing the ever elusive and life-destroying 1000 gamerpoints, which in Bioshock are going to give some people nightmares.
Secondly the game is rather un-original. The normal weapons you get are fairly standard stuff like a pistol, shotgun and grenade launcher, the wrench you're given as a first weapon might as well be the Half-Life crowbar. Not even the plasmid system is original, doing damage using your body has been around for years and was perfected in the Free Radical game Second Sight. Then there's the research camera which is ripped straight from Dead Rising.
Finally its repetetive. The enemies all follow certain movement patterns and there are only 6 different types of basic enemy including the now famous Big Daddy's. The Daddy's are the hardest enemies you'll find in the game, but dying has no penalty, enemies will stay dead and damage done to Big Daddy's will remain. This makes the game incredibly easy.
Bioshock's story is incredible to be sure and it includes some truly inspired set pieces, however what it tacks onto is a fairly standard FPS with only a few ideas of its own. If you want a decent FPS with a great story then its the game for you, however if you want a challenge with your story then stay away.
Rent It
