REVIEWS
29
BIOSHOCK Somewhere, beyond the sea...
B
roken promises and bare-faced lies, two things most gamers that have ever fallen into the hype-trap will have suffered firsthand. Developers and PR companies bandying the name of their latest game about like there’s no tomorrow, building hope and anticipation, bumping up their reservation numbers and, rather unfairly, selling a poor game to millions of disappointed gamers. We know not to fall for it, but inevitably we still do. Throughout its entire development, BioShock has seen the same treatment. Hailed by a torrent of remarks suggestive of the game being video-gaming’s secondcoming, BioShock had a lot to live up to. Thankfully, on this occasion at least, they weren’t lying, and BioShock doesn’t just meet the huge expectations labelled upon it, but exceeds them in every possible way.
FORMAT REVIEWED Xbox 360 OTHER FORMATS PC PUBLISHER 2K Games DEVELOPER Irrational Games REVIEWED BY David Scammell
Set in 1960, BioShock tells the story of the unnamed lead protagonist who, surviving a devastating plane crash over the Mid-Atlantic, discovers a rather dubious looking structure slap bang in the middle of nowhere. Desperately fighting for his life amongst the burning wreckage, you swim to safety only to find the seemingly barren construction isn’t all that it seems. Taking a long elevator ride down, we’re greeted to the lost city of Rapture, a sprawling metropolis created by mad professor of sorts Andrew Ryan, hidden far away from the rest of the world deep below the ocean’s surface. But all is not well in Rapture, the society having turned to civil war over the mysterious substance ADAM, and it’s your job to work out what’s going on and pick up the pieces. And for fear of us spoiling anything at all, that’s where the back-drop to the story must end. The first thing you’ll notice as you enter the world of Rapture is something a lot of games seemingly, and rather unforgivably, forget about; a spectacular atmosphere and a sense of absolute immersion within the environment that you’re placed in. BioShock doesn’t need, nor does it want, an intrusive narrative to make you feel engrossed within the gaming world, and as a result it feels all the better for it. You can see for yourself that you’re stuck in what was once the beautiful homeland of the advanced art deco loving civilisation, heart-shatteringly torn to pieces through the resulting fury over the enhancements created to generate the perfect population. You won’t know what on Earth is going on or why you’re even there, but you’ll prefer it that way, the fear of the unknown holding your interest throughout. It’s a game you’ll want to last forever, you’ll want to savour each and every moment, each twist and turn, each horrific revelation from deep within Rapture, but at the same time BioShock is something you’ll find yourself unable to put down, eagerly anticipating the next gut-wrenching moment.