Customer Reviews:
 Welcome to Rapture! September 7, 2007
A. Russ (Derbyshire)
59 out of 64 found this review helpful
Until about a week or so ago I'd heard very little of Bioshock. I rarely follow the release dates of games, and prefer to experience a game than read about it online or in mags. However, I noticed it when browsing Amazon and decided I'd buy it as the Big Daddy grabbed my attention.
Now, it's my most played game on the 360.
I'm not going to talk about how much hype this game got as I was honestly not aware of it and don't know the limits. But what I will say is that Bioshock is amazing. And not just amazing - as most games are described - this is THE game for 360 owners.
If you're reading about this game then you know already what the basic plot of the game is, and I won't say anything more in order to preserve the great twists that you'll find within the game. However, it's important to know that the story to Bioshock is a roller-coaster of a ride that will leave you wanting to know more each and every time you lay down the controller.
Gameplay wise, Bioshock is a step above most FPS games on any console. The Darkness was a great game with it's unique abilities, Halo was (and hopefully will remain) a fast action shooter, but this game takes the gameplay from all of the best shooters and mixes it all up, before throwing in a handful of fantastic new features to leave you in awe.
The game claims that no player will be the same, and it's probably true. There are plenty of ways to kill an enemy within the game, from indenting their skull with a handy wrench to pumping them full of lead, but how about creating a bit of chaos and forcing each enemy to attack another - whilst you dodge around them taking them out one by one. Or if that's not your thing, and you find groups of enemies a handful, you could hypnotise a Big Daddy and go into battle with a huge diving-suited, drill-armed warrior at your side.
The weapons that are found in Bioshock are also fully upgradeable, with each weapon being given the option of two upgrades that enhances their abilities. Depending on your favourite weapon you can upgrade each weapon once at a 'Power To The People' machine - but beware, as the machine closes after a single use (there are multiple machines however in each area).
Another great attraction are the PLASMIDS. Inject them into your arm and you can possess the elements, swarms of wasps, and mini-tornados that are each useful for wiping out groups of enemies in a few seconds.
However, and this is a great catch, in order to upgrade your PLASMIDS and buy more slots to place your new found should-be-lethal injected friends, you have to find and 'release' the Little Sisters within the game. The great thing about this is that you can't just 'get' to them; you must first take out their hulking protector: the Big Daddy!
Aside from being the most iconic character within the game, the Big Daddy has the unusual characteristics of an innocent enemy. That is, to say, they will not attack you unless you attempt to harm them or their Little Sisters. It's your choice entirely whether you fight the Big Daddies or not, but you essentially have to unless you plan on facing the tougher enemies, later on in the game, with weapons alone.
Then, if you can power your way through the increasingly-strong Big Daddies, you must make the choice of sacrificing the Little Sister in order to gain a large amount of power (which is needed to buy more PLASMIDS and more slots for your abilities) or save the child from the possession and gain a smaller amount of power. It's all psychological; do you feel guilt for killing a small girl when they consist only within a game, or will you feel better for saving them and letting them flee?
This is the effect that Bioshock has; it absorbs you into the action and forces you to make choices that you wouldn't expect to have to make.
Bioshock is also the owner of some of the most beautiful graphics in any game. The locations within Rapture are a combination of natural beauty - looking out into the ocean around you - and sheer destruction. There are a good number of character designs, and whilst you will find yourself facing an enemy that you are sure you killed an hour before in a totally different area, it's not as annoying as you may expect.
The water itself is possibly the most realistic in any game I've ever played - the first few minutes of playing leave you wondering just what is to come.
The game is also quite lengthy, and has great replay value as there is always other ways to complete the game. Lasting between 10-20 hours (depending on your ability), and with several modes of difficulty to present easier or more difficult challenges to those who require them, you'll find yourself restarting the game just minutes after you've finished it the first time around.
Bioshock is a game that introduces you to the idea of 'survival of the fittest', and leaves you longing for more as you become submerged in the ocean depths that is Rapture. With fantastic voice work, you feel as though you have become the newest citizen of the fallen city. Are you a man or a puppet? Would you kindly buy it now?
wow August 30, 2007
michael myers
28 out of 33 found this review helpful
I have been an avid PC and console gamer for...well, as long as there have been PC and console games, and have probably played hundreds of the darn things over the last two decades, and I can comfortably say, that Bioshock, is one of the top two or three games I have ever played, and absolutely the best console game.
It's one of those rare games, that has all of what you love about a great game, with none of what annoys you. I realized, after about 10 hours of play, that absolutley nothing was ticking me off. If there was ever a game that got everything right, it's Bioshock.
Normally, you hear much about a shooter having an "absorbing story", and you're just like: "yeah, yeah, just shut up and let me shoot you". But Bioshock, actually does. The bleak, dystopian world scenario is hardly new in gaming, but Bioshock puts a great twist on things; and the art-deco 1940's sci-fi world is very refreshing and incredibly rendered. If you are as sick as I am of endless hallways filled with crates, you are in for a helluva treat. Not only does this game look amazing, but the design is so good, and so original, that it really does "absorb" you.
