A strong successor to System Shock that doesn't quite live up to it's legacy.
Now, unlike Gamespot, I had zero hitches with mine, although that could be easily attributed to the completely new setup I got for it. Technically, the game is demanding but unlike some it truly looks like it needs those specs. The game has some real nice art direction, and can be truly fast paced, with matching sound making up an all together creepy and engaging package.
I'm sure by now you know that this game is like the spiritual successor to System Shock 2, and that's a tough act to follow. You have a lot of similar elements: a derelict setting, deadly mutants and machines, the plot delivered via audio recordings and messages with a few in game cutscenes to fill it out, and of course the standard fair of the first person shooter, namely blow stuff up. What sets this one a bit apart from System Shock 2 is that you aren't quite alone. You're still mostly alone, but at some key points in the game you will be interacting with people, although only at a very minimal level. Another thing different is the total lack of a formal inventory system. Here it is streamlined into simple limits of capacity which is both good and bad, good in that it is easy, bad in that it is... well easy (more on that in a bit).
As said, sound and graphics are both stellar. Sound in particular is very good, with full voice acting for all the recordings that is solidly performed, and sets a very convincing tone to everything. Your enemies also are quite verbose, ranting on in their madness as they stalk you, and the little sisters, as they are called, are just plain creepy. Graphics are quite the same, making good use of the unreal 3 engine. The game looks very pleasing and the art direction works quite well for helping to set that mood. However, it isn't quite perfect. Because of the cramped quarters, it really lacks one of those "WOW" moments. You know, you look out at the coastline of Half Life 2 and just pause to take in the scenery, or in Doom 3 where the lighting engine was put to creepy effect in several tense moment. Here I really never had cause to pause to take things in. Instead it was a bunch of small locations that, while looking quite good, are ultimately forgettable. Still, don't let that sound too bad, it's just holds it back slightly from getting my best grade in the looks department.
Now, where Bioshock starts to show it's true weakness is in the gameplay. Everything has been streamline for quick and easy approach. Even dying is mostly trivial as you just revive nearly instantly at the nearest revival pod. While most of that can to good for a quick fun experience, it weakens the difficulty substantially. Enemies don't even recover health after you die, and you can often get right back into the fight if it isn't far from the pod.
But, we're not done. I've already mentioned that you only have a simple capacity limit inventory (where you can hold X ammo for each weapon of each type), which while nice also limits the challenge more. The plasmids, Bioshock's special ability system, are nice a flashy, but come off as persistently underpowered, especially when you only have 1 ammo for all offensive ones and it's becomes very limited (which is actually an issue I had with System Shock 2's mind powers as well so that's not surprising). That's not to say they are useless, far from it, they just don't have the punch you'd expect and become easily underutilized as the game progresses. On the other hand, unlike System Shock 2, where you had to ultimately choose how to progress, Plasmids are easily obtained and you can pretty much get them all by the end of the game requiring that you have no true specialization. Hacking too is very simple. There is only 1 hacking mini game, and for each thing you hack it always starts in the same configuration, although the details may alter as you reveal them. It amusing for the first while, but by about half way thru the game it becomes needlessly tiring and tedious as you go thru the same puzzles over and over again. And, don't worry too much about getting lost. You have a complete map the moment you enter a zone, making exploration a breeze. Lastly, although you'll run into the occasional stretch where health or ammo is scarce, those times are few. Money, which can be used to buy either fairly easily, is plentiful for those that look, and you can easily restock.
All that negativity aside, the game is still very solid. Enemies are engaging and all use their own unique tactics based on their type requiring you to adapt to each. Plasmids do offer some interesting options in the fights, and often are well used as mechanics within the game world. With that easy going death system, at most you'll be annoyed by a death, but can easily get back in there and adjust your approach, avoiding that usual save and reload method of gameplay. While having a complete map may make it kind of easy, it also avoids most of the mazy'ness that could easily have resulted and helps a lot for ensuring you get everything explored. And finally, control wise the game is extremely solid. My only minor quibble being the use of the mouse wheel button for both ammo type while weapon switch was also on the wheel, but this is easily tweaked in setup and was only a very minor control issue to start with.
All in all, it's still a very enjoyable experience and a great game overall, just not quite superb.