Price: $29.99 | Release Date: August 21, 2007 (PC) | ESRB Rating: Mature

4 Stars: Good enough to buy, definite rent.

BioShock, the so called "spiritual successor" to the highly acclaimed System Shock 2 on PC, sees you take on the role of the lone survivor of a plane crash in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. The game opens in the direct aftermath of the crash, with burning wreckage all around you, and a mysterious lighthouse that serves as the entrance to a fantastic underwater city: Rapture.

Now, I could tell you about Rapture, but I think the description by founder Andrew Ryan is better:

I am Andrew Ryan and I am here to ask you a question:
Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?

No, says the man in Washington; it belongs to the poor.
No, says the man in the Vatican; it belongs to God.
No, says the man in Moscow; it belongs to everyone.

I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something
different. I chose the impossible. I chose...
Rapture.

That being said, there is something very creepy and wrong in Rapture. It has become derelict and run-down, with numerous leaks and crazy people running around trying to kill you. And so starts the story of BioShock, exploring Rapture and discovering the history of this impressive and yet somehow sad miracle at the bottom of the sea.

The gameplay is a fairly standard FPS experience. You get 7 different weapons, ranging from your standard pistol, shotgun to the more extreme crossbow and grenade launcher. Each weapon has three different ammunition types which spice up the gameplay. In addition to weapons, you also get to play around with a variety of plasmids, which are essentially gene enhancements (yep, it's amazing what people can discover and invent when there is no government to stop them) that provide a number of fun effects, such as instant fire, electricity, freezing and telekinesis to name just a few of the more fun ones. Also in addition to weapons and plasmids, there are things called "gene tonics" that can be equipped that provide permanent benefits. This adds a little RPG type twist into the mix, as you have to decide whether you want to be a lurker who sneaks around and gets security systems to do battle for them, or a juggernaut who runs bravely into battle all alone.

There are also a few puzzle elements to BioShock, most notably in the form of hacking various machines. In this, you play a Pipe-Dream type mini-game where you have to connect the starting point to the ending point by revealing and connecting sections of pipe. This is all well and good the first few times, but after that it just gets boring and irritating, especially when one considers the benefits of hacking each and every machine you find. Other puzzle elements are mainly finding creative and fun ways to kill the enemies.

BioShock is quite an immersive experience, as you really get into the story of Rapture and it's citizens. I really made an effort to find the scattered audio diaries left behind by Rapture citizens, as they provide fascinating insight into the history of the city and its eventual fate. I guess what I'm saying is that the story-telling and writing are of an extremely high quality, and serve to immerse you in the world and the environments. Characters, of which there are only a handful, are all quite deep characters with their own motivations and desires, and this I think really helped me to get into the plot of BioShock.

The graphics also aid in sucking you into the Rapture world, by creating a vibrant world full of colour and depth for you to explore. Each area is well designed and rendered, and you will usually be provided with a fantastic view of the sea outside, which reminds you of the fact that you are at the bottom of the ocean. There are a number of things that bugged me about the graphics, however. Firstly, your character never casts a shadow. Whether this was an oversight by the design team or the graphics team, it was very distracting and irritating to me, especially since shadows and lighting are used to such a creepy extent so often elsewhere in Rapture. I won't bore you with details, but this simple omission really brought the game down for me.

Secondly, the lack of breakable stuff in Rapture. Maybe it is as a result of the government interference free state, but nothing in Rapture, from wooden packing pallets to crates, could be broken. This annoyed me a little, but then again, maybe I had just become spoiled by other games that offered destructible doodads.

Ok here's a final rundown of Pros and Cons, as well as the final verdict:

PROS

• Excellent storytelling
• Generally excellent graphics (amazing water and fire effects)
• Fun weapons and plasmids
• Deep characters and motivations
• Enjoyable RPG elements

CONS

• Annoying graphics glitches and oversights
• Hacking mini-game is really repetitive

Well as you can see, BioShock is a clear winner. Despite the mini grievances, I have no problem in recommending this game.