Alright, so I'm a year behind everyone else in the world playing this game but that isn't going to stop me from talking about it anyway. I only acquired an Xbox 360 late last year, and I had my reservations about Bioshock. It wasn't that I doubted it was as good story-wise as people have constantly told me, it's just that I'm not big on first-person shooters: namely I find them disorienting. However I knew Bioshock wasn't going to be your typical shoot-em-up fps and from even the first moments of the game this was confirmed.
I had heard about the whole Objectivist dystopian theme, and I do love stories about dystopias, and I knew the graphics were pretty but I didn't realize just how pretty until I started playing. The first thing I did once inside a structure was begin ogling the detailed textures on the walls. As the game takes place in 1960, in a secret dsytopian underwater city called Rapture that was built throughout the late 1940's (you heard me) everything, and I mean everything was Art Deco. I was in eye candy heaven.
I have to give the Bioshock team credit for their attention to detail, and I don't just mean in the gorgeous graphics. I was impressed by the dedication to historical accuracy, from the characters' clothing, to the weaponry available, to the architecture, even down to the era dialect and slang in the recordings littered about the city that operate as your non-linear narrative. These things may escape the appreciation of your average Xbox gamer, but I'm a nerd what can I tell you.
That doesn't mean I was entirely impressed with the plot, mind you. The back-story seemed fathoms more fascinating than your present adventure, which seemed to exist just to move you through the game. Not that cooking up events just to move you along is entirely a bad thing when it comes to game design; I suppose my biggest problem was just with the plot twist. I of course expected there to be a twist as they're fairly common in games, and where it did cleverly give an in-game explanation for your blind obedience of random jackasses contacting you on a shortwave radio some of it was a little hard to swallow. I also felt the twist suddenly internalized the story, made it smaller, those who have played it may know what I mean but to say anything more would be too much of a spoiler. However, my qualms aside, by that point I had already acquired a magical hand that shoots bees and was so engrossed by the game I was willing to accept anything without much argument.
I did enjoy that you seemed to deal with a different psychopath on each level of the game (not to be confused with the waves overly-genetically-engineered mutant psychos you deal with on a regular basis), and that between their speeches and unearthed recordings you could track their descent into madness and almost see where they were coming from. Almost. I didn't much like that you hardly directly interacted with many of these characters, most hanging out behind unbreakable glass or a locked door while you watched them from afar. However given that your character doesn't talk and this is an fps I suppose it was a necessity, and it just made it all the more jarring when you did come across the one cutscene where a character is directly speaking to you.
The atmosphere of the game really is what kept me playing, I played just to look at things as much if not moreso than I did for the story. I would find myself stopping to gaze out of windows, readings signs, smiling at the era-style posters and advertisements and just admiring my surroundings in general as I wandered through Rapture. The city became a mess before you arrived in it, with water spilling in, crumbled walls, bodies on the floor, but you could almost see the splendor it once had. A striking moment for me was walking into a ruined ballroom, a large sign reading "Happy New Year 1959" casting a soft glow over the scene, and the realization that whatever disaster had occurred wasn't too long ago. You never do find out exactly what happened, but beyond the audio recordings you can find there are clues in the imagery all around you, it really is fascinating. The Big Daddies and the Little Sisters, the game's iconic ghoulies, lent themselves well to the tension of the game. Hearing those mournful groans and thundering footsteps, accompanied by a tiny, warped voice whispering about angels was unsettling to say the least. However the Big Daddies became less intimidating once I realized they wouldn't attack me unless I provoked them. Hearing old lounge and jazz music as you walked around the dark, ruined city just clinched the deal for me. Even in the first room you can faintly hear "Beyond the Sea" being played on violin, and it just creeps you out.
I wouldn't call myself a die-hard fan of the game, but I would play it again. I have the urge even now, this is what happens when you give me two endings to pursue. The ending I got by taking the more... moralistic route was rather corny, but I can forgive it, the problem becomes I can see all the ways the game would progress differently by doing the opposite. And though I wouldn't call it a short game I did get through it fairly quickly, and so I would say the replay value is quite high. Of course most people don't need me to tell them Bioshock is awesome, but if you haven't played it yet and you like creepy, like style, and like a good story you'd better get out and try it. It's on PC and now coming to PS3 so get on it, people!
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