Bioshock: Windows

...

Bioshock: Windows

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with malware.

Bioshock: Windows

...

us what is in our food. It's time protected games were required to have a label telling us what EXACTLY is required and what EXACTLY they are doing with our computer. It CAN'T be being done right, or I'd be playing the game. The only good thing I can say is that I paid $19 for a lesson in why software companies can't be trusted.

Bioshock: Windows

...

us what is in our food. It's time protected games were required to have a label telling us what EXACTLY is required and what EXACTLY they are doing with our computer. It CAN'T be being done right, or I'd be playing the game. The only good thing I can say is that I paid $19 for a lesson in why software companies can't be trusted.

Bioshock: Windows

...

of the voice recorders scattered throughout the game world as possible.

Graphics

The graphics in Bioshock are fantastic. From the opening sequence where you crash into the ocean and the underwater trip into Rapture itself, you can sense that you are about to experience a game world that is something special. The graphics are beautiful, and somehow dark and colorful at the same time. The colors and water effects prevent the game from becoming too dark and dreary as seen in some other games where the graphics are dark and so realistic that after a while everything just seems drab and grey. While the colorful graphics in Bioshock might seem silly in a more standard game setting, they fit perfectly in the surrealistic underwater world that is Rapture. The art and graphics capture the forties and fifties time period perfectly. While you will never really leave the underwater world of Rapture for the entire game, there are still a great variety of contrasting and interesting levels to explore. Only towards the end of the game do you get the feeling that the creators were running out of ideas, or perhaps to be fair, time, to keep wowing you with each new level.

Note:

While the graphics in nearly all games are susceptible to settings and the lighting in the room in which you are playing, I don't think I have ever seen a game's graphics affected more by these factors. Make sure you have the right video settings, but even more importantly experiment a little with the lighting in the room you are playing in to get the maximum enjoyment out of the beautiful graphics that Bioshock has to offer.

Sound, Music, and Atmosphere

The sound in Bioshock is excellent, but the atmosphere is extraordinary! The atmosphere varies from eerie and creepy, to dreamy and nostalgic. The music is fantastic and really adds to the great atmosphere. I'm not exactly a big fan of music from this time period, but I now find myself listening to a lot of the music from the game even though I finally reached a saturation point and I'm no longer playing the game. There's a LOT of great music in this game, I even found myself liking songs that I have never liked before such as "Danny Boy". This is the best version of it I have ever heard. I have also gained a strong appreciation for the music of Billie Holiday. Bioshock features two of her great songs. I think one of the reasons her music seems like such a great fit for Bioshock is that her music is shrouded in the tragedy that was her life, and it lends that same feeling of something gone horribly wrong to Rapture. The other music in Bioshock is great and while it is from mostly the same time period, it varies greatly from the melancholy, to classical Tchaikovsky, to jazz, to upbeat. Some of the other greats whose music is in Bioshock are: Bobby Darin with the ever so appropriate "Beyond the Sea", Cole Porter, Rosemary Clooney, Patti Page, the Ink Spots, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Mario Lanza, Django Reinhardt, the Andrew Sisters, and more! Quite often during the game I found myself just stopping for long periods of time to appreciate the music, atmosphere and certain scenes in the game. Which leads me to gameplay.

Gameplay

I am going to start with the flaws and perceived flaws since it has been a long time since the game was released and I have read a lot of confusing comments about the game.The gameplay in Bioshock is not going to appeal to everyone. This is NOT your typical first person shooter. If you do not play the game the way the creators intended for you to play it, you will very likely be disappointed and or frustrated. If high speed run and gun, a la Unreal Tournament and many other typical first person shooters is your thing, you will probably want to pass on this game unless you are flexible and willing to adjust your approach. I'm sure you could play the game like a typical FPS but it would be like chugging down a fine wine when you are really thirsty. Pointless and a waste. If you read some of the comments made by some people it's pretty easy to determine how they are playing the game. When you hear "I can't find any ammo!", "It's too complicated!", "It takes too much ammo to kill the monsters!", "It's too hard!", "There's not enough weapons!", "There is no story!", or "The story doesn't make any sense!", etc., it's highly likely they are not taking the time to understand how the game works or are just trying to play run and gun and really don't want to think too much. This is not to say that the game is overly complicated because it is not. It is also not hard by a long shot. In fact this game has the easiest "easy" level I have ever seen in a game. Play the game on at least the "normal" level. Another likely hindrance to your enjoyment of the game is the inclusion in the game of the vita chambers. Including these was not a good choice by the developers. I HIGHLY suggest you avoid using these by ignoring them. Unless you are not much of a gamer and just want to be a tourist and appreciate the other aspects of the game, when you die just reload with the function key instead of allowing yourself to be brought back in one of these chambers. Thankfully, in the patch there is now a setting to turn them off. Use it! Another down side to the game for some people is that there is a limited variety of enemies. Unless the developers got really silly this was probably unavoidable since the setting is a city with just people who have become mutated through overuse of mind and body "enhancing" drugs.

