Bioshock was the best game released in 2007. Everything about it was done so incredibly well and it all comes together in one of the greatest gaming experiences of all-time.
First off, let me say that this is one of the most well-written games I can ever remember playing. Everything clicks, everything makes sense, and everything is explained throughout the game. And there's even a twist worthy of "Saw" a bit more than halfway through. The story gets a bit complex at parts and you'll have have to dig in deeper at some parts (via Audio Diaries), but it makes you more than willing to do this. When its all said and done, the story found in Bioshock can be seen as better than most movies and definitely proves that games can be used as a medium for storytelling.
Next, the gameplay. The controls are well-done and easy to get used to. You can use a large variety of plasmids as well as guns and switching between them is easy since the game pauses at the selection screen, but you never feel like you're being pulled out of the action (this goes double for PC gamers as you will be switching weapons in real-time). The action is fast paced and never dull. This is due to the vast number of ways you can kill an enemy. You might even find yourself spending more time determining how you're going to kill the next splicer than you spend actually doing it. The large number of combinations you can use between plasmids and guns add up to nearly infinite possibilities. The guns are also well done in that they themselves have a lot of variety. You have a wrench (standard melee weapon), pistol, machine gun, shotgun, grenade launcher, crossbow, and chemical thrower. Each of these weapons (minus the wrench) have 3 types of ammo. This can be as simple as anti-personnel rounds for the pistol to something simple awesome like heat-seeking RPGs for the grenade launcher and electric buck for the shotgun. All the types of ammo have advantages and even simply combining these can lead to hours of some of the most creative kills you've ever made in a videogame. The plasmids now, are a whole nother thing. These are genetic alterations that give you the power to do things such as light someone on fire, stun them with electricity, or send a swarm of bees after them. There are lots of things to do with both plasmids and guns and the combinations will leave you realizing you haven't killed any 2 guys the same way throughout the game. There is also a research camera you will use to perform research on different enemies. Don't get all upset at this, its easy as taking a picture of an enemy. Good pictures will result in better research scores and higher levels of research can give you advantages such as higher damage to enemies as well as new tonics and abilities. Now that I've mentioned tonics, I'll explain those a little. These add to the way you do anything. There are 3 types of tonics. Engineering, combat, and physical tonic. Each type gives you advantages in the category it suggests. Engineering tonics may help you get things cheaper from vending machines. Combat tonics will enable you to be more sneaky or let you freeze someone with the swing of a wrench. And physical tonics will give you the ability to do things like move faster or turn invisible upon standing still. When all this comes together, they form one amazing package of gameplay you'll find addicting and keep coming back to after even numerous completions (hey, I'm on number 4).
The sound design and graphics in Bioshock add even more to the overall game. The game runs on the Unreal Engine, so it looks beautiful. The way characters move and how everything flows in the game make it look amazing. This design is also supported by great sound. And the water graphics are some of the best I've ever seen in a game. The game's graphics already give you an eerie feel, with the dark, submarine rooms and the shadows cast on the wall, and whatever it may be, but this is all completed with the sound. The dialogue from the splicers and Little Sisters can be so eerie and ominous that you're afraid to go around the corner and see what's going on. Hearing these incredibly messed up and sick splicers sing part of a verse to the song "Jesus Loves Me" (or something like that) along with hearing Little Sisters innocently refer to the corpses whose blood she drinks as "Angels" can make for a frightening and disturbing experience.The game is also made eerie by the whale-like moaning heard from Big Daddys. Along with this comes the amazing soundtrack. The game is set in 1960, so most of the music you'll hear is of that era. The soundtrack was written by Garry Schyman and contains some beautiful pieces such as "Choen's Masterpiece" and the famous violin heavy "Welcome to Rapture" heard on the journey to Rapture in the bathysphere. There are also obviously music recorded and popular in the 50's and 60's era that you will hear throughout the game. Some of it will come through old-fashioned loudspeakers, or it could be hummed by some of the insane splicers. Songs you will hear include "Beyond the Sea" heard in a couple of the trailers for the game, or "Papa Loves Mambo" among other things I'm sure grandparents (should you be gaming around them) will feel proud to be able to point out to you. These 60's styled songs add to the eerieness of Rapture in how everything just went to hell. You know you're alone, isolated from the rest of the world, but the music always lets you know that someone else is there, its just your job to find out who and where.
When all this comes together, you'll remember Bioshock as one of the best games to come out ever, and probably in the top 5 if not the number one game to come out this generation (I am aware of GTA4 and MGS, but this was an original game, not based on already popular franchises). The game's intuitive (and inventive) story, immersive gameplay, and amazing sound and graphics pull Bioshock together in one of the greatest gaming experiences of all-time.
