I was late to the Bioshock hype party. Many people had been sold on the game for months, some even before the video at E3 2006 was shown. The footage got a lot of attention that year, but I remained unconvinced and unimpressed. I thought it was going to be another ho-hum shooter with a slightly unique setting and fairly pretty graphics. After looking at a few previews closer to the release date, I found my frigid skepticism had thawed and I was genuinely interested in this title. Twenty hours later, I’m happy to report that the next generation of gaming has finally arrived, albeit beneath millions of gallons of seawater and carried on the shoulders of a Big Daddy.
"... the next generation of gaming has finally arrived, albeit beneath millions of gallons of seawater and carried on the shoulders of a Big Daddy."
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Bioshock is probably one of the most thought-out and well-produced games ever created. Irrational Games (er, 2K Boston) detailed every aspect of their sprawling underwater metropolis, but they leave it to you to uncover its history at your leisure. It’s important then, that the story has a thick air of mystery to instill a sense of curiosity. Fortunately, atmosphere is the area Bioshock excels the most. The game starts after the character’s plane crashes in the middle of the ocean. Alone in beautifully rendered ocean and surrounded by flaming plane wreckage, a solitary lighthouse ominously awaits your arrival in the moonlight. As it is the only available destination, you swim over, climb the staircase, and enter the blackened doorway. After the door slams shut, a sensor is tripped and light floods the room. Looking up brings into view a gigantic and somewhat threatening statue of a man with a banner draped underneath. Eventually the player will make their way down the stairs. At the bottom of the lighthouse you find a metallic sphere with room for one passenger, and thus you begin your descent into Rapture, the city beneath the waves.
After a wonderfully narrated and intriguing fly-by (well, underwater dive-by, anyway) of the city, your vehicle docks and raises to a platform. Outside your porthole, the room is dark, and you can hear two people arguing – apparently someone is waiting to escort you into the city, but he’s risking his life by waiting so long. As you arrive, you bear witness to his grizzly murder. Your container opens and a voice from a short-wave radio asks for your trust, and beckons you to step into the city. It’s here that your worst fear is confirmed, and you know that something not quite right has happened here. The lights are either flickering or completely off; the walls are cracked and pillars have toppled, there’s garbage all over the floor, and everything is covered in third-world war-zone rubble.
This is all just in the first five minutes of gameplay, and the attention to detail doesn’t stop there. As you explore the city, you’ll find the remnants of what used to be a fully functional society. Parties were obviously occurring at the point of cataclysm, so it’s common to find abandoned alcoholic beverages and party hats lying around or placed on tables. Also, you’ll find journal entries in the form of audiotapes all over Rapture. Some only add to the atmosphere, but others are either integral to the story or reveal gameplay solutions. I could talk forever about the atmosphere, but first impressions aren’t everything. After soaking in the sights of the city, it’s clear you’ll have to fight your way through and save the imprisoned family of your short-wave radio guide, Atlas.
"... an atmospheric masterpiece..."
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Bioshock would still be an incredible experience regardless of its gameplay thanks to its surroundings, but fortunately 2K Boston saw fit to add meat to its gorgeous bones. Gunplay is always (excuse the pun) a blast since each weapon has a distinct feeling and weight to it. The pistol is speedy and light with a quick reloading time, and the shotgun feels hefty and forceful when fired. It’s also worth noting how they are upgraded. The guns look like a product of their era — the modeling is archaic and antiquated. As you find the upgrade stations hidden throughout Rapture, parts are added to the models that alter their functionality. It’s not uncommon for a gun to sprout pipes or have tubes running in and around its barrel. Some of these upgrades improve the rate of fire or the power behind each shot, which are standard fare, but some are unexpected and useful. The ability to be unaffected by your own grenade blasts is something more games should look into including; there’s nothing worse than absorbing your own splash damage.
What Bioshock does best, especially early on, is create a palpable mood of tension. Enemies seem to go about their own convoluted and insane routines, like rummaging through garbage cans or wandering around while talking aloud to long-deceased family members. It’s not uncommon to enter a room and find them muttering to themselves while traversing. If you’re hiding in the shadows or they just don’t happen to see you, it’s fairly easy to get the jump on them, but should you be noticed, prepare for a fight. The AI does a fairly competent job providing a challenge when fired upon, but they’re a little too quick to rush into your crosshairs. As the enemies get stronger and gain greater abilities, so does your character. There is a magic-like system here, accessed through abilities called Plasmids. You’ll be firing electricity from your hands within the first few minutes of the game, and throwing objects around telekinetically a short clip later. The abilities do a lot to help mix up the combat, and some are even used to solve puzzles.
Some rooms house nasty surprises, like automated turrets or security cameras, but the true combat challenge of this game is the Big Daddy. Taking down one of these hulking damage-sponges is no easy task, especially early on in the game because of your limited firepower. It’s difficult to describe the dread you’ll feel when you enter a room and hear his droning and bass-heavy moan. After defeating one of these mechanized goliaths you’ll be faced with a choice: will you harvest the little sister he was protecting for a heaping amount of Adam (the game’s upgrading currency), or will you save them for a smaller amount? The choice you make will affect the ending you get, but it’s quite clear which path will take you to what kind of ending, so don’t expect a true moral dilemma.
"It’s difficult to describe the dread you’ll feel when you enter a room and hear a Big Daddy’s droning and bass-heavy moan."
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Bioshock only has a few minor shortcomings. The pacing starts out incredible, but slows down around the midpoint of the game and fails to pick back up to its previous intensity. It’s still great all the way through, but it’s a shame that it couldn’t keep going at its original clip. The story does a good job of drawing the player in, but the endings are so brief and abrupt that they end up feeling more like they were tacked on than well-thought-out payoff scenes. The minigame used for hacking machines is fun at first (it’s a variation on classic puzzler Pipe Dream), but it becomes tedious after what feels like the nine-millionth time you do it. You’ll eventually gain items that will automatically take care of this for you, but there are too few available to erase the issue. Also, the game becomes markedly easier for lazy players around halfway through the game, since "Vitachambers" (chambers that re-spawn when you die) can be used as a crutch.
Even so, these complaints are minor quibbles in the face of such a grand adventure. In a sea of contenders, Bioshock will stand out as Game of the Year for a lot of people, and that’s saying something considering its competition. This game is an atmospheric masterpiece with great gameplay to compliment its knock-out looks. No 360 owner should go without experiencing Bioshock; it’s that simple.
