BioShock

Wow. Just wow. I'm not talking about World of Warcraft "WoW", just wow. This game is spectacularly amazing and without a doubt the most well made game I've played in a long time. Ok, now that I've cheesed out enough with my opinion, let's talk about some hard facts.

For those who don't know anything about Bio Shock, here is the basic info: This is a FPS game for both XBox 360 and PC. While I have not played the PC version of this game, I have a friend who has and I have yet to see any difference between the versions save for any performance issues your PC might have playing any highly graphical FPS game.

The basic jist of the story (without giving away any spoilers) is that you're in a plane crash over the open ocean and while swimming for your life, you encounter a strange building in the water. This building leads to an underwater city at the bottom of the ocean and when you arrive... well, you'll just have to play and see. The gameplay isn't completely revolutionary, but it does combine some very nice elemnts you don't see very often in FPS type of games. On one hand, you have your base FPS style weapons: Pistol, Shotgun, Machine Gun, Grenade Launcher, etc. On the other hand, you have genetic mutations called Plasmids. These plasmids give you various powers ("There's nothing like a fist-full of lightning.") such as lightning, fire, or ice attacks as well as other types of environment altering powers like telekenesis.

The true innovation in the game is how the Plasmids and weapons can be used for combo type attacks. Use lightning against an enemy to stun them, then club them in the head with your wrench for massive damage. Use a fire attack on an enemy to set them ablaze and shoot lightning into the pool of water they jump into to put themselves out. Or, my personal favorite, give someone the old trusty shotgun to the face, then use telekenesis to grab their corpse and fire it at their friends! There are several other Plasmids and several uses for each, but I'll let you all experiment and find out for yourselves.

The ambiance of the game leaves me on the edge of my seat even when the action has subsided. A late-50's type of decor coupled with a Resident Evil theme of blood, gore, insanity, and murder gives me the willys even on my second time playing the game where I know what's coming. You will find audio diaries throughout the game that help to fill in the story and motivations of the characters if you're into such things, and when you finally meet someone who you've been listening to, it feels like you know what they're about wether it be for good or evil.

Anyone who has seen screenshots of this game or cover art from the box will most likely have seen a "Big Daddy". These...creatures...are the toughest bosses in the game (save the end boss) and are the most fun to fight, IMHO. Often, these Big Daddys will be in the company of a small girl referred to as a "Little Sister". As one might expect from the names, the Big Daddys are there to protect the Little Sisters and you must go through the former to get to the latter. While you "can" avoid them altogether, I strongly don't recommend it, but I won't say anything further on this matter as to not give anything away.

The enemy AI is very well done as well. From idle chatter with each other before they detect you, to taunts and jeers when they do, to the way they can hunt in packs and flank you when you're not ready for them - all of these make every encounter with enemies a new experience.

The game does have a couple of drawbacks that keep it from being a flawless gem of all-time. The first of which is that there is no multiplayer support for this game whatsoever. No split screen, no system link, no online play. One player only. While disappointing, this did leave the dev team free to add the little nuances that make this game stand out from the crowd. The second is the death penalty - or lack thereof. When you die, you're simply transported to the nearest Vita Chamber for resurrection. You don't lose any ammo, weapons, plasmids, or suffer any ill effects. In addition, all of the damage you do to an enemy will remain, so you can whack a Big Daddy a few times, die and rez, whack him a few more, and eventually defeat him with no real danger to yourself. Personally, I try not to play like this as it takes most of the difficulty and challange out of the game. It's nice for those who need it, I suppose.

If you miss the "good old days" when you first played Resident Evil and it gave you the heebie jeebies (even with the horrid voice acting), then I highly recommend this game for you.

BioShock Video Trailer

Written by GatheringofGamers.com Member: CodeH4x0r