BioShock

Moby ID: 29886
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Description official descriptions

In the year 1960, a plane crashes in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with a man named Jack as the only survivor. He has the apparent luck of resurfacing in front of what looks like a door to an underwater complex. Without hesitating, Jack enters the door and is greeted by slogans that praise the city of Rapture, a paradise of free will built in the 1940s by a business magnate named Andrew Ryan. However, even before he assimilates all this new information, the descent to this supposed paradise ends and he can only see ruins and chaos. Learning about the destiny of Rapture will be now Jack's main motivation while he tries to survive the horrors that free will can create.

BioShock is a first-person shooter with gameplay elements and storytelling technique reminiscent of System Shock games. Rapture, the once-proud social experiment inspired by the real-world objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand, has been nearly destroyed, its inhabitants either dead or fallen victims to bizarre scientific experiments. The retro-futuristic setting incorporates elements of sci-fi with art deco and steampunk influences, featuring interior design and propaganda posters reminiscent of 1950s.

The game's plot is largely revealed through recorded messages left by Rapture's inhabitants before they were killed or mutated. Much of the plot development is therefore dedicated to reconstructing the events of the past, similarly to System Shock games. Limited usage of stealth, the possibility to hack security cameras and other devices, and character customization are the gameplay elements that further tie BioShock to its spiritual predecessors.

At its core, however, the game is more action-oriented, restricting the role-playing mechanics of System Shock 2 to abilities and upgrades that can be acquired and equipped by the main character. Most of the enemies in the game are Splicers, the deformed and insane citizens of Rapture. The protagonist has an arsenal of firearms to combat them but is also able to use plasmids, which act similarly to magic and deplete a special energy called EVE. Various types of plasmids may directly hurt enemies, sabotage their movements, or enhance the player character's defense. Combat tactics often rely on successive usage of different types of weapons and plasmids. For example, encasing an enemy in ice with a plasmid makes it possible to shatter it to pieces with a single shot; protecting himself with an electric shield, the protagonist can electrocute enemies and strike them with melee weapons, etc.

The player can only equip a limited number of active and passive plasmids, and also has an inventory limit for every type of item. Restoring and enhancing items can be found by exploring the environment or purchased from vending machines. These can also be hacked, similar to turrets, cameras, safes, and other types of locks. Hacking is presented as a Pipe Mania-like mini-game.

Plasmids, on the other hand, are mostly purchased by spending certain amounts of a mutagen known as ADAM. This mutagen can be obtained from mysterious creatures called "Little Sisters" - little girls that can be seen in most of the game's locations, accompanied and protected by very strong, genetically enhanced humans grafted to armored diving suits and nicknamed "Big Daddies". In order to capture a Little Sister the player normally has to defeat her Big Daddy. Afterward, the player has the choice of killing the girl, harvesting large amounts of ADAM in the process, or sparing her life. Depending on the player's moral decisions concerning the Little Sisters, the game's story will be concluded with different endings.

The Playstation 3 version adds a harder difficulty level called "Survivor Mode" to the game.

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Credits (Windows version)

464 People (423 developers, 41 thanks) · View all

Story, Writing
Creative Direction
Director of Product Development
Project Lead
PC Producer
Art Director
Lead Animator
Acting Environment Leads
Performance Lead
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[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 94% (based on 193 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 409 ratings with 17 reviews)

Has a positive and a very big negative side.

The Good
Well Bioshock is supposed to be a spiritual successor to the classic System Shock series which was basically an rpg game blended with first person shooter mechanics.

After playing this game it seemed more like a successor to Doom 3. I wouldn't buy the whole revolutionary hype magazines are giving it; it brings nothing new to the table at least on PC standards.

First the good.
The biggest saving points to this game has to be the Story, its unique art direction including level design, voice acting and music score. Basically "presentation" the first ingredient has somewhat succeeded. I have a mixed opinion on the graphics as the water effects are good, but the character modeling is just plain horrid. The level design and artwork are pretty good too; sets the whole steam punk theme although I find the games lighting a little too extreme.

The Bad
While things look good, unfortunately this game doesn't play very well. The AI is just plain horrible. While it appears to be smart at first, it just becomes predictable and annoying. Sure they put themselves off when their burning or recharging their health, that's a really good thing but its gets really annoying when they just keep running around. Why? The characters move at a really fast speed making it more frustrating than anything, therefore making you wish this was not a FPS. The Big Daddies with the drills are fun to fight (if there are no splicers around), But the ones with guns keep shooting at you and their shots drain a good load of your health.

Bioshock really sets a good atmosphere. I was really enjoying the level design & ambiance. Unfortunately this gets ruined since your bombarded with enemies. Hell I can't even listen to the audio logs because the enemies keep respawning or there's some loud gunfight nearby.

