BioShock demo on Xbox Live

Playing now, I'll give impressions when I'm done

Well, having slowly and thoroughly played through the demo, I can say it is the most atmospheric game I have ever played. Probably one of the scariest and at the same time cool titles at that, way up there with RE4.

The level of detail in the environment is brilliant, with many inventory type items around the place. Chocolate bars to restore health, various alcohol that does the same but takes away your "magic" levels and a very open gameplay mechanic.

The demo does progress linearly, with only one major path through it, however it is up to the player to decide just how they wish to go about it. At one point I heard a couple yelling to each other through a locked door, they were below the level I was on, so I jumped onto a chair and over a rail to land behind the man, before giving him a nice whack on the head before he could see me. His wife was a little angrier when she saw me however.

You really feel somewhat helpless in the environment, as every move you make seems to result in something unfortunate occurring. And the tragedy behind the world of Rapture is terribly confronting. As for the gameplay itself, you are able to either use conventional weaponry or biological modifications to your assistance.

The weapons in the demo are a revolver, a tommy gun and the trusty old monkey wrench, with the ability to shoot fire or electricity with your left hand, combinations are also possible, for example setting an enemy on fire and watching them jump into water to put the flames out, then electrifying the water and its inhabitants.

I will give a heads up that the game can be quite stressful, in that you find yourself attacked from multiple angles by fast moving enemies and you have limited ammo, so make sure you plan ahead in your tactics!

Really enjoyed what I saw, and definately recommend it. I'm glad I'm going with the PC version, as I feel that I will need the extra precision of a mouse when under attack, in saying this, the 360 still controls great, and it will be enjoyable on both platforms.

Jim, for the Fire plasmid check the Ladies toilets next to the men's ones where you find the hole in the cubicle.

I'm really hyped for this game, and pleased to see it living up to expectations, if you're after a typical first person shooter, you've come to the wrong title, as Bioshock is anything but. I think that was one of the more confronting elements of the game, its not like most of what you are used to seeing in a game.

As a weapons modeller I really enjoy seeing customisation , and the ability to choose ammo types and add-ons on the weapons makes it that little bit sweeter for me. Though I didn't find a shotgun in the demo, I did acquire a slug from one of the inhabitants.