(Some spoilers)
By Sam Coles:
Sometimes when I think back to games that I love, I’m always
surprised with how old they are due to it still being in the spotlight of
gaming conversation. This is the case with Bioshock I remember being intrigued
about the game before it came out, but at the time I didn’t have a 360 and PS3
as I made the poor decision of getting a Wii initially. I played Bioshock in
2009 when I first got my Xbox 360, where I bought it off my friend for £5 for
the special tin edition he had. When I booted the game up I was introduced to the
dark and foreboding atmosphere that is Rapture.
Bioshock’s story is one for the ages; you play as Jack who
is on a plane that crashes into the ocean. He lives the endeavour and then
finds a mysterious lighthouse which is unlocked where he then enters and is
enveloped in darkness before the lights turn on. He is greeted by an ominous
statue of Andrew Ryan with banner exclaiming “No gods or kings. Only man”. He
then finds a mysterious lift like contraption which takes him to the underwater
city of Rapture, where is greeted with the now famous speech from Andrew Ryan.
The reason why this story is remembered is its twist, half
way through the game when you confront Andrew Ryan you find out that one simple
phrase has been controlling you , “Would you kindly, powerful phrase… familiar phrase”.
This revelation shocked players, as it was genius and before you brutally kill
Ryan with a golf club he shouts a powerful statement “A man chooses, a slave
obeys”.
It’s not just the story that had players hooked in Bioshock
it was the fun gameplay, it is a hybrid of first person shooting and light RPG
elements as this is a spiritual successor to Systemshock. You have a wide array
of weapons from the standard say it with me now pistol, shotgun, machine and
rocket launcher to the more unique such as the chemical thrower which can shoot
fire or liquid nitrogen and the crossbow which is good for pinning enemies to
walls.
You don’t just have guns to help you out during the tense
combat, you have Plasmids think of them as magic but they have been genetically
inserted into your body. These are really fun to you use, you have your
standard lightning bolt and fire balls to the more unique such as being able to
throw bees at people which seems rather juvenile now I think about it. These give
you an edge in combat where it can be used in tandem with your weapons, such as
the one, two punch with the wrench and lightning bolt where you to quote Atlas “Zap
‘em and whack ‘em”.
Gene tonics are also useful, think as these as passive perks
which have an effect on yourself, firearms and your wrench. These can range
from sending electric bolts every time an enemy hits you, to your wrench
freezing enemies where you can smash them into ice cubes for your glass of Scotch
later. These came at a cost as you had to use the game’s currency known as
ADAM, how you gain this currency is by either saving or harvesting Little
Sisters. You get more ADAM if you harvest them but this gives you the bad
ending, if you save them you get less but they do give you better items in the
later stages of the game.
The main aspect of Bioshock that has stuck with me the past
decade is the atmosphere; it is a dark and foreboding place with blood that
line the walls. What is scary is that it was once a thriving community, but
then it turned into this uncivilised society where ADAM consumed people’s souls.
When you walk the corridors of Rapture there is rarely any music, must music is
present diegetic manner as you can distant radios play in the distance as well
as the tortured moans of Big Daddies. It is easily one of the best atmospheres from
that period of gaming, alongside the original Dead Space.
Bioshock along with other titles from the 7th
generation such as Red Dead Redemption will be talked about for the next 20
years. If you haven’t go and experience this masterpiece of a game, there are
many ways to play it you can play it on the 360 and PS3 or on current gen
hardware such as the PS4, Xbox One or PC. It really stands the test of time and
his aged remarkably well.
No comments:
Post a Comment