Bioshock reviews are coming in...

[Solver]

1) Ft Frolic - everyone's going to say it but no harm in reinforcing! Sander Cohen is just so deliciously insane. The best bits are where you walk in on him giving the piano lesson, and when you complete Cohen's masterpiece. Also the 'poem' he wrote is hilarious and the tape about the fellow artist. The voice acting is excellent throughout.

Oh yeah, I forgot his poem. Great stuff. Took a look at the Bioshock forums, seems like Ft. Frolic is recognized as the best part of the game by most players. The best moment IMO is when he gets "nervous" and unleashes the nutcracker splicers at you. Oh, and the first time you see those clay statues.

2) Steinman tapes are spine-chilling, especially the one where he just starts cutting his patient in the middle of the routine surgery. Also, him hacking at his last patient when you corner him is a great moment.

The tapes are very interesting, you can see how an obviously talented doctor starts going insane when given the power to do basically what he wants. His shout as he sees you is also great.

3) Andrew Ryan - his death is a great scene, but also I looked forward to his tapes. The voice acting conveys his passion for his beliefs really well. The best tape though is the one you find late on where he is just launching his splicer army at Fontaine and begins to doubt that his actions are still consistent with his ideals.

I liked the tapes a lot. And the scene just before you enter his office. His tapes are interesting in how they detail his beliefs. The voice acting there is very good indeed, but I particularly loved Ryan's tendency to make all sorts of comparisons to machines - the Great Chain and all. The man seems to view society as a machine and yet he seems disdainful enough towards individual people. Some of his other metaphors are good, too.

Another moment I loved was in Arcadia, when you go to meet the botanist, Ryan gasses the room and she scribbles the code to her safe on the window. Excellent direction there.

For some reason I also really liked exploring Cohen's and Fontaine's apartments towards the end of the game. Those are well-made areas.

[Solver]

Much as I hated the vita chambers, I have to give the designers credit there, too. They did make Bioshock into a game where anyone can complete it. They forgot about the hardcore players' desire for a challenge initially, but any casual player can play through Bioshock comfortably, enjoying the story and the atmosphere, without worrying about difficulty. Making the game more accessible is a good thing.

I wish there was a quicker way to start a new game, though. When you first enter the batisphere, a fairly long sequence follows but it isn't really interesting if you've seen it 3 times already.

[DrSpike]

I don't fully agree on the Vita Chambers - they don't make the game as easy as people are saying, because if you are just winning by attrition through resurrecting (in essence using the free adam/health) then the game is actually very slow I'd imagine. It's actually 'easier' to reload if you lose too much eve/health on a fight - and this option is available in any PC FPS.

All they really make easier is the Big Daddy fights, a couple of which I did win by attrition first time around.

[Solver]

It doesn't become that much slower through vita chambers if you don't die too much. Even if you only die once, that means you need to take out only half of your enemies and then you can come back for the second half. Reloading means that you have to do it in one go, albeit with reloads to a previous point.

Big Daddy fights aren't all that's made easy by vita chambers. Remember the fight in Arcadia where you needed to hold the splicers off in the botanist's lab? They keep coming but you are reborn in the middle of that fight if you die. That's probably faster than if you had to reload. When you reload, you still need to get things right (kill your enemies properly) which may take multiple attempts.

And the final thing made easy be vita chambers is eve regeneration. When out of eve you can just go get killed and then you have enough for a few plasmid uses.

[DrSpike]

Granted there are a couple of set piece fights that are made easier.

But if you are using the half eve half health from a vc respawn to do stuff generally you'd be better off reloading.

[Solver]

I don't think that applies to casual players. Reloading returns you to the same situation where you already had trouble and gives you another shot at it. If you're a casual player, your second and third shot at it may be just as difficult - with vita chambers, you are ensured progress even if you're a casual and horrible shooter

[DrSpike]

I guess it is easier for you to empathise with noobs.

[Solver]

Over at IGN, which is the gaming site I respect the most, Bioshock wins Best FPS game, Best Story, Best use of Sound and PC Game of the Year awards. I'm glad they awarded Best use of Sound in particular - Bioshock may just have the best use of environmental sound in any game, glad to see I have taste

[DrSpike]

I agree with their picks in this instance, though overall I find Gamespot reviews are more accurate.

[Imran Siddiqui]

At Gamespy, Bioshock is #3 in PC Game of the Year and #2 XBox 360 Game of the Year (in both cases, Call of Duty 4 finished #1).

In addition in their Overall rankings for all consoles, Bioshock finishes #2 to COD4. And their Overall rankings including PC games, it finishes #3 (The Orange Box is #2 in the Overall rankings including PC games, while it is #4 in the Overall for just consoles).

[DrSpike]

I don't rate Gamespy that highly.

[Solver]

Yes, I also view Gamespy as lower-tier. Gamespot is okay, though I tend to agree with the IGN reviewers more, and I just like the general site style more. Gamespy (albeit owned by the same guys as IGN) is meh.

[Guynemer]

I'm with Spike--this is easily one of those games that I will always remember playing. Honestly, I can't decide between this and Portal (and Rock Band) as my favorite this year.

Interesting that both games have a very similar, instantly iconic scene, with a chilling phrase scralled on a wall...

[Solver]

Bioshock's a better game, IMO. Portal is very innovative and has its own good sense of humour, but the game itself is a bit lacking.

Bioshock is an interesting proof of how you can have a great game without doing any things that are hip at the moment. It doesn't have MP, which is very rare nowadays. It's completely linear, while non-linear games are considered cool now. But that doesn't at all prevent Bioshock from being successful. I can't even think of many places where Bioshock actually innovates - it just does everything really well.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I can't even think of many places where Bioshock actually innovates - it just does everything really well.

Somewhat like a Blizzard game. Bioshock really does take what's existing and does it really good. I know that some would have liked to have seen a no vita-chamber option or a better widescreen presentation earlier, but they've addressed those concerns (perhaps too late for most purchasers). The thing that shines is the incredible story (and general creepiness that the creators believe would be the result of Ayn Rand's philosophy) and the atmosphere.

It definitely looks as if the game was a labor of love for the designers.

Oh, and I didn't mind the constant vita-chambers. I'm a n00b, I admit it .


As for Portal, IIRC, it was merely a fun tech demo expanded out rather than a fully fleshed out game (basically). Reminds me... I need to get the Orange Box.