Reviews for Bioshock

Let down

Strengths: Fun and balanced gameplay

Weakness: Not for fans of System Shock 2. Poorly stated hardware requirements.

I was rather excited about this game, being a big fan of System Shock 2. Bioshock is supposedly the "spiritual successor" to SS2. Well, it does inherit certain aspects of SS2: story being told through logs and diaries left behind, RPG-like skill management, and a well-done tense atmosphere.


First, the good points:

It runs pretty smoothly on my 3 year-old computer, and only very rarely does the frame rate drop to unplayable levels.

Combat IS fun. There are a wide range of weapons and plasmids to choose from, the environment can be lethal, and enemies are reasonably intelligent. Even though the game itself is rather linear (for the most part, you only have one goal at a time to achieve), combat itself is quite variable.

Also, all the weapons and plasmids are useful and due to the availability of ammo, you would be well-advised to use all your weapons in rotation instead of sticking to one or two favorites.

Respawning is a much debated topic, but in my opinion, it helps keep the pace of combat without interruptions. If you're not happy with respawning, you can always just pretend you're dead and reload the game from your last save instead of continuing.

The levels are also well though out, giving a good sense of pace to the game.

Ambient music is good but not outstanding.

Now the bad parts....

Installation started off badly. I use Microsoft's Process Explorer regularly, and didn't disable it during installation. Since the installation program itself uses SecuROM (copy protection software) to download the actual Bioshock.exe near the end of the process, and SecuROM doesn't like Process Explorer, it just died with a few cryptic warnings. I wasn't sure if the game was installed, but after some checking I decided I did have to disable Process Explorer and restart the installation from the beginning. After the installation, the SecuROM activation was painless for me, though there has been other reports of various issues.

The official requirements state "Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 512MB RAM (NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT or better)". What they really mean is a Shader Model 3.0 (SM3.0) graphics card. Most people would just go "Shader Model 3.0? Wazzat?" It just means a relatively new graphics card, not just any DX9 graphics card. The game will start without complaints on an older card, but you will notice graphical glitches right away. There are some fan-supported projects to fix this (search for "ShaderShock"), but it seems like 2K games is not going to do anything about it. Understandably, it takes resources to support older (and in fact, nearly obsolete hardware in the gaming industry), but it doesn't seem too hard, based on what the fans have succeeded doing so far. The game is unplayable on an older DX9 card without the fan-made fixes. The 2K forums have complaints and even a petition, but to no avail.

Next, 5.1 surround sound is glitchy. I'm using an Audigy 2, and the sound will cut out shortly into the game. There has been complaints on the 2K forums too, but no real solution. I'm currently playing with only stereo sound. Depressing, considering the game advertises Creative's Advanced HD audio for surround sound.

Voice acting is of poor quality. Considering that the game relies heavily on audio diaries to tell its story, it's disappointing that the voice acting is in such a sorry state. What gets me most are the inconsistent and inappropriate accents. But it's not all the fault of the voice actors. The volume and quality of the recording itself is also inconsistent, indicating poor work by the sound engineers.

Finally, the game lacks the suspense and tension of SS2. Don't get me wrong, it's good in its own right, but I've seen better. In SS2, I never felt powerful --- I always felt as if I was a pawn in a game and I'm never sure if I'm being manipulated. Also, I don't get the same feeling that the world was gradually decaying and destroying itself while being half-aware of it. Considering that Ken Levine wrote the story for both SS2 and Bioshock, I wonder why the discrepancy? I suspect its due to Bioshock's attempt at satirizing culture and this meant compromising the suspense in order to put in details to support the satire.

At least one professional reviewer said the game could have been so much more. That's my opinion too. Water could have played a bigger part of the game, both as a force of nature to be feared and a weapon to be wielded. Also, plasmid use could have been more costly to the player. Instead of just the (over-hyped, in my opinion) moral dilemma of the little sisters, there could be some negative repercussions of using plasmids.

Overall, Bioshock is a good game and probably the best game this year, but I'm not sure if it lives up to the legacy of its predecessor. The issues with graphics and sound are very annoying too. Instead of focusing on shallow social commentary, the designers could have played with the other novel elements of the game and carried them further.

