BioShock takes place in the world of Rapture, a massive underwater city created in the middle of the 1940’s by Andrew Ryan, a rich industrialist frustrated by Roosevelt’s New Deal and other government meddling. Ryan subscribes to the objectivist teachings of Ayn Rand; that a man should be entitled to the sweat of his own labours, and that they should not belong to the government, the people or to God. Ryan creates Rapture as a refuge for his ideals and other like-minded individuals. Players take on the role of a man named Jack, who is involved in a plane accident in the game’s rather excellent opening scene. Returning to consciousness underwater and gasping for air, Jack makes his way to a small island, which we soon find out is the way down to Rapture. One quickly discovers that Rapture is in a state of disrepair and disarray. Many of the citizens of Rapture have become splicers from over manipulation of their genetic structure and poor upkeep of ADAM, the substance that allows such bio modification. Jack is contacted by a man named Atlas, who informs us that Ryan has gone mad with power, and needs your help getting to his family. The narrative of BioShock forms such a core of the experience that we cannot give too much away without destroying one’s potential enjoyment of the game, but the story has many twists and turns, and is especially rich in background (explained mostly by recordings) and character.
We're going to start a new life...under the sea
The world of Rapture is ripe with character and interactivity. Parts of the world are literally falling down around the player, with water gushing in from the ceilings, explosions happening all over the place, not to mention the many buildings that have been gutted by looters and other undesirables. The look of the world really tells a story – that human greed and vanity is causing this underwater paradise to rot and shrivel. Irrational has gone to great lengths to produce a real 1940s-50s retro-vibe to all of Rapture – not unlike games such as Fallout, with catchy music of the era, hilarious propaganda posters and a general aesthetic reminiscent of the time. The soundtrack features Jazz artists such as Django Reinhardt and Billy Holiday, which in combination with the game’s orchestral soundtrack create a chilling atmosphere. Many objects around Rapture can be manipulated – security cameras, vending machines and turrets in particular can be hacked to work for the player or provide discounts. Arguably the most impressive part of Rapture, however, is the water. It gushes in through cracks in the roof and floor, flows down stairs and over railings, and looks very natural. It’s an amazing achievement at first, though after significant time, players can begin to see some little tricks and shortcuts taken by the developer to accomplish these effects.
Each area of Rapture has its own distinct style, and each area greatly differs in appearance to the last. Perhaps the best looking section of the game is Arcadia, a massive underwater forest created for the purpose of supplying oxygen to Rapture. With lush vegetation and a variety of colour, an area such as Arcadia really makes many of the Xbox 360’s other first person shooters look drab and dull in comparison. BioShock utilises Unreal Engine 3.0, which has enabled the developer to tap a lot of the power of the Xbox 360, since BioShock is easily one of the best looking titles to come out on the system – both technically and stylistically. Many characters in the game have been expertly modelled, and feature excellent animation, but most of the awe factor comes from their design – especially the diving suit clad Big Daddies. While technically demanding, BioShock never skips a beat in the frame rate department, although some humorous glitches can occur with the game’s physics.
Big Daddy learns a valuable lesson about water and electricity
BioShock’s gameplay is not entirely unfamiliar to anyone who has played games such as System Shock or Deus Ex before. As mentioned before, BioShock is oozing atmosphere from every orifice – but it’s not the same sort of atmosphere as the System Shock games, where you were alone in space; rather, you feel like an outsider in a fantastic world. It’s not really that scary – there are a few jumpy moments, but with the constant radio chatter, you never feel like you’re alone and vulnerable. There is a heap of customisation available – plasmids and tonics are body modifications that come in a number of varieties. Plasmids are much like magic in a way – bound to the left trigger, they can often be used as weapons, and can be combined with gun attacks for maximum efficiency. Always be weary of your environment – the electricity plasmid can be used to shock anyone in the water, while the fire plasmid can light up oil slicks and melt frozen objects. Not all plasmids are directly offensive – the enrage plasmid will cause the victim to start attacking anyone in the vicinity. Tonics are essentially modifiers that enhance various abilities. They come in three different varieties – combat tonics which can protect you against certain types of damage, or cause you to emit an electrical surge when you are hit, engineering tonics which make hacking and inventing items much easier, and physical tonics which enhance the effects of healing or can cloak the player temporarily from security devices and splicers.
With all of the plasmids, tonics and hacking abilities available to the player, it’s certainly possible to play BioShock in a more non-violent way, and exploit various enemies and security cameras into doing the dirty work for you. However, BioShock succeeds in one area where its spiritual successors were let down – combat. Perhaps it is due to the use of the Unreal 3.0 engine, but BioShock has a feeling of real weight that other games have lacked, and that makes combat so much more satisfying. There is a good range of weapons available – pistols, shotguns and machine guns all come as standard, but the crossbow, chemical launcher and grenade launcher acquired as the game progressed become very useful allies. Each weapon has three different classes of ammo which can be found around Rapture, as well as invented at the U-Invent stations. After receiving the camera early in the game, you can take pictures of your enemies to research their weaknesses and receive other bonuses. Splicers come in five varieties, but are generally easily dealt with. The most formidable opponent comes in the form of the Big Daddy.
Sugar, spice and everything nice...yeah, right
In Rapture, everything revolves around ADAM – it’s what gives you your plasmid powers, and allows the body to be manipulated in a variety of ways. Little Sisters, young pre-pubescent girls harvest ADAM from dead bodies for collection and sale. As ADAM is in thick demand, Little Sisters are a target for attack, so they need protection – and that protection comes in the form of the Big Daddy. Clad in large diving suits, the Big Daddies may seem slow and lumbering, but threaten a little sister and you will hear them scream at you. Attack them, and you’re in for one hell of a fight, as the Big Daddy charges in at ferocious speed, trying to gouge you with his drill bit. Fighting the Big Daddies is easily one of the highlights of the game. Being so strong and fast, you can’t go toe to toe with a Big Daddy – you have to study your environment and find ways to use it to your advantage. With ADAM being so crucial to your survival, you really have no choice but to take on the Big Daddies to get to the Little Sisters – whether you rescue them or harvest them not only decides how much ADAM you get, but also affects the game’s ending.
The length of your time in Rapture will be entirely dependent on how much you wish to become immersed in the world. Seeking out the audio diaries to hear the background story, hacking, learning the environment and saving the Little Sisters is going to take a lot longer than just running and gunning your way through the game – and taking the latter option really is a waste; you’d have to be stupid to squander such an experience. Our initial run through BioShock took us just under 20 hours – but it won’t seem like it takes that long since the game is so immersive and – except for a bit of a lull in the middle – compelling throughout the entire experience, certainly enticing one to replay the game. Some have complained that the game’s Vita Chambers seriously affect the game’s difficulty, since you never really die, as you’re simply warped to the nearest one with half a health bar and all of your equipment, but death is never a frequent occurrence if you know your environment.
BioShock is a really compelling piece of work. While there has been a bit of streamlining and trimming of features from its spiritual predecessors, the game’s compelling story, satisfying action, pleasing aesthetics and brilliant atmosphere more than make up for it. BioShock may not do anything particularly new, but the combination of many important gameplay elements, a gripping narrative and interactivity with the game world in such an impressive fashion will undoubtedly raise the bar for many first person shooters to come.
Come on, when Stalker was released there was a lot of problems with it running on people's machines and it was only once patches were made that it became playable for more people.
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