| “ | A man has choices, I chose the impossible. I built a city where the artists would not fear the censor, where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality, where the great would not be constrained by the small. I chose to build Rapture. But my city was betrayed by the weak. So I ask you my friend, if you live with pride, would you kill the innocent? Would you sacrifice your humanity? We all make choices, but in the end, our choices make us.
— Andrew Ryan
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” |
First released on August 21, 2007 for Microsoft Windows and the Xbox 360, BioShock is a "genetically enhanced" survival-horror first-persons shooter, declared as the first "smart shooter" for it's engaging and simple story telling and use of powers in the form of Plasmids, rather than just using firearms like many other First-Person Shooters such as the Call of Duty, Battlefield, or Halo franchises.
Many of the game's influences come from the novel Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, and declares itself as a spiritual successor to the System Shock series. BioShock received high-praise for it's original plot, unique gameplay, and remarkable audio and visual qualities in the city of Rapture.
Plot[]
The central character of the story, Jack, is the only survivor of an airplane crash in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Swimming to a nearby Lighthouse for shelter, entering a Bathysphere where he descends to the underwater utopian city of Rapture. Jack is unpleasently greeted by the gruesome murder of man, gutted open by a Splicer, the remains of Rapture's citizens, reduced to deformed creatures broken mentally do to sevre ADAM consumption. Jack is contacted by Atlas, an Irishman that seeks out help to free his family and escape Rapture. Jack comes across an Electro Bolt Plasmid, one of many gene altering substances created by ADAM. Before leaving to the Medical Pavillion, Andrew Ryan, the founder of Rapture sends a slew of Splicers to attack Jack, who kills them using his new found powers and weaponry.
Jack learns more of Rapture's background and history through Audio Diaries left by the people of Rapture. He eventually comes across Dr. J.S. Steinman, the crazed caretaker of the Pavillion. Gaining Incerate! and Telekinesis along with a Tommy gun and Shotgun, Jack kills Steinman, taking his key to access Neptune's Bounty where Atlas' family is located. Before leaving, Jack comes across a Little Sister, young girls used to gather ADAM from dead corpses around Rapture. He also meets Tenebaum, creator of the Little Sisters, bent on saving them and escaping Rapture. The player is confronted with the option to either Rescue or Harvest the girl, being rewarded with ADAM to spend with either choice. Jack also comes across Big Daddies, which act as the Little Sister's brutish and mindless protectors.
Jack is met by Peach Wilkins in Neptune's Bounty, blocking his path to Atlas' bathysphere. Peachy sends Jack out to locate a Genetic Research Camera and get "snappy-snappies" of Splicers for Peach, and in exchange will let Jack into the Smuggler's Hideout. After doing so, Peach lets Jack pass, but has him store his weaponry in a tube, being left with only a wrench and his plasmids. Wilkins betrays Jack soon afterwards, accussing him of being one of "Fontaine's boys". Jack kills Peach and his Splicers, gains his weaponry back, and heads to Smuggler's Hideout where Atlas and his family are located. Andrew Ryan soon ambushes the group, sending a squad of Splicers to attack, and killing Atlas' family.
Atlas instructs Jack to reach Rapture Central Control and murder Ryan, but Ryan shuts down the Rapture Metro and poisons Rapture's oxygen supply in Arcadia. Jack reaches Dr. Julia Langford for help, but she is then killed by Ryan, leaving behind a keycode for her safe. Jack is instructed to gather supplies at the Farmer's Market in order to construct the Lazarus Vector, an invention that will clear Arcadia of it's toxins. After constructing and planting the Vector, Ryan sends waves of Splicers to Langford's lab in order to stop the cycle. Jack manages to fend off the Splicers and gain access to the Rapture Metro after saving Arcadia.
Jack lands in Fort Frolic, but is greeted by Sander Cohen, who blocks off Jack's contact with Atlas and his access to the Rapture Metro. Cohen sets up electrified traps and sends Splicers after Jack to "test" him. Jack defeats Cohen's Splicers and is let into the Fort Frolic Atrium, being instructed to watch a preformance. Cohen blows up a Dynamite-rigged Piano and instructs Jack to take a picture of the dead performer, telling him to do the same with three other of his former disciples in order to complete his "masterpiece". Jack returns with the three other pictures and Cohen appears, granting Jack access to Ryan.
TBA.
Gameplay[]
BioShock is a First-person shooter with an emphasis on choice, expanding upon the realm of normal FPS games by allowing players to find collectibles, hack machinery, and gain superpowers in the form of Plasmids, rather than just limiting combat to firearms.
Reception[]
BioShock was praised before and upon release for it's incredible and original atmosphere and gameplay, along with a "inconceivably great plot". BioShock's combat system has been praised for it's smoothness and very player based. Overall, BioShock "straddles so many entertainment art forms so expertly that it's the best demonstration yet how flexible this medium can be. It's no longer just another shooter wrapped up in a pretty game engine, but a story that exists and unfolds inside the most convincing and elaborate and artistic game world ever conceived". BioShock won Game of the Year at Spike's Video Game Award show in 2007, and was nominated for Game of the Decade in 2012.
Collector's Edition[]
The Limited edition's boxart.
The BioShock Limited Collector's Edition included a 6" tall Big Daddy figurine, a "Making Of" DVD, and the official soundtrack. The soundtrack CD was reduced to an EP titled The Rapture EP and contains three tracks from the game remixed by Moby and Oscar the Punk. The tracks are God Bless the Child, Beyond the Sea, and Wild Little Sisters.
The box features an embossed graphic designed by a graphic competition winner Adam Meyer. In Europe, both the limited and the standard editions come with a metal case.
During shipping, many of the Big Daddy figurines were broken. 2K Games said that they would be instituting a replacement program, wherein customers could register to receive a prepaid shipping box to return the broken figure; in exchange, they would receive a free printed copy of the art book, BioShock: Breaking the Mold, and a replacement figurine when they became available.
DLC[]
- Plasmid Pack
- Challenge Rooms