All this having been said, I think if you play the game the way it was intended the game play is excellent. There are many ways to kill an enemy. You have most of the standard weapons plus tonics and plasmids which are nothing more than mind and body altering enhancements that can give you a wide range of powers from defensive to offensive. It's highly recommended you experiment with all of your options, including using the environment to help you dispose of your enemies. You will find that certain weapons and approaches to defeating your enemies feel almost useless against an opponent. However there are many ways to kill EVERY enemy in Bioshock, and always at least one that will defeat any opponent with ease. Just grabbing a gun with standard ammo and firing blindly at a splicer, for instance, is not recommended. In addition to the different weapons you use, you need to use the appropriate type of ammo. There are three types. One is effective against armor, another is effective against splicers (flesh), and a standard type which is really only worth using when you have run out of the other ammo. If you are one of those people who like to use the simple wrench to clobber with, you can certainly do so, and when upgraded in the right way the wrench can be a lot of fun and a very powerful weapon.

This game has some truly special moments that are amongst the best in gaming

Perspective

This game was a no brainer for me once I found out it had good reviews. I have been waiting for a sequel to System Shock 2 for a long time. This is not it, but there are a lot of similarities such as the great story, atmosphere, and isolated original game world. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding this game right from it's release because of the very unfortunate decision to include securom and the infamous limited installs form of copy protection. I was waiting for this game so long I jumped right in and bought it without too much consideration, which is not the norm for me at all. Overall, I didn't have too many problems with the game working properly due to the securom or limited installs, but in certain circumstances it can definitely be a hassle! After I played the game more than I played any other game in my life, I sold it used as a form of protest against the limited installs. About a couple of months ago they removed that restriction, so I bought it back much cheaper than what I sold it for. I understand completely anyone being against buying any game that contains internet activation, and especially limited installs, such as this game does, or did in the case of the limited installs, but I still like to consider the game SEPARATELY from the copy protection unless it directly interferes with the game itself while I am playing it. In my experience it has not ruined the game for me at all, excepting the principle involved with the limited installs and internet activation. Each person has to make up their own mind. I just wish people would not try to tell people they are not allowed to say anything about the game itself that is positive because it has restrictive DRM incorporated. Obviously a LOT of people have played and enjoyed this game tremendously even though I'm sure the sales were hurt by the DRM. I look at it this way. The distributor, who is responsible for the DRM scheme deserves 0 stars. Unfortunately, the developers who made this great game had no say and were not responsible for the travesty of limited installs, and are pretty much at the mercy of the distributor who swallowed up these fine developers. One final thing, a lot of what has been said about the game has been just a bunch of lies. Apparently people who say they are looking out for other people and are indignant from a violation of rights point of view, have no problem viciously attacking people and spewing all kinds of lies in their "just" cause. There was never a root kit, there is no spyware, and if anyone should have experienced problems with their PC because of this game, it should be me, and I have NOT. I never even bothered to remove the securom after I was done with the game. (It's a pain, but it can be done.) I was a PC Technician for eight years and have real PC threats to worry about other than the so called bogeyman that is supposed to be hidden in this game.

Bioshock: Windows

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concern about mere death.
And a good quicksave, level, and anytime save options.

And don't forget the 5.1 sound. Good voice acting and music complete the scene. This is one of the few games that truly transported me to another world with a good story to boot.

