chalkin reviews: BIOSHOCK
A tad late, I must admit.
My bar for any single player RPG is never set too high. It's not that I don't fancy single player games or RPGs, it's because being pessimistic about a game which could be finished in a matter of hours and stored in a shelf without touching it again for decades seems to support the "better safe than sorry" phrase well. I've known about Bioshock and its praises for years before I've finally decided to purchase the game. While I didn't expect the game to be completely perfect like most ratings and awards would otherwise suggest it to be, I would be lying if I had told you that I expected it to be another average game; I expected it to be a good one.
I'm not what one would call a "veteran gamer" and I've never played System Shock 2. Frankly, I'm not one to agree on the notion that "just because a game of another era was great, its successor should be just as great should it incorporate some of the elements from its predecessor". You see: if 2K was to remake System Shock 2 in its entirety but with improved graphics, then people would call 2K out as being greedy and lazy money launderers. However, from what little contrast I can see between System Shock 2 and Bioshock, I can say that I would prefer the "the city under the ocean" setting over the generic "space station survival versus cyborgs; space mutants; viruses; parasitic aliens; et cetera". (see Starcraft; Halo; Dead Space; AVP; etc) By all means, I am not saying that System Shock is a worse game - as I've never even touched it - I am saying that Bioshock and System Shock are different games with some (perhaps many) similar elements; but one should not compare and contrast the games so intensely.
This is an an alien. In most games, you shoot this with a gun. It's got teeth, brown skin tone and a rough texture. It probably has a few more, or less, limbs than that other alien from that other game, but you're still supposed to shoot it.
Plot:
I have to admit that Bioshock has one of the best plots I've come across so far. The twist - while many could honestly state that it was obvious - was a good one, even subtle as you venture your way through the first half of the game. Each character has some background, told in the form of tape recordings, and the plot generally made sense. Without going into too much analysis, the plot also involves some very interesting factors; such as Andrew Ryan's "suicide" and Tenebaum's stalwart devotion in helping the little sisters. One thing that bothers me is that Bioshock relies on the safe side of things by making the main character a mute, much akin to that of Half Life. On the positive side, though, it makes sense in Bioshock as the main character isn't really ever required to speak; also, the plot twist shines some light as to why the character is silent. I guess it helps with the atmospheric immersion as well. Another thing that struck me as odd was the fact that it is never explained why there is an abundance of EVE - which is derived from ADAM - while everything from bees to Prime Ministers in the game lust after ADAM. Actually, you really only need ADAM to obtain a new plasmid, but you need EVE to use it. Wouldn't it make more sense for everyone to want EVE instead? Then again, I guess that would ruin the entire game-driving concept of: "Human constantly tries to improve oneself".
Gameplay:
Without comparing the game to System Shock 2, one would find the gameplay where the player must use both guns and plasmids to their advantage to be rather unique. The idea of plasmids is a good one and the different combination of plasmids and weapons are quite inventive as well. However, at some point in the game, I stopped to realise, "Hey, I've done this before... and not just once". The different combinations are fun to play around with at first, but eventually they either become old and eventually a routine or become replaced with upgrades in the form of new weapons. A greater number of combinations other than the old "set guy on fire and use heat seeking missiles" and "toss oxygen tank at guy so it explodes in his face" would have remedied this issue. Simply being rewarded with new plasmids along with new weapons or bullets as the game progressed would have kept the game fresh until the end.
The shooting in Bioshock was quite bland. Sure, the variety of guns and different types of ammo juiced the shooting element up a great deal, but in the end the ammo had specific categories to them. The ammo came either in the form of elements (fire, frost, and electricity) or anti-personnel/armour rounds. The two interesting ammo were the trap bolts and proximity mines, but those were more or less conditional rounds that were to be saved up for the Big Daddy fights. While the feature where the player was able to upgrade his weapons where the weapon's aesthetics changes was a great one as a feel of progress is put into the game, the fact that these upgrades were solely obtained from a one-time-free-of-charge machine which are littered around the game completely destroys the feel of progression. Also, the only melee weapon is the wrench, as with most other FPS RPGs (see Half-Life and Condemned for examples). While the wrench is a good starter weapon, keeping it for the rest of the game would suggest that the developers simply got lazy with new melee weapons. The wrench isn't even symbolic as far as the Bioshock plot goes. Yes, there are tricks, combos, and what one could call "upgrades" with the wrench (via tonics) - but that doesn't excuse the fact that it's more or less awkward to swing around with a wrench when I've got half an arsenal of destructive gear on me.
The wrench is the cornerstone of all first-person shooter RPGs. There are probably axes lying around; but that's not going to fix any leaks in an underwater utopia, now is it?
One of the biggest problems I have with Bioshock's gameplay is its difficulty and enemy design. For starters, there are Vita-chambers littered all over the place. Sure, one might see them as checkpoints for the game and therefore making it acceptable. However, the enemies, if damaged prior to your death, will have the EXACT amount of health as you left them after you revive and run back to them. In other words, you can pretty much beat the entire game with just your wrench. But then again, stating that might have made me look like a hypocrite since I've just criticised the wrench. Another issue I have with the game is the AI. The enemies of the game are very, very repetitive. Sure, there are different types of enemies like with any other RPG and there are the annoying types (Houndini Splicers) which you'd rather avoid; again, like any other RPG. But that's it. There is generally just the Splicers, some bots which can be simply avoided by hacking them (and you will hack most), and the Big Daddies which appear every once in a blue moon. While this is somewhat remedied with the atmosphere of the game, it still drains the "RPG element" from the player because nothing really changes except for the location.
