Once you enter the underwater city of Rapture, you will never want to leave...
It is very hard to call BioShock just a first-person shooter. Yes, it has got guns. Yes, it does play from a first person perspective. And yes, it is mostly based on combat and using those guns against your enemies. But it also combines various gameplay elements from different genres, such as survival horror and role-playing games. It would certainly be more appropriate to call BioShock an extremely atmospheric, survival horror, shooter video game that also has elements of a role-playing game, a complicated plot and a very lengthy single-player campaign.
The gameplay of BioShock is action-packed and killing enemies is very satisfying, sometimes rewarding too. This game combines the use of mostly ranged weaponry and these special powers - Plasmids. They are one of the "wonderful" things that were invented deep down in Rapture. The user injects himself with a specific Plasmid which allows him to do amazing things. In the game you will find many Plasmids that will allow you to do things such as: use telekinesis, shoot fire or electricity out of your hands, freeze your enemies, control the minds of hostiles and make them fight against each other or at your side, spawn a swarm of insects to attack and distract enemies. The large variety in these Plasmids and the fact that each Plasmid can also be upgraded two times to be even more powerful makes combat in the game really fun.
Add to that the seven weapons that you can use: the wrench, a revolver, a machine gun, a shotgun, a grenade launcher, a chemical thrower (which is basically a flame thrower that can use different substances for ammo) and even a crossbow. Each weapon can be upgraded two times (which not only makes them better to use but also changes their appearance) and uses three ammo types, each effective against a specific type of enemy. For example, you can even get an upgrade for the Revolver that allows you to hold 24 bullets which is pretty cool. Of course these weapons can only be upgraded at "Power to the People" stations. The upgrades are free but once a weapon is upgraded, that same station cannot be used again and you've got to find a new one, plus the stations are very hard to find.
There are also Tonics which serve a lot like Plasmids but grant you passive abilities which can prove to be very, very useful - even outside of combat. All of this cool stuff gives a lot of variety in killing your enemies and makes you feel overpowered (even a little too overpowered at times, on easy mode) but there also are things which limit your awesomeness to balance the experience. At first, you can only carry one Plasmid, Physical Tonic, Engineering Tonic and Combat Tonic at a time. Then you can buy more slots and eventually buy your way up to six slots for each type of drug. Also, using Plasmids uses up your EVE.
Plasmid and Tonic slots, new plasmids, new tonics, health upgrades, EVE upgrades etc. can be bought at "Gatherer's Gardens" for a specific amount of ADAM. ADAM is a substance made by these deep-sea slugs which allows for creation of Plasmids. Now we move on to another important aspect of the game, Little sisters. These innocent little girls were once orphans and were genetically modified to collect ADAM. They wander the corridors of Rapture carrying ADAM and everyone wants to get to them. Of course it's not that easy, every Little Sister has a protector - a Big Daddy. To get to a Little Sister you have to kill her protector. Once you do, you can either "Harvest" or "Rescue" the girl. Harvesting kills her but gives you a lot of ADAM. While rescuing saves her and turns her back into human form… but it gives you less ADAM. So you can choose to be either good or evil - but at a price. This will also affect your ending.
In BioShock, most of the enemies you will come across are Splicers, the insane remains of Rapture's once normal population. They are humans who are mentally crazy and physically deformed due to abusive ADAM consumption. There are five different types of Splicers, some are more powerful, some use guns, others throw grenades etc. You will also meet deadly turrets and flying machine gun bots that are summoned whenever you trigger an alarm when spotted by a security camera. However the toughest enemy you will find are the Big Daddies that protect the Little Sisters. They use a wide range of weaponry and there are four types of them. Every Big Daddy is actually neutral to you - if he is carrying a Little Sister, he becomes hostile if you start following him and or get too close to his girl. If he is alone, he will only become hostile if attacked.
Throughout Rapture you will collect many objects that seem useless at first but once you find a U-Invent machine, all becomes clear. You can craft various items and ammo types at these machines (using the objects you find). If you are lucky you might even find the proper ingredients for a Tonic. There are also vending and ammo machines which can sell you pretty much anything but weapons and Plasmids/Tonics. All of these machines can be hacked for lower prices. Security cameras can also be hacked to spot enemies for you, safes can be unlocked, bots can be hacked to fight at your side and turrets can shoot enemies for you as well, after a successful hack of course. The hacking mini-game is quite simple but may get very complicated depending on the difficulty of a lock or a device. Some people will not enjoy it, especially FPS fans, but I thought it was a very nice change of pace that didn't feel too sudden and was also fun to complete, even if frustrating at times.
Visually, BioShock is simply stunning. Once again, it combines two great elements, but this time, the elements are beautiful graphics and a fantastic art-style. Character models are well designed, water is simply the best you will ever see in a video game and the 40s retro, dystopia art-style of Rapture is astonishing. The PS3 version also has higher resolution textures than the X-Box 360 and PC versions. This is great but it also causes some minor texture-popping. However, it only takes around 3 seconds for the textures to load properly after loading a game so it is only a minor flaw and it won't stop you from playing the game.
This game is very enjoyable and it is just so fun to play. The gameplay is extremely addictive, the visuals are beautiful and there is no long loading times. Enemy AI is good but not extraordinary - though Splicers will always react properly to your use of Plasmids every time. There are no bugs (that I am aware of) in the patched version of Bioshock and only that minor texture-popping flaw. All of the voice acting for all characters is top-notch. There is a lot of variety in weapons, Plasmids, Tonics and enemies allowing for a great, action-packed, combat-based experience.
Bioshock has four strongest points:
Graphics and art-style (overall visuals)
Addictive, fun and varied, combat-based gameplay
An atmosphere created with visually stunning environments as well as soundtracks that fit them perfectly
An engrossing story that is very interesting and complicated thanks to many unexpected plot twists
We've heard of cases of bad open-world games before that give you massive worlds that you don't want to explore. Well BioShock is the exact opposite of that. It is a mostly linear experience that shows you where you have to go but you will always want to step off that path and do some exploring before getting on with your objective. Your very first playthrough of BioShock can take you even up to 20 hours (on the easiest difficulty) if you try to explore as much of Rapture as possible and try to be as powerful as you can get by the end of the game. If you want to earn all of the trophies and fully complete BioShock by exploring all of Rapture, it will probably take you around 40 hours spanning multiple playthroughs. So, Bioshock will last you for a good while and there are also the downloadable Challenge Rooms that are exclusive to the PS3 version.
If you own a PC, PS3 or X-Box 360 and you still haven't got BioShock then you are missing out on an incredible experience which is uncommon in video games. Now would you kindly go and buy this game?