With BioShock comes an all new and completely unique game. 2K games have outdone not only themselves but any other game developer on today's market.
To write a paragraphed Review on this game would lead to repetitiveness and long speeches so I will try to keep the points contained within headings: Originality – 10/10 I wanted to have a heading for Originality but kept on crossing into the story and game play of BioShock so I will only say that for Originality BioShock truly does offer a unique plot and game as a whole.
Graphics – 9.5/10 BioShock was first released on the PlayStation 3 in 2008 and the Graphics are brilliant, for the time and for the present. I have not been more impressed with any game since. Except for the rare "skipping" of frames there are no complaints about the game.
Story/Plot – 10/10 Twisted and deranged but at the same time deep and emotional. BioShock will have you feeling all sorts of different emotions and will pull you into the story and have you gripped and wishing for more right from the off. You start the game as a passenger on a plane, after a series of events you find yourself entering an isolated tower which after following a stairway takes you to the world of Rapture, and there your story begins. Whilst exploring Rapture you will find Diaries in the form of Radios which take you deeper into Raptures past and give the player a detailed understanding of the world of BioShock. A large part of the plot revolves around the Little Sisters which have an emotionally gripping past, present and future, with the background stories and Audio Diaries of the Little Sister I felt every emotion known, except humour. If you want to play a game for the laughs and jokes then BioShock is not for you. There are also important moral decisions for your character to make which will impact how the game ends, adding yet more emotion to the game.
Sound – 7.5/10 With the game being set in the 1960's the music of the decade was taken full advantage of and the music used adds a sort of creepiness to the game which adds to the dark and deep genre of BioShock. The '60s was probably the best decade of choice, for the music, if nothing else. The voices of the characters and the sounds are perfectly chosen for the game, every sound that the enemies make has an eerie but realistic feel to them, especially the Little Sisters. However the in-game music and sounds overwhelm the Voices, with each having their own volume control (Master, Sound, Music and Voice) I have Voice on 100% with the Music and Sound in 70% and 60% respectively and still have a hard time hearing the Voices over the radios.
Game play – 9/10 As far as game play goes BioShock is a First Person Shooter (FPS) but taken in a whole new way. With variety of weapons kept simple and somewhat basic it is easy to navigate through your inventory and find the right weapon/ammo for the job. A large part of the game play and plot is the use of Plasmids, the first of which is the power to use lightning, which offers a whole new arsenal and a chance to use tactical game play with the use of plasmids against enemies and the environment.
Replayability – 10/10 As for replayability the game only offers a higher difficulty setting; however the use of vita chambers (re-spawn points) can be turned on/off manually via the options menu to increase difficulty if required from the first playthrough. But this is not a negative point. I have played through the game several times and yet I am still finding out new things about the world of Rapture through new diaries etc. My advice is play, play and play through game time and time again until every trophy is achieved as this will allow you to get the most out of the game whilst still giving the player something to achieve rather than just story completion.
Overall/conclusion: I would recommend BioShock to any serious gamer, even if it is not the genre or game type that you usually play. I can't find any real fault with the game or the story and I honestly hope that 2K games continue to make games that are on par or better than BioShock. I personally believe that 2K have a long life ahead of them and will continue to make extraordinary games. I would have liked to reach the 1200 word mark to opt for a detailed review type, however there isn't really much more that I can say about the game without adding a spoiler or two so I will leave the rest to you and hope that you enjoy your own experience of the game.
Thank you for the time and patience to read through that,
Matt
To write a paragraphed Review on this game would lead to repetitiveness and long speeches so I will try to keep the points contained within headings: Originality – 10/10 I wanted to have a heading for Originality but kept on crossing into the story and game play of BioShock so I will only say that for Originality BioShock truly does offer a unique plot and game as a whole.
Graphics – 9.5/10 BioShock was first released on the PlayStation 3 in 2008 and the Graphics are brilliant, for the time and for the present. I have not been more impressed with any game since. Except for the rare "skipping" of frames there are no complaints about the game.
Story/Plot – 10/10 Twisted and deranged but at the same time deep and emotional. BioShock will have you feeling all sorts of different emotions and will pull you into the story and have you gripped and wishing for more right from the off. You start the game as a passenger on a plane, after a series of events you find yourself entering an isolated tower which after following a stairway takes you to the world of Rapture, and there your story begins. Whilst exploring Rapture you will find Diaries in the form of Radios which take you deeper into Raptures past and give the player a detailed understanding of the world of BioShock. A large part of the plot revolves around the Little Sisters which have an emotionally gripping past, present and future, with the background stories and Audio Diaries of the Little Sister I felt every emotion known, except humour. If you want to play a game for the laughs and jokes then BioShock is not for you. There are also important moral decisions for your character to make which will impact how the game ends, adding yet more emotion to the game.
Sound – 7.5/10 With the game being set in the 1960's the music of the decade was taken full advantage of and the music used adds a sort of creepiness to the game which adds to the dark and deep genre of BioShock. The '60s was probably the best decade of choice, for the music, if nothing else. The voices of the characters and the sounds are perfectly chosen for the game, every sound that the enemies make has an eerie but realistic feel to them, especially the Little Sisters. However the in-game music and sounds overwhelm the Voices, with each having their own volume control (Master, Sound, Music and Voice) I have Voice on 100% with the Music and Sound in 70% and 60% respectively and still have a hard time hearing the Voices over the radios.
Game play – 9/10 As far as game play goes BioShock is a First Person Shooter (FPS) but taken in a whole new way. With variety of weapons kept simple and somewhat basic it is easy to navigate through your inventory and find the right weapon/ammo for the job. A large part of the game play and plot is the use of Plasmids, the first of which is the power to use lightning, which offers a whole new arsenal and a chance to use tactical game play with the use of plasmids against enemies and the environment.
Replayability – 10/10 As for replayability the game only offers a higher difficulty setting; however the use of vita chambers (re-spawn points) can be turned on/off manually via the options menu to increase difficulty if required from the first playthrough. But this is not a negative point. I have played through the game several times and yet I am still finding out new things about the world of Rapture through new diaries etc. My advice is play, play and play through game time and time again until every trophy is achieved as this will allow you to get the most out of the game whilst still giving the player something to achieve rather than just story completion.
Overall/conclusion: I would recommend BioShock to any serious gamer, even if it is not the genre or game type that you usually play. I can't find any real fault with the game or the story and I honestly hope that 2K games continue to make games that are on par or better than BioShock. I personally believe that 2K have a long life ahead of them and will continue to make extraordinary games. I would have liked to reach the 1200 word mark to opt for a detailed review type, however there isn't really much more that I can say about the game without adding a spoiler or two so I will leave the rest to you and hope that you enjoy your own experience of the game.
Thank you for the time and patience to read through that,
Matt
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