BioShock, while being an amazing shooter, is nothing more than - a shooter.
I really looked forward BioShock. Something new... something with innovations. But I was disappointed. This game is considerably dumbed down compared to System Shock 2, which is not a prequel of this game, but it belongs to the "Shock" franchise, so, silly me for thinking they adopted the gameplay elements from SS2 to BS. They didn't.
For most parts, BioShock is a straightforward shooter. There are RPG elements, but there are no. You can equip plasmids, special abilites, but that's about it. Funnily, using plasmids is rarely neccessery. In fact, the plasmids as not as effective as the actual weapons, making plasmids ONLY useful if you run out of ammo, or if you need them for advancing in the game(for example, melt ice with the fire plasmid).
The shooting part of the game, while extremely polished, still has it's flaws. Namely, the combats are mostly close combats, and that's such a pity. The AI instantly runs at you, which is annoying, mainly because the guns look extremely cool(very detailed, the design is amazing), but you can't really take the advantage of them, if the enemies are right next to you.
Talking about enemies... well, the game's biggest problem, is the variety of enemies. There are splicers(genetically modified citizens of Rapture), Big Daddies, and security bots. Basically, that's it. There are 5 types of splicers, but it doesn't really matter - while fighting them, you won't really notice the difference, except maybe for the one which is capable of teleporting. In fact, the fights are not even challenging. Fighting the Big Daddy for the first time is amazing, but it gets old fast. The main issue is that, all you have to do, is shoot. Once you acquaire a powerful gun, a BD fight won't take any longer than 30 seconds. Also, the game allows you to save anywhere, and you can't really die- you will always be revived to a near by "vita" station, with all your guns, plasmids intact. And the damage you caused to your enemies will stay. This, in my opinion, was a bad choice. Why can't enemies revive then?
Another issue is the lack of melee combat. The wrench is not an option, because you have to specifically select it. But once the enemy gets right on you, it would quite nice to hit 'em with the gun itself - or with the other hand. Why isn't that possible? Not to mention the fact that you can't see your own legs. Ha.
The developers promised innovations, but I really don't see any. The game has 3 endings, but, still: it doesn't have much of a replay value. You can choose to harvest or rescue the Little Sisters. Obviously, If you harvest all, you get the 1st ending, if you rescue all the 2nd, and if you do both, then the 3rd. And that's about it. It's hardly an innovation that there's ONE thing in the game you can make a decision about.
Also, the story lacks, and is quite predictable. The opening is cliché. We're supposed to believe that there would be someone stupid enough to simply walk in a huge light tower in the middle of the ocean? And the "big twist" in the middle of the game is very predictable, too. While you can learn some information of the city of Rapture through audio logs, it gets tiring after a while.
The game often tells you to collect things, and that's when the gameplay simply fails. When the game prompts you to explore large facilites, basically every corner of them, I feel that creativity is running low. I often felt bored because of this. But that's nothing compared to the last few hours of the game. Unfortunately, the city isn't as big as you might think. It's pretty linear. There are a few areas which you can discover, but you won't find anything here, just ammo, or some money. Really - there's nothing to see apart from the main quest. There are no side quests, which I still can't understand... why not add a few, to actually make you feel like you're in a COMMUNITY?
Basically, the only difference between the end and the beginning is that, there are more splicers, and there are more things to collect. The "magic" of Rapture disappears quick, as eventually the scenery of the city will be repeating itself. Graphically, the game's great, but from a technical standpoint, it's nothing amazing. There are alot of clipping errors, and low resolution textures. Luckily, the design of the game makes up for it.
There is no southpaw control scheme, which is a shame. Also, using Y to jump was a huge mistake, it's really out of place.
Musically, the game's absolutely great, creepy. The music coming out of jukeboxes is a nice touch. The sound effects are also stellar. Overall, in my opinion, this game is really overrated. The gameplay is run-and-gun-and-collect, so it's not really different from "any other shooter".
However, it's atmosphere is DEFINITELY unique, so it's really worth a try. The game doesn't have multiplayer, but that's not even a problem. It would be out of place. Don't get me wrong, this game is EXTREMELY POLISHED, a REALLY great shooter, but nothing more.
There's no innovation here, no revolution. "Just another" great FPS.