Bioshock: Windows

...

concern about mere death.

And a good quicksave, level, and anytime save options.



And don't forget the 5.1 sound. Good voice acting and music complete the scene. This is one of the few games that truly transported me to another world with a good story to boot.

Bioshock: Windows

...

it may block them, whereas the game may not even install if you are running virtual drives or have certain media-burning software installed (even NERO has been known to be considered ..."pirate-ware"!)

DISPUTED FACT :
It has been widely reported that BIOSHOCK installs a RootKit. Both MICROSOFT's ROOTKIT DETECTION TOOL and AVG ANTI-VIRUS detected either the RootKit or its actions. Recently, AVG was made to release a special update (just for BIOSHOCK) to ignore this alert.
In hacker lingo, to "take someone's Root" means to insert a procedure that "will allow the intruders to maintain root access (highest privilege) on the system without the system administrator even seeing them".
Official BIOSHOCK announcements (and their "unofficial" reviewers here at AMAZON) will try to persuade everyone who would listen that there is nothing there, so stop looking and don't even mention it.
Understandable reaction since, the existence of a RootKit would be a solid basis for class-action litigation.
Weight the facts and judge for yourself.

UNDISPUTED FACT:
BIOSHOCK effectively revokes our Administrator rights on our own computers. Here is what happens: even after completely uninstalling the game there is a mystery folder that canNOT be removed, no matter what!
On WinXP it is located here:
"C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Application Data\SecuRom"
As administrators, we could (unwisely) delete even Windows System folders - yet BIOSHOCK's mystery folder apparently claims a higher authority level? What this folder does and why should it get placed into OUR computers so that we cannot remove it even as Administrators, is beyond me. And I, for one, do NOT appreciate it one bit. (A quick internet search revealed a number of suggestions on how to get rid of it, ranging from clearly unsafe to catastrophic...)
True, almost every game leaves one or two folders behind after uninstalled - but this NEVER REVOKES OUR ADMINISTRATOR RIGHTS to delete them!

I do understand that there are production and publishing costs to get recovered as well as profit projections to be reached. Companies that wish to protect their investment will always try to fight piracy. This is only reasonable and expected.
However, with BIOSHOCK, as it is currently available by 2K GAMES, it gets WAY OUT OF HAND & WELL BEYOND RIDICULOUS!!

No one in the game-publishing industry seems to learn from past mistakes: every security system eventually gets cracked and every "OnLine activation requirement" eventually gets bypassed. So, utilizing an overly intrusive, inconvenient and possibly dangerous security kit only serves in penalizing the people who actually paid good money for their product - and manage to shoot their sales in the foot at the same time.
Look what happened with HALF-LIFE 2: legitimate buyers still have to put up with activating the game every time we want to play - and of course VALVE paid the price: unprotected HL1 had sold TWICE as many units as STEAM-"secured" HL2 ever did (8million and 4million respectively, Source: THE WASHINGHTON POST)

Since I would NEVER install a contraption such as BIOSHOCK onto my computer and wished to have hands-on experience before I reviewed the game, I asked around and a colleague of mine had already made the mistake of purchasing it and installing on his laptop.
THIS IS NOT A BAD GAME.
The environments are well designed and have a pleasant retro patina; the graphics are very nice, even though they do not meet the hype. They are subpar even to older games such as HL2 (not to mention STALKER).
You see, dark is not always moody, and blurry cannot always be mistaken for dreamy.
I did love the music though! Both the collection of happy-go-lucky and romantic 1940's songs (contrasting with the bleak environment) as well as their smart timing, added to the overall experience.

It was the gameplay I was the least impressed.
Totally linear - as it is has come to be expected from any FPS today I am afraid. To be fair, I cannot imagine a Single Player holding a storyline without being more or less linear (even "free"-roaming FAR CRY did not escape this curse) - but then again, that is why I am not a game designer. And unless the publishers release their creative suffocation of the true game artists, there is no hope for a worthy successor to SYSTEM SHOCK 2.

The controls are not hard to get used to; if not, they are remapable; nevertheless, I would love to have an inventory: cycling between which plasmid and which ammo for which gun can get pretty frustrating. Fast.
And, finally: dying. Regeneration chambers turn the game into a check-point one - and I hate checkpoint-games. Most often than not, they are chosen in order to artificially augment the gameplay duration (having us replay the same segments over and over - instead of saving wherever we feel like it). Moreover, when progressing, you usually end up getting killed just before the next regeneration chamber (and having to repeat quite a distance from the previous one) whereas, when facing a Boss, regeneration takes away all the suspense. Keep respawning, you will eventually get him, his health does not increase if you do.

So, all in all, BIOSHOCK IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH WORTH ITS TROUBLE.
It is only a slightly above-average game; and if 2K GAMES did not have the guts to publish it for PCs (and is hiding it within an intrusive security Kit) it should have stuck with X-BOX.

Even BIOSHOCK designers acknowledge there is a serious issue with the security measures forced upon them by the publisher. These measures are hurting their game and, so, THERE IS AN UPDATED VERSION COMING IN THE NEAR FUTURE TO FIX THIS!
Don't take my word for it. Google for "Ken Levin-Interview" and "BIOSHOCK-Fixed-Version" and see for yourself. (I tried to add links but Amazon, apparently, does not allow them)

BIOSHOCK has it all: temperamental and Limited number of Installations, overzealous Drive-Blockers, possible cloaked RootKits, irremovable folders...NONE of which is Clearly marked on the product description!!

As it is, it will come NOWHERE NEAR MY SYSTEM!

I would advise waiting for 6 months, they will either clear it up or it will find its way to the clearance bins...Just last week I bought RISE & FALL: CIVILIZATIONS AT WAR for $2.99 (less than 8 months after its release) - and that nugget featured STARFORCE of all things!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
There use to be over 200 reviews on BIOSHOCK averaging its rating to a (deserving) 2&1/2stars. Not a month after the acquisition of 2K GAMES by EA and it had AMAZON clean its slate.
Well, this period of underhanded corporate interference will come to be known as AMAZON: THE EA YEARS...

Bioshock: Windows

...

it may block them, whereas the game may not even install if you are running virtual drives or have certain media-burning software installed (even NERO has been known to be considered ..."pirate-ware"!)



DISPUTED FACT :

It has been widely reported that BIOSHOCK installs a RootKit. Both MICROSOFT's ROOTKIT DETECTION TOOL and AVG ANTI-VIRUS detected either the RootKit or its actions. Recently, AVG was made to release a special update (just for BIOSHOCK) to ignore this alert.

In hacker lingo, to "take someone's Root" means to insert a procedure that "will allow the intruders to maintain root access (highest privilege) on the system without the system administrator even seeing them".

Official BIOSHOCK announcements (and their "unofficial" reviewers here at AMAZON) will try to persuade everyone who would listen that there is nothing there, so stop looking and don't even mention it.

Understandable reaction since, the existence of a RootKit would be a solid basis for class-action litigation.

Weight the facts and judge for yourself.



UNDISPUTED FACT:

BIOSHOCK effectively revokes our Administrator rights on our own computers. Here is what happens: even after completely uninstalling the game there is a mystery folder that canNOT be removed, no matter what!

On WinXP it is located here:

"C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Application Data\SecuRom"

As administrators, we could (unwisely) delete even Windows System folders - yet BIOSHOCK's mystery folder apparently claims a higher authority level? What this folder does and why should it get placed into OUR computers so that we cannot remove it even as Administrators, is beyond me. And I, for one, do NOT appreciate it one bit. (A quick internet search revealed a number of suggestions on how to get rid of it, ranging from clearly unsafe to catastrophic...)

True, almost every game leaves one or two folders behind after uninstalled - but this NEVER REVOKES OUR ADMINISTRATOR RIGHTS to delete them!



I do understand that there are production and publishing costs to get recovered as well as profit projections to be reached. Companies that wish to protect their investment will always try to fight piracy. This is only reasonable and expected.

However, with BIOSHOCK, as it is currently available by 2K GAMES, it gets WAY OUT OF HAND & WELL BEYOND RIDICULOUS!!



No one in the game-publishing industry seems to learn from past mistakes: every security system eventually gets cracked and every "OnLine activation requirement" eventually gets bypassed. So, utilizing an overly intrusive, inconvenient and possibly dangerous security kit only serves in penalizing the people who actually paid good money for their product - and manage to shoot their sales in the foot at the same time.

Look what happened with HALF-LIFE 2: legitimate buyers still have to put up with activating the game every time we want to play - and of course VALVE paid the price: unprotected HL1 had sold TWICE as many units as STEAM-"secured" HL2 ever did (8million and 4million respectively, Source: THE WASHINGHTON POST)



Since I would NEVER install a contraption such as BIOSHOCK onto my computer and wished to have hands-on experience before I reviewed the game, I asked around and a colleague of mine had already made the mistake of purchasing it and installing on his laptop.

THIS IS NOT A BAD GAME.

The environments are well designed and have a pleasant retro patina; the graphics are very nice, even though they do not meet the hype. They are subpar even to older games such as HL2 (not to mention STALKER).

You see, dark is not always moody, and blurry cannot always be mistaken for dreamy.

I did love the music though! Both the collection of happy-go-lucky and romantic 1940's songs (contrasting with the bleak environment) as well as their smart timing, added to the overall experience.



It was the gameplay I was the least impressed.

Totally linear - as it is has come to be expected from any FPS today I am afraid. To be fair, I cannot imagine a Single Player holding a storyline without being more or less linear (even "free"-roaming FAR CRY did not escape this curse) - but then again, that is why I am not a game designer. And unless the publishers release their creative suffocation of the true game artists, there is no hope for a worthy successor to SYSTEM SHOCK 2.



The controls are not hard to get used to; if not, they are remapable; nevertheless, I would love to have an inventory: cycling between which plasmid and which ammo for which gun can get pretty frustrating. Fast.

And, finally: dying. Regeneration chambers turn the game into a check-point one - and I hate checkpoint-games. Most often than not, they are chosen in order to artificially augment the gameplay duration (having us replay the same segments over and over - instead of saving wherever we feel like it). Moreover, when progressing, you usually end up getting killed just before the next regeneration chamber (and having to repeat quite a distance from the previous one) whereas, when facing a Boss, regeneration takes away all the suspense. Keep respawning, you will eventually get him, his health does not increase if you do.



So, all in all, BIOSHOCK IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH WORTH ITS TROUBLE.

It is only a slightly above-average game; and if 2K GAMES did not have the guts to publish it for PCs (and is hiding it within an intrusive security Kit) it should have stuck with X-BOX.



Even BIOSHOCK designers acknowledge there is a serious issue with the security measures forced upon them by the publisher. These measures are hurting their game and, so, THERE IS AN UPDATED VERSION COMING IN THE NEAR FUTURE TO FIX THIS!

Don't take my word for it. Google for "Ken Levin-Interview" and "BIOSHOCK-Fixed-Version" and see for yourself. (I tried to add links but Amazon, apparently, does not allow them)



BIOSHOCK has it all: temperamental and Limited number of Installations, overzealous Drive-Blockers, possible cloaked RootKits, irremovable folders...NONE of which is Clearly marked on the product description!!



As it is, it will come NOWHERE NEAR MY SYSTEM!



I would advise waiting for 6 months, they will either clear it up or it will find its way to the clearance bins...Just last week I bought RISE & FALL: CIVILIZATIONS AT WAR for $2.99 (less than 8 months after its release) - and that nugget featured STARFORCE of all things!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

There use to be over 200 reviews on BIOSHOCK averaging its rating to a (deserving) 2&1/2stars. Not a month after the acquisition of 2K GAMES by EA and it had AMAZON clean its slate.

Well, this period of underhanded corporate interference will come to be known as AMAZON: THE EA YEARS...

Bioshock: Windows

...

penalty for dying. This makes the game a little too easy, but it sure cut down on frustration and swearing on my part.

Anyway, I would recommend this game highly, because it is fun and not too expensive. However, you can expect to finish it in a week or less.

Bioshock: Windows

...

penalty for dying. This makes the game a little too easy, but it sure cut down on frustration and swearing on my part.



Anyway, I would recommend this game highly, because it is fun and not too expensive. However, you can expect to finish it in a week or less.

Bioshock: Windows

...

penalty for dying. This makes the game a little too easy, but it sure cut down on frustration and swearing on my part.





Anyway, I would recommend this game highly, because it is fun and not too expensive. However, you can expect to finish it in a week or less.

Bioshock: Windows

...

it did. If i exited the game, i couldn't play again until i rebooted my computer. That's frustrating but then, writing high end video games for a PC is pretty frustrating too. i lost some work the first time i played it, which i didn't like, and being forced to turn off my CPU monitor (which autostarts with my computer) before BioShock will play is ridiculous. But the game is cool enough that i'm still glad i played it

Bioshock: Windows

...

it did. If i exited the game, i couldn't play again until i rebooted my computer. That's frustrating but then, writing high end video games for a PC is pretty frustrating too. i lost some work the first time i played it, which i didn't like, and being forced to turn off my CPU monitor (which autostarts with my computer) before BioShock will play is ridiculous. But the game is cool enough that i'm still glad i played it

Bioshock: Windows

...

it did. If i exited the game, i couldn't play again until i rebooted my computer. That's frustrating but then, writing high end video games for a PC is pretty frustrating too. i lost some work the first time i played it, which i didn't like, and being forced to turn off my CPU monitor (which autostarts with my computer) before BioShock will play is ridiculous. But the game is cool enough that i'm still glad i played it

Bioshock: Windows

...

it did. If i exited the game, i couldn't play again until i rebooted my computer. That's frustrating but then, writing high end video games for a PC is pretty frustrating too. i lost some work the first time i played it, which i didn't like, and being forced to turn off my CPU monitor (which autostarts with my computer) before BioShock will play is ridiculous. But the game is cool enough that i'm still glad i played it

Bioshock: Windows

...

awesome plot, well worth the time, and the money if I could buy any game in the world I would buy this one first.

Bioshock: Windows

...

for immediate Adam, or you can save them. After saving a number of them, you're given a "gift" which does contain Adam. If you buy all the Health, Eve, Tonic, and Plasmid upgrades you should utilize almost all the Adam you harvest/receive.

The whole city of Rapture screams of a simpler time in America that went horribly wrong due to "the Parasite" and no, I won't explain that in-game reference :) Andrew Ryan, the would-be villian until "the twist" was quite the capitalist who lost control of his city, paving the way for your arrival after Rapture has fallen.

Loved the game, hated the DRM controversy. If you are afraid of possible computer corruption and have a 360...then definitely give it a go on the console...no gameplay difference!

Bioshock: Windows

...

for immediate Adam, or you can save them. After saving a number of them, you're given a "gift" which does contain Adam. If you buy all the Health, Eve, Tonic, and Plasmid upgrades you should utilize almost all the Adam you harvest/receive.



The whole city of Rapture screams of a simpler time in America that went horribly wrong due to "the Parasite" and no, I won't explain that in-game reference :) Andrew Ryan, the would-be villian until "the twist" was quite the capitalist who lost control of his city, paving the way for your arrival after Rapture has fallen.



Loved the game, hated the DRM controversy. If you are afraid of possible computer corruption and have a 360...then definitely give it a go on the console...no gameplay difference!

Bioshock: Windows

...

for immediate Adam, or you can save them. After saving a number of them, you're given a "gift" which does contain Adam. If you buy all the Health, Eve, Tonic, and Plasmid upgrades you should utilize almost all the Adam you harvest/receive.





The whole city of Rapture screams of a simpler time in America that went horribly wrong due to "the Parasite" and no, I won't explain that in-game reference :) Andrew Ryan, the would-be villian until "the twist" was quite the capitalist who lost control of his city, paving the way for your arrival after Rapture has fallen.





Loved the game, hated the DRM controversy. If you are afraid of possible computer corruption and have a 360...then definitely give it a go on the console...no gameplay difference!

Bioshock: Windows

...

for immediate Adam, or you can save them. After saving a number of them, you're given a "gift" which does contain Adam. If you buy all the Health, Eve, Tonic, and Plasmid upgrades you should utilize almost all the Adam you harvest/receive.







The whole city of Rapture screams of a simpler time in America that went horribly wrong due to "the Parasite" and no, I won't explain that in-game reference :) Andrew Ryan, the would-be villian until "the twist" was quite the capitalist who lost control of his city, paving the way for your arrival after Rapture has fallen.