Later on the splicers become even more powerful, and while battling them you tend to end up in confusion as the game has too many weapons and ammo types. While I liked the idea of ammo types in System Shock or Rainbow Six, it fails hard in this game as this is a face paced shooter where you're battling splicers and machinery in the same damn location. What good is the chemical thrower when you have a plasmid which does the same? Half the plasmids are boring and do nothing much to enhance the game.

To add to the intense colorful lighting and bloom, the screen blurs when you're shot, so don't play this game when your sleepy.

And most importantly, the game was advertised to be extremely non linear but it's as linear as the old Doom or Wolfenstein games. Don't get me wrong, I really love linear games (Half-Life 2) but I was really expecting a steam punk version of System Shock here. The game comes with a choice to harvest the little sisters or save them. Whatever you choose will not affect the gameplay except for the ending and the tone of the doctor's voice in the latter half. Oh and there's an arrow which tells you exactly where to go.

The Bottom Line
Bioshock may seem like a lame attempt to milk some money out of the System Shock name. They may have dumbed the game down for console standards and accessibility (that's my guess) . While it is worth playing, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is looking for something revolutionary.

Simply put Bioshock is made of 2 ingredients where one fails to make the dish enjoyable.

Windows · by dreamstealer (126) · 2007

Prepare to be BioShocked

The Good
If anyone of you have played System Shock 2, you would have known that that game was set in the future. The same cannot be said about 2K's latest offering, Bioshock; the game is set in 1960, way before I was born. A plane crashes in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and you are the only survivor. You resurface in front of what appears to be an underwater complex. You go and investigate this complex and, before you know it, you are taken to Rapture, a city that was built in the '40s by Andrew Ryan. It is supposed to be paradise, but you immediately find out that your descent into the city caused destruction and chaos.

The first thing I saw, long before I entered Rapture, was how amazing the water animates at the beginning of the game, and the fire around it. I think that this could be part of the DX10 enhancements in the game. It is this point in the game where you have to make your way to the bathysphere. Just looking around shows me what I could expect. As BioShock is set in 1960, the walls are decorated with old-style posters plastered around the walls and music that was common in that year.

After watching the introduction from Ryan, the window opens up to give you breathtaking views of Rapture, as the bathysphere takes you to one of the entrances leading to the city. I enjoyed the views while I was making my way there, with neon lights embedded onto each of the buildings. During the game, there are windows that you can look outside from, but these are not quite as spectacular as the one inside the bathysphere.

Around Rapture, there are a variety of weapons scattered in certain areas, and most of these weapons have three different types of ammunition. It doesn't hurt to try out all the types just to see what they are like. I prefer the machine gun for the early enemies, and the “Bucks” and the heat-seeking RPG for later ones. Of course, you will mainly use these weapons to kill Splicers. You will know when you are about to approach a Splicer: they chant and sing to themselves. As the manual states, a Splicer is a citizen of Rapture who became so obsessed with Plasmids that their overuse altered their genetic structure. Splicers are only alerted to your presence when you walk into their vicinity or shoot your weapon for no reason. Doing the latter takes me back to the days when I was playing Wolfenstein 3D when I could alert the Nazis simply by shooting at nothing. When they see you, they really do their best to destroy you. The audio logs that you can pick up (also an element from System Shock 2) are interesting to listen to, as these are a record of their memories during their time in Rapture .

Now, BioShock uses an element that was borrowed from System Shock 2 and the Thief games. When Splicers are killed, you will be able to go through their pockets and steal some useful items like extra cash, health, components, and much more. I enjoyed doing this as you never know what stuff you can collect. If you have enough of a specific item, the game doesn't let you get any more until it has been used. For instance, the game assumes that $500 is enough (even though there is a four-digit number for the money counter).

To get through the game, you need to use various machines. The manual has detailed information about these machines, so I won't bore you with all the details. Each of the machines attract the player to their location by playing some sort of melody or by speaking to you. “El Ammo Banditos”, for example, shouts something in Spanish. I can say that I used these machines more than twenty times in a level, to stock up on things like health, EVE, and ammo, as well as getting more Plasmids.

BioShock has two other elements that need mentioning, and these are also taken from System Shock 2. Security cameras are scattered around Rapture, and they are on the lookout for any intruders. Like SS2, once they have you in their sights they give a warning sound. Several seconds later, they confirm your sighting, sending security droids to your location, and these droids have orders to shoot and kill. You can destroy them, and put the droids to good use. That brings me to the second element: hacking. Hacking something brings up an interface where you have to connect some pipes until a pipe reaches the exit point. In this case, successfully hacking a security droid will cause it to protect you and shoot any splicers it sees. I enjoy how droids sound like bees when they follow you. Hacking is not limited to droids. You can also hack turrets, health stations, and most of the machines, but one machine that you can't hack is the “Gatherer's Garden”.

