The Steam Files #B.1: Bioshock

 Developer: 2K Boston, 2K Australia
Publisher: 2K Games
Release:  21 August 2007 (Steam)

So I'll admit, I never really saw eye to eye with this game when it first came out, which is partly why I committed to reviewing this one first. This game only entered my collection about a year ago and hasn't really got a proper play through yet. I don't particularly tend to enjoy horror/thriller style games, which this sort of fits, so it's not really a surprise that I never got particularly far in it.

 On starting the game, you're presented with a main menu that shows off the style of the game perfectly, with the fusion of post-war and steampunk styles and technology. Mechanical gearing makes a very prominent display in the charming options menus, giving them a sense of character that makes sure that you achieve near-total immersion from the moment you enter the game. This same immersion is quite important, because without it you'd likely miss the feeling of wonder that distracts the gaze out of the game's many windows, showing the full might and majesty of the city of Rapture.

An 'in-style' options menu is a very nice feature.

 Which brings us to the beginning of the game. A short pair of 'title-slides' bookend an equally brief introductory cutscene, showing the player character upon an aircraft that then ditches into the ocean. Miraculously, the character emerges from the wreckage relatively unscathed and next to a suspect looking lighthouse in the middle of the Atlantic.

 Upon reaching the lighthouse you'll find a bathysphere waiting to take you down into the depths, and it is at this point we get a few glimpses of Rapture's immense size and majesty.

 And so the player enters Rapture. The station here serves as a tutorial location, where you get your first introduction to splicers, your 'bread-and-butter' enemies throughout the game. Splicers are horrific beasts, mutated both by surgical experimentation and perversion of their DNA by the way of 'ADAM'. ADAM is the name used for reservoirs of stem cells that are used to give people unnatural abilities in the form of 'plasmids', which in turn are occasionally found in vials around levels or purchased from the Gatherer's Garden machine (Incidentally, this also references the Little Sister's original name. Probably a good thing, as 'Little Sister's Garden' sounds a bit like a paedophile's codeword). You'll encounter a number of types of splicers throughout the game, but the Thuggish and Leadhead variants are the most common.

As part of the tutorial, the player will have their first encounter with a plasmid vial, which gives the player a bit of a kick, leading into a short non-interactive segment where a Big Daddy narrowly saves you from being eviscerated by splicers. This segment gives a first up close of the Big Daddy and Little Sister (Little Sisters' role is to harvest ADAM from corpses) and also possibly the only time you'll see the pair this close without getting your face shot to pieces or drilled into.

 With the tutorial covered, you're then free to continue the main quest in other splendid locations throughout Rapture and find Andrew Ryan. However, I won't spoil the story for those that haven't played it. But I will note one thing; the observant viewer or gamer will have noticed the tattoo on the wrists of the player character. This tattoo becomes particularly relevant later on in the plot, where you uncover a plot twist.

For the game as a whole, I was pretty impressed, given that this sort of psuedo-horror/thriller game genre isn't really my thing. The aesthetic of the game is fantastic, giving a similar sort of post-war and steampunk feel that is shown in Fallout 3. There are a range of plasmids that fulfil different purposes, but the one you'll use most is the electric shock, which stuns enemies and provides a damage amplifier, but also temporarily disables electronic security devices, allowing you to hack them and turn them to your side. The turrets are both formidable enemies but powerful allies when hacked. I will note that later in the game you get access to a plasmid that allows you to make a Big Daddy protect you. However, they take this to the extreme and will attack turrets even after you hack them, and if they damage the Big Daddy it becomes hostile again. It's an interesting gap in the AI logic, but that situation should be quite rare in the game, so doesn't pose a major issue.

The story throughout is quite interesting and captivating, and more often than not the audio logs that can be found scattered around levels are interesting to listen to, always providing an added insight into the world of Rapture and occasionally give a background into the equally interesting NPC characters you'll occasionally meet.

The 'conventional' weapons provided throughout the game are also quite interesting an varied, and they're all upgradeable. The means of upgrading them is by simply going to one of the somewhat rare one-use upgrade terminals and selecting the upgrade. However, the application of the upgrades touches a soft spot for me. Every upgrade made to your weapons introduces a physical alteration to the device, which is highlighted directly after acquiring it so you immediately notice the difference. Again, the upgrades always fit in the same style, and often have the appearance of a 'DIY' upgrade rather than something the manufacturer would provide. This hits a soft spot for me in particular because it shows how much attention to detail goes into the game, a point often lost in the magical environments and settings. The best part of a game's aesthetics are quite often the things most will rarely bother to look at, like the additional details and upgrade provides, or the cityscape that is displayed out of the windows

So, whilst I've not finished Bioshock at time of writing, I am very much happy with the experience. I can safely recommend it as a purchase now (or preferably during a Steam Sale) given the initial hype around the game has long since dissipated. Even if it's not a game you'd normally consider picking up.

I intend to review Bioshock 2 as part of this series, by which time I will have completed Bioshock and will include my final thoughts on the original.

But for now, I'll finish with these pictures:

The in-game Help covers a range of topics

This scripted encounter shows a protective Big Daddy unleashing on a predatory splicer.

The hacking mini-game is a slightly over-used distraction.

It's pretty much a more complex version of those pipe maze games that used to be popular

Active plasmid abilities (as opposed to the passive ones, which are called tonics) reward you with an infomercial when you acquire them

The loading screens are all in style too.

The water effects are gorgeous. In fact, the rank among they best in any game I've played.