Xbox 360 - BioShock Review

Twenty minutes on my first gaming session was more than enough to be taken in by the story. Actually, just the initial scene was enough.

Bioshock begins as your plane crashes into the ocean. As you swim to "safety" among fiery debris to what initially seems like a lighthouse, you find out it's a lot more than that. What you discover is called Rapture, a self-sufficient underwater city obviously inspired in the 40's and Art Deco elements, once a utopian dream, but now the grounds for the result of some genetic experiments gone seriously wrong.

Bioshock keeps you interested and on your toes, wondering what's coming next and where exactly is it coming from. The events happen in a way designed to draw you in and entice you to continue exploring. Atlas, your guide, will tell you where to go next and reveal more of the story as you progress.

You will soon come to find some of the inhabitants of Rapture, and they're not a pretty sight. These crazed disfigured lunatics attack you on sight, sometimes have conflicts between each other, and have a thing for going after Little Sisters as well.

Little Sisters are creepy little girls that have huge bodyguards called Big Daddy, and they're by far the strangest pair. It's interesting to see how they're both linked to each other, since you can walk around without having a Big Daddy attack you, but if you touch a Little Sister or attack it directly, be prepared to dodge a drill to the chest.

Your adventure in this strange city is played as a FPS. Your first weapon is a wrench - nothing like some good whacking on those lunatics' heads - but you will come across guns, shotguns, machine guns and ammo, plus other useful little trinkets. You have to keep your eyes peeled for anything you can pick up.

Bioshock greatly focuses on genetic mutation, and even you can take advantage of it. There are things called Plasmids that give you "magic spells", so to speak, such as electric bolts, fire or telekinesis. It makes for a very unique style of gameplay since you don't have to constantly rely on shooting everything that moves.

You can also purchase ammo and certain upgrades from vending machines. Some use cash, others use Adam. Adam is what you get when you harvest or rescue (though in smaller quantities) Little Sisters. So yes, this is also a game of choices, even if the adventure is linear.

Another feature of Bioshock is the hacking process. You can hack any vending machine, healing machine, turrets and bots. Hacking the vending machines lowers the cost of the items for sale, hacking a turret or another bot makes them defend you. The hacking mini-game is like playing Pipe Dream.

With varied powers, plenty of weapons, clever enemy AI and an incredible atmosphere and environments, Bioshock is a fantastic game that no one with a 360 should pass on.

Review text part of Grrlgamer.com. Full text and screenshots at http://www.grrlgamer.com/review.php?g=bioshock