Sure, there are weapons that you can use to kill the Splicers. But the real magic of BioShock is the Plasmids that you can also use to perform special attacks. For example, you can electrocute your enemies, incinerate them, throw them up in the air and make them go down hard, sick bees onto them, and even turn Splicers against one another. Just because you selected specific Plasmids at the start of the game does not mean that you are stuck with the same ones throughout the game. You'll find hundreds of Plasmids to choose from at one of those “Gatherer's Garden” machines. If you had enough of your equipped ones, you can always buy new ones. (Hint: You might want to purchase a slot to store the plasmids in.) I like those “Evolve Today” black-and-white ads that introduce the Plasmids. They are hilarious to watch. Of course, you need to stock up on EVE if you want to keep using Plasmids. If you have no EVE, you cannot use Plasmids.

As you walk in some locations, as I said earlier, you can hear actual '60s music playing in the background. I describe the music as slow-moving, but in some places it just has a jazzy feel to it. If you like the music, you can stop what you are doing and listen to it right through to the end.

Two characters that I enjoy most are the Big Daddies and Little Sisters. The Daddies walk around making bear noises, then stop making those noises when they are accompanied by a Sister. Because the Daddies go around in diving suits, that must explain why they are called “Mr. Bubbles”. As the manual says, you can't do anything with the Sisters until you have dealt with the Daddy first, but it takes a lot of firepower to defeat them. When defeated, the Sisters mourn the Daddies as if they are a part of their family. I like how you have two options of dealing with the Sister. You see, you can harvest (kill) them to get a lot of ADAM, but that won't be pleasant to look at. An alternate, safer way is to rescue the Sister but you get less ADAM than you would by killing them. ADAM is one of the important items to get as it determines how many Plasmids you can get. What I did during the game was kill the Sisters, but only if I was very low on ADAM. I prefer to save them, however, since I don't believe in hurting innocent young girls. Once you have enough ADAM, you can spend it at one of those “Gatherer's Garden” machines.

One thing that I had to laugh at are what happens when you decide to save Sisters. When you manhandle her, all they say is “No!” four times while you are trying to get at the ADAM. After you release her afterward, she forgets about the Daddy since she is too busy saying “Thank you. You've saved my life” or something along those lines, then goes back to where she came from.

Although you have that yellow Quest arrow pointing to your objective at the top of the screen, I ignored it most of the time until I am ready to accomplish it. As with most first-person shooters, I like to explore a bit, hunting for weapons, health, EVE, and other stuff. This way I can avoid spending the cash I just collected on vending machines.

The controls are easy since you may be more familiar with them playing early first-person shooters. I really like how you could quickly switch to another weapon/Plasmid by turning the mouse wheel, and by switching between weapons/Plasmids with the right mouse button. It doesn't hurt to memorize the key bindings for special weapons/Plasmids. More often than not, I happened to press the wrong keys when I got involved in a full-blown fight with a Splicer and I end up losing a lot of health for doing this.

The Bad
I found that the areas are far too dark to see anything, even if my monitor/video settings are set to a satisfactory level. I had to rely on the Quest arrow to get me out of those dark areas.

About the vending machines: hacking machines doesn't really give you much of a discounted price. It is normally 15 dollars less than the normal price. They would not be worth hacking into since this is the case.

The Bottom Line
In BioShock, you can hack, steal items from your enemy's pockets, and evade security cameras; and these are the elements that were taken straight from System Shock 2. Each section of the game should take about 30 minutes to complete, but it may take longer if you are like me and explore the area a bit, ignoring the Quest arrow as you go. You encounter a variety of Splicers, and nearly all of them run towards you and jump in the air for an attack, so it is better to use what weapons you have to kill them before they are inches away from you.

Two characters that play an important role in the game are the Big Daddies and Little Sisters, both of which are funny to look at and listen to. There are three endings to this game, but what ending you view will depend on how you deal with the Sisters. If you view a specific ending, it would not hurt to play BioShock two more times and try the other endings.

The sound is great, and the music reflects the year that the game is set in. The same goes for the graphics, but you won't get the extra benefits without a DX10-compliant video card,

BioShock is the first games in the series, so expect a second and third game to be released later. There is also a movie that ties in with the third game.

Windows · by Katakis | ă‚«ă‚żă‚­ă‚ą (43092) · 2009

Beautiful and Bone-Chilling

The Good
Bioshock is probably one of the most disturbingly beautiful games I've ever played. While the aesthetic is clearly designed to make the player uncomfortable, it's clear that the game's designers took great care to construct a believable world. The environments are believable and look lived in, water effects are above par, and the dynamic light and shadows really add to the sense of dread that makes a really good suspense/horror game possible.

The other half of making the world believable is giving it a compelling story. Rapture has no shortage of interesting characters, and the audio diaries that litter its halls add a wonderfully woven back story to an already intriguing world. Bioshock is a shining example of how to properly tell a story in a first-person shooter.

