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Important notes before I start reviewing this game: Despite this being an old game, it can still have performance issues on low-end PCs, such as low frame rate and stuttering. To get around this, I suggest going into the graphics options and turning off everything (except “Vertical Sync”, unless you’re OK with screen tearing. You can keep “Horizontal FOV Lock” on as well). Set the graphics quality and texture/actor detail to medium. I also suggest that you go to the audio options and set the audio mode to “Surround Sound”, since this game is very atmospheric, and this option will help with the immersion and also alleviate some audio problems you may encounter. If you’re experiencing issues with the sound regardless, then make sure that “Reverb” and “Creative EAX Audio” are turned off. That's pretty much it. Now, let’s begin!
BioShock is a 2007 first-person shooter with a very unique setting: an opulent underwater city called Rapture, founded by an objectivist visionary called Andrew Ryan. You are Jack, a seemingly ordinary person who finds himself in Rapture after a plane crash. However, the supposedly wondrous paradise is not what it seems, and something has gone horribly wrong with its inhabitants. So-called “splicers” roam the city, horribly deformed and extremely violent. Much of the city is in ruin; leakage, disrepair, and destruction are all very common, among other things. With no turning back, you must venture deeper into Rapture. Collect weapons, scavenge for food, ammunition, bandages, etc. Choose from a wide variety of plasmids, serums that quite literally grant you superpowers. Upgrade your weapons as well as yourself and face off against the howling hordes of Rapture while uncovering its dark secrets. If this summary interests you, then read on.
One aspect of BioShock I want to praise is the atmosphere and plot. I’ve already briefly mentioned it above, but I would really like to touch on it more. The game does an excellent job of creating a dystopian horror setting, where a beautiful city is crumbling, and its citizens are monsters. I loved exploring Rapture, seeing the various levels, and admiring the Art Deco style of the city. The lighting, sound design, and overall look of the game really manage to draw you in and create a decaying atmosphere. I also like the music. There are many songs from the early to mid-20th century by various artists like Django Reinhardt, Pattie Page, the Ink Spots, etc. (This game is set in 1960, so this type of music fits in perfectly). There are also tracks made specifically for the game, many of them being sombre, eerie, or straight up adrenaline-inducing. All of this music comes together to form a brilliant and fitting soundtrack for a horror game set in the early 60’s. The voice acting is excellent across the board, and I loved listening to the many tapes scattered across the game, providing an insight into the lives of Rapture citizens as well as detailing some important plot points. There’s also an amazing plot twist that I definitely don’t want to spoil.
Another aspect of BioShock I want to praise is the mechanics. I found plasmids to be very enjoyable to use, unleashing swarms of hornets upon my enemies, setting them on fire with a snap of my fingers, stunning them with bolts of electricity, etc. I’d also like to mention the gene tonics, which can make you tougher and/or stronger, allow you to obtain more health from first aid kits, make hacking easier, etc. I like these tonics, since they let the player choose from a variety of playstyles. Gene tonics and plasmids are obtained from vending machines called Gatherer’s Gardens and are purchased using ADAM, a substance that can be extracted from Little Sisters. What exactly are Little Sisters? Well, they’re young girls who collect ADAM from corpses around Rapture. They cannot attack you but are protected by powerful guardians known as Big Daddies. After killing a Big Daddy, you are given the choice of either rescuing or harvesting its accompanying Little Sister. Rescuing Little Sisters gives you less ADAM, but will warrant occasional gifts containing lots of ADAM as well as ammo, consumables, gene tonics, etc. Harvesting the Little Sisters will give you more ADAM, but you won’t receive any gifts (by the way, the ending of the game is affected by this choice). Before I move on, I want to quickly talk about hacking. You are able to hack many things in this game: turrets, security cameras, vending machines, safes, etc. The hacking in this game is done through a mini game where you have to connect a series of pipes in a way that will allow an electrical circuit to flow from one point to another. Hacking can make turrets and security bots fight for you, vending machines sell you things for lower prices, safes open, and more, so it’s very useful. One more mechanic I want to talk about is crafting. You can scavenge materials and use them to make explosives and special bullet types, among other things.
The enemies in this game are honestly great. The most common type are the aforementioned “splicers”. There are different types of splicers in Rapture, such as acrobatic “Spider” splicers that can climb ceilings and throw hooks at you, “Leadhead” splicers that are equipped with guns, “Houdini” splicers that can turn invisible and hurl fireballs or ice shards, etc. This enemy variety helped make the combat engaging, encouraging me to switch between weapons and tactics depending on which type of splicer I was fighting against. Splicers will also run to the nearest healing station when low on health, which is a nice touch. Now I’d like to talk about the Big Daddies. There are two types in this game: Bouncers and Rosies. Bouncers are melee-focused and will aggressively charge at you in combat. Sometimes they’ll slam the ground, causing a tremor to disorient you. Rosies are range-focused and will shoot at you with their powerful rivet guns. They’ll also lob proximity mines in your direction from time to time and push you away if you get too close. The Big Daddies were genuinely fun and challenging to fight against, which encouraged me to keep killing them and reap rewards from rescuing the Little Sisters.
I’d like to talk a bit about the weapons before I move on to the negatives. They’re mostly standard for an FPS game: you have your pistol, shotgun, machine gun, etc. Despite not being the most unique arsenal, I still enjoyed using the weapons in BioShock. All of them (except the wrench, of course) have three different ammo types that are effective against different types of foes. You can upgrade your weapons at “Power to the People” stations found across Rapture. These upgrades will make improvements including improved range and damage. What makes the upgrades even better is the fact that they change how your weapons look, which I honestly think adds charm.
Here's where I’d like to talk about the negatives of this game. My biggest issue would definitely have to be the frame rate drops. Even after I lowered most of the graphical settings, I still experienced occasional performance issues. My PC may be pretty low-end, but a game from 2007 with lowered graphics should not be so difficult for it to run. I also experienced some odd audio issues (e.g., sound effects and voice lines being cut off and/or distorted). This mostly happened during intense gunfights, although the issue was mostly fixed by changing to the “Surround Sound” audio mode. However, I still encountered the issues regardless, albeit much less. Switching to even higher audio modes simply wasn’t an option since they wouldn’t work properly for me. I noticed some spelling errors, which isn't a big deal, but still, they were quite silly. I should also mention that the final boss is disappointing.
In conclusion, BioShock is a highly enjoyable, atmospheric, and memorable experience. It’s not perfect, but so what?
Final verdict: 8.5/10 “Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?"