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Awesome game

Strengths: Looks great and sounds great

Weakness: AI could have been smarter

You need a high end graphics card to really enjoy the game as it has a lot of details that just make it creepy. The plot line is pretty good as well. There is pretty much no death penalty so if that bothers you then this game may not be for you. If you die you are regenerated with all weapons/ammo intact.

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B i o s h o c k

Strengths: Graphics, Gameplay

Weakness: none

Love this game! Running it with all settings maxed using 2GB RAM, C2D e6750 & 256MB X1950XT @ 1600x1200 resolution. Smooth as silk gameplay. The graphics are awesome, the environment is fantastic, and the storyline brings it all together. You owe it to yourself to play this game.

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Nothing Special

Strengths: Atmosphere, visuals, sound

Weakness: Respawn system takes away any feeling of accomplishment you otherwise may have had. Gameplay gets old.

Bioshock is a game that starts off great, but may end up wearing on you before it's conclusion. As much as I loved the game at first, I couldn't help but feel the gameplay got stale somewhere around the halfway point. Despite the wide assortment of weapons and ways to kill enemies, combat gets repetetive. This may be due to the fact that the enemies don't feel varied. Sure, there are people with crowbars, guns, grenades, and a couple slightly more interesting varieties, but in the end they feel too similar. Big Daddies are awesome though.

Then there is the hacking mini game which is neither challenging or fun. This is annoying because it comes up every time you want to hack something, which can be quite often. Fortunately, there is an abundance of auto-hacking tools in the second half of the game that allow you to skip this mini game.

On the positive side of things, the atmosphere in this game is fantastic, thanks to the excellent visuals and sound effects. It does a really good job of pulling you into the underwater city of Rapture and, at times, creeping you out.

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The best video game ever made

Strengths: Great story, graphics & play

Weakness: Among the nVidia cards, only the best will do

Overall I find it to be the very best video game I have ever played, going back for 24 years now. It is, however, very demanding in terms of hardware (if you want to run at high resolutions) - much moreso than what's recommended on the box. I had a system with two 8800GTXs in SLI, and that simply wouldn't cut it beyond about 1280x720 or so. But now, with dual 9800GX2s in Quad SLI, it runs as smooth as oil at 2560x1600, and I must tell you - something no one wants to hear - you DO get what you pay for, in terms of these expensive graphics cards. This game appears SO much better at the max resolution, that it's like experiencing it for the first time.

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Great Game

Strengths: Great graphics, fun, low system requirements, engaging original story line, new concepts: different ammo for same weapon and cash to buy supplies.

Weakness: Nothing major. It just seemed to lock up on me when loading or saving games, and sometimes it doesnt save my 'options' settings

Wonderful game. It has great graphics, but yet is low on system demand. I use this on Vista, which rates computers from a level 1 to a level 5 as far as performance. This game requires level 1, with level 2 recommended. As such, most computers should be able to handle it, even basic ones. Of course, the newer and faster your CPU and graphics card are, the higher you can set the game settings to, and thus the better your game experience. The DirectX10 effects are great, but you have to have a newer card that supports it.

The story line is fun, engaging, and most important of all, original. The same story about shooting aliens and monsters gets old after a while. This is a breath of fresh air. This game also introduced something I have not seen in other shooters: different ammo for the same weapon. Eg the pistol can fire normal bullets or armor-piercing bullets. This certainly adds another dimension to the game which is absent with others in this genre. Another new unique feature is 'money', where you collect cash which allows you to buy equipment and supplies from vending machines spread around the map.

I do have a couple of minor issues with it though. It seems to lock up on me sometimes when either saving or loading a game. I don't know if this is game related, or system related (hardware, virus checker, etc). It's not a big deal , but something i wanted to point out. Also, Sometimes it seems to 'forget' my settings/preferences, such as resolution, key mappings, etc. Not sure what is doing this.

Note there is a v1.1 patch out there, so make sure you download it after you install the game.

Overall this is a great game, and I would categorize it with the Half-Life series as a genre changer, rather than just another Quake clone/remake of existing games. It is an interesting cross between Half-Life and F.E.A.R., and has a lot of RPG features that sets it appart from other plain shooters.

