BioShock (2007) (VG)

User Rating:

9.5/10   

Director:

Ken Levine

Writers:

Ken Levine (story)
Susan O'Connor (additional story work)

Release Date:

21 August 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

In 1960, a lone survivor of a plane crash named Jack discovers an abandoned underwater utopia, only to find out that the mystery behind its creation is much more sinister than he first believed.

Plot Keywords:

Rapture | Little Sister | Underwater | Diving Suit | Wasp Attack

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

John Ahlin	...	(voice)
Armin Shimerman	...	Andrew Ryan (voice)
Greg Baldwin	...	Frank Fontaine (voice)
Jane Beller	...	(voice)
Susanne Blakeslee	...	Professor Julie Langford / Lady Smith Splicers (voice)
Anne Bobby	...	(voice)
Blesst Bowden	...	(voice)
Tony Chiroldes	...	(voice)
Shavonne Conroy	...	(voice)
Ritchie Coster	...	(voice)
Betsy Foldes	...	(voice)
Joshua Gomez	...	Johnny (voice)
Cassandra Grae	...	(voice)
Raymond Guth	...	(voice) (as Ray Guth)
J.G. Hertzler	...	Doctor Splicers (voice)

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:M | Australia:MA

Company:

2k Games

Trivia:

Andrew Ryan is an anagram, of sorts, of Ayn Rand, the primary inspiration for both the architecture and the theme of the game.

Quotes:

Atlas: Nice work, boyo! Hahahahaha! Hahaha! Hahahaha! It's time to end this little masquerade. There ain't no 'Atlas', kid, never was. Someone in my line of work takes on a variety of aliases. Hell, once I was even a Chinaman for six months. But you've been a sport, so I guess I owe you a little honesty. Name's Frank Fontaine.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Harper's Island: Snap (#1.10)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Beyond The Sea

A Dark, Brooding Masterpiece.

Pros: Masterful art direction. Deep atmosphere and story. Stunning visuals, Unreal 3 engine used well for once. Incredibly potent subtext. Entertaining gene mods. No nonsense gun play.

Cons: Too long for its own good. Simple. Drags in places, feeling very old school. The 'brilliant' AI is nothing but triggers and waypoints.

I'll stick with the cons, since every review will avoid them.

Firstly this game is aimed at a console market. That much is clear from the game play. It's designed as an fps rpg rigged to knock the socks off fairly average consumers. If you're used to Halo, Timeshift, Doom 3, Prey sort've affairs then BioShock will forge new and wondrous frontiers for you. If you're a PC focused chap like myself then there's nothing really new here in the game play. Personally i found STALKER deeper, darker and generally better - but i shouldn't go off on one... Deus Ex, STALKER, Half-Life are what the PC market is used to and because of this i felt BioShock patronised me at times with its simplicity. Sorry Ken, burning teddy bears and melting ice from doors doesn't make me need to call an ambulance for 'awesome overdose.'

The AI everyone was raving about was untaxing and bland. Not quite Tenchu Z bland, but bland. NPCs follow a set course of waypoints which switch to another route depending on if there's a corpse near by. The first 2 hours the NPCs felt completely scripted - which was great! Absolutely i enjoyed the cinematic style of it, until it cut abruptly after those two hours and you're left with absolutely nothing but a Doom scenario.

Despite focusing on the negative i still rate BioShock as being in 2007's top 10. Though i did honestly feel cheated. I highly recommend System Shock 2... which is essentially the same game but in space, with a full rpg style interface.