Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Immersive"

Bioshock is a hard game to score for me. The game does most everything right, but there are a few points where the game fails to iive up to its ambitious nature.

I'll get the bad stuff out of the way. The story in this game is somewhat lackluster. The way it is told is brilliant, there are very few cutscenes, and most of the game's backstory is told through audio diaries that you find throughout the game, with the main story being told through radio transmissions. As I said, I have no problem with the way the story is presented, they just needed a better story to tell. There are a few plot twists along the way, and in the end, I mostly feel like I was killing the end boss not because I was motivated to do so by good storytelling, but simply just so that I could finish the game.

The gameplay focuses mainly on exploration and combat, with some hacking minigames thrown in. This is where the game shines. Bioshock is an incredible experience as far as the gameplay goes. The combat is very visceral, and through the use of your weapons and plasmids the game can be as strategic, or as straightforward as you want it to be.

My favorite part about this game is the art direction, and the sound. You immediately feel like Rapture is a tangible world the second you step out of the bathysphere. The combination of the visuals and sound in this game really make it stand above and beyond anything I've played recently. From the voicework, to the groaning of the big daddies, the sound is top notch.

The controls are perfect if you ask me... there are a lot of weapons and plasmids that you can use in any given situation, and the game would be horribly busted if the user interface didn't allow you to switch between them with ease.

All in all, Bioshock is an incredible game, even if it isn't a complete package. If the story, mainly the ending, had lived up to the epic nature of the game's backstory, and environments, this game would easily get a 10 from me... that said, Bioshock is an easy game to recommend, and it is a game that I will play through again many times.