Not Exactly Like Titanic, But Close Enough in its Scope and Ideology

Author's Rating:

Pros: Full of intriguging psychological storytelling and varied game environments.

Cons: The ending may not turn out as you might have hoped.

The Bottom Line: 

BioShock is an all-around great game that breaks traditional gameplay styles---first off, you get to inject genetically modified plasmids into your body, which phsyically changes your character!

Author's Review
INTRODUCTION
In 1912, one of the biggest ships ever to come from the White Star Line, and probably any ocean liner company in the world for its time, set out on its famed maiden voyage. Titanic, as it was so aptly named, deemed to be "bigger than the gods" itself, was vehemently and proudly claimed to be the fastest, largest and most luxurious ship ever to have eyes laid upon it. And most importantly of all, it was decidedly--unabashedly, unanimously and unmistakably the first ship ever built by the hands of man to be unsinkable.

While we know what would eventually happen to the hexed house on the ocean, the scope and magnitude of what its builders wanted it to be is what made it so great. Literally millions of dollars and countless hours of backbreaking and sometimes crippling work were doled out on a daunting and unprecedented quest. An eight-hundred and eighty-eight foot long triple-screw ethereal embodiment of steel and manpower eventually turned her image from simple concept into astounding reality.

She now slumbers at the bottom of the sea in her own sacrilegious sanctuary. And to be sure, while she will stay there for several centuries to come until she finally degenerates to the point to where she's literally molecules in the Atlantic, our memories of her and the not soon-to-be forgotten crew will never fade.......

And to think, Bioshock is somehow uncannily similar.

How in the world could you ever be a part of such a grand plan as THAT in, least of all, a video game? Well, just take this bit of background storytelling from BioShock for example:

You are the sole survivor of a plane crash that has found its unfortunate fate right in the middle of the ocean in the pitch black of night. What you eventually find as you push your weary body from the throes of vertigo, hellfire and water is that a large and seemingly undiscovered city, named Rapture, lies below the surface--and you're one of the select few living humans there to view its splendor in its entirety. Guess that plane crash wasn't so bad after all, huh?

You ask again, what in the world does Rapture and BioShock have to do with Titanic?

Well, not much---other than the fact that both concepts were magnificent and far-reaching in their societal endeavors, both of them pushed the boundaries of human potential, both of them were envisioned as a "paradise" or "escape" from otherwise mundane day-to-day life, and both of them (much to Rapture's creator Andrew Ryan's dismay) ended up failing miserably.

Mr. Ryan created Rapture in an attempt to bring equality to all of its citizens. In a nutshell, Mr. Ryan did his damnedest to make sure that everyone had an unparalleled and realistic chance to have his own voice in his underwater utopia. I can't say it any better myself, so I'll quote Mr. Ryan. Imagine yourself in a city where the mayor or leader tells you that you're a proud citizen of a town where:

"The artist (will not) fear the censor, the scientist (will not) be bound by petty morality, and where the great (will not) be constrained by the small."

Sounds pretty enticing doesn't it? Much like Titanic, people who ventured into Rapture were seeking to live their dreams, experience the true meaning of freedom, and take hold of their own lives for themselves and pick from the tree of the fruits of hard labor during the harvest. After all, those poor 2,200 souls on board Titanic were ready to greet a brand new day in the best country in the world-----The United States of America!! You, my friend, are about to witness your very own wonderworld gone horribly wrong, all within the depths of the sea. It's a marvel you better not soon miss.

BioShock----The Undersea Utopia
BioShock will bust your tail, throw you through walls, and have you picking up recorded diaries from other individuals who risked it all for a new life, only to have the flesh ripped from their pitiful bones. It's a story of wicked psychology and mental upheaval that you will never forget, and never before or since has a video game been so straightforward and unashamedly open about the world, what's wrong with it, and in its explanation of the havoc that humankind plays upon itself when all morality is thrown into a blood-stained drainage pipe.

