XBOX Reviews

BioShock

BioShock is the “genetically enhanced” first person shooter that lets you do things never before possible in the genre: turn everything into a weapon, biologically mod your body with plasmids, hack devices and systems, upgrade your weapons and craft new ammo variants, and experiment with different battle techniques in an incredible and unique underwater city. You are a cast-away in Rapture, an underwater Utopia torn apart by civil war. Caught between powerful forces, and hunted down by genetically modified splicers” and deadly security systems, you have to come to grips with a deadly, mysterious world filled with powerful technology and fascinating characters. No encounter ever plays out the same, and no two gamers will play the game the same way. BioShock is loaded with some of greatest, most modifiable weapons to ever blast their way into a shooter. But guns alone won’t be enough to defeat the devious AIs of Rapture. There are literally hundreds of other strategies players can use to take out his enemies. Here’s just a few things you can do a foe: Brainwash Him to Become Your Personal BodyGuard Invent your own Ammo Types to Prey on his Vulnerabilities Turn his own Security System Against Him Light Him on Fire and Launch Heat Seeking Missiles At him Torment Him with Plagues of Insects Take Research Photos of Him to Learn his Weaknesses Send Him Flying into the Ceiling to Knock him Senseless

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Amazing Game (and I HATE 1st person shooters)
I’ve never been a fan of 1st person shooters, always found the linear nature of them quite boring. I’d been looking for a new game to play and had seen Bioshock reviewed quite well so I decided to download the demo off of Xbox Live. I literally played the demo for 10 minutes and jumped online to buy the game.

The environment created for this game is probably the best i’ve ever played. The water effects are amazing, but beyond that, Rapture (the undersea city the game takes place in) is simply a sight to be seen. The voice acting is top notch and the story solid.

Everyone should play this game at some point, and at $20 it really is a steal of a value.

5 Stars Bioshock
Game play wise, this game is fantastic if you like First person shooters/Role playing games. Graphics wise, it is fair, but the slightly animated sense helps push along the overall mood of the game. The story is terrific. It is one of the most creative games plot wise I have played in a long time. This game has the potential to scare even the experienced FPS (First Person Shooter) player. A very original and twisted game.

5 Stars This was a good one
I really enjoyed this game. I wasn’t excited about playing this game at first and I received it as a gift. When I finally got around to playing it, I was very impressed. I enjoyed the scenery/feeling of the game and found the characters to be humorous yet deadly. I had to play through twice just to see the alternate endings. Hours of play for minutes of satisfaction Little sisters and their protector “MR. B” , what an unusual but pleasing gaming experience.

4 Stars Just a good ole game!!!!!
The game is really fun the only reason i gave it a 4 and not a 5 is bc it gets a little repetitive. I was looking for a game that is cheap and a lot of fun and i got it. I really like all the things you can upgrade your weapons, plasmids and abilities. Its hacks are fun to do bc bc it reminds me of that old pipe game i used to play on the PC. If you looking for something to do while you wait for a game(batman) or whatever this is the one. Its cheap and a lot of fun. If you dont try it you will be sad.

5 Stars Perfect
I can’t stress enough how amazing this game was. This is not your average shooter. It has a story that will pull you in, great graphics, and incorporates many different types of gameplay. The story was fantastic, and based off of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”. They did a fantasic job adapting this novel. One thing you can do, is find audio diaries (they are optional) that will give you a backstory that changes the game everytime. The story is carried all the way through the game, and leads up to a twist ending no one would expect. Even though it doesn’t have multi-player, its one of those games where you want to play it again. I’ve played it almost 5 times. Each level has a new type of gameplay. For example, one level you might have to collect certain objects, and the next you have to find people and kill them. The graphic are irresistable; they are very different from anything else you’ve seen. Since it’s based in the early 50’s, a lot of things are older, but that doesn’t mean the weapons. Remember, this is a futuristic game (kind of) and the weapons are cool, not to mention the plasmids, which you are going to have to figure out what that is yourself. All in all, this is a game I would have paid $70 for, and I highly recommend it.

Buy/More Info

BioShock

BioShock lets you do the impossible as you explore a mysterious underwater city. When your plane crashes, you discover Rapture – an underwater Utopia torn apart by civil war. Caught between powerful forces and hunted down by genetically modified “splicers” and deadly security systems, you have to come to grips with a deadly, mysterious world filled with powerful technology and fascinating characters. As little girls loot the dead, and biologically mutated citizens ambush you at every turn. Now you’re trapped, caught in the middle of a genetic war that will challenge both your capacity to survive and your moral allegiance to your own humanity. Make meaningful and mature decisions that culminate in the grand question – do you exploit the innocent survivors of Rapture to save yourself – or risk all to become their savior?

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star Wouldn’t load for me, wasted money
The game looks cool and I’d love to get it to work, but it WILL NOT LOAD on my hardware. Emails to BIOSHOCK produce nothing, since they say it should run. Emails to Securom blame me for running some program their software doesn’t like or say I should change my hardware.

I did my own checking and found a number of complaints regarding the Lite-On DVD writer, which I have in my system. Apparently Securom doesn’t like my DVD writer. I suppose I could buy a new DVD writer ($30) just to play a $19 game, but even if I do, how am I supposed to know this is the only thing in my system that Securom doesn’t like?

Worse, I PAID my money, but I can neither play the game nor get a refund. When someone takes your money but won’t deliver what you purchased, that’s called THEFT.

Look, if the game works for you, I’m glad for you. But if you don’t want to have your money stolen, I’d give this a pass, at least until the complaints about Securom drop.

We expect food distributors to give us a label telling us what is in our food. It’