Bioshock reviews are coming in...

[Apocalypse]

All you really need is the wrench, but the shotgun is very fun. Same with the plasmids.

[Solver]

Gotta hand it to them, 2K are lying ass-bastards. After the riots caused by Bioshock's securom activation, 2K still have the guts to claim, on their official forum, that SecuROM does not install or use any rootkits - whereas it's blatantly obvious that it does use rootkit technology to make itself unremovable without great effort.

[lightblue]

Hmm.. PC version or XBOX 360 verson, that is the question...

[Kloreep]

From what I've been reading about the PC's copy protection, lightblue, 360 version is really sounding like the way to go.

With the PC version, you get a rootkit installed, like Solver says. Then you cannot even play the game, even with the disc you just bought, until you manage to get through to SecuRom servers with its activation program - except these servers seem to be pretty unreliable, it sounds like they crashed during the PC launch, leaving a lot of people unable to activate their copies.

And longer-term, if you're hoping to come back to BioShock in another 5 or 10 years, I have no idea how long these SecuRom servers will be around...

Apparently even the Steam install includes the SecuRom stuff.

[DrSpike]

I was pleasantly surprised to get mine today, when it was released here.

[Solver]

I can't get my hands on it

[DrSpike]

/me points and laughs.

[Solver]

Brits

[Solver]

Got it. Very impressive so far.

[Solver]

Given that the whole Civ thing spoiled me and I now have to post more detailed thoughts about everything...

Sure, the graphics are awesome. But forget that. It's about the sound. This is one of the best-sounding games out there, the background sounds are great - as is the assortment of what you can hear those splicers saying.

While Bioshock isn't a case of a console interface appearing directly on the PC, there are some issues - I can't, for example, view which gene tonics I have. The inventory screen isn't really that much use.

The most controversial thing in the game definitely have to be those viva chambers. There are positives to those, and I quite liked the thought originally, but they do create a problem - which is that no fight will ever really be challenging. You die, get revived (with full health and some EVE charge, so dying is actually a benefit!), go hit the enemy some more. Rinse and repeat, and that's how you defeat the tougher enemies. I appreciate the effort to give the game some more continuity, but I'm not really sold on it.

And indeed the fights are better than in most shooters. Telekinesis isn't anything more than another take on physics weapons such as the Gravity Gun, but it's still remarkably fun - as are the various combinations of powers you can use.

[Kuciwalker]

Bioshock is really scaring me and creeping me out. I love it.

[Kloreep]

So I take it viva chambers don't actually cost anything?

IIRC System Shock 2 had a similiar system, except that you were actually charged in game currency for every regeneration. Dying might still potentially worth it depending on the situation, but you couldn't just do it over and over again without consequence.

[Solver]

Nah, viva chambers have no cost - and if you're low on EVE, they actually have a benefit. It made the first boss fight too easy for me - these battles merely become a matter of attrition, not really requiring you to display any supreme shooting skills.

On the upside, that's just about the only serious complaint I have so far.

[Kassiopeia]

I'm happy to hear the sound design is creeping you out, the people behind it and the music are the same as in Shock 2 as far as I know.

[Quillan]

Yes, I have to agree. I've taken a rather conscious choice not to abuse the revive chambers by zerging the enemies, which makes it a little harder, and makes the big daddies a LOT harder. It's very creepy, the sound design is spectacular, and I never can quite reach the point of being complacent about what I'm facing. Just a basic thuggish splicer can be rough; sometimes they go down quickly and sometimes they tear me up before I can kill one.

Just like in System Shock 2, the high point for me is the audio diaries you find. I've heard Doctor Tenenbaum (the woman who started the whole Adam thing and created the big daddies and little sisters in the first place) going on about her background experiences in the war, and the process of discovering Adam and creating these things. I've heard Dr. Steinman losing his mind progressively. I've heard Andrew Ryan's musing on various subjects, and he's quite the driven personality. The things these people have done and are willing to do is quite chilling, and the fact that it's in a game doesn't seem to matter at all to me.

I've got some speculation about certain things, like the actual story of the protagonist you're playing, but I'm not sure if I should share them. They might be way off base, they might be right, and they might well spoil some things.