When you first enter the world of Rapture, you really don't know what you're supposed to do. Well, at least I didn't. All I knew was that I escaped from a burning plane with some semblance of my mentality and luckily, my flesh, intact. The next thing I knew, I was being transported down and down into the depths of a dying city through a rusted-out bathysphere that seemed to magically work when I pulled the lever. I had hoped that whatever came out at me would be weak enough to withstand the wrench I found on the floor, but I knew that was a pretty flimsy "firearm," if I even wanted to call it that. Thankfully, I eventually ended up finding a shotgun sometime later, but for an overly long period of time that wrench was the only thing between me and what might be my only hope of getting back above sea level throughout the entire course of the game. A measly wrench!

Although there was a guy, named Atlas, who helped guide me through the dilapidated world of Rapture, it didn't give me much in the way of comfort. Since he was basically just a disembodied voice that was being transmitted across a CB radio, I didn't really feel as though I had any real physical help---and by God, I could've used it.
I eventually found myself once I started pillaging through the dead bodies of splicers that I had killed, hoping to find some ammunition or other items that might have helped me keep my health up to par, but my luck couldn't have been worse. There were times where I felt like death might have been my only true escape. After all, some enemies had already taken two or three shots to the head and lived, but they kept right on running towards me---and unfortunately, some of the other splicers I had already killed only had a couple of bullets of ammunition stored on them, even in the early stages of the game. Damn! I had one huge mission in front of me. This place wanted my body AND my soul! Well, I wasn't about to give my flesh up for some genetically-wrecked piece of hubris for MY soul. Oh HELL no...

Thankfully I had managed to get past the first round of terror, but I had a sneaking suspicion several more would be in the making. So I continued on the journey through the underground waterworld where wonderous wishes went awry, and I found that many more secrets were waiting to be unwrapped.

I'll leave the rest for you to discover, because the many twists and turns explained here in mere words would not do proper justice to this visual, auditory, and mental masterpiece.

BioShock----Gameplay
BioShock is an underground utopia as explained before. While you're blowing the brains out of genetically mutated scumbags, you'll also be able to fully view the world around you, whether you're fidgeting around in the flooded area of Fontaine Fisheries, shooting out surveillance systems, or hacking horrible vending machines like a crazed lunatic in order to get the best deal and lowest prices possible. Many different environments are going to embrace you as you trek across the large aquatic arena, and all the while, you'll be bombarded with unstable "undead" splicers that will lunge at you from various directions to try and eat your heart out. You'll want to make sure to keep your guard up throughout the game, because these idiots will pop out at a moment's notice, and if your reflexes aren't fast enough, you'll become fish food within a matter of mere seconds.
There are several weapons and tools at your disposal, but these will only be found once you've journeyed through Rapture to a predetermined amount of space. You'll be able to take pictures of particular splicers in order to gain research points and gain somewhat of an edge over them, and you'll also be able to play special mini-games similar to that of the old classic NES "Pipe-Dream" game in order to reap the benefits of reduced prices at vending machines. Saving money always helps, right? Mother always said a penny saved is two pennies earned. Okay, so maybe she didn't say that......but you'll soon learn that lesson.

In addition, you get the chance to blow out surveillance cameras that plague you, because as Hall and Oates would say "Private Eyes; they're watching you, they see your every move." And by golly, you'll want to take them out as quickly as possible. Just in case you don't, be prepared for security alarms and a barrage of missile and bullet attacks from a 360-degree range. You will be toast if you can't destroy them or hack them. The advantage of hacking a machine (which can be done in the same manner as hacking a vending machine through the pipe-dream mini-game) is that hacked enemies become "friendly" in that they will shoot down any enemies of yours once they are hacked, and that includes other security turrets, cameras, or splicers. This is a very beneficial tool early on in the game.

Not only that, but you have somehow magically picked up the ability to inject genetically-crated formulas into your body, known as plasmids that are shot straight through your wrist into your bloodstream. No more of that Mr. Nice guy crap---now you can shoot fire, throw electric bolts from your wrists, use telekinesis to pick up chairs and break them over the heads of stupid splicers, and otherwise turn the tables in the track you think they should take.
That doesn't make the game any easier, but it sure as hell does make it a lot more fun.