The biggest suprise to me, was level of literacy, and period detail. This game wasn't really designed for modern kids, and certainly wasn't designed by one. The villian, an obvious nod to conceptual novelist Ayn Rand, ends up being more complex than the average "evil rich corporate Republican" guy we're all so sick of by now, and not only is the voice acting a-list quality, but they even speak pretty authentic 1940's dialogue, with accurate period inflection. If you watch an old movie from the 40's you'll notice that not only was the slang and colloquial language different, but so was the actual style of speech. The characters in Bioshock don't sound like modern mallrats in seersucker suits, they sound like people from the 40's. The sense of period is very accurate, moreso than most Hollywood films (although a "German" lady character has a very obiously Russian accent lol).
Even the shooting, was fabulously fun. When I first started playing, I thought "oh no..shooting old revolvers isn't fun." But don't forget, even though Bioshock takes place in the 40's, it's still a sci-fi what-if adventure, and the assortment of weapons are a gas to use. And "adventure" is really accurate. Even though it's an FPS with a fair amount of bloody shooting, it really feels and plays more like an old Sierra adventure game than a Quake-style shooter. The plot matters in this game, unlike many others, and you spend more time exploring the amazing world and solving puzzles than actually shooting, so consider that a mild warning if you are a shooting "rivethead".
Bioshock is a very long game, but it was so addicting, that I played it almost non-stop for 4 days and finished it. I actually just rented it, because normally games that are centered on plot don't have a lot of replay value for me, but this one I can imagine playing over and over, so the lack of multi-player doesnt really matter to me here. I'll be buying this sucker as soon as payday hits.
In short, the hype around Bioshock is no hype. This game even killed Half-life and Halo for me, and that's saying a lot. Halo3 is going to have a helluva climb to even get near Bioshock, and i never thought I'd say that.
To wrap-up, even though much of Bioshock's conceptual nods and references will probably sail over the heads of most modern teen gamers, it won't matter a darn. They'll be to busy being knocked out by the best visual world and gameplay mechanics I've ever seen.
 So what's the fuss? September 10, 2007
mssmith1 (UK)
17 out of 22 found this review helpful
Astounded by the reviews, having enjoyed the demo on Live! and being a big fan of Xbox 360 shooters, I pre-ordered this. Now, a week in, I can only say that I'm slightly disappointed. Make no mistake about it, the graphics are briliant, and the fictional world of rapture is very immersive. Level design strikes a good balance between a prescriptive "set path" and being fully explorable, and the range of weapons and abilities is great.
So why only three stars? Well, there's not much new to be honest. The majority of bad guys ("splicers") remind me of enemies from timesplitters and are not particularly varied or exciting, and much of the gameplay is a bit repetitive. Once you've killed a few "big daddies" and harvested or saved a few little sisters, there's not much depth to the gameplay. The AI is nothing new, and stunning graphics will only keep you entertained for so long.
Don't get me wrong, this is a good, solid FPS and I have enjoyed playing it. However, after finishing the game, I don't see much replay value, and with no multiplayer, I'm not sure what it was that the reviewers thought made it the best game on the 360 so far.
If I'd known all this before buying, I would probably have been happy to pay 30 for it, knowing it would keep me going until Halo 3, but I wouldn't have raised my expectations as much as the gaming press did.
Nice but over priced. August 24, 2007
Champiodi (Champiodiland.)
10 out of 17 found this review helpful
No doubt a fantastic game, but why are the so called big hitters charging 40 for this title when people like ASDA (code ENT10) are letting it go for 31?
Play and Amazon are taking the proverbial.
Half of a great game September 9, 2007
S. Francis (Wales)
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
Having heard all the hype, I decided to do something very rare for me, and buy a game on the day it came out.
I was initially blown away. The game intro, together with the first few levels are, quite frankly, amazing. The set pieces are very well done and you are introduced to a wide variety of weapons and situations at just the right pace.
And then, it all just stops. There are no more new concepts once you get past the fourth level or so, and the enemy variation is, bluntly, pitiful. Defeating 4 different varieties of splicers and two varieties of big daddies gets pretty repetitive pretty quickly.
Hacking is mildly amusing but takes up too much of the game - surely they could have found a few different varieties of minigame to put in instead of the same repetitive game every time.
The last three levels after your fight with Ryan are, bluntly, pitiful. I played through them just because I wanted to say I'd completed it but I was bored the whole way, sadly.
The game's biggest problem is that it is too easy. Infinite respawns combined with the fact that your enemies don't respawn means that dying has very little consequence. Consequently there's no tension or difficulty.
Then there's the "ending" which just is not worth the time of day.
That's not to say there isn't something quite good here - the game is undeniably atmospheric throughout and has some very memorable, artistic moments. But it could and should have been a lot better. If only the designers hadn't given up half way through.
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