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Try it out!

Strengths: Very unique story and gameplay features (Plasmids, tonics). Extremely free-form gameplay (in the ways you can kill enemies).

Weakness: Big Daddy's are sometimes a bit too tough, too little money and ADAM at times.

I picked up this game for $20 from Best Buy on Black Friday. I finally got around to installing it a few weeks ago. At first, the game was unimpressive to me, then I quickly got into the story and the location. Rapture looks just as you would expect it to for a leaky underground city that's been overrun.

I was surprised at the depth and variety of the gameplay, as well. I could simply shoot enemies, hit them with the shock/weapon 1-2 punch, electrocute them after luring them to water... The list goes on and on! Having to switch between different plasmids makes for a pick-2-of-3 experience, so choose wisely!

I knew about the "moral dilemma" about how to harvest ADAM from the Little Sisters, but after being shot up trying to take down a Big Daddy, you may not care what happens to them...

Overall, I recommend this game! The story still has me very involved and I'm looking forward to what happens next!

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By member: mudfoot - Oct 15, 2007

Would you kindly play Bioshock already?

Strengths: Story line. Graphics are great. adding much more depth to the shooter arena with a 2nd layer of genetic weapons to fight the enemies.

Weakness: Environment does not vary enough --i.e. underwater city, yet you never go in to the water. The tactical implementation of weapons can get a touch complicated.

This game has one of the most memorable opening scenes. And, by adding a new layer of genetic weapons, the action level is just as impressive.

One minor drawback, is the lack of change in the
environment. It does not vary enough with the term of the game. It is set in a an underwater city; yet, you never go in to the water.

Also, the tactical implementation of weapons can get a touch complicated, yet it can be more fun. Having to use a camera to take a picture, then load your genetic weapon of choice along with a standard weapon is an advancement from the days of "push button and fire".

The storyline, however, is quite intriguing. The overall story arc is solid and it offers moral choices with different story end outcomes.

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Great FPS

Strengths: Intriguing story. Good atmosphere.

Weakness: Gameplay isn't anything new.

When you get down to it, Bioshock is basically a pure shooter. Bioshock attempts to differentiate itself from other shooters by giving the player the ability to customize himself with a variety of Plasmids (basically special abilities). While the abilities are neat, IMHO, they don't add anything essential. The strong point of Bioshock is it's story and atmosphere. 2K did a good job of building their underwater city.

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Bioshock

Strengths: gritty, hyperrealistic graphics, pushes the envelope

Weakness: too dark, no multiplayer, story hard to keep up with .

9/10. Must try this game! Not for kids. strengths: gritty, hyperrealistic graphics, pushes the envelope.
Weaknesses: too dark, no multiplayer, story hard to keep up with.

contender for game of the year, let's see if halo 3 can keep up

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BioShock

Strengths: Fun. Awesome atmosphere.

Weakness: Buggy.

The hype for this game was immense. From some people who made the great System Shock 2. This game is very fun, has a great atmosphere, and pulls you in right from the start. Many people have hasd problems with various bugs. Also, some lame copy protection is included that Spy Sweeper recognizes as a trojan. Bah!

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A Shock to the System

Strengths: Great Story. Interesting Setting. variety of powers. Nice mini-game.

Weakness: Too Easy. Lack of diversity in enviroments and enemies. DRM Fiasco. Ending levels are anticlimatic.

Bioshock is a good game but I feel it's been overrated by the community. It's a very good game of it's type. With a very good story and fantastic gameplay with powers and puzzles.

But it has it's fair share of flaws too. First, the game is too easy. The only challeng is Big Dadd's and after your fourth or fifth kill, you know how to tackle them and they become easy too. There are a few diferent levels, but overall it's not that diverse and everything feels the same. finally, there's a very nice midpoint to the game, but after that the rest seems bland.

Finally, you're limited for only a few installs of the game. I with they had mentioned that somewhere in the manual.

Overal it's very good, and you should play it. You can beat it in about 12-14 hours. But you might be rushing through the last few hours ready to get to the end.

