Bioshock
2k Games
Xbox 360 & PC
Single Player - First Person Shooter

Rating: Papa Loves Mambo

When I first laid eyes on Bioshock, my first reactions were generally of shock and awe. After all, who doesn’t want to play a first-person shooter that takes place circa 1960 in an underwater city? Rapture lies beneath the waves, connected to the surface only by a strange lighthouse, but this is no ordinary city. In fact, it’s infested with genetically modified freaks who may or may not want to tear out your throat. Oh, and there are little girls who love to use needles. Creepy?
   
Aesthetically, Bioshock easily ranks as one of the best looking videogames of all time. The highly stylized Rapture is chocked full of humorously rendered retro-sci-fi goodies. The graphics are smooth and beautiful even in the face of death. With a great deal of mayhem taking place before your arrival in Rapture, there are plenty of horrific scenes of bloody, disfigured corpses. The sound is equally splendid and unforgettable, especially the heavy thud of the Big Daddy’s footsteps, and the bubbly and eerily cute remarks of the Little Sisters.
   
The gameplay of Bioshock is brilliant. Utilizing a fully upgradeable arsenal of weapons, the player is able to shoot their way through Rapture in style. Different types of ammunition allow for a great deal of variety and strategy when dealing with opponents. Where some enemies may be vulnerable to exploding buckshot, others are more likely to kick the bucket after receiving an electrified crossbow bolt to the face. An interesting camera feature allows players to photograph enemies and—by a magical leap of logic—learn their weaknesses.
   
The destruction doesn’t stop with bullets. Science in the great underwater city of Rapture has given way to unusual genetic weapons called Plasmids. These seemingly impossible mutations allow for a great deal of customization when it comes to how the player chooses to hack their way through Rapture. Want to launch a flaming barrel in an enemy’s face? Invest in telekinesis. Transversely, catching multiple opponents with an electric shock as they stand in a puddle of water can be absurdly amusing. Hordes of angry hornets, freezing balls of ice, and bursts of flame are just a few of the fun powers one can use to annihilate their foes. However, the Plasmids come at the price of Adam, which can only be gleaned from the Little Sisters.
   
The moral choice the player is forced to make with regards to acquiring Adam is the crux of Bioshock, and will ultimately affect the outcome of the game. It is these choices that truly allow the player a degree of freedom that is rare in the FPS genre. Bioshock is easily one of the deepest, funniest, and most enjoyable gaming experiences I have had in a long time. If you’re an FPS fan looking for something utterly different, Bioshock is this year’s ace in the hole.