Going into BioShock..
You can skip this if you wish, it is just a small introduction into why
I'm interested in this game and what I expected going into it. I've
been keeping an eye on this game ever since it's release, but due to
not having a Xbox 360 at the time I never had a chance to play it and
eventually lost interest in it. Fast forward months ahead when I do
have the Xbox 360. I was at a local game retailer and I saw BioShock on
the shelf for $39.99 used. Since I had the cash on me and still
interesting in playing it, I purchased it. I was expecting a few hours
long campaign, and low replay value since there was no multiplayer or
anything to keep you interested after wards. Now let's start the review
and you'll see what I saw as it's high points and what are it's lows.
BioShock starts you off in the shoes of the protagonist who was
mysteriously involved in a plane crash over the ocean, strangely over
the magnificent underwater city known as Rapture. Slowly the pieces of
the story form over the time you play the game, which come together as
a great story that is one of the reasons you should play this game.
First off, BioShock is a graphically amazing game. No one can really
deny this fact. Rapture and it's inhabitants are visually appealing.
Even though you are in the deepest depth of the ocean the environments
are clean, spooky, and above all stunning. Just looking out the windows
around the city you'll see other parts of the city in the distance
which are worth the few seconds of time you could be using to smash a
splicer's head in with a wrench.
One of my personal favorite aspects of the game is the use of plasmids
that make up one side of your arsenal. From lightening strikes to
setting cyclone traps to telekinesis to even shooting hornets towards
the enemies, you can customize your arsenal of plasmids to fit your
style. Besides plasmids there's conventional weaponry such as: a
pistol, shotgun, machine gun, grenade launcher, and a few others to
make your stroll through Rapture a bit more fun. Ammunition is never
scarce in BioShock. With the ammunition vending machines and general
supplies vending machine, combined with spread out drops, and enemy
drops you should have enough ammo at all times. Plasmids on the other
hand use EVE as the fuel to work. EVE is found through out the game in
syringe-type vials, and also in vending machines.
Besides plasmids and weaponry, there's these things called tonics. They
are equipped same was plasmids, but aren't used in direct combat.
Tonics are categorized in categories such as: engineering, physical,
and so on. Some tonics are used for making hacking safes, security
bots, vending machines, and those types of things faster and easier,
others are used to increase strength with the wrench, or even give you
camouflage when standing still. There's a lot of tonics to collect, so
you can switch them around and test them out as you see fit.
When decide to purchase some tonics or plasmids you'll notice normal
cash doesn't do it. To buy plasmids and tonics you'll need the heavily
sought after ADAM. ADAM is what these little girls called Little
Sisters harvest from dead bodies and such around Rapture. To get the
ADAM you can't simply ask for it, or kill her to get it. Big Daddies,
the hardest enemies in the game, are their protectors. Big Daddies are
heavily armored and usually equipped with a huge drill or grenade
launcher weapon. All in all they're not the hardest thing in the world
to kill if you know how to handle them using various types of
ammunition, such as the electro-buck, anti-personnel bullets, etc.
After you take down the Little Sister's Big Daddy, you can choose to
harvest her for 160 ADAM, or rescue her for 80 ADAM. For rescuing
Little Sister's you do get a reward from it, woman you meet along the
way will send you rewards after saving so many. Also
harvesting/rescuing has some ending game differences.
The characters in this game also make the game seem even more real.
When you pick up a recorder in BioShock, it's similar to files in a
game like Resident Evil, but these are all audio records, no reading in
this game! The audio recordings will fill you in on background
characters, and their little bit of input on the story. Audio records
can also give you codes to locked doors, and information for certain
parts of the game. The voice acting in this game is spot on, every
character seems real and most are all insane.
Andrew Ryan is the man you will hear the most crap from throughout the
game. He will tell you how you're making no difference and why he's so
right. He built that city with no religion or government to get in the
way of science. He got his city, but something went wrong and it's no
more than an underwater tomb. Andrew Ryan tries his best to kill you or
stop you along the way, he makes a great antagonist, the kind that
makes your trip to him worth the long walk and time.
There is much more to this game I could tell you, but I don't want to
completely spoil the experience of the game. This is a game that a vast
audience will enjoy. First person shooter and survival horror fans will
find this to be a great time, and you will enjoy the ride that is
BioShock.
