I have finally had enough of BioShock

Just completed the game for the second time last night having this time harvested every little sister (which I must admit initially found very difficult to do the first time and slightly disturbing as they remind me alot of my daughter Sophie who is about the same age) in order to see the alternative ending. Bit disappointing, I was expecting the whole game to branch off when you kill Ryan as the first time round Tennenbaum helps you for saving her children. But as I had killed them all this time, I was expecting her to be a bit pissed off with me and maybe have to take her on! Nope, she still helps you but just calls you "bad man". Shame. I must admit I did feel a bit guilty though.

Nevermind at least this time I got my "Seriously good at this" achievment!

Next up, Stranglehold I think!

BioShock review

Having played the game through and gone a fair bit through my second attempt I felt compelled to give my final assesment of BioShock.

Definatley a slow burner, I was initially convinced the game was never going to live up to all the hype. The demo really didn't do it justice and only really showed off the excellent graphics.
The game really comes into it's own after a few hours when you begin to immerse yourself in the world of Rapture, an underwater city created by mad idealist Andrew Ryan. The story is very cleverly unfolded by tape recordings left lying around allowing you to try and piece together to the various causes of the city's downfall and the inhabitants. The voice acting is very good and really helps to develop a great story. Story is definatley a key element in this game and it feels very much like an interactive work of fiction. Deserving of it's 18 certificate, the game is dark and disturbing but has a strong enough plot to justify the shocking events as opposed to games like as manhunt which just use gore and mindless violence for the sake of it.
There have been a number of technial issues with the game and a few reviews have been critial of this in their scroing. For me the game does struggle to run reliably on the PC but I have had no issues playing it on the 360. Graphically the two versions are virtually identical and unless you have a very beafy PC (at least Geforce 8800) then XBox version will provide a much better experience especially at 1080P.
The sound in this game is very good and played through decent 5.1 THX system sounds incredible. The low rumbles of the Big Daddy as he moans and his heavy footfalls really test the subwoofer. Gunshot sound a little weaker then I would like but otherwise I can't fault it.
In conclusion, certainly one of the best FPS ever it not the best, a very close contest between it and Half life 2. Bioshock definatley has the better and more involving story but Half life 2 has better puzzle and gameplay elements.
95%

If you would kindly...

I have decided, BioShock is THE best game ever!
Last night I defeated Ryan thinking that was the end of a very enjoyable game.
Oh how wrong I was...
I'm struggling not to say anything to spoil it but I'm still grinning inanely over what unfolds. I was blown away.
Can't wait to get back to Rapture tonight to find out how it continues.
Never has a game had me so absorbed. Half Life 2 comes close but has a very predictable storyline in comparison.
I remember reading some review saying that there were some key moments in the game that made the reviewer sit back in awe, defeating Ryan is definatley one!

Lord.. Why do you mock me so?

Today I have a day off work, because I have an interview later. I'm doing my preparation etc and the post comes and what do I find?



Great.. I'm supposed to be reading up on the company, instead I'm sat down looking at my copy of bioshock (didn't see the limited edition on Play.com) trying to justify opening it now and beginning my tour of Rapture...

Help!

Bioshock reviews begin trickling in... Prepare to part with cash...

E3 2007: BioShock Update

Irrational gives us another glimpse of Arcadia.

by Charles Onyett

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US, July 11, 2007 - 2K showed off the Arcadia level for BioShock again today, something we'd seen at a Pre-E3 event recently in San Francsico. Ken Levine was on hand to demo all the different ways enemies can be wiped out in the game. The action started off by loading what's known as a Lazarus Vector into an irrigation system. The appropriately named compound would eventually revive a grove of trees that lay beyond the control room in which we were standing. In the meantime, we had to kill quite a few enemies.

This action in the demo was said to be about seven hours into the game so some advanced weaponry was available. A mine launcher, crossbow, and flamethrower were available. Not only will the flamethrower be able to belch flame, but can also be loaded up with liquid nitrogen for flash freezing, and liquid gel, a craftable item that stuns and electrifies enemies. We also saw an upgraded shotgun, with a rotating pulley system strapped on for increased reload speed, as well as augmented shell capacity.

Crafting items in the game is accomplished at special vending machines. They'll list the items that can be constructed and eat up money and items from your inventory. Other craftable goodies include special bolts for your crossbow that are much more resistant to breaking, which are apparently quite pricey to create. We also saw a trap bolt, which is basically an electrified wire that can be slung across hallways to surprise and shock charging foes. Ken was using the Telekinesis plasmid to properly situate the trap.

As enemies charged in at us while waiting for the trees to turn green, the most interesting attack we saw involved setting wind traps. With this plasmid you place small vortexes on the floor that fling anything that steps on them upward. Ken dropped a few on the ground, then stuck two mines up on the ceiling. When two enemies charged through a door, they hit the traps, hit the ceiling, and were killed by the ensuing explosion.

Then, like we've seen before, Ken demonstrated how enemies standing in water get electrified if you shoot a lightning bolt at the liquid. If you ignite someone or some environmental object, like oil spilled from barrels, with the fire-spewing plasmid, the object or body will set whatever it touches on fire as well. If the engulfed enemies fly to water to douse the flames, you can always shoot an electro bolt into the pool to put them down for good. Telekinesis can be tossed around pretty much anything in the game. Like before, it's clear the amount of variety to this game's combat, in addition to its storyline and slick graphics, of course.

Irrational told us the game is pretty much finished at this point on Xbox 360, and they're still doing some tweaking for the PC. With increased media attention since E3 2006, Irrational is particularly excited about BioShock's release, specifically for what it means for games in the future. "All I want to do is be able to create more games like this," says Ken Levine. "That's all I care about in my career is just make more cool games, be able to break down some barriers, things that aren't World War II shooters. That's what I want for the industry, it's the games I want to play and the games I want to make. If BioShock's successful, that to me is a ticket for making more games like this. We're not going to mention any of the story elements in the game, because honestly, they'd be better to find out for yourself when the game releases later this August.

10/10 in OXM and 95% in PC Gamer

Review scans can be found here