by: Chris Vavra

September 04, 2007

Bioshock is the type of game I wished I had the opportunity to play more often. A lot of games go through the motions, give you what expect, and do little else. Bioshock surpasses those expectations in almost every way. Bioshock brings a lot to the table with brilliant presentation and design. Most games are lucky to get one or the other, but this is one of those titles that gets both and fuses them together perfectly.

The opening sequence has our hero, Jack, entering Rapture, an underwater city built by Andrew Ryan, a Howard Hughes-esque man of vision with a little bit of Frankenstein injected into him. Jack discovers the city that has been overrun with miscreants and dutifully is obliged to investigate what has happened to this city — once thought to be a utopia. What Jack discovers is a world in ruins due to a scientist named Tenenbaum. Tenenbaum discovered stem cells called ADAM; ADAM provided abilities to humans which pushed the genetic code to the limit. In addition, Tenenbaum discovered a serum called EVE. Through the injection of these plasmids people gain special abilities and powers.

ADAM and EVE become part of Jack’s repertoire in his investigation and are essential to advancing deeper into the game. As the story progresses, what we learn about what happened to Rapture and the purpose of the main character deepens, bringing about questions of identity, science vs. religion, and many other themes that touch along life and man’s place on this earth. There is an Orwellian streak in regards to the theme and the story is told quite well in a film noir setting with dark shadows, ambiguous characters, and plot twists at every corner. Some of the dialogue is unpolished, but in general, the prose is solid when they aren’t reaching for inspiration or feeling. I never thought film noir would be a successful genre in video games, but I have been proven wrong with Bioshock and I couldn’t be happier.

The visuals are absolutely remarkable. The designers have created a world that is clearly set in the early 60’s with the old-time theaters and buildings. The interior design mixes both the bright and the dark, creating deep contrasts that are also superb. I kept thinking back to classic sci-fi movies such as Blade Runner -- a sci-fi world stuck in a virtual hell. Thankfully, this movie doesn’t go nearly as dark as Ridley Scott’s classic did. The frame-rate rarely slows down and the realism provided with physics is close to flawless. The designers did their homework in creating a breathtaking universe. Seeing is believing with Bioshock, but I promise you will be hooked from the very first steps you take into Rapture.