I've never gotten around to playing the previous Bioshock games, so this was my first experience in this universe. In the beginning, I found the game fascinating: discovering this massive city in the sky, wondering why I'm asked to find Elizabeth and who she was, observing the extreme and shocking racism in the city... these are all themes that seemed terrifically promising.
But the more the story starts to unravel, the less I liked it, and the more I just wanted it to be over. What seemed like an intriguing plot turns into an outright absurd and convoluted mess that is just too bizarre for my taste. And you never really get to be immersed in the social fabric of what initially looked like a fascinating city.
The graphics are great, sound is okay. The combat is fluid and generally fun, but there's so much of it that it eventually gets tiring. You can explore the world a bit, but the game gives you very little reason to do so. Ultimately, you're going to just shoot your way through from one checkpoint to another, while occasionally looking around for some ammo, health, and salt (for vigors). The whole city just serves as a backdrop for the incessant, mindless shooting.
The game does have high replayability value because there are a lot of things that happen during the game that only make sense later on - so you'll understand the story better by replaying it. In my case, the story was so out there I'm not interested in playing again in the slightest.
For the good graphics, decent combat, and unique setting, this game deserves a solid 6/10.