Bioshocking

The latest big craze in the gaming industry is Bioshock. A shooter set in an city at the bottom of the ocean - called Rapture. It's set a few records - the fastest downloadable demo to hit the "one million downloads" mark (it did so in a mere 9 days) and the top selling game for the Xbox 360.

I don't own an Xbox 360 - and probably never will, at heart I'm a PC gamer - and always will be. Fortunately this game was released for windows as well. So of course I picked it up.

This game is B. E. -utiful. The 1950's steam punk setting is realized gorgeously. The lighting and water effects are some of the best I've seen. When I started playing the game (your plane crash lands in the ocean), I spent a good 10 minutes doing nothing but spinning in place watching the pretty fire on the water.

Gameplay is smooth, at least once I got the video settings correct (my video card choked a bit - Thanks to Aaron for supplying me with a better one, always the enabler he is.) Weapons are the standard lot, pistol, machine gun, shotgun etc. It's the mental abilities that add a bit to gameplay. You can "purchase" various mental abilities as the game proceeds - lightning, setting enemies on fire, even a spring trap that launches foes into the air (though this is more fun to watch than practical). The AI of the enemies is a wonder. You can beat them down to an inch of their life and they will run to a medical station to heal - or use a med pack that you haven't found yet. I've seen them pick up ammo that I left behind - pretty cool. The Big Bad of the game are creatures called "Big Daddies", behemoths that protect the little girls that are the source of your powers. The first time I encountered one it actually got my heart racing a bit (sad I know).

My biggest problem with this game is it's a potentially great game that's been dumbed down for the "special", short bus riding, Xbox owners. There's no really challenge - which is true shame considering the effort the makers put into the AI. If you die, there are "Rez Chambers" to revive you. There is no penalty for using a Chamber, none. You can die once or thousands of times with no difference in the game. My first encounter with a Big Daddy was great - because it was before I knew there was no penalty for using a Rez Chamber. I soon learned how easy they were to beat without using a single medpac or healing station. All you do is 1) die, 2) revive and 3) attack again, rinse and repeat until the Big Daddy is dead. I have a friend that has killed many of the Big Daddies with a frakking wrench (FYI it takes 63 hits with a wrench to kill the biggest monsters in the game - of course you die about 25 times, but so what?)

My second problem, is that this game is very similar to System Shock 2, something I noticed and was glad to see stated by someone else (see Yahtzee's awesome review here).

Again, this would be a decent console game, but for PC gamers like myself, it's a let down. I like a bit of challenge in my mid-50's, underwater shooter games. Maybe I'm the only one, but I'd like to think that there are others like me. So please 2K Games, please release a patch to limit use of the Rez chambers, or at least charge me $24.95 to resurrect myself!

Wow, I just noticed the length of this entry. I guess I put more thought into this review than I do when playing this frontal lobotomy that is Bioshock. However, with that said, I have to get back to finishing the damned thing. Stupid gaming O.C.D...