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Bioshock

Strengths: Fantastic graphics, really great story

Weakness: Copy protection, a few bugs

Bioshock is easily one of the best shooters in the past decade. If you like shooters at all, get this game. The graphics will knock your socks off, and on top of all that eyecandy is one of the best gaming stories in recent memory, all wrapped up in a really unique setting that is fantastically made. The underwater city of Rapture is great fun to explore, and you'll actually understand why some of the villains in the game do what they do.
On the downsides, the game's copy protection is over-zealous and pretty nasty. When you first install the game it has to connect to the internet and register it with the company, and you only get 5 installs of the game before it decides to stop working. If you can uninstall the game normally and it doesn't get corrupted and have to be deleted manually it will credit that install back to you, but it's still intrusive and not particularly good for a game you paid money for. There are also a few bugs in the game which will cause crashes to desktop. Some of them you can avoid, but some people have hit game-stopping bugs and couldn't advance at all.
I give the game 4 out of 5 stars. It would've been 5 out of 5 if not for the game-killing bugs and horrible copy protection. Perhaps in the future they'll fix the bugs and tone down or remove the copy protection, but at the moment it's a fantastic game crippled by these flaws. Recommended.

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Bioshock Review

Strengths: The graphics: A+, the sounds: A, the environment of the game : A, the plot: A, the game play itself: A.

Weakness: SecuROM, no sounds when it doesn't work at all, number of simultaneous installs...although 2K up this count to 5, sound hissing and crackling at times and I have to close the game and restart it.

I do recommend this game for everyone who has the "machine" to play this game. I ran this game on a (939) AMD 3800+ single cpu, 3 GB of memory, Asus A8V motherboard, XP SP2, nvida 7900 AGP 8X 256 MB. But be prepared for hissing and crackling of the sounds once in awhile, or no sounds at all during gameplay. That is what I encountered on my machine. I had to save the game, close it, and restart the game. I know it isn't my soundcard, it is just the game. I wish they didn't have SecuROM or limit the number of installs but I know that 2K had to protect their investments. IF they don't have the money to invest in the creation of new and exciting games, we would never had a great game like Bioshock. Can't wait until the sequel comes out. I must say this game is Scary as hell. There were some moments in the game where I almost scream like a scared little girl. God man, I can just imagine what it'll be like if I had the horsepower to run this game as it was meant to be played --wide screen...on two or three monitors..with 7.1 surround sound(with the patches for the sound issues)..no light source in the room..DirectX 10 instead of crappy 9.0c...I think I just wait 1 year or so ... once I forget all the major plots of the game and play it again. BWAAHAHaa.. cough.. cough.. My suggestions is to wait for the sound issue to be fix by 2k with a patch, make sure you have the "machine", and then buy IT!

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Great Game

Strengths: wonderful graphics, great story line

Weakness: a few bugs that need to be fixed, no multiplayer

Bioshock is one of the best games to come out for the PC this year. It is a wonderful fps that is comparable to HL2. I also prefer the PC version over the Xbox 360 because if you have the right hardware, it will look better and feel smoother on a computer.
-I ran it on vista with a 3.0ghz core 2 duo, 4gb ram, and a 8800gts.

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BioShock | PC

BioShock is a first-person shooter that is the spiritual successor to the cult classic game System Shock. BioShock takes a more thoughtful approach to the genre as opposed to traditional run and gun gameplay. The three standout features that the developers strive for are with the setting and storyline, the open natured gameplay, and the advanced artificial intelligence. The game takes place in an...

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BioShock receives an overall TopTenREVIEWS rating of 3.9 out of 4.00. It is ranked the #10 game of all time, #1 game of 2007 for the PC and #2 PC game of all time. The rating and ranking is based on an average of 41 critic scores, awards and other criteria. To see a breakdown of the game ranking, read individual critic reviews, or see how other games ranked, click on the link below.

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Several years ago, Irrational Games debuted a series of computer games that would go on to become some of the highest-rated games ever to hit the PC and garner a huge following. System Shock and its sequel have been on countless “Best Games of All Time” lists, putting Irrational in the upper echelon of PC developers. Now, the developer has released its best work to date, successfully...

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