[As I progress through my university degree, the amount of work I have to do steadily increases, with this, my ability to procrastinate also increases. This leads me to try to become better at writing. What easier way to do that than try my hand at writing reviews? I know this game is old by internet standards, but it's my cBlog and I can do what I want, go play call of duty or something]

Created by 2K games, Bioshock is the game of the year. That means it is better than every other game released this year including Halo 3, Super Mario Galaxy and Guitar Hero 3. Does it justify this title? (Ok, I'm going to say yes now, just so you can stop reading if you want to). Can a steam-punk FPS with zombies on steroids really have meaningful social commentary? If you have yet to play the game, I suggest you read this review.

The first thing that hits you when you start playing Bioshock is the graphical beauty of the game. Using a combination the Unreal Engine 3 and some very detailed textures, the game pulls off some of the most impressive graphical feats of any game currently out for the 360. Water plays a huge roll throughout the game and you will find yourself on more than one occasion just starring at a waterfall or puddle. The palpable dampness of this underwater dystopia stays with you throughout the game and really makes a huge, yet understated difference to the atmosphere the game creates. This applies not just to the water, but all the models, maps and textures.



The overall design of the place is perfect. It feels (much like the images portray) like a classic 1960s world, with a much darker undertone. The environments you travel through are extremely rich and well designed places. From the humidity and heat of The Core to the cold, hard Medical Center, everything has plenty detail. Every item fits into place perfectly. The use of physics compliments this well and although not always perfect, it is easily good enough not to detract from the game. In a similar way to Half Life 2, using plasmids as oppose to the gravity gun, you can hurl things at bad guys, and it's just as satisfying.

The music in Bioshock is just as good and well executed as the graphics. The score has the classic 1960s feel and, often creepily cheery, makes the whole place feel not so much alive but still very much aware. The real strength of the audio comes in the voice acting. Possibly some of the best I have ever heard in any video game, it's hard not to just accept the characters are real. This helps tremendously with you fitting into and understanding the story, which is the greatest strength of Bioshock.



Hurling you into the world of Rapture, you play the roll of Jack. A seemingly innocent survivor of an aeroplane crash, you find yourself in this fallen empire of man. The story is deep, powerful and has far more meta levels than I care to think about. The city was built at the bottom of the sea by Andrew Ryan, who envisaged a new Eden for mankind. A place where people would reap the rewards of their effort without any government, religion or morality to constrain them. The three pillars of Rapture; science, business and art are ever apparent and give the basis for nearly all the environments. Soon however cracks in this visage of purity began to emerge.

Taking from most modern first person shooters you are never taken out of the first person view. You are also almost always in full control and using purely good direction and theatrics you always seem to look the right way. The way the designers toy with how they know you will react, where you will look and what you will be doing has, on more than one occasion, caused me to miss a heartbeat.



The game play itself is fairly standard fps, with a few nice tweeks. As well as having the usual collection of guns, you also have Plasmids. Genetic modifications allowing you to, for example, set people on fire, shoot bees at them or freeze them. Being able to upgrade your weapons is another nice touch. However to do this you need to find “Power to the People” stations which are doted around the city. Often well hidden. Other notable game play features is the security systems. Autonomous turrets and cameras litter the place and it's completely up to you how you deal with them. Go around, destroy or hack and make friendly. Each option has it's benefits and problems. Hacking is often easiest and requires you either have an auto-hack tool, or you manually hack it. Hacking takes you into the mini game. A lot of people say this detracts from the game play. I however disagree. When time is tight and you know you have to hack this turret to survive, the rush you get on completion only helps to pull you in.

This game has so much more than I can fit into this review, and I would highly recommend if you don't already own it, going out and buying it. Be aware though, if you just run through, shooting things, following the arrow leading you to the next level, you will have a very average game. You need to take the time to look around you in Rapture. When you do, you discover a world so engrossing and deep it will be a tough one to beat.

8.5/10