BioShock Reviews

BioShock continues to impress gamers, with eight more glowing reviews of 2K Games' FPS/RPG hybrid surfacing over the past couple of days. The first is at GotNext with a perfect score of 5/5:
Rapture is believable as a dystopia both in the way non-player characters react within it, and how the environment and story elements let you see the effects of political corruption on a populace. It succeeds as an action game by providing an assortment of weapons and abilities beyond the typical gun selection of most first-person shooters. As far as inventory management, the effects of character upgrade choices, and difficulty level go, it does feel like some concessions have been made to make this game appeal more to the masses than in its spiritual predecessors. For these reasons, I don't think Bioshock manages to surpass the System Shock and Deus Ex games overall. Still, I did find it enthralling from beginning to end, and the fact that it deserves its place alongside some of the greatest games ever made is achievement enough.

The second is at Game Over Online with an overall score of 91%:
BioShock is one of the best games of 2007 for any platform, not so much because it offers new wonders - there are a few - but as a result of meeting high standards, as any diamond should. For its price of admission, BioShock will definitely please you.

The third is at GameZone with an overall score of 9.5/10:
BioShock is one of those games that truly make a strong case for video games as a proper art form. The world is as robust and detailed as anything you'll see in a movie (if not more so), and the sense of suspense never wears out, keeping you on board for a thrill ride from beginning to end. No gamer should miss out on this one.

The fourth is at Gameplay Monthly with an overall score of "A-":
It looks fantastic. It sounds fantastic. It plays fantastic. The combat with the huge amount of plasmids and weapons makes combat incredibly fun and varied, and there are tons and tons of ways to take out foes. The sense of redemption as you choose to rescue the Little Sisters is something special, and so are the fights with the Big Daddies. The game is pretty much everything it could be and exceeds it and will remain one of the great new classics of gaming. It is an experience, and it's hard to not look back at it and think "That was a great, great game." Most importantly, it's a game that it's actually fun to replay.

The fifth is at TechConnect Magazine with an overall score of 9/10:
Bioshock is a masterpiece. The one action game we'll play through more than once, just to see how a pyromaniac sneak will play as opposed to an electric iceman, or what'll happen if we explode barrels of gasoline in the middle of an electrified water puddle. The game's physics and mechanics make all that possible, and the dynamic nature of the action is such that no two encounters or fights will be the same. The general journey will remain the same through each play, but the hero's story and abilities will change so radically that we might as well be dealing with half a dozen different games. The story is deep and will leave players thinking, and the ending comes all too soon, all too sudden, for such a majestic development. Irrational, 2K Australia, whatever you're called this week, get us another 12 hours of content right now. No, really. Now.

The sixth is at MyGamer with an overall score of 9.2/10:
The story, the huge decaying city, the personalities of the people you see, hear, and listen to...all of it combines together to create a masterpiece of gaming. Now, would you kindly go out and buy a copy?

The seventh is at TweakTown with an overall score of 9.5/10:
The atmosphere, the story, the unique execution of the gameplay, the fact it never feels like a console port; everything on offer here is top notch 'PC Game of the Year' grade stuff that, like the System Shock series before it, should be in every PC gamer's collection. The difference this time around, however, is that thanks to the efforts of 2KGames and the more pre-release aware gaming world we live in, BioShock has a real chance of actually achieving this. If there is a game out there seeing release in 2007 across any genre that can top this truly spectacular unique experience, then we may have the best year ever for PC gaming on our hands, because BioShock is really just that good. There is some room for improvement for any future sequel to make this series truly epic, but make no mistake, you must go and get BioShock, even if it means a stop by the PC store for an upgrade first.

And the eighth is at GameStyle with an overall score of 9/10:
Bioshock unfortunately just misses out on that special 10/10 score, but still manages to engulf us in a world like no other. Rapture is a beautifully stylised city that provides plenty of mystery and intrigue. Definitely a game of the year contender.