BioShock (2007) : Video Game

I had always longed to pen down some afterthought on this incredible game. If you are into FPS (First Person Shooter) games then you should certainly check this one out. Years have taken for the shooter games to evolve but very few were there which had provided such a riveting experience. BioShock not only promises adrenaline packed action but also successfully delivers beautiful yet dark story. If any game deserves to be made into a movie, BioShock aptly suits the commendation.

The year is 1960; it begins with our shadowy hero Jack flying across Atlantic. When the passenger plane crashes due to reasons unknown, our protagonist seems to be the only survivor. However a distant lighthouse saves Jack from imminent drowning. While investigating the lighthouse, he comes across a bathysphere which he uses to descend. The oceanic deep soon reveals a beautiful yet mystifying city called Rapture. The idea behind the city seems to be the brainchild of a man named Andrew Ryan. Suspecting Jack to be an agent from the surface world, Ryan activates different defense system to kill him. Before I can go into some details lets just talk about this baffling city. At the very beginning it is revealed that due to various governments’ ideologies lots of restriction were imposed on scientists & artists who wanted to have unrestrained creativity freedom. Their dream was answered by Ryan who withdrew himself from the surface & created the city of Rapture which was not abided by any laws.

Though Andrew Ryan had such a great vision for creating Rapture, the first couple of minutes into the game would make you realize that the ordered society has failed thus replacing it with heightened anarchy. Throughout the game you will come across various service audio diaries which bear the voice recording of various residents of Rapture; helping you to understand the current predicament of the society. At the beginning your playable character would be assisted by a person named Atlas, who was keen to rescue his entrapped wife & child from a nearby submarine. In order to survive Rapture’s hostile environment a very critical component named Plasmids were required. Plasmids were special serums processed from ADAM which introduced stem cells into the body thus allowing genetic modification & mutation giving the person what we call as ‘super powers’. ADAM was actually the raw form of the unstable stem cells harvested from a type of sea slug parasite. These parasites were harvested by embedding them into the lining of host’s stomach. In this game such purposes were met by small girls called ‘little sister’. I would prefer not to get into much details but it was rather disturbing to know the harvesting procedure. Excessive use of plasmids leads to addiction & mental instability this had been the main cause for Rapture’s downfall.

Let’s talk about the overall game. The graphics is simply awesome; since water plays a critical part in the game the texture quality used was mesmerizing. Through out the game the voiceover is excellent thus bringing forth great character depth. It really makes us believe to such city’s existence. City of Rapture is an open world, anything can be possible & all the weapons used can be customized to some great extent with three different types of firepower depending on the need. Since the A.I. used are not dumb so scaling up the difficulty level will surely provide greater challenge to the gamers. This game is not just about simple shooting around but you need to focus on how to use your plasmid powers & other conventional weapons to survive. Machines or robot sentries can be hacked which brings forth great flare into the game as you can use them for your own defense from enemies. The greater challenge is presented by ‘Big Daddy’ who are the guardian of ‘little sister’; mark my word if you are playing this game in some moderate difficulty you will feel the heat while fighting these creatures. This game also provides some moral issues when it comes to either harvest or saving little sisters for ADAM. How you have played the entire game will present you with alternate endings. The story is complex & offers some great twists.

Since I have played the PC version of this title I would strongly recommend getting the same because for its versatile & easy key usage. Powerful rigs will definitely help to enhance the game’s full visual potential which was originally meant for. The playable hours are pretty long depending on what difficulty mode was prior selected. If you are interested to play a game with great story & graphics just get this title. 2K Games’ BioShock is truly an amazing experience.

Note : This title is available in following formats : PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 & Mac OS X

My Rating : 10/10