Hype can be a horribly fiddly thing to get right in the games industry; use too little, and the best game ever created will slip under the radar of all but the most diehard fans; use too much, and you get what is now known as the “Assassin’s Creed Effect”, in which a really good game is crapped on by pretty much everyone because the pre-release hype machine made it seem like the second coming.
So it was with just a bit of trepidation that I picked up my copy of BioShock on the day of release; there were barely any reviews available at the time, and this was most definitely a game that had been hyped up out the wazoo. Now that I am on my fourth play through since that fateful day, I am well and truly happy to say that the hype, while a little extreme, was not so far wrong that it takes away from what this game is: Superb.
Visually, the game is stunning. Powered by a modified Unreal Engine 3, it’s not really surprising to see the usual bells and whistles like realistic character models, bloom, HDR lighting, etc, etc. The water effects, in particular, are stunning to behold, and probably won’t be topped in a game until the inevitable release of BioShock 2; they’re just that good.
What really takes the breath away in the visual department, however, is not simply the technical beauty; rather, it is in the wonderful art-deco (and at times, almost steam-punk) styling of the game world, and the sheer amount of effort that has gone into making the city of Rapture feel like a living, breathing place and a character in its own right, rather than just a series of levels.
A great deal of effort has obviously gone into crafting a setting that is both beautiful to behold and extremely unsettling, and this dichotomy works very well indeed. Every single moment, from the initial plane crash, to the first trip in a bathysphere, to simply wandering through Rapture’s locales; every moment showcases this wonderful, horrible place to its fullest potential, and the work put into creating this sense of dreadful awe in the player makes it hard to go back to the generic space dungeons of other FPSes.
Of course what would be the point of all this wonderful environment and art work if the storyline and gameplay didn’t match? Rapture is the utopian dream of Alex Ryan; a haven for the intellectuals of the world, a place where they can create whatever they want without fear of censorship or persecution. Naturally this dream was to be short-lived; create a place for the amoral to thrive, and they will most likely thrive at the expense of others. Now Rapture is a dying place, wracked by civil war and a population driven mad by addiction to genetic modification. Now you’ve arrived by accident, and it’s rather important that you find a way out of this dystopian nightmare as quickly as possible.
The story itself is presented in a way which is very typical of Irrational’s (Now 2K Boston/Australia) previous titles (such as System Shock 2), focusing on a strong, linear narrative involving science gone wrong, betrayals, and a whole lot of nastiness. There is also a huge amount of back story available to the player if they are so inclined; in this case through locating audio diaries scattered around Rapture, and which can range from giving deep insights into important characters, through to showcasing the humorous ranting of a janitor.
Actually, this would probably be a good moment to discuss the audio of the game. The voice acting in the audio diaries (and other parts of the story) is top notch; best of all there is an Australian character, and wonder of wonders he doesn’t sound like Croc Dundee! The voice acting of the enemy Splicers is also superb, with just the right combination of menacing, creepy, and darkly funny.
What really deserves a mention, however, is the environmental sounds of Rapture. From the steady dripping of water, to the ominous groans of steel settling into the ocean bed, the sounds of Rapture really capture the feeling of a city at the bottom of the ocean, and one which is rapidly turning into a tomb. It is amazing how claustrophobic this makes you feel (especially when combined with the occasional piano melody), and how much it adds to the sense of dread about what’s around the next corner.
The game itself plays similarly to most first person shooters, with a decent selection of weapons (including some unique ones, like the chemical thrower). Where BioShock really stands out is through the usage of Plasmids and Tonics. Plasmids are, in a word, hellawicked (it still counts). From the basic electro-zapper, to tossing fire or bees (!) around, to even stuff like telekinesis or making a fake version of yourself to fool enemies, all of these powers are cool and really open things up (especially when combined with the realistic game world), creating a tonne of options for emergent gameplay.
See a bad guy standing in a puddle (and there are a tonne of puddles, Rapture ain’t what she used to be)? Hit him with a bit of lightning and watch him fry. Oil slick on the floor? Flame throwing time! Turret getting you down? Hypnotise a Big Daddy and let him loose on it.
Ah yes, the Big Daddies and Little Sisters, one of the best ideas to come along in a game for quite a while now. Pretty much every area of Rapture will have multiple Little Sisters present. These genetically modified little girls go around sucking the Adam out of corpses (not as dirty as it sounds); since this stuff is what powers Plasmids, it’s in high demand, and naturally this brings out the whackos who want to juice themselves up some more. Therefore it’s only natural that the Little Sisters would need some big protection, and this comes in the form of the Big Daddies.
Each Big Daddy is a hulking behemoth; a genetically modified human in an armoured diving suit, complete with a drill for an arm (or rivet gun, depending on the type) and a rather nasty attitude. The Daddies will ignore you if you ignore them and the Little Sisters, going no further than shoving you out of the way; threaten the girl however, and all hell breaks loose.
And the fact is you most likely will be threatening the Little Sisters, because you are going to need the Adam they have. Forming the moral crux of the game, the real decision is whether you take a little bit and let them live, or whether you achieve ultimate power at the cost of leaving their little corpses on the ground behind you (note: you don’t actually see their bodies); it’s poignant stuff choosing whether or not to kill a little girl to aid your own chances of survival, and is made all the more so because they plead and cry and, well, look like innocent little girls.
