And you need all of the goodies that you can muster. BioShock throws some disturbing, and downright tough enemies at you. Most of the time you fight insane, corrupted, genetically altered humans and former residents of Rapture who are now called “Splicers”—and they’re as smart as they are lethal. They’re also loaded with personality. Yes, they’re completely nuts but they chatter throughout the lonely halls of Rapture, yelling about memories of past events back when they were merely “human.” It’s positively eerie, at least until you get used to it.

This is the type of game that you will share stories about with your friends. Unlike most shooters, there are a myriad of ways to approach a problem. Not just with using various guns, but also via the Plasmids and the environment itself. If an enemy is walking knee deep in water (and water is so prevalent in the game it’s almost like a character itself) it just makes sense to blast him with electricity. But there’s always several ways in which you can defeat an enemy—there is no right way, and with all of the weapons, ammo, Plasmids, and other toys at your disposal no two fights in BioShock need be alike.

Rapture holds many secrets

There’s very little to truly complain about here, but there are a few areas that are worth mentioning. The ending of the game feels rushed. BioShock is obviously such a carefully crafted game that the final cut scenes are surprisingly anti-climatic and leave a slew of answered questions. In addition, some might find the game a bit on the easy side because every time you die you come back via a Vita-Chamber, so really the only penalty for dying is lost time having to trek back to where you died. It also admittedly reduces the fear of death because you just end up popping back ready to go. This is especially true when you set off an alarm. The flying bots come after you and it’s actually best if you die because it shuts off the alarm system. That just doesn’t seem right. Still, those that complain about this are really missing the point. This is the kind of game where the journey is the game. The Vita-Chamber reduces the annoyance of using checkpoints, and of course, being a PC game, you can always just save the thing when and where you want to, anyway.

There’s been a lot of talk about “choice” in the game’s storyline, mainly concerning the Little Sisters character – small children who are protected by the massive Big Daddies, who look like hulking, monstrous, deep sea divers…but with rocket launchers and a mechanical drill arm. You need to acquire ADAM from the Sisters (ADAM allows you to buy vital upgrades), again, without wanting to spoil things—let’s just say that the game fails to truly give you a choice with actual consequences regarding the Sisters. It’s like a boxer that doesn’t fully throw a punch—BioShock pulls its punch and doesn’t throw a haymaker when the opportunity presents itself. Still, the Little Sisters and their twisted and yet sweet relationship with the Big Daddies is effective—it makes it harder to do the unthinkable.

Little Sister and Big Daddy

From a technical standpoint, the game is a wonder. A truly gorgeous game in every sense of the word. The art direction in particular is spot on. You feel like Rapture could very well be a real place. Everything just “fits”. Every room, every structure, even the locations of health stands and ammo vending machines—nothing looks out of place of “gamey” in the sense that the designers put something there for no good reason. The lighting, shadows…it’s such a stunning game to look at that at times you might get caught reading a poster or looking at a piece of art while an enemy Splicer is sneaking (or crawling as the case may be) behind you.

As large and as complex as Rapture is (and it’s huge) you never feel lost or stuck not knowing what to do next. The designers did a masterful job of keeping the game flow at a perfect pace. You’re allowed access to basic hints that help drive things along as well as a compass arrow leading you in the direction of your next goal. Does this make it too easy? Again—who cares? It’s like the silly art debate. Does it matter if BioShock is art? Not really. All that matters is that it’s an incredibly fun game. It’s the same with the hints and the compass. Who cares if it makes it easy to find your next objective? It’s the experience that makes BioShock the game that it is.

Even better news is that you really don’t need a top-flight PC to experience it, either. The game was tested on a modest setup: a 2.4 GHz processor with 1GB RAM and a GeForce 6800 Ultra video card with the in-game settings set to “Medium” and the game was playable, getting a respectable framerate throughout. Granted, seeing the game on a fully decked out rig is a sight to behold and this is the kind of game that will make you want to upgrade your entire system to see it in all its glory, but you don’t need a blazer in order to play or experience it.

The environments play a crucial role.