If you haven’t played Bioshock by this point, then I don’t know what I can tell you to convince you to give it a go. Its historic at this point. Spiritual successor to System Shock, containing a few scant memories of the immersive sim style of gameplay, and is filled with wonderful art design, compelling stories, and some solid combat (aside from a less-than-stellar final boss fight that has been discussed by everyone and their dogs by this point).
But as this was my second time playing through it (I played it on XBox 360 when it came out, back in the day), I want to briefly talk about the replayability of it in a world where the enemies, the twists, and the art deco style have simply been absorbed into the gaming culture at large. In that regard? I don’t think it holds up quite as well. The story is barely told to you but more AT you via the audio logs. The combat is fairly easy, even on some of the harder difficulties. And its actually rather short, even with a lot of exploration, given mostly to the game’s surprisingly linear trek through the world, something I’d not really remembered.
None of this is to say its bad, but just not as engaging as I remembered and definitely not as “big” a game as I remember, either. But, having said that, the Big Daddy fights are still a hoot, the atmosphere in some areas is equal parts creepy and immersive, and the twist – even if it apes System Shock 2’s to some degree – is still captivating and worthy of the praise it gets. Just wish that final boss fight wasn’t so easy and lame and that some enemies weren’t so bullet-sponge-y. Still, a good time to be sure, especially if you’ve never played it before.
skylerbartels 