Occasionally, you'll stumble upon a glowing tape that will be indicative of a recorded diary that some unfortunate soul has left laying around the world of Rapture. You'll want to be sure to pick these up and listen to them, as they add quite a bit to the overall background and storyline of the developments and gruesome turns of the world you're exploring. Yes, you will sometimes hear the immoral and disgusting thoughts of mad scientists, and also the depressing and decrepit tales of duchesses who have destroyed their lives and are now distraught over the disastrous situations they've found themselves in---but that's the meat and potatoes of the whole thing. On a rare occasion, you might want to listen to a particular recording more than once.....just for the sheer sick pleasure of it.

As stated before, enemies abound, but there is usually a fairly decent amount of ammunition and health items laying around, so be sure and keep your EVE levels up. (EVE is what controls your PLASMIDS, which are those special abilities you can shoot through your wrists.) You can find EVE by drinking alcohol from the many bottles lined on shelves or simply laying on otherwise inconspicuous tables scattered about the halls. Other things can boost your EVE level as well. You'll find them.

First aid packs can be found in dead splicer bodies, laying on the floor, or in special hidden areas or in hackable safes that are also scattered about---and they're scattered like schizophrenic Skittles the further you progress. Bandages can also be found to help boost your overall health, but they won't totally refill your health bar like First Aid Packs can. You can carry up to 9 first aid packs and 9 EVE Hypodermic Needles at a time before the game locks you out of picking up any more. (I played the game on easy mode, so these levels might be lowered for harder difficulty levels.)

Of course, with any other fairly open-ended game, if you just feel like causing a ruckus, you can still throw around chairs, crack windows with a deft swing of your wrench or a blast from a gun, or maybe you feel like kicking a trash can down the stairs. It's all here, and it's a fairly destructible atmosphere. There was more than one occasion I bloodied the face of a few female splicers just because they deserved a through beatdown.....about twenty times over. And yes, I had fun doing it.

BioShock------Graphics
Well, if you wanted to visit the 1950's and the 1960's, this is your paradise. Many ArtDeco styles abound, ranging from advertisements to tooth cleaning and funeral services. Most of these are seen as advertisements plastering the putrid walls of Rapture, but there are also floor advertisements and statues that take on that slender, overly-important look that seemed to dominate our media some fifty years ago.

The entire world of Rapture is an isolated dreamland of its own. You'll not find another place like it. While you will be rummaging through freezers full of fish and stairways scattered with slain splicers, you'll also come across a few rare moments, like the forests and botanical gardens about halfway through the game. These areas offer a change of pace from the rest of the urbanic style of play, but the difficulty is no less. Be prepared to kill or be killed.

There are water effects, ice-melting effects, and the effects of plasmids being ejected from your wrists, and all of these are done with acceptable clarity. Most character animations, including those of you and the splicers, as well as Little Sisters and Big Daddies, are done well, and each and every one feels like its own unique entity. What are these Little Sisters and Big Daddies, you say? Well, let's just say the Little Sisters are the harvesters of ADAM, a compliment to the EVE you can eject from your body, and the only way you can earn the ADAM is to harvest or save a Little Sister---but before you can do that, you must successfully take down a Big Daddy. I'll let you take that journey on your own---and boy, is it interesting.

Back to the overall graphics----the game rarely slows down if at all, and it is only in those moments where numerous splicers, Big Daddies and Little Sisters might be roaming in the same hall you're in, while you are attempting to throw off a fireball or something. There really have to be a multitude of animations going on simultaneously before the game wants to hesitate in the slightest, but, of course, if you do happen to find yourself ganged up on---you will want to be forewarned---any more than four or five enemies at a time may cause a slight slowdown.

All areas have been created acceptably, and are chock full of items, enemies, and alternative paths just waiting to be discovered. Don't be stupid like I did and pass a few of them up. EnRapture yourself in the experience and fully immerse yourself in the surroundings. You WILL get lost in it all.

BioShock----Controls
There's not a whole lot to explain here, but if you do want to know everything about the controls, most weapons, like the wrench, require you to press the R2 button on the PS3 controller before they can be swung or fired. Know that ahead of time. In addition, if you have more than one weapon in stock, you can press R1 on the controller pad to switch between them. This allows for a quicker changeup in activating your weapons, giving your precious milliseconds to make your choice between shotgun and wrench, or perhaps Telekinesis or Incineration plasmids. Wise choices are rewarded.

