Reviews// BioShock - Played To Death

While the details of the characters outfits do seem to have some variety, and the masquerade masks some are wearing help to break up the monotony, it’s still not enough to prevent snapping the suspension of disbelief that is so vital in a game. The occasional short or fat Splicer would have gone a long way to indulging my obvious highly developed sense of disbelief.

A ‘Splicer’, by the way, is one of the citizens of Rapture – but the citizens of Rapture have been sent psychopathically insane by the use of the fabulous ADAM gene-altering technology (based on sea slug stem cells, you know) so beloved of the civilization’s scientific and then consumer culture. There’s a warning there for all you GMO-profiteers out there if ever I’ve seen one… politics, eh?

The most common interaction is with these Splicers. These gnarled, self-mutilated, genetically-altered freaks will torment you and impede your every move. They move about on their own, scavenging for EVE, ADAM and other supplies. They occasionally scuffle with each other and will often attempt to take down a Big Daddy on their own.

Their voices, echoing around corners, through windows and from holes in the ceilings and floors are not only very creepy but say some of the most disturbing and twisted things I’ve ever heard in a video game. During your very first encounter with one at the beginning of the game, if you listen carefully you can hear her whisper “I’ll wrap you in a sheet…” as she clings, in the darkness, to the ceiling 40 feet above you. It only gets worse form there. While you will occasionally hear a repeat of the dialogue, because these Splicers have ‘issues’ (severe issues), what is said is so disturbing and well suited to the characters themselves that you won’t mind hearing some of them again.

As I stated before there isn’t much variety within each type of Splicer but there are plenty of types to be found and the different combinations of them you can face at any given time really serve to keep you on your toes. Battling a grenade tossing nut-job from 30 feet away while simultaneously defending yourself from a hook-wielding, ceiling clinging, spider Splicer requires not just fast reflexes but clever use of plasmid/weapon combos as well.

Next up are the stars of our game, the Big Daddies and Little Sisters. For the uninitiated, a Big Daddy is a squat, deep-diving suit clad creature that looks after freaky little girls (Little Sisters) who roam the environment, armed with syringes, seeking to remove ADAM from the dead inhabitants of Rapture in order to recycle it (what, more politics?). Big Daddies are incredibly well armoured and they are also immensely powerful because of their unending supply of ADAM.

These twisted symbiotic parings wander through all the levels and represent a sort of free-form boss battle. The only way for the average Splicer or you to get any ADAM is to take it from the Little Sisters; and the only way to get to do that is by going through their Big Daddy.

Each area of Rapture has its own Daddy variety and there are even some wondering about without Little Sisters, always looking for a little ADAM dispenser of their own to protect and live off. Using these loner Daddies to your advantage can be an excellent means of survival. I’ll spare you the specifics, but there are a variety of plasmids and other items that will allow you to use not only the Daddies, but the Splicers and everything else for that matter.

Back to the rather tedious characterisations, the Big Daddies/Little Sisters are – sad to say – rather dull in terms of variety. The Big Daddies wandering each level are all identical - only changing appearance when you change geographical area. The Little Sisters are, most disappointingly of all, exact clones of each other. But hey, that’s science for you – with cloning comes dull appearance, just ask Boba Fett.