Reviews// BioShock - Played To Death

However, caring so much about what happens, formulating theories, worrying about characters, fearing for my life and desperately wanting to unravel the secrets of the amazing world are all tarnished by the constant little reminders that I’m holding a controller and watching a screen. One minute I’m admiring the amazing architecture of this beautiful underwater city, the next I’m becoming annoyed at having to fend off the same grenade-chucking asshole I’ve killed three times in this same area. I am the very definition of ‘conflicted’.

So, to sum up, I love BioShock. It is an absolute must-play. It’s well above average and incredibly fun but not without its faults. The story and its presentation alone are more than enough to make it worth playing through, even if the controls are less than perfect.

Could it have been better? Certainly, if twice the budget and time were available. However, that bodes well for the inevitable BioShock II (let alone the film, which will surely coming to a Cineplex near you next summer).

Comparing it to every other game out recently, BioShock stands as a testament of what gaming can be. It is, in my opinion, an early glimpse of the future of interactive entertainment. As games continue to move further and further from their arcade roots and more towards the mature artistic medium we all know they can be, BioShock will no doubt go down in video game history as a true landmark title.


SPOnG Score: 96%

Conclusion
Fun shooting action and a decent variety of weapons that can be upgraded to suite your play style. BioShock is not perfect, in fact it’s not as awesome as you might have been lead to believe. It is, however, a stunning achievement. It’s an absolute joy to play and worth the time of anyone who dares to call themselves a “gamer”. The good: art design, voice-acting; and storytelling that is second to none. The bad: lack of depth/variety in hacking, re-spawning enemies when they are supposed to be real and free-roaming, and a severely under-developed upgrade system. All that said, if you don’t own a copy of this game by year-end, you may as well burn any gaming credentials you think you’ve got. To quote an old English movie, BioShock is ‘the (Big) Daddy now!’