Bioshock (Video Game Review)

Video Game Review
Bioshock
PC
2007
Developers: 2K Boston/Australia/Marin
Publisher: 2K Games

There are certain genres of video games that have probably peaked in terms of gameplay. The 2D platformer probably hit it’s ingenuity apex with Super Mario Bros. 3/World (depending on which side of the fence you’re on). Several other genres like airplane sims/fighters have little improvements left to deliver outside of better graphics. The first-person shooter has the similar problem. Sure, you could make the graphics better or add more players to the multiplayer but it feels like the single-player experience has reached the it’s evolutionary peak. Fortunately, for 2K’s Bioshock, it takes a bunch of what makes a good FPS and delivers. It has it’s issues and it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s fun while it lasts.

The story takes place in what seems like sometime during the 1960s. You play as Jack, a survivor of an airplane crash in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Jack swims to a nearby island and mistakenly transports himself to Rapture; a secret underground city built by Andrew Ryan. While the city was intended to an underwater utopia, Jack quickly realizes that the underwater paradise has become a nightmare. Jack finds a radio and befriends a man named Atlas who gives Jack a brief idea where he is. He tells Jack that Ryan is out to get him and that the only way to survive is use special powers called plasmids. The only way he can gain these special powers is by getting a substance called Adam. The only source of Adam is from little girls hiding around Rapture called Little Sisters. Killing a Little Sister will enable Jack to extract the Adam. Little Sisters are protected by Big Daddies; enhanced humans in bulky-protective underwater gear. Before having the chance to kill his first Little Sister, Jack receives a transmission from a Dr. Tenenbaum who tells Jack that there is an option to save the Little Sister instead of killing her but only receive half of the Adam. From that point on, Jack must press on to discover the secret behind the mystery of Rapture with each decision that he makes having moral ramifications.

The game does look very pretty. Since the game takes place in a underwater city, there are plenty of gorgeous water effects. Lights play an important role in the game and the game designers did a good job at showing off the different glows and hues in an impressive manner that doesn’t feel forced in a way to make the game look flashy. The smoke and fogging techniques were nice looking too although there was some noticeable slowdown during a sequence with heavy smoke and multiple enemies. Since the computer I was on was running above the recommended specs, it’s a bit frustrating to experience something like that, especially during a tense situation of the game.

Since this is the PC review of the game, there’s not much that can be said about the game’s controls since you can customize them to your heart’s content. There’s the odd time where you might hit the wrong button and choose the wrong weapon or plasmid but it’s a minor gripe. Apparently the Xbox 360 version was not as intuitive and selecting items/weapons/plasmids aren’t as fluid a process. It’s a minor issue though because the game doesn’t really force you to make sudden changes to what you need to be using on a constant basis and more often than not, you’ll become really comfortable with a few weapons and plasmids that you’ll want to rely on for the majority of the game.

The atmosphere contributes highly to one’s enjoyment of the game. There generally are two types of good FPS games: the one where you are with a bunch of other players/NPCs and are out to save the world/universe while the other is you are alone in an unknown place and you are out to save the world/universe. Bioshock goes with the latter scenario and does it very well. You don’t know where you are and other than a radio barking instructions or taunts your way, you have no idea what you’re doing. You can spend a good minute walking and weaving through corridors being taking in the scenery and hearing weird noises throughout the environment and then get ambushed by a group of enemies. You feel alone and even after a while, you being to worry about what happens at the end. Even when you beat the final boss, does that mean, you’re not sure if you’ll ever see home again. It’s a chilling scenario and fosters a sense of anxiety in the player; but in a good way. You’ll want to keep going through level after level; taking it all in. Also, the better your sound card and equipment, the more you’ll enjoy and be drawn into the game. Experiencing the game with surround sound is very engrossing and adds so much to the gameplay.

The game is also about the little things. The moral decisions you have to make as a player is interesting although when it comes down to it, you either get one ending if you make good choices or another ending if you make the immoral choices. The game doesn’t really punish you for making immoral choices so essentially you can be as much of a jerk as you want. In fact, the game is easier if you play make immoral choices. Also, an interesting element of the game is the hacking segments. You have the ability to hack many of the machines in the game for your own use. If you see a vending machine that has an item you want, you can hack it to get a lower price. If you’re being shot at by an automatic gun turret, you can sneak up on it and hack it so that it attacks your enemies instead. While hacking is essentially just a Pipe Dream mini-game, it’s interesting and adds to the game play. You also gain the ability to take photos of the enemies and learn more their weaknesses. Again, a borrowed element (this time from Beyond Good and Evil) but it makes the game more interesting; although it does lower the difficulty level with each shutter click.

The game has it’s flaws though. As alluded to in the introduction, this game doesn’t really add anything to the FPS genre. Everything in this game has been done before in other games. What’s good about this game is that even though it takes from other games, the final execution is impressive. It’s just not a perfect experience. One huge problem is the game is easy and anybody with any experience with an FPS will not have much of a problem ripping through the game. The difficulty curve is non-existent. In fact, most will probably find it more difficult at the beginning when you have limited weapons and abilities because even a quarter of a way through the game, you’ll feel comfortable enough with the stuff that you’ve acquire to be able to steamroll any enemy that comes across your path. That isn’t to say you won’t die a couple of times during the game but that’s because you might encounter something you weren’t expecting. The game makes it easy for you as there are save points littered throughout the game so you never feel like you need to take any caution. You can go barreling into a section like Rambo without much worry. Even if you get taken out by an enemy you don’t see by surprise, you can just restart again without much punishment (essentially, you just have to start over again from a save point you passed by a minute earlier). Another gripe for some might be that the game does not have any multiplayer options. Some might not like that but the single-player game is solid enough that there isn’t any real need for it.

If you’ve never played an FPS before, Bioshock is a good place to start because it isn’t all that hard and it is an engrossing experience. If you’re a FPS expert, you’ll enjoy Bioshock because of its story and you’ll feel captivated by the environment. It’s not perfect and it won’t redefine the genre but it’s an incredibly fun ride. It might be disappointing for those who look for a multiplayer aspect to compliment a FPS game but this is a single-player FPS package that definitely does not need multiplayer to prop it up.

☆☆☆☆