Bioshock hits all the notes of a good game.

Bioshock is at first glance another first person shooter. You run around with a vast assortment of guns and shoot down opposing enemies that get in your way. That however, is only one way to get around the world of Rapture. Bioshock offers a multitude of ways to accomplish goals and has the tools necessary for almost any play style thanks to the plasmid and tonic systems. 
 

Plasmids are what make Rapture tick, after the main character, Jack, survives a plane crash into the Atlantic ocean he discovers a lone lighthouse in the middle of the sea. Seeking shelter he makes his way inside only to find himself being lead into an under water city, and thus his journey through the streets of Rapture begins. While there are many traditional first person cutscenes in Bioshock to move the plot along there are also dozens of audio logs scattered around that introduce you to the city of Rapture. These explain the major players, some history of the city, and give an insight on the madness leading up to the dangerous and broken Rapture Jack finds himself trapped in.  
 
All of these audio logs push the plot forward, which is thankful, because alone the plot of Bioshock would be lost. The story is focused around three characters and a power struggle for Rapture and while it has some interesting plot twists from time to time it is not hard to guess what is going to happen next. What really makes Bioshock so entertaining is the atmosphere, Rapture is so well crafted it feels like a real city. I often found myself leaving the main path just to explore every corner of each room. Detail just oozes from every corner of Rapture from the twisted Dr Steinman's medical wing to the mall known as Fort Frolic, now controlled by a maniac who considers pictures of dead bodies an art. 
 
Navigating Rapture is a true spectacle in itself as well thanks to plasmids and tonics. These items found in the world are partially responsible for the downfall of the city, they alter the genetic code of a human giving them amazing and sometimes bizarre abilities, and in turn more interesting ways to play the game. While you can get through Bioshock guns blazing like any other fps there are plenty of other ways to survive the city thanks to these, such as a fire ability that allows you to melt ice or telekinesis which can be used to pick up and throw items. Plasmids also work with the environment and many areas of the game are tailored to specific plasmids, for example many rooms are flooded with water and luring an enemy to the water and then using a lightning power to shock it will do major damage. 
 
Tonics on the other hand allow for some character customization, they are split into engineering, combat, and physical. The combat have abilities such as reducing damage you take from bullets and melee attacks while physical ones usually involve increasing the amount of health you get back from items and such. These really shape how you choose to play the game, for example I found myself always tripping alarms or surprising enemies when not wanting to so I would use a tonic that allowed my character to turn invisible after standing still for a few seconds. Others even let you go as far as being a melee based character and when used together make devastating combos such as the tonic that allows melee attacks to restore health and another that causes melee swings to freeze targets.
 

Engineering on the other hand plays a big part in a mini-game called hacking. Hacking into machines allows you to take control of them which essentially results in things like security cameras spotting an enemy and sending out flying sentries to kill them or turrets simply attacking the opposition.  Sadly as fun as I found the hacking mini-game and didn't even mind doing it hundreds of times around halfway through the game it became almost broke without engineering tonics. The mini-game mostly consists of placing pipes in order for liquid to travel from one end of the board to another. Specific tiles can get in the way which will instantly end your game and either drain some of your health or call in security bots to kill you.  
 
As Bioshock progresses hacking gets almost unplayable unless you use specific tonics to counter these tiles. It got so bad that at some points I actually uncovered hidden tiles only to find myself boxed in from the start meaning no matter what I did winning would be impossible. Alternate methods are in the game for those that want to avoid hacking though, such as simply paying higher prices at vending machines or just not opening safes or locked doors. Or if you constantly have a high amount of cash you can simply pay to skip the hacking mini-game altogether. 
 
Plasmids and tonics can be found in a variety of ways throughout Bioshock, but the quickest way to get these in through Adam, a material sought out by everyone in Rapture. Small girls named little sisters wander around the city harvesting this material from dead bodies. If you find a little sister she will be protected by the games iconic big daddies which can be fought in order to harvest or save the little sister. These are essentially Bioshock's boss fights and they are much harder to kill than normal foes draining most of your health and ammo when all is said and done. Being stronger than average of course means they also give you more money and access to the little sister who you can either save or harvest for Adam once the big daddy is dead. Whichever you choose leads to multiple endings which, not to spoil anything but, the endings are all very boring and actually a disappointment given how much care went into the plot.
 

Of course you will be fighting enemies other than big daddies which there are quite a few of. Like most aspects of the game enemies are split up into many categories such as the leadhead who uses guns or thugs that melee attack you. There are some more bizarre other ones though such as the houdini who can teleport around the room and shoot fireballs at you. All the enemies, known as splicers, are former citizens of Rapture who were driven insane because of Adam. Now they wander around stealing items and scavenging anywhere they can to find the rare substance. It is very cool just hiding and watching them interact with environments as they do many of the things you do like looking at bodies for cash or fighting one another to claim a dropped item.  
 
Things like that are what shape Bioshock, it doesn't feel like you are put into a cool environment just to shoot enemies. The entire world is alive and there for you to explore and watch its insane inhabitants wander around. Thanks to tonics, plasmids, and a variety of guns you can choose how you want to explore the massive city of Rapture and aside from some disappointing endings it is a blast to see everything mesh together so well.