BioShock
is a first-person shooter game developed and published by 2K
Games and released on August of
2007. The game takes place in the 1960s in the underwater city of
Rapture that player's character, Jack, ends up in after surviving
an airplane crash. If it were me I'd be asking for a refund.
Cole
MacGrath?
The
game does a good job with creating a sense of isolation, and the
first-person aspect helps with immersion. You never know what could
be lurking behind each corner. That said, the monsters themselves
aren't that scary, and are more prone to rely on jump scares.
Rapture
is presented as a mystery that you learn more about through audio
recordings. The concept itself is a good one, the execution not so
much. I quickly found myself becoming bored of Rapture and the
monsters that dwell within it. About the only ones that kept my
interest were the Little Sisters, and the Big Daddys, which sound
like names you'd find in a porno, or Kick- Ass. There just isn't that
much variety in the enemies. After the tenth or eleventh splicer it
starts to become exhausting.
I
like the idea of the wealthy creating a place where they can use
their earnings as they see fit, as well as science having no
limitations set upon it allowing for genetic engineering. The
problem is that none of these elements are implemented well through
gameplay. BioShock may as well have been a movie you see at the
theaters, not a video game you play at home. I can at least say that
the controls are probably the most simplistic I've encountered
without being insulting. When they say you can easily switch between
weapons, they really do mean it.
Weapons
range from wrenches, to firearms, and powers like electricity, fire,
and telekinesis. A common weapon combination involves stunning an
enemy with electricity and then taking him out with the wrench. You
can also use your environment to take out enemies. I think this is
the first game I played since Pokemon where water really does
conduct electricity. I commend BioShock on encouraging creativity
when dealing with enemies, but once you stock up on enough weapons
you can just blast through the splicers that get in your way.
What
is it with games and creepy little girls?
As
soon as you arrive in Rapture you are contacted by Atlas. A citizen
of Rapture who helps guide you through the run-down city and asks
for your help in dealing with Ryan, the man who constructed the
city. How do these characters become relevant to you in the end? Ryan
is your father, and Atlas who is really the villain just using you.
I would be impressed by these plot points if I haven't played Metal
Gear Solid. Nevertheless, Atlas causing you to crash your own plane
through hypnosis is pretty cool. His motives on the other hand are
the usual “power and money” lingo that has plagued villains
motives since the beginning of time.
BioShock
uses a lot of “this path is blocked” throughout the course of the
game, like pretty much the majority of survival horror games ever
invented. The first time this happened I needed to find the
telekinesis plasmid to proceed. The second time, the fire plasmid. A
little more creative than needing a key to open a locked door, but
it gets old, very, very quickly.
The
game has three alternative endings that depend on how you interact
with the Little Sisters. Basically, if you save them you are good,
if you do anything less than that you are a horrible human being.
There doesn't seem to be any middle ground, but sadly that's a
problem that a lot of games seem to have.
Conclusion: The
game is boring. I'm sorry, but it just is. Say what you want about
games like Metal Gear Solid being more of a movie than a game, at
least they managed to make the actual gameplay fun. Once the novelty
of Rapture wears off all you have is an interesting concept, and a
concept can't carry a game.
Skip
it.
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