BioShock

How many bad puns can we incorporate into the following paragraphs? By the time you finish reading this, you'll be drowning in them. But all the cleverness we can muster up from the depths of our being still isn't enough to adequately express just how original and tantalizing BioShock came across to us at E3 2006. It left us deep in thought, wondering why such a visually impressive, profoundly interesting game would be tucked away beneath the surface of all the agitated excitement on the show floor. BioShock stunned us only behind closed doors at publisher 2K Games' booth, as developers from Irrational Games demonstrated some of the game's finer points in a working demo. There's little to show for it besides some pretty-looking still images (that are, in fact, suggestive of how the game looks in full motion) and our own tall tales about how well the game seems to be coming together. So take our word for it when we say that, of all the 1,000-plus games we saw at E3 2006, BioShock stood out the most vividly in our collective memory.

BioShock's disturbing, claustrophobic world seems to be full of thought-provoking themes, but beyond that, it's just interesting to look at.

While we don't exactly need to fish for good reasons to explain why this game sailed away with our top honors, a lot of the credit must go to BioShock's artistic design--it's more than just pretty graphics, though it's got plenty of those. The game takes place in an alternate-reality 1950s, in which some segment of humankind nestled itself far underwater in some utopian sea lab. However, the sea lab begins to crumble, even as genetic mutation brings the populace of the place to the brink of extinction, or at least, complete metamorphosis. The object is simple: to escape. Seeing the game's disturbing and fascinating world, the purpose of getting out alive is instantly clear. Yet the curiosity to soak up all the mysteries of BioShock seems all too difficult to resist. The game's premise grabbed us right away--how could such a suffocating atmosphere seem so much fun to play around in?

From a gameplay standpoint, BioShock seems to offer a level of open-endedness along the lines of the recent highly acclaimed role-playing game, Oblivion, and that's a pretty reassuring frame of reference. However, when you add in the boldly original presentation and some similarly unusual characters, weapons, and abilities, the result is a game that's got us anxiously holding our breath to find out if it can truly live up to this great impression we took away. We'd like nothing better than for developer Irrational to take every moment it needs to get this one just right. [Editor's Note: We've included only the 360 version of BioShock because this was the only version on display at E3. The game is scheduled to arrive on the PC and PS3 as well.]

Finalists

Assassin's Creed (PS3)
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (PC)
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (PC)
Gears of War (X360)
God of War II (PS2)
Spore (PC)
Supreme Commander (PC)
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Wii)