PC Gamer

K

en Levine’s slightly
overlong adventure
about killing a man
who wants to live the
libertarian geneticist
dream of playing office minigolf at
the bottom of the ocean (or
something like that) holds up
surprisingly well to a contemporary
visit. I mean, the whole thing falls
into the bin by the time you fight an
Ayn Rand book cover and then sit
through a Hallmark commercial or
a vague nuclear threat, but still.

This is a reinstall, but only in the
most technical sense. I have indeed
previously installed the game, but it
led with an injection scene. That
meant I quit instantly while trying
not to throw up. Several years later
and I’m marginally better at
stomaching on-screen injections, so I

have returned to Rapture to see what

all the fuss is about.

The opening segment has you

descending to Rapture in a

bathysphere. It’s a cinematic-style

showpiece which wants you to

luxuriate in the Art Deco skyscrapers

and the neon lights which

encapsulate the vim of early 20th

century capitalism and consumerism.

I can’t think of another game which

looks like BioShock – and given

gaming’s love of aping what’s

influential, that’s surprising.

It’s the art style which carried me

through to the end of the game,

actually. I’ve gone back several times

to ‘classics’ of PC gaming which I

missed when they were first released.

Each time I’ve played enough to get a

sense of what they are, but tend to

drop out once that’s accomplished,

whether it’s because of clunky

controls, dated graphics, a save

system we’ve improved on a

hundredfold since, or a propensity for

tedious boss fights. Sometimes it’s

just that without the context of its

release – when it was first or new or

interesting – it’s just not very good.

BREAKAWAY

BioShock is not a subtle game. It

bludgeons you with its references

and I was never interested in the

story – especially when key beats

were delivered as monologues while

the player is trapped in a room with

nothing to do. I, uh, managed to miss

the main twist/infodump because I

was so bored during one monologue

that I went to listen to some Kelly

Clarkson while I waited for the dude

to stop yammering.

But generally, it’s a fun game – all

theatrics and loud fighting – despite

some odd limitations. For example,

BioShockis really stingy with its

BIOSHOCK

NEED TO KNOW

RELEASED

August 21, 2007

PUBLISHER

2K Games

DEVELOPER

2KBoston,2KAustralia

LINK

http://www.bioshockgame.com

Worse things do happen at sea. By Philippa Warr

EXTRA LIFE

NOW PLAYING I MOD SPOTLIGHT I HOW TO I DIARY I REINSTALL (^) I WHY I LOVE I M U S T P L A Y
Sander Cohen, oblivious to
the fact I am the bigger creep.