Bioshock, the spiritual successor to System Shock, definitely had some shoes to fill when it came to managing expectations. Thankfully it delivered, and Bioshock became a gaming classic, wowing critics and consumers alike.
On to the review. Gameplay is still a blast, with a higher emphasis on shooting compared to its predecessor. Various types of guns can be found throughout the game, and you can upgrade them at "Power to the People" machines at certain points. In addition, you have the ability to unlock Plasmids, which are essentially superpowers, and power them with ADAM, the lifeblood of Rapture. Yes, using the power of ADAM, you can experience the awesome might of being able to shoot electric bolts, or control bees with just a snap. There are also various boosts you can apply to yourself to improve things such as melee damage and increase damage thresholds. These combine to create an overall exciting way to end lives several fathoms underwater.
Storywise, there is about 10 hours in the campaign with some great setup for the main villain. Unfortunately, the ending has very little difference unless you save all of the Little Sisters, which unlocks a different cutscene.
The hacking in this game is an annoyance, using plumbing tubes to hack everything while some fluid rushes towards the end of the pipe (what is it, hacking fluid?)
Graphics are mostly a positive, except for one major thing, the faces. Compared to Bioshock 2, the faces in 1 are highly exaggerated and really creepy, which could work the plastic surgery angle, but seems more a technical limit that wasn't fixed. Lighting is good, and the graphics on low are still pretty impressive. In addition, Reshade can work well, but the game can be a bit random with which setups it won't work on.
Setup wise, it can work pretty well on most systems (tested on Intel i5 520M with Intel HD and still pulled 20fps in 640x400).
Overall, if you haven't experienced this game, would you kindly give it a shot?