Jumping sometimes feels a bit "mushy," kind of like if you had a flat tire on your car. It can feel delayed at times, and my character doesn't jump as high or as quickly as I would like, but the jumping mechanism is not really as important as it might initially sound. Ducking and covering is your best option here if faced with numerous enemies or if you find yourself surrounded by turrets or auto-bots that want to splatter your brain matter into the nearest wall or bedpost. There was more than one occasion where I was able to hide from these machines by stooping down into a secluded location so as to avoid their line of fire.

The cameras have a very good 360 range of motion, and rarely, if ever, will the camera get in the way of your gameplay. If you find you've moved the camera too close to you (which, from what I remember is done by rotating the right analog stick,) you can always just opt to move it again to get a better view. Moving (such as running) is done via the left analog stick.

While weapons are fired using the R2 buttons, any plasmids you have equipped must be activated by using the L2 button, and these can be switched out any time if you have more than one by pressing the L1 button. Remember---plasmids left side, weapons right side. Got it? Okay.

Circle uses first aid, Square reloads your weapon, Triangle makes you jump, and X will allow you to interact with any items in the environment that allow you to do so. It's like an "action" button, to to speak.

But you'll figure out all that mundane stuff as you play the game. The real actions is blowing those splicers to smithereens and getting out of Rapture alive...

BioShock-----Sound
The sound department in BioShock is pretty standard. If you've got a fetish for flogging faces, you'll be sure to hear flesh hit bone when you do a standard kick to the head on any of the already-dead splicers laying around (and there's quite a few of them to be had,) and also the bullets whirring past your head when you're in the heat of battle. There are some audiotapes I thought were recorded at just a little bit below standard hearing level, so you might want to be sure and play the game with the volume turned up just a notch or two when listening to them.

Sometimes you'll hear noises, and you don't know where on God's Earth (or Andrew Ryan's Earth) where they're coming from. You'll think a splicer is about to stab you in the back, only to spin around to see nothing there. It's almost as though Rapture is a horrible haunted house, and it is preying on your fears. You'll feel tiny, miniscule, like a grasshopper in a Mason Jar----but, my little friend, you'll get out so long as your legs can take you there.

Wading through water feels real, and the damage you take when you get shot is unmistakable. Just hope and pray to God that you can sustain the hits, and pound those screwups back into the hole they spawned from. Carry that hate, my friend, and you'll be one mean machine.

Music is fairly unapparent in the game, but you will get the occasional random jukebox that will feel like playing, as though some amusing apparition wanted to hit the "Play" button at the wrong time. Other times, you might come upon vending machines that have their own pre-recorded cues that will play simply because you pass by them. Don't let them catch you off guard; they're just there to distract you.

Most of the game is heard through the rattling of footsteps, traversing through water, the rat-a-tat-tat of artillery and turret fire, and the sometimes all-too frequent mumblings of the splicers, that might say: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so...little to ones to him belong, they are weak but he is strong."
Yeah, it's kinda eerie.

BioShock----Final Recommendation
Well, after all of this, you should be fully prepared to engage in an all-out war against the atrocities of the psychological underworld that once was. BioShock is a game that has so many twists and turns, a roller coaster itself couldn't do it justice. Or a corkscrew, or a DNA helix, or anything like that. The Fibonacci sequence itself would deconstruct if it tried to follow a game so psychologically and logically complex.

What starts out as an innocent fight for survival turns into so much more, and the entire experience along the way is filled with entertainment, horror, and sometimes just plain strange moments. It's a deep dive into a place of only your wildest dreams, and BioShock is more than ready to take you there.

Are you ready to begin the wonderous underworld expedition? I thought so.  BioShock effecitvely combines both the past and present---past in its visuals, and present in its ideology of genetic mutation and human perfection.  You'll have a hard time erasing the memories and impresssions this game will indeliably put upon your thoughts.

Now, get out there and show those splicers, and that idiotic Mr. Andrew Ryan, what you're made of.

Overall Rating----9.2 out of 10 (Fantastic)
*Score lowered on Sept. 24, 2010 to adjust for new rating guidelines.* 
Copyright 2009 Aaron Coffey