[cyanide_assassin]

----Warning----
This may contain spoilers, I did my best to try to filter any potential spoilers, but I can't promise I got everything that someone may classify as a spoiler. So here's your warning. Now for the review.


Synopsis: Bioshock takes place in the year 1960, you assume the role of a man named Jack. Just after surviving a plane crash in the Atlantic. you have to enter a lighthouse, as it is the only method of surviving the cold Atlantic. You enter the lighthouse only to find a machine that brings you to the underwater city named Rapture, an underwater Utopia created by a man named Andrew Ryan. But as soon as you arrive you'll find that something is very, very wrong. I'll just leave it at that because I don't want to spoil the game.
Number of Players: 1
Genre: Shooter/Adventure
Retail Price: $69.99 CDN.

Graphics: 10/10

All I can say about the graphics is wow, this game looks unbelievable. When I first started the game, I remember I was just standing there for a few minutes because I thought I was still watching an FMW. That's literally how good this game looks. Even though most of you have seen screen shots, they don't do the game justice. You have to actually play the game to understand how great this game looks. The most impressive thing about this game graphically though has to be the water. The water in this game behaves like real water (You throw an object in to a current, the water will conform around the object and keep moving. Water splashes whenever anything hits it, which makes for some cool looking firefights. I don't know what else there is to say. The game just looks awesome. Now, for the differences between the Xbox 360 and PC, there isn't really that much of a difference.

Sound: 9/10

The sound in this game is very good. The moment you arrive in Rapture and hear the music, it feels like you're in the 1960's. The sounds effects are impressive as well, whether it be a eerie speech of splicers, or the ominous roars/groans of Big Daddies, the sound effects are awesome. The voice acting as well is excellent, all the characters are believable and sound real (If a character is panicking, it actually sounds like it, no forced sounding voice acting.). The weapons also have well done sound effects, making it feel like you're actually firing the weapon.

Controls: 9/10

The controls for the most part are standard first person shooter fare. They're responsive, and overall well done. Although there is one complaint I have to add, switching between plasmids and your regular gun is a little too weird (You have to mouse right click to switch between the two). I would have personally liked it better if there was a way that you could press one button to fire a weapon, and another to fire your plasmid, I think that would have been better.

Gameplay: 9/10

The gameplay in this game for the most part is well done. There are 6 main enemies in the game:

-Brawler Splicers: The splicers that charge at your and melee attack.
-Leadhead Splicers: The splicers that use guns.
-Houdini Splicers: Splicers that teleport and use fireballs.
-Spider Splicers: These are similar to brawlers, in that they melee, but the difference is that they can crawl on walls and ceilings.
-Big Daddies: These characters walk around protecting the "little sisters", once you play the game you'll understand what little sisters are all about. Big daddies are the toughest enemies in this game, you constantly have to backpedal when you're up against these guys. Don't even bother trying to go toe to toe, they'll drop you in 3-4 hits.

The gameplay itself involves a lot of exploration, and when fighting learning to use the world to your advantage. You gain things called "plasmids", which alter your DNA to give you some interesting abilities (Pyrokinesis, telekenesis, shooting electrical blasts out of your hands, etc.). Now, these can create quite a dynamic combat system, that's more or less limited to your imagination. If a splicer throws an explosive at you, catch it with telekenisis and throw it back, if there are a bunch of splicers in water, use electricity and fry all of them. But to be honest, I thought the combat started to get a little repetitive after a while. It's still good, but the initial "Wow" kind of wore off and it just became kind of a "meh" thing. There could have been a bit bigger of a variety between enemies as well.

Overall: 9.5/10

Overall though, this game is an amazing experience. You haven't really played a game quite like Bioshock. There's a lot of exploration you can do, there's an intriguing combat system, the sound is amazing, I've already told you about the graphics.

Now, there's something you should know about the PC version, there have been issues with the required online activation, you can only install this game 5 times, after that you have to activate the game over the phone. While I can somewhat understand why they would do this in a period of piracy being really high, but honestly this won't stop determined hackers from cracking this game, and it just makes the legit people suffer.

In conclusion, buy this game, you'll be glad you did.



Differences between Xbox 360 and PC:

Graphics: For the most part the same. The PC has the potential to look a fair bit better due to higher resolutions (If you have a high end rig), but other than that, there's not much of a difference.
Sound: Not much of a difference at all.
Controls: The PC overall is better. This is because the increased accuracy of a mouse/keyboard. It's also easier to switch between plasmids/weapons and such on pc than on Xbox 360.
Gameplay: No difference.
Overall: If you have to choose between the Xbox 360 and PC, I'd honestly say go for the Xbox 360, as there are a lot of problems with the protections and activation on the PC. Get the PC version only if you have a high end rig to run the game in it's full glory, and don't mind the activation.

[shadyfist]

Game loooks pretty good but I don't think my PC can handle it...I need to upgrade sometime o.0