Shock and Awe…
Half-Life, System Shock 2 and Doom 3.
Three games of the highest quality, and three games that Irrational – and this is no bad thing at all, provided you’re happy to go along with the lack of obvious innovation – clearly draws heavily from in its creation of the rich, beautiful, exciting and enthralling monster that is Bioshock. Don’t let it put you off, because if you do, if you start analysing and examining and picking at the bits that are just like Half-Life, or just like Shock 2, or just like whichever influence happens to be on show at the time, it will tamper with your enjoyment something rotten. Bioshock may not be pushing the genre in a new direction – but it sure as hell takes it to new heights.
It’s essentially System Shock 3, only this time we’re at the bottom of the ocean instead of up in the stars. The system of tonics and gene banks is a beautifully refined and more versatile version of System Shock’s cybernetics, and the initial plot (everything goes bang and suddenly you’re alone in a world where things that used to be human seem hell-bent on your destruction) is near-identical to that of its spiritual predecessor. Even the gameplay presentation is incredibly familiar: player regeneration after death is incorporated wonderfully in Bioshock, and the initial guidance around the game world by a mysterious radio communicator evokes troubled memories of the sinister Janet Polito. Combined with the awe-inspiring set-pieces of Half-Life and the dark, brooding, edge-of-seat pacing and atmosphere of Doom 3, this influence could only ever have been a good thing: the result is indeed familiar, but accomplished enough for it not to matter in the slightest.
Perhaps Bioshock’s greatest achievement is the way in which it weaves the game’s mechanics so smoothly around a narrative more engrossing than those of even some of the finest modern-day films. It’s testament to the quality of the story that any real discussion of it would spoil the experience almost entirely. The plot is introduced perfectly, with the player thrown in at the deep end to explore and survive on his/her own, and the moment around five minutes in where you initially stumble upon the underwater ex-utopia of Rapture in an astonishing flyby sequence is one of the finest moments I’ve ever experienced in a video game.
There are times when Bioshock drags a little, particularly in the early stages when the story is still developing, and the ‘to-ing and fro-ing’ of a couple of the tasks does get a little tedious. But persevere through these and you’ll be rewarded with a wonderful, unsettling, emotional journey through the richest digital world since Deus Ex. Bioshock is not flawless and it’s not unique. It wins, however, on the grounds that it’s better than almost every one of its peers – and I’ll take bets on it standing up against nearly every action game for a good few years to come.
The Bad: – Not all that groundbreaking
Gold Y Award