While we're on the topic of the RPG element of the game, it should be noted that the element is dimmed down even further with the fact that there is no actual inventory to store things. While there aren't exactly many items of use to store except for reagents to craft things with; there are tons of items littered everywhere. Why can't I devour that bag of chips at a later point in time? Why does the only source of food found in Rapture appear in the form of potato chips? Why can I carry only 9 Eve Hypos but an unlimited amount of empty hypos? Questions like these remain unanswered. I have a proposal for an answer, though: the developers got lazy.
Lastly, there are the boss fights. I must say that I have been spoiled by games with well designed boss fights such as World of Warcraft to make unbiased statements here, but I will still try. On three out of four occasions, the bosses were just Splicers with more health and damage. If you consider the Big Daddies as boss fights then boy are you in for some repetition. Let's not forget the last boss fight, which was the only thing notable as a challenge in the game aside from your first Big Daddy encounter.
The big daddy boss fights require time, patience and the determination of circa 40 men to master; it involves you either dealing with a drill-armed-dude, or a dude equipped with a gun who also throws grenades at you.
While I've said a lot of negative things about the gameplay, there's just something about it that attracts me. Perhaps it's the fact that having so much variety in weapons makes it so much more fun to shoot around. Perhaps the plasmids really made a difference to me because it was a first concept for me.
Graphics:
The graphics aren't bad. They aren't great, but it's a 2007 game, so what can you really expect? The environment was well done and the game is very detailed in terms of the fact that you can interact with most items, from small to large. It's not interactive like Fallout 3 interactive, but again, it's a 2007 game. The details of every weapon you have are well conceived and the sparkly stuff that shoots out of your hand seems as if a lot of work was put into it, too. But that's where it ends; your hands. Anything else that moves (really just Splicers) has horrible models. I understand that the Splicers are deformed human beings, but giving every one of them a polygonal head isn't exactly appealing or unique. Sure, the bunny masks are a good add, but once you lift that off with your telekinesis it's really just that swollen face, except that the swelling part results in jagged edges.
Behind the blood-stained bunny mask lies a face whose ragged textures could best be analogised to the Appalachians.
Audio:
Nothing much can be said here. Yes, the ambiance is well done, if barely noticeable. Yes, the voice acting of each of the major characters and those in tape recordings were well done, with each different accent more or less corresponding well enough for you to not giggle at the cheap voice acting (see the Metal Gear Solid series). In contrast, however, the voice acting of the Splicers was by at most 3 different voice actors. That is not to mention the fact that the Splicers spew the same lines over and over as the game progresses. There are literally only half a dozen lines to the entire "Splicer script". From one hall to another, you are met with what you can only assume to be the same guy. Did some of the lines send a shiver up my spine the first time is was uttered by an unseen enemy? Yes, but it gets old after the 50th time; where you'd just roll your eyes and think, "Oh, that guy again".
Yo! This is Three Dog. And if you thought that my lines were redundant, listen to what those fellas over at Rapture's got to share.
Atmosphere:
Now this is what really made Bioshock special for me. I was tense, and not just at the beginning, but throughout the entire game (well, until Proving Grounds, anyway). After slaughtering literally hundreds of Splicers and hearing their repetitive speech for the millionth time, I still jumped every time I heard someone chant "Jesus loves me, this I know" from a distance. Atmosphere is what Bioshock did best, better than any other game I've played. Games of the horror genre - such as Resident Evil 4 and 5 - are not scary. Hell, I wasn't even tense. Sure, Condemned was "scary" in the sense that some encounters were tense as hell and certain elements just made you jump out of your seat. But Bioshock is "scary" in a different sense. The Splicers aren't even zombies and can be best categorized as murderous drug addicts. While the gimmick where Splicers suddenly got up from pretending to be dead got repetitive after the tenth time; I still sat at the edge of my seat in case that happened again. So in some sense, the repetitiveness of the surprise element keeps the player alerted at all times because the atmosphere of the game allows it to happen at any time during gameplay. What's more is that despite the fact that you're in some lush garden area or some abandoned theatre, you can still be surprised by a crazed Splicer. I even resorted to seeking out to activate alarms so I could hack the released bots to keep me company while I explored the city. Unique encounters which made me jump out of my seat were well designed as well. An example of a notable event which scared the crap out of me includes a part of the game in the Medical Pavilion where I was exploring a corridor filled with knee-deep water and noticed the shadow of a Splicer who was supposedly working on a corpse. As I approached the Splicer through the corridor, hoping to take him by surprise, the lights suddenly go out, leaving me with cold sweat across my forehead while cussing out loud.
However, with anything good comes with a negative side to it. The entire atmosphere is ruined when you find out that you purchase your ammos and other necessities from vending machines. I understand that the dense atmosphere works well only if you are in constant solitude, but something silly doesn't really fit with the Bioshock setting. Fallout is able to pull this one off perfectly; there are settlements where people sell guns, ammo, et cetera and then there is the creepy aspect of the game every time you are in a sewer. While on the topic of comparing Fallout and Bioshock: I understand that the guys over at 2K wanted to pull a "Fallout" thing with the game - you know, with all the spell icons, clips, etc - but it was kind of too obvious. I'm not saying that it's a bad idea, but more originality could have contributed.
What was that soun-Hey! I wonder if this one sells creme soda.
Overall, I liked Bioshock. In fact, I'll even go as far as to say that it is one of the best games that I've ever played. It is engaging enough for me to finish; something that Fallout 3 has yet to prove itself to be, and it is long enough for me to have enjoyed until I got bored of it; something that Portal had failed to be. I wouldn't play it for a second time, though; Bioshock is one of those games where you play once, and once only. You shouldn't buy it unless it was cheaper to do that than to rent it. Bioshock is kind of like Assassin's Creed in this sense, but with better gameplay mechanics; plot; plot twist; environment; atmosphere; difficulty; etc.
Rating: 3.5/5
