Bioshock Review

Posted by Stropp on September 3, 2007

Way back in the dim dark ages, oh lets say 1994, I bought my first laptop computer, a 486 DX2-66. On the day I picked it up, while waiting for the salesperson to get it from the storeroom, I had a browse through the computer games section. I not only came home with a new computer that day, I came home with System Shock.

After spending some time playing with my new toy, I decided to install the game. It came on seven floppy disks and took quite a while to load onto the computer. Then I fired it up and over the next few weeks had one of the more memorable gaming experiences of my life.

System Shock was the first first person shooter that I had played, and after I had completed it, I wanted more shock. So I went and bought Doom, Rise of the Triad, and several other less memorable games. Even though these games were great games, I was disappointed. I wanted more of the story, more of the interaction and more of the fully 3D worlds (and cyberspace.)

It really wasn’t until much later that I got my wish. System Shock 2 was released. Then there were the Deus Ex games. A little game called Cybermage was in there somewhere. My gaming storylust was sated for a time.

And now, the latest of the RPG style first person shooters, Bioshock has been released.

To be honest I wasn’t really looking forward to Bioshock. I’ve been more immersed in the whole MMO genre, which is what this blog normally covers, for the last few years. I knew it was coming up of course, but it was only on its release that I really took a look. My attention was grabbed so I took the plunge and bought myself a copy.

Gameplay

While I haven’t completed the game yet, I’m having a blast. Bioshock has some truely scary moments, and I have a feeling I haven’t seen them all yet. I’m finding Bioshock fairly challenging, however, I’m set for medium difficulty and it’s been a while since I’ve played a FPS.

For me, the biggest selling point of Bioshock is that there is a very strong story that is told through your interaction between the main antagonists, and by hearing the audio diaries of some of the victims of Rapture. I’m a big story guy. I love deep and complex stories. Bioshock is not disappointing me in that regard.

From the moment you enter Rapture, the city under the sea, your main opponents will be the splicers. Splicers are the citizens of Rapture who have gone that extra step in genetic self modification. They are also quite mad and will murder you as much as look at you. Some of them also move around like demented dancers on amphetemines. They’re quite hard to hit.

There’s also Ryan. The coldly psychotic leader of Rapture. The man whose genius led him to build a city under the sea. He contacts you from time to time to taunt you and make threats, much like the mad computer Shodan in System Shock. You are assisted in the same way by Atlas, Ryans main opponent.

Bioshock implements the standard FPS mechanics that players know and love. Move using the WASD keys. Look and fire using the mouse. That sort of thing. There’s nothing really special here, it works as expected.

There are two forms of attack that you can use. Firstly, the standard weapons like the pistol, machine gun, and wrench. These use ammo, and there are three types of ammo that can be found for each weapon. The weapons are also upgradable from kiosks that occur throughout the city.

The second form of attack is by using Plasmids. Plasmids are very like psychic powers and use Eve. Perhaps the best way to describe Eve is that it’s like mana. Eve, like health, doesn’t regenerate on its own. For that you must find, or buy, Eve hypos to top up your powers. At the moment the pyrokinesis plasmid is my favorite. There’s nothing like setting fire to your enemy and watching them run around setting everything ablaze. Burn, baby, burn!

The difference from a standard FPS, and the commonality with games like SS and Deus Ex, is the ability to customize your character. You do this using various enhancements known as plasmids. You start the game with only a few open plasmid slots, but can buy more using Adam, a substance extracted from The Little Sisters. More on that later. You can also buy additional plasmids and gene tonics, you can find them laying about, they can be invented, and you can get them through photography.

Photography is a little different. You take photos of the various enemies and the camera researches them. Once a type of opponent is researched to the next level you get a reward. This might be a damage bonus to that particular type of enemy. Or it might be a new plasmid.

Which makes it important to upgrade yourself and your weapons. And for that you need Adam, which only comes from the Little Sisters. Sounds easy eh? Well it’s not. The Little Sisters have friendly guardians called The Big Daddies. Just give a Little Sister a mean look and the Big Daddy will be down on you like a ton of bricks, and they are tough. Leave the Little Sisters alone and they Big Daddies will pass you by.

But you need the Adam right? So you have to fight the Big Daddy. And once you’ve managed to take him down, you have a moral choice. Do you harvest the Adam, or save the Little Sister. Saving her will only give you a fraction of the Adam you’d get if you harvested. Harvesting is icky. I’ve done it, and each time I feel nasty afterwards. Bioshock is the only game ever to have made me feel this way in exercising a game mechanic.

Perhaps part of this is due to the relationship between the Little Sisters and the Big Daddies. The Little Sisters talk to these lumbering hulks like they are their own cuddly pets. When you take a BD down, the Little Sisters show concern for their fallen guardian. Not to mention that the Little Sisters are harmless little girls. Not quite, but enough.

Graphics

Unfortunately, my computer is unable to handle anything more than the lowest quality setting. I run a Pentium 3.4GHz with 2GB RAM and a 6600GT graphics card. I can go up to the higher settings, but the frame rate is too low to properly play. That’s okay though, because even at the lowest setting, this game looks awesome.

There has been a huge amount of work done in making the game look and feel like you are in an undersea city. Now when I first heard about the setting in an undersea city, I was expecting something like Sealab, with domes and connecting tunnels. But no. It’s not all bright and cheery. Bioshock has a real noir feel about it. Sort of like New York in the 40’s and 50’s. There are lots of towering statues and dark places. But it is a city in decay too, and that all comes through.

Bioshock is gorgeous. I wish I had a better graphics card!

Sound

In keeping with the setting, Bioshock is an audio masterpiece. The moment I stepped into the city proper, I was quite frankly, creeped out. There are moments in the game of pure fear that are not just the monster reaching out from behind the door. A number of times I have been creeping down the corridor to hear a slicer challenge me and send chills up my spine. The audio in Bioshock really sets the mood.

Downsides

There are great games, but there are no perfect games. Bioshock is no exception, but it’s close.

There don’t seem to be many bugs in the game, but I did get the dreaded Blue Screen Of Death once. The Nvidia driver crashed and brought the machine down just after getting into a new section of the city. Mind you this only happened once, and I did upgrade the driver the next day.

One of my beefs with the game play is that there doesn’t always seem to be an indication that I am taking on damage. The health indicator will go down of course, but there doesn’t seem to be a visual or audio cue that I’m getting hit. There have been a few times when I noticed there was a bad guy behind me just as it was too late. Other FPSes flash red on the screen or give some other visual cue. This would not go astray.

The other beef I have is the Vita Chambers. These are tubes that you are resurrected in if you should die. Now while they are there to help players, and I need all the help I can get, I feel like they make some things too easy. There was one fight I was in where I died repeatedly and just kept coming back until it was done. It just didn’t feel right.

There has been some ruckus on the web about 2K Games use of activations and rootkits for security. While the Securerom isn’t technically a rootkit, it acts like one, and potentially opens up a computer to attack. At least that’s the fuss. The other issue is that Bioshock can only be activated five times. It was originally twice. Bad luck if you reinstall your OS frequently. When will game publishers learn that making life difficult for legitimate customers only increases piracy? Bad publisher. No twinkie.

Conclusion

I am having a great time playing Bioshock. I guess that sums it up pretty well. A game is meant to be fun, and that is what I am having. It’s challenging and scary and has an engaging story. It has that just a few more minutes dynamic.

Bioshock is a magnificent game. If you enjoyed the Deus Ex and System Shock series, or if you like deep stories in your games, I think you will enjoy Bioshock.

I give it a rating of 9/10.

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