The game's controls are solid, its weapons varied, and a veritable host of power-up combinations make for an experience that never gets dull. Plasmids, or genetic enhancements, provide a new implementation of on old mechanic, namely spellcasting, but supported by an impressive customization system and a drool-worthy physics engine.

The Bad
While Bioshock leaves very little to be found wanting, it's not without its problems, minor as they may be.

While Bioshock's layout is generally good at helping the player suspend disbelief, there are times when the age-old "invisible wall" problem comes into play. Certain ledges, staircases, etc that look as if they should be accessible are instead impassible borders. The game does avoid this for the most part, but it cropped up enough that I felt it bears mentioning at least.

I also had some issues with the controller mapping, particularly certain buttons performing double duty. For example, the x button is used to hack machinery, and in many cases you need to do this quick, before a turret or security bot is reactivated. This isn't a problem, except that x ALSO is the hotkeyed button for using an EVE hypo, so if you hit it too early you can end up wasting a valuable resource. The same thing happened to me occasionally with using the b button to cancel out of menus and accidentally using health packs.

All in all though, most of my issues with the game were minimal and didn't take away at all from the overall experience.

The Bottom Line
Imagine being totally immersed in a world where everyone around you has gone horribly insane and you are the only sane person left. Not a new concept, but entirely re imagined and relocated to Rapture, the underwater utopia gone wrong.

Bioshock is chock full of truly frightening moments, and not the standard spring-loaded cat stuff, but real glimpses into chaos and insanity. There's nothing about the game that isn't entirely creepy, but at the same time appealing.

Xbox 360 · by Nick Rycar (155) · 2007

[ View all 17 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
initial Mac releases Cantillon (75064) Feb 7, 2022
Gameplay feature: New Game+ Cantillon (75064) Jun 22, 2021
German PEGI (uncut) Steelbook Cover Art Zerobrain (3053) Oct 15, 2010
Yikes. Indra was here (20768) May 16, 2009
They're doin' it for themselves Slug Camargo (583) Mar 21, 2009

Trivia

1001 Video Games

BioShock appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

German version

To ensure that the game wouldn't be put on the infamous list of BPjS/BPjM indexed games, 2k Games released a slightly modified version of the game and the Collector's Edition with only the German language on the disc in Germany. The changes include less blood, some changed cutscenes and no wounds on burned bodies. This version got rated "Not free for minors" by the German rating organisation USK.

Hacking

The hacking mini-game (which can be performed on a variety of devices including safes, security cameras, item dispensers, robots, etc.) is basically a slightly altered version of Pipe Dream.

Reception

According to Wall Street Journal Take Two's shares increased by nearly 20% after early favorable reviews of BioShock.

References

In Farmer's Market cantina, you can find a piece of cheese that resembles Pac-Man, even with the dots!

References to the game

BioShock was parodied in an episode of "Die Redaktion" (The Editorial Team), a monthly comedy video produced by the German gaming magazine GameStar. It was published on the DVD of issue 12/2007.

Soundtrack

On August 24, 2007 2K Games released a 12 track compilation with songs from the orchestral score composed by Garry Schyman. The compilation can be downloaded for free here: http://downloads.2kgames.com/bioshock/BioShock_Score.zip

One of the songs that were included on the Bonus EP in the Collector's Edition, was made by Moby. It's a remix of "Below the sea".

Water

2K Games had to hire a water programmer and a water artist to implement the pools and the pouring water around Rapture. This involved modifying the Unreal 3.0 engine to create realistic water effects.

Awards

  • Games for Windows Magazine
    • March 2008 - #4 Game of the Year 2007
  • GameSpy
    • 2007 – #2 Console Game of the Year
    • 2007 – #2 Xbox 360 Game of the Year
    • 2007 – #3 Game of the Year
    • 2007 – #3 PC Game of the Year
    • 2007 – Best Art Direction of the Year
    • 2007 – Best Sound of the Year
    • 2007 – Best Story of the Year
    • 2011 – #2 Top PC Game of the 2000s
    • 2012 – #2 Top PC Gaming Intro
  • Mac|Life
    • December 2009 - Editor's Choice Award

Information also contributed by Agent 5, Apogee IV, [bakkelun](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,70962/), [Emepol](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,12364/), [PCGamer77](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,1717/), [Scott Monster](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,35225/), [Sicarius](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,70866/) and [WildKard](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,16566/)

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by MichaelPalin.

OnLive added by firefang9212. iPhone, iPad, PlayStation 3 added by Sciere. Macintosh added by Zeppin.

Additional contributors: Sciere, Maw, Zeppin, Jason Strautman, Patrick Bregger, Starbuck the Third, FatherJack, firefang9212.

Game added August 23, 2007. Last modified March 23, 2024.