Bioshock begins with a brief cinematic of you - the main character - aboard a plane flying across the Atlantic. Almost immediately, something goes horribly wrong and the plane crashes into the ocean. This is where you assume control. After a brief intro to the controls and some pretty impressive graphics, you are brilliantly introduced to the world of Rapture - a beautiful underwater city governed by a mysterious man named Andrew Ryan. Now, right off the bat there are tons of questions that come to mind, such as: Why did the plane crash here? Why am I the only survivor? How come Rapture's inhabitants appear to be bat-$#@& crazy? and so on.. Without spoiling anything, these questions and more are answered throughout the game. It turns out to be a thrilling story-line, filled with plot twists and turns that really makes the world of Rapture come to life.
The mysterious Rapture in all its glory
As maybe evidence by previous reviews I've done, I'm a sucker for a good atmosphere in a game. The atmosphere that Bioshock provides is spectacular, filled to the brim with personality and dark uncoverable secrets. The fact that you have to explore every nook and cranny for audio diaries that give insight to the city's inhabitants adds to the awe. In addition, the way the game cinematically introduces you to the dangers lurking in the depths of the city - without ever taking away player control - is phenomenal. The sound in this game adds to the atmosphere by providing a general sense of foreboding, with creaking floors and distant roars (heh), as well as a Fallout 3-esque 1950's era soundtrack that makes certain areas really come to life. As the game goes on, however, this sense of atmosphere is diminished by the gameplay. In a sense, it's way too easy.
In order to visualize just how easy the game is, imagine fighting this guy:
Pretty intimidating, right? Now, imagine fighting the same guy, except this time you have the knowledge that five feet to your right is a mountainous pile of ammo, first aid kits and energy. Oh, and ten feet behind you is a free-to-use restoration chamber that instantly revives you if you die and around the corner up ahead are two vending machines that will gladly concede even more ammo, first aid kits and energy upon successful defeat of the baddie. Thus is the format for basically every enemy encounter in the entire game. On the harder difficulty settings, the enemies have more health and deal out more damage, but the environmental aids are still present. To be honest, I enjoy games where I don't have to fret over every single unit of ammunition and sliver of health in my health bar, but this is just ridiculous. It gets to the point where you can casually stroll into any room or unexplored corridor in the game without a care in the world, thus detracting slightly from the overall atmosphere.
One of the best songs of Bioshock - Somewhere Beyond the Sea
After spending roughly 11 hours in Rapture, the solid-but-not-perfect FPS gameplay and gradual unraveling of plot twists all come to a disappointing end with a weak final boss fight and an even weaker final cinematic (there are multiple endings, the one I got was fairly lame). It's over in a flash and I honestly am still unsure about what exactly happened, but I guess that's what Wikipedia is for!
Now, since my first experience in Rapture was thoroughly enjoyable, I decided to jump right in to Bioshock 2 the following day. Upon pressing the Play button in Steam, I was shown a security code that would be used to unlock the game (didn't I already purchase it?). So I copied it to the clipboard, entered it in the next screen and - oh what's this? "Authorization attempt unsuccessful - Try manual authorization". Ok...So I click on the Manual Authorization page whereupon it prompts me to enter my security code along with a HUGE additional Unlock code. After typing both codes in, I press Next and once again, "Authorization attempt unsuccessful". Great. Minutes pass by and after enough trials and tribulations with the authorization screen (as if it was testing my patience), I finally got into the game and was greeted with the main screen.
As soon as I go to click the New Game button, an enormous popup covers the screen. "Create a Games for Windows Live Account", it says. No thanks, says I - Cancel, Cancel, Exit, Cancel. Once again I press the New Game button and at last, I reach the opening cinematic. The story this time around takes place ten years after the original game and includes some returning NPC's, but the player now controls one of the enemies from the first game and the main plot is entirely different. Interesting...
You control one of these brutes this time around
The first problem I have with the actual game itself is that the city of Rapture is revisited almost to a fault. You see the same vistas you saw in the first game only from a different angle. While these set pieces provided for some breathtaking moments in the first game, it becomes stale when you see it multiple times. As a matter of fact, nothing is really changed from the first game in Bioshock 2. The gameplay is almost exactly the same, the enemies are the same (with a few additions), the excessive amount of first aid kits and restoration chambers is the same; it's basically just an expansion pack. Except this time, the atmosphere has become stale and the strong story present before is now replaced by a new, less exciting story with a less exciting main antagonist.
The 50's era soundtrack makes a welcoming return in Bioshock 2.
Two hours into the game I began to get bored, so I planned on saving and revisiting the game at a later hour. So I pause the game and go to click save - it's grayed out. Figuring that just meant there was an enemy nearby I had to dispatch of, I journeyed to a completely safe area and once again tried to save - nothing. An ensuing Google search leads me to this little tidbit: You need a Games for Windows Live account to save the game! What?!?!?! You actually need an online account, completely separate from the game itself, in order to physically save your game. Holy crap, my mind was blown. I have Super Nintendo games with better saving systems than that. Unbelievable.
So, as I was already two hours invested into the game and I had no plan to re-do the intro sequences, I powered on through. I would not rest until I beat the game. Five hours later I reach the end of the second to last chapter in the game. All that remains (according to a posthumous FAQ search) is one final extended battle and the closing scenes. So I go to open a door and journey to that final destination and......the game freezes. After all that, the fact that I couldn't save came back to bite me. It's a shame too, the last couple hours were quite good. A couple of Youtube 'Let's play Bioshock 2' videos later and I had effectively beaten the game.
On its own merits, Bioshock 2 is a great game, as the foundation upon which it is built is very strong. However, the game falters as a sequel, introducing new concepts that are far too insignificant to make a second journey through Rapture nearly as impressive as the first.
Overall, the Bioshock series is a unique gaming experience, definitely worth the $10 that it was on Steam when I purchased it. But it's a good thing it was that cheap, because Bioshock 2 failed to provide enough new thrills to make it worth the price of a full game ($60 these days).
I now sit here, contemplating which of my dozens of Steam games to play next, awaiting the much anticipated release of the next game in the Bioshock series, 'Bioshock Infinite', set to release in the spring of 2013. It will be set in a new environment (not Rapture), and if the original Bioshock has taught us anything; journeying through an unknown world with unknown inhabitants can be very rewarding. While most of my Bioshock experience will be forgotten with time, that initial descent into the heart of Rapture and its twisted ways in Bioshock 1 is a gaming memory that is certain to last.