Loved the game, hated the DRM controversy. If you are afraid of possible computer corruption and have a 360...then definitely give it a go on the console...no gameplay difference!

Bioshock: Windows

...

dark corridors.

Sitting in my dark office, different pieces of the game suddenly turn out to be part of a single hidden puzzle, which reassembles the story. And this is only one of a series of themes, turns and adventures which kept me playing from dusk to dawn. As derivative as the game is, the execution means *BioShock* isn't your typical trapped-in-a-maze shooter.

Rapture clanks and hums with vending machines that supply health and equipment--all of which cost money to buy. And when your wallet is slim--as it will often be--players can gather components to assemble at crafting stations. Most critical, however, are the Plasmids and Gene Tonics that boost the player character's body. These systems introduce economic, mechanical, and genetic strategy, which in turn affects the player's tactics.

In most shooters, the enemies beeline for the player as if they can see through walls; but in *BioShock* you can actually sneak up on enemies, or evade them altogether. Gene tonics even provide abilities such as camouflaging or backstabbing bonuses, though I was disappointed the player couldn't teleport as some NPCs can. Cameras, bots, and turrets can also be outmaneuvered, destroyed, or even hacked to join your side, while you can seduce Big Daddies into protecting you with the right plasmid. So I like the tactical options given to the player.

For the most part though, the gameplay is old-school FPS. You can't lean, lie prone, pistol whip your enemies, or use alternate fire modes (though you can select different ammunition types). Monitors display still pictures instead of FMV, there's no GUI interaction with computers, and the skyboxes are limited to 2D mattes. The design scheme is further reminiscent of the darkness of *Doom 3*, but ups the shadowy ante by omitting a flashlight altogether.

Like D3, the game world is a hermetically-sealed community, divided into a series of theme-levels, such as The Medical Pavilion or Fort Frolic. Though similar to Mars City in principle, Rapture doesn't feel claustrophobic or monster-populated to an annoying degree like *Doom 3*.

Yet the design is even more conservative. I wondered at the absence of escalators, ladders, cables, and bridges. There are no vehicles to ride or combat; the bathyspheres act mainly as level exits. And for a submarine environment, I was surprised the game never puts the player onto the ocean floor. Indeed, we are blocked from any body of water deep enough to submerge in.

Otherwise, BioShock displays more mastery in atmosphere than just about any game I've ever played, on both subtle and garish ends. To begin with, the game never breaks from the first person view until the end cinematic. The comical vending machine recordings juxtapose with period music and propaganda announcements. Realistic water leaks into the maps in a variety of forms, from drips, to steady streams, to outright waterfalls; the fire and electrical effects are mediocre, but fog and smoke effects look great. Even the footwork is good, as splicers scrape their bludgeons on the floor, and diving suit monstrosities shake the floors with their stomps.

Explorers will get the biggest dose of this environment, for the developers added extensive side rooms and even whole buildings filled with loot, battles, and tableaus. Fort Frolic is a particularly artistic exploration, if also chilling. Moreover, players can backtrack to most of the levels in the game.

Finally, the gradual revelation of back-story ties up the experience. Tape diaries, radio logs, and enemy chatter provide this illumination in period slang and voice inflections. Several of these logs chart the fates of denizens at various caste and class levels, and they also accompany many of the tableaus, thus functioning as subplots.

However, *BioShock* strikes me as an alienating game. It teases the player through brief interactions with a cast of otherwise intriguing characters. Whenever the PC does meet up with an NPC, a barrier tends to stand in between. This alienation, in which the player can only experience other characters at arm's length, creates a psychological message that would not register in a game that simply didn't have friendly characters. But it also dampens the heroics. At one point, a villain questions why the PC is trying to save Rapture. I had to agree because the game establishes too little connection between the plight of the city and the plight of the character.

In my review for *Doom 3* I wrote, "It is awesome when it isn't repetitive." I gave it three stars. For all the RPG elements, *BioShock* is also a horror-survival FPS, yet the overall effect is a four-star performance. And far from repetitive, it immersed me in an obsessive weekend of gaming. That's as ringing an endorsement as I need to give.