Review: BioShock for the Playstation 3

BioShock
2K Games, Irrational Games
Available for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360

With so much information circulating on the internet currently about the next instalment in the BioShock series, BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams, I thought this would be the perfect time to review the Playstation 3 version of BioShock. Now originally BioShock was released on the Xbox 360 to a mass of clamouring fans who developed a taste for the game from its under-hyped demo released on Xbox Live. The first person shooter was an overnight success, but when 2K Games decided to release the title again on the Playstation 3, they thought it would be a good idea to create some additional downloadable content to be released along aside it as to entice the Sony crowd. Whether the new content made the different or not, the game sold and the Playstation crowd learned what it is like to visit the dark corners of Rapture.

BioShock begins with a horrifying plane crash in the 1960s and a lone survivor named Jack swimming from the wreckage towards a strange tower in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Having no where else to go, Jack must enter the building in which he finds the entrance to an underwater city called Rapture. Rapture was a city created by Andrew Ryan in 1946, as a place for brilliant minds to work together away from government rule. Unfortunately when Jack arrives Rapture had already begun its downward spiral and the city has been taken over by the Splicers, the insane or mutated citizens of Rapture.

Luckily for Jack, Atlas, one of the normal citizens of Rapture manages to contact him via Radio and asks that he save his wife and child in exchange for helping him escape from Rapture. By this point though, Alex Ryan has learn of Jack’s presence too and has sent enemies after you. Here this point on you must help Jack make all his choices in order to learn what happen to this utopian city and ultimately escape it.

While BioShock is a first person shooter in the fact that you use guns to defend yourself in the game, what really set this game apart from the normal FPS genre are the genetic enhancements. Along with guns and melee weapons, Jack will receive items called plasmids that will allow your character to use genetic enhancements like electric shock. There are also tonics in the game will give your character special perks such as damage resistance and camouflage. You will be able to purchase these items through the game with a substance called ADAM which is collecting via the Little Sisters in the game.

Little Sisters are products of the city of Rapture; human girls warped into collecting ADAM from the dead who are always protecting by giants in diving suits called Big Daddies. Big Daddies are nasty creatures as warped by the people of Rapture to destroy anyone who tries to hurt a Little Sister. As you dive further into the game, more in revealed about the history of these two Rapture creatures and you will learn there will be hard choices to in regards to their future.

Probably one of the most drawing aspects of BioShock is the graphics, which amazes you from the moment the plane hit’s the water. As Jack swims for his life in the Atlantic Ocean, you can’t help but spend a few moments watching the flames from the crash dance and reflect on the water. As you reach the strange building, you wander around inside and out gazing up at the architectural structure from the 1940s and feel like you are almost really there. Once inside Rapture, you’ll walk terrified through the dark halls waiting for the Splicers to pounce on you, and yet you still will be staring up at the wall of city, amazing by its beauty. My only complaint is that the developers didn’t take the time to put more variety into the different Splicers and their outfits, because it feels like you’re fighting the same people over and over again through the city.

Adding to the wonderful graphics, the sound, the music and the voiceovers were all stellar and really added to the life and atmosphere of Rapture. I believed every bit of this city to be real, and I feared it and loved it for every minute that I spent in it. From the creep voices of the Splicers calling out from the dark for your blood to the wonderful music from the 1940s era, the audio people didn’t miss a beat on adding to the world of Rapture.

Though this new Playstation 3 version could have still done with an online version or some co-op play, the exclusion of a new mode and some downloadable content definitely made my second trip to Rapture much more interesting. The new survivor mode made the enemies much tougher and the vita-chamber less useful for health boosts, and three new challenge rooms available for download at $10 gave me the opportunity to use my skills learn in Rapture to solve new puzzles and take out Big Daddies.

Being that this is my second time playing through BioShock, once on the Xbox 360 and now on Playstation 3, I think my choice to recommend this game as purchase is pretty obvious. From the fabulous storyline to the perfectly created world of Rapture, BioShock is one of those games that draws you into it and makes you believe it’s real. All it took was the demo for me to love this game; I know all it will take is the first 5 minutes for you to love it too.

Rating: 10 out of 10
Buy it!