Bioshock Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 31st October 2008

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Does the PS3 version of Bioshock keep up the standsards of previous versions? We'll tell you in this review.

Bioshock Details:

	First Person Shooter
	PlayStation 3
	2K Games
	2K Games

TBA

Out Now

N/A

Some games seem to struggle when making the leap between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Numerous problems seem to pop-up in the later consoles version of hit games. However, as the true masterpiece it is the multi award winning Bioshock seems to achieve this feat with relative ease!

Set in 1960 Bioshock starts with the games unnamed protagonist on board a plane flying over the Atlantic, all of a sudden the plane crashes into the sea and it soon becomes obvious why. It flew into a building protruding out of the waves. Having no where else to go you head for this mysterious building and soon discover Rapture, an under water utopia where artists, scientists and great minds are free to express themselves without following the rules of the rest of the world. Despite Rapture being built as a utopia it soon becomes clear that it is not. The occupants have been driven slightly mad by genetically mutating themselves, and you soon find yourself caught up in a fight between two rival factions that communicate to you over a short wave radio, but as with all things in Rapture things aren’t straight forward.

If you’ve never experienced the PC or Xbox 360 versions of Bioshock you’re probably wondering what made the game such a huge hit! Well not only is it the narrative driven gameplay that gives you new mission objectives in a style that makes it appear as the games characters are reacting to events as they unfold, which I must say is implemented brilliantly and gives the feeling that there is really something at stake, but it’s also the ability to develop the games character to match the way you play the game or to match his current situation.

Let me explain, as you’re dealing with genetically mutated occupants of Rapture, it’s not always easy to take them down with the various 1960’s weapons that include, a pistol, machine gun, shotgun and a wrench to name a few. So really you have no option other then to mutate yourself with plasmids and tonics in order to survive in the perilous world of Rapture.

Plasmids are the main power-ups for your character and really act as a second set of weapons in the game. Plasmids allow you to fire bolts of electricity at enemies freeze them on the spot or incinerate them with a click of your fingers. Eve powers the Plasmids and has to be collected from various sources within Rapture, such as the corpses of slain foes or bought from vending machines.

Plasmids are obtained by spending the much sort after Adam that young girls who have been genetically altered are in possession of. This may make it sound like obtaining Adam is as easy as taking candy from a baby but they are protected by the mean and powerful Big Daddies who you will have to kill before being able to take the Adam from a Little Sister. Once you have disposed of a Big Daddy you are then left with a dilemma do you harvest a Little sister or rescue her. Harvesting gives you large amounts of Adam in order to power yourself up but results in death for the little sister, however if you rescue them you get Adam, albeit a smaller amount plus further rewards in time and the little sister survives!

As well as the Plasmids Bioshock also features a number of passive power-ups you can apply to your character known as Tonics, these are active all the time and fall into three categories, Combat, Engineering and Security. Tonics can be used to modify your character to suit your style of play allowing them to become less vulnerable to certain types of attack or to be able to bypass security with relative ease.

Tonics and Plasmid’s can be swapped around with ease by using one of the many gene bank machines located around Rapture, these allow you to change your characters abilities to suit his present situation and the enemies he’s currently battling, this is a real nice addition to the gameplay as it allows for flexibility in the character development system.

There are various machines for you to make use of within Rapture these include a number of vending machines that will supply you with everything you need, Such as ammo, first aid kits, Eve, food and so on. Medical stations that will recharge your health back to full are also located around the game environment. Using these machine of course costs money and if you’re running a little short on cash then you can get a discount at the various machines by hacking them.

Hacking launches a mini game that sees you having to guide fluid from point A to point B by making a pipe system between the two points. Anyone who’s played Pipemania will find it very familiar. You only have a limited amount of time and various obstacles will have to be over come, such as alarms and short circuit tiles. But the various Security tonics and the automatic hack tools make the job easier. However, should you fail and trigger an alarm or cause a short circuit then you have problems as security bots will be sent to your location, but don’t worry these can be hacked to aid you, which comes in very useful throughout the game.

As well as vending machines Rapture also has a few weapon upgrade stations around is various passageways and corridors, these obviously make your small arsenal more effective at taking care of the mad residents of Rapture. However they can only be used once and only on one weapon so seeking them out is key to your survival.

As all the vending machines require cash in order for you to buy supplies, it can be a little daunting if you have none. However in Rapture there is a solution as there are various machines around that will transform the junk items you pick up into useful items such as armour piercing rounds and machine gun bullets or exploding shotguns shells.

Enemies in Bioshock make for a good challenge they aren’t dumb and attack in numbers. They will also take cover, try to flank you, run to health stations when low on health and if you set them on fire they will dive into water to put it out. They also tend to move around a fair bit so you never know where they’re going to pop up next.

The games level design is good, action is mainly concentrated in dark areas with lots of places for enemies to hide and attack from, however sometimes you will be required to fight in tight corridors making encounters some what more intense. On a slightly negative point there is a fair bit of back tracking to do at times, although it’s not enough to spoil the experience on offer in Bioshock. Getting through the game will take around 12- 15 hours depending on your skill level so there’s a lot of play time to be had from the title.

The games control system has been transferred to the PS3 well and cycling through your various weapons and plasmids is all controlled with a point on each of the analogue sticks. It’s a good system that has been implemented very well. On the whole the games control system works well, although there are a couple of buttons that have different operations depending on whether you have a plasmid or weapon active at the time which can be a little confusing until you get use to it.

As a plus to PlayStation 3 gamers the PS3 version comes complete with Trophy support and will have downloadable content available from November, which will extend the games story beyond that of the original game.

Visually the game is superb and it runs pretty solidly throughout with only the slightest of frame rate drops that happens so rarely it’s barely worth mentioning. Some of the scenery is absolutely breath taking, despite being at the murky depths of the ocean. It’s great to stop for a minute in one of the glass corridors and see fish swimming by the neon lights and signs of the various buildings of Rapture.

The city is also full of details that something has gone terribly wrong in this supposed utopia, blood smears, litter, wrecked buildings and trashed machines are all little details that contribute to portraying the madness that erupted before your arrival. The game also features some very nice special effects, watching enemies burst into a panic as you set them alight is very entertaining, but the best effect for me is to watch them stop in mid action and become a simple ice sculpture as you blast them with the freeze plasmid. Character models, textures and animation are all top notch and apart from the slight aforementioned frame rate issue the game is graphically perfect.

The games audio design is also great, the soundtrack helps to instil an eerie feeling in the abandoned corridors and it’s fairly amusing to listen to the maddened residents of Rapture muttering to themselves as you approach there location, although this can get a little repetitive. Voice acting for the most part is done well, although sometimes it seems the actors are trying a little bit too hard.

Unlike many games that have jumped between the two major consoles Bioshock has made the switch successfully if you missed the Xbox 360 or PC version this is a must have.