BusyGamer Rating
BIOSHOCK
PLATFORM : XBOX 360
COMPANY: 2K GAMES
REVIEWER: Grits Review Main
First Glance:
Haven't I played this before? Except I was in space or something?
The Short Story:
It's a great game. There's a lot to do here but the Busy Gamer can sit down a couple
of hours a week and beat this game in a relatively short time if they don't mind
playing on Easy mode. It looks great, plays well, and the sounds, well, spooky is a
bit weak to describe it but the voice acting is solid and the background noises keep
you on your toes throughout your play session.
The Score:
This game is a solid, very solid, 4. The score can even be bumped up to a 5 if you
decide to play through on Easy You'll probably unlock quite a few achievements even
if you play on Easy mode but the fact of the matter here is that there's a lot more to do
in this game than in the majority of shooters on the market. Repeated play sessions
may have you unlocking more achievements but you're looking at a solid game with
decent returns on your time spent playing.
Body of review:
There's a lot in this game that harkens back to the days of System Shock and System
Shock 2. The hacking, the shooting, the ghostly images of events that happened
before the nameless character of You dives deep beneath the water. And there's
another thing here that can compare and it's what made the System Shock games
such a hit with me. It's the atmosphere.
Bioshock does several things right but the one big thing that makes this game is the
way 2K presents a story and immerses you in that story with a creepy, disturbing
atmosphere and some very convincing voice acting.
From the moment the game starts, you'll feel more like you're playing through a story
than merely blasting your way through levels. There's a gentleman who seems
friendly enough that you communicate with via a radio. He's your guide and fills you
in on the history of Rapture as you move along trying to make your way out of Rapture
through the madmen, the Big Daddies, and the Little Sisters. It makes for a great
means of telling the background and learning the controls as you actually move
through the world 2K has created.
The underwater setting is a nice touch and keeps the player from wondering why he
can't just set fire to the stupid tree blocking the path that leads to freedom, something
I often find myself doing in the escape/survival scenarios presented by other
shooters. And before some of you ask, "Hey, why did I go down in the first place",
don't worry, there's a very nicely presented explanation! You just have to kick some
butt to find out what it is. There's no savior of the world here, folks. This game is all
about keeping yourself alive long enough to get back up to the surface.
All in all, this is a very nicely presented game. The graphics are gorgeous, the
sounds are eerie, and the voice acting is some of the best I've heard in a game in a
long time. You'll find yourself having to make a couple of tough moral choices along
the way through Rapture but that's all part of what makes this a great game.
Grits - End of line
Haven't I played this before? Except I was in space or something?
The Short Story:
It's a great game. There's a lot to do here but the Busy Gamer can sit down a couple
of hours a week and beat this game in a relatively short time if they don't mind
playing on Easy mode. It looks great, plays well, and the sounds, well, spooky is a
bit weak to describe it but the voice acting is solid and the background noises keep
you on your toes throughout your play session.
The Score:
This game is a solid, very solid, 4. The score can even be bumped up to a 5 if you
decide to play through on Easy You'll probably unlock quite a few achievements even
if you play on Easy mode but the fact of the matter here is that there's a lot more to do
in this game than in the majority of shooters on the market. Repeated play sessions
may have you unlocking more achievements but you're looking at a solid game with
decent returns on your time spent playing.
Body of review:
There's a lot in this game that harkens back to the days of System Shock and System
Shock 2. The hacking, the shooting, the ghostly images of events that happened
before the nameless character of You dives deep beneath the water. And there's
another thing here that can compare and it's what made the System Shock games
such a hit with me. It's the atmosphere.
Bioshock does several things right but the one big thing that makes this game is the
way 2K presents a story and immerses you in that story with a creepy, disturbing
atmosphere and some very convincing voice acting.
From the moment the game starts, you'll feel more like you're playing through a story
than merely blasting your way through levels. There's a gentleman who seems
friendly enough that you communicate with via a radio. He's your guide and fills you
in on the history of Rapture as you move along trying to make your way out of Rapture
through the madmen, the Big Daddies, and the Little Sisters. It makes for a great
means of telling the background and learning the controls as you actually move
through the world 2K has created.
The underwater setting is a nice touch and keeps the player from wondering why he
can't just set fire to the stupid tree blocking the path that leads to freedom, something
I often find myself doing in the escape/survival scenarios presented by other
shooters. And before some of you ask, "Hey, why did I go down in the first place",
don't worry, there's a very nicely presented explanation! You just have to kick some
butt to find out what it is. There's no savior of the world here, folks. This game is all
about keeping yourself alive long enough to get back up to the surface.
All in all, this is a very nicely presented game. The graphics are gorgeous, the
sounds are eerie, and the voice acting is some of the best I've heard in a game in a
long time. You'll find yourself having to make a couple of tough moral choices along
the way through Rapture but that's all part of what makes this a great game.
Grits - End of line