Regardless of whether you wish to be benefactor or murderer however, you are still going to have to fight the Big Daddies, and this is some of the most fun in the game. Each wandering Big Daddy and Little Sister combo serves as a boss fight of sorts; they’re tough to kill, and won’t hesitate to rip chunks out of you once you piss them off. Careful planning and ambush tactics are the best way to proceed here; water, tripwire, explosives, and reprogrammed turrets are all immensely useful in taking down the monsters with the minimum amount of death on your part.
Speaking of reprogrammed turrets, you should definitely enjoy plumbing to get the most out of this game. Don’t look at me like that, it’s true. Whenever you want to hack an electronic object, ranging from turrets to safes to security cameras, you must play a little mini-game that involves directing water through pipes to a specific destination; the pipe pieces are on tiles, and the challenge comes from uncovering and rearranging these before time runs out. This task, while initially quite enjoyable, soon becomes mind-numbingly boring; the only saving grace is that there are ‘auto-hack’ items available, and these are relatively abundant.
The hype machine had us thinking of BioShock as an RPG ‘lite’, with a Deus Ex-like gaining of abilities and customisation of weapons in a First Person Shooter setting. This is true to a certain extent, but in truth BioShock seems to have more of the downsides of RPG games than the benefits. There are no experience points or levelling or anything like, and abilities are gained merely by buying them or finding the relevant power-up; different ammunition types are available, which is a nice touch, but weapon customisation occurs through locating a particular vending machine and choosing an upgrade, rather than having a system of trade-offs or anything like that.
The swapping of your plasmid powers, hacking, or even changing weapons, brings us to the most RPG-like feature of the game; every time you do this (unless you are content to cycle through by button tapping), the game pauses until you’ve finished, ala something like Neverwinter Nights; sure it beats getting killed while desperately trying to tell your shotgun from your crossbow, but is constant pausing really a great design move in an action-packed FPS? All they needed was to allow you to queue up actions and use Magic Missile, and this could have been a first person Dungeons and Dragons game.
Another major criticism is that the moral choices of the game are largely an illusion; the story (barring the end cutscene) plays out largely in the same way regardless of whether you save or execute the Little Sisters, and much of the larger issues of morality are linearly dealt with; the real problems which have befallen Rapture are addressed, but the player is never more than a spectator due to the linearity of the experience, which is a real shame; imagining a true RPG in this setting gets the mouth watering.
Finally, the main problem with BioShock is that it is just ridiculously easy to complete. The game itself is typical length for an FPS (around eight hours), but the presence of the free, auto-resurrecting Vita-Chambers seemingly around every corner means that death really means nothing at all; in fact it is entirely possible to attack a Big Daddy, get killed, run back to it, get killed, and repeat ad nauseam until you’ve finally dropped it; hardly the way the game was intended to be the play. If you have the strength of will to not take advantage of this particular ability, the game will be a lot more challenging, and thus more satisfying as a result.
All in all BioShock is an immensely enjoyable game to play; a strong FPS with some new concepts, a couple of revolutionary additions, and a storyline and setting that goes far beyond ‘rescue the princess/all my marines are dead and now I want revenge’ and other typical gaming scenarios, and instead presents an intelligent setting which succeeds in immersing the player, and also challenging their perceptions on morality and the concept of utopia. If BioShock had had a little more depth to the playing experience, and a little more interaction with the storyline, it would have easily surpassed Deus Ex as the greatest story-based FPS ever created; as it is, BioShock is a damn good game with a memorable setting, and doesn’t suffer too badly now that the hype has died down.
Graphics: 9.5/10 (Technically and artistically beautiful; many games use the state of the art Unreal engine, but none of them match the sheer style of BioShock.)
Sound: 10/10 (From pipes leaking to enemies howling, every sound is designed to make the experience come alive. When combined with terrific voice acting and haunting music, this is the most perfect soundtrack a game has ever had.)
Gameplay: 8/10 (Common FPS gameplay with some breakout ideas; Plasmids and environmental interaction take this well beyond the basics of other games; the RPG-lite features don’t hurt, although the constant pausing, hacking mini game, and Vita-Chambers certainly do.)
Longevity: 4/10 (Even without exploiting the Vita-Chambers, BioShock is over all too soon. What’s worse is, despite the promise of multiple paths based off morality, the game is essentially completely linear; I’ve only played through this many times for professional purposes, and even on the second time through the game a great deal of the magic is lost, making it unlikely you will bother after that.)
Overall: 8/10 (A very good story-based FPS which loses some of its shine once the glossy graphics and amazing setting have worn off. Despite some flaws, and a lack of replayability, BioShock represents a new take on story, setting, and philosophical issues in games, and shows a maturity in a medium dominated by space soldiers, moustachioed plumbers, and big-breasted raiders of tombs. BioShock bucks a tonne of gaming trends, and deserves to be viewed as a piece of art as well a game. Thankfully the game part ain’t too bad neither.)
-Tim Sweeney
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