BioShock

Developed By: 2K Boston/2K Australia

Playable On: XBox 360, Playstation 3, & Windows Operating System

Released in 2007, Bioshock tells the story of a city that was built under the Atlantic Ocean named Rapture. Rapture was built by a man named Andrew Ryan who believed that artists should not have to worry about censorship and scientists should not be held back by what is "morally right." Another man, Frank Fontaine, creator of plasmids, the ability to throw fire, electricity, and more from your hand, wants to be able to control the city. Soon, a power struggle commences between Ryan and Fontaine. You play as Jack, the lone survivor of a plane crash, that crashed over the Atlantic Ocean. You head down into Rapture only to learn that you are only a pawn in the ever growing war between Ryan and Fontaine.

Out of order, I played through BioShock 2 before I played through part 1. But having played through them both now, it was very easy to spot the differences between the two games and decide which one, in my opinion, is better.

BioShock is quite a lengthy, lengthy game. I probably put in somewhere between 13 and 15 hours before I actually beat it. The objectives that fill the story line in BioShock, I thought were so grand and epic, I always thought I was just around the corner from beating it. But I would actually end up putting in another two hours or so. I realize now that at those times, I was actually no where near beating the game.

The biggest difference, I believe, between part one and two is the combat system. If you read my review for part two, then you already know that BioShock is a first person shooter that allows you to have guns as well as plasmids, the ability to throw fire, electricity, use telekinesis, and more from your left hand. The major difference here is in part one. In part one, you can only have either one of your guns or one of your plasmid abililites out and ready for combat. You actually have to pull out either your gun or hand, not both, choosing which one would be more effective during a fight. In part 2, you can have your choice of which gun and plasmid you want out at the same time. A combo, such as stunning an opponent with electricity and then killing them by shooting them, is much more fluid in part 2 because both your gun and plasmid are out at the same time.

In addition to the combat system in part one, you can only melee with one weapon, the wrench! In part two, you can melee with every weapon, giving the combat system in part two another reason to be better. In part one, I hated not being able to shoot a splicer (enemies in BioShock) with a shot-gun (a close range weapon) and melee the splicer for the kill. In BioShock 2, this little combo would have resulted in instant death for a splicer.

As in BioShock one and part two, you have a EVE meter. Once you drain your EVE meter, you can no longer use your plasmids. However, throughout both games you can find EVE hypodermic needles and once you deplete your EVE meter, you can fill it back up if you have a EVE needle. With this system my complaint lies in part one. Once you drain your EVE meter, if you switch to a gun, your EVE meter will not refill. In part two, if you have a EVE needle and your EVE meter runs out, it will automatically refill. I found it to be very frustrating in part one to be in a fight with a bunch of splicers only to have my EVE meter drain and not refill because I had switched to a gun to continue the fight. In part one, when you do fill your EVE meter back up a squence on-screen commences in which you see Jack shoot-up with a EVE needle, which is cool like the first 10 times you see it, but then it gets pretty old when you have already put in about five hours into the game.

In both BioShocks, you have the ability to hack machines. Some of the machines that can be hacked in the BioShocks are vending machines that sell ammo and even gatling gun turrets that will fire at enemies once you have hacked them. In part one, when you go to hack a machine, the game pauses and goes into a mini-game in which you have to place a tube in correct order for a metalic liquid to go throw it. If you are too slow, the machine will shock you, causing you to lose life and have to start your hack over again. Some machines will set off an alarm when you don't successfully hack them, causing flying gatling gun turrets to chase you. In part two, the developers made the hacking system a little cooler. When you start a hack in part two, the game does not pause and you have to stop a needle, that is going back and forth, into small green areas, trying to aviod red areas, that will cause an unsuccessful hack and sometimes set off alarms. In addition to the hacking system in part two, you can hack machines from a distance using hack darts. That certainly beats having to walk up to a gatling gun turret or security camera to hack it as you have to do in part one.


The mini game that commences when you start a hack in BioShock

One type of machine that made an apperance in part one, but not in part two is the U-Invent machine. Throughout the game you find things such as glue, empty shell casings, kersone, and other random objects. When you take these random objects to a U-Invent machine, you can create new types of bullets and other items. This actually brings me to another complaint about part one. Throughout the story, you are forced to find objects to create something that is necessary for you to be able to proceed. I reason I don't like that is because it causes you to have to back track through the levels to find the items that are needed for whatever you are trying to make. The U-Invent machines and this system did not appear in part 2.

There are plenty of differences between BioShock one and two. But obviously part one paved the way for part two. And I am sure I am in the minority when I say this, but I liked part two more than part one. I will probably play through part 2 again, before I play through part one again.

I give Bioshock: 9 out of 10

Trailer for Bioshock: