There's a lot this game does well. The ambiance and visuals are gorgeous at all resolutions. The characters have their quirks and moral imperfections. The gameplay loop is straightforward and effective. The foundations laid from the opening minutes are consistent throughout and make for an entertaining four to five-hour adventure you can get through in one, maybe two sittings. All that said, the game shoots for the fences and doesn't leave much of an impact. The themes and subtext surround a galaxy where humans and Earth have gotten a bad rap and a planet led by a god-like visionary who tries to save his people from destruction. There's something there, but the narrative isn't left enough time to build off it, nor does it finish the protagonist's story. It doesn't even solve the pre-existing debt that led them to the events of this game. The game also occasionally chugs when loading massive areas of the map towards the end, with textures taking a bit to load here and there. It's a little buggy, but the autosave feature comes in handy when things don't go as planned. Overall, a good game with a great idea and a good execution. I never knew cleaning gunk off the ground could be so interesting!
Bioshock may be a game from 2007, but it hasn’t aged in the slightest. Its ambiance and worldbuilding are other-worldly, creating a spooky atmosphere without ever feeling too scary or daunting to traverse. The early-game weapon progression works perfectly as players get used to the game’s combat and physics. The characters are detailed and imperative to the overarching narrative, making Atlas a one-of-a-kind utopia filled with various individuals with their own goals and aspirations. The narrative is incredible and makes the most of its relatively short playtime, revealing Atlas’s true nature and how the main character came across the underwater city. The plot twists are also genuinely enthralling but do play through the game to avoid spoiling those moments to experience its full gravitas. You genuinely don’t get short, sweet, cohesive games like these from AAA developers nowadays, and that should be treasured as everyone traverses the city of Atlas and discovers the minds controlling the dystopian utopia. That said, mileage will vary with the PC port. There is a game-crashing bug whenever you try to open the map while any dialogue or hint messages are present. It is incredibly frustrating whenever it happens, but if you’re smart and save frequently or avoid those instances, the playthrough will be perfectly fine. The difficulty curve also plateaued after 4 or 5 hours, but it allows you to focus more on the game’s narrative as it draws to a close (and gets to its best bits). Regardless of my qualms, you should play Bioshock. It is genuinely one of the best narrative first-person shooters ever made.
