BIOSHOCK

Bioshock -

Positives

A brilliant plasmid system.
A wide array of enemies and 4 different difficulty levels to test your skills.
An ingenious audio diary system makes finding them more complete in the overall story arc.

Negatives

Requires more than one play through to grasp all the story.
Just doesn't match up to the likes of Killzone 2 that have set the standard for shooters.
Over too quickly and the ending seems slightly rushed.

Full Review

Bioshock is one of those games that unfortunately falls into the over-hyped section. The Xbox exclusive made the jump over to PS3 and what we get is a solid shooter that hits most of the boxes but falls flat on "wow" graphics and a decent, gripping story.

Before the game even begins, a lengthy installation will be reason enough to expect a lot from this game. Once this finishes, the main game starts with the first and only words from the main character before a horrific plane crash in the middle of the pacific occurs and you take control. The game revolves around being given instructions by an Irish guy called Atlas and later on in the game by a crazed artist and a camera-loving drug smuggler.

As the game reaches its climax its safe to say there were a few shockers thrown into an otherwise average story and some clever gameplay mechanics ensured that the action never wavered or dulled down towards the end. Once the game finished, I couldn't help but feel that there could have been more to this game.

The graphics are pretty good at best with pixels evident from close-range but nice effects for each of the plasmids but the characters themselves just don't look authentic enough and walk around like robots. However, the voice acting on each of the crazed enemies fits the bill perfectly and certainly makes up for the lack of "wow" graphics in the game and really add to the atmosphere.

The gameplay itself is where the game really excels. The gunfights and "wrench to wrench" combat is top notch and a real blast to play. Enemies fall in slightly bizarre ways but setting fire to enemies sends them running for water, a shot from a pistol to the stomach sends an enemy stumbling back and overall is just really really fun and you'll find yourself looking forward to your next gunfight.

Hacking is another gameplay element that's very fun for the first couple of hours and soon becomes more of a chore unfortunately. Changing tiles to form pipes that lead from point A to point B is fun and is a thumbs up at the old PC game that had the same gameplay mechanic. The research camera unfortunately falls under the same category. Taking pictures of enemies is great fun but aside from the damage bonuses and extra plasmids that become available, its a real pain to constantly switch between the camera and the shotgun every gunfight.

The plasmids are introduced gradually and add an extra layer of gameplay and strategy to fights. Electricity stuns enemies, telekinesis can be used to pick up corpses to shield you and incinerate, well, sets enemies on fire. These are just the first 3 you'll encounter and throughout the game there are many more that can be unlocked through the use of a mysterious substance called ADAM.

ADAM and plasmids leads me on nicely to the main "bosses". Big daddies and their little sisters. Now, generally in any sort of game the bosses come at the end of the level and are structured ordeals requiring skill to learn the enemy's moves. While this is the case with Bioshock, the Big Daddies are bosses in themselves and require quite a punch to take down. Especially in the later difficulty levels. The great thing about these mini-bosses is that they are actually neutral until you provoke them, adding a level of strategy to each fight. ADAM is almost essential for levelling up attributes like health, eve (that are used to power the plasmids) and upgrading existing plasmids and you'll find yourself almost bound to fight each one if you want to survive in the undersea metropolis.

The little sisters are actually the one part of the game that isn't linear and there is a choice whether you rescue them from their ADAM-induced coma for limited ADAM but you have the warm-fuzzy feeling of doing the right thing, or harvesting them for maximum ADAM but they won't survive. The outcome of each determines which ending you unlock so its a good idea to play through twice (especially for trophies and grasping a greater understanding of the story)

The trophies are another element of the game that are incorporated well. There are varying degrees of difficulty for each one ranging from finishing the game with vita-chambers turned off (they are essentially checkpoints that make it impossible to see a "game over" screen) to maxing out research on different enemies. The trophies are achievable on one run-through but I suggest doing it in two to fully grasp the story and get a better understanding on the main story arc.

The music and sound effects are excellent in this game with 1950s music blaring out of old vinyl players and retro jukeboxes and the blast of the shotgun and the ping of bullets off metal is top notch and seriously adds a layer of realism to this game and is the real part of the game that excelled my expectations.

A solid shooter that will possibly have you coming back for the second play through but the lack of multiplayer, fun mini-games or bonus add-ons (apart from the £7 DLC from the Playstation Store) will leave many players slightly disappointed. The game itself is well made with good boss battles and excellent gameplay but unfortunately a confusing story is made even more confusing with finding audio diaries to fill in the blanks. Although this is good fun, some players may not have the patience to find all of them which makes this a positive and a negative.

The game is a must-play but over-hyping makes this game always one step behind the perfect game it so easily could have been with improvements on the story and graphics.

Conclusion Scores

Graphics -

The graphics aren't disastrous but other shooters on the PS3 have excelled in this market and Bioshock just doesn't match up to those games.

Story -

The story will leave you in limbo with a loose plotline and confusing-at-best story arc. A second play through should iron out most of the confusion but this could have been improved drastically.

Gameplay -

Excellent gameplay mechanics and a brilliant plasmid system won't ever leave you with cheap deaths or frustration and overall is one of the best games that generally excels with gunplay and good old fashioned fun.

Trophies -

Varying degrees of difficulty ensure that the trophies aren't too easy and aren't too hard to achieve.

Sound -

The one part of the game that exceeded my expectations. The music is spot-on with the atmosphere and the voice acting is generally creepy and excellent. The sound effects are also brilliant.

Lasting Appeal -

Unfortunately the lack of multiplayer drags this score down. The lack of bonus features also damages this score. The game can be played through twice and there is downloadable content available but do you really want to spend an extra 7 quid for a few bonus levels?

Overall Score -

Bioshock is a good game with brilliant controls and excellent gameplay but over hyping and the lack of bonus features, average graphics and a confusing story drag this down from the perfect game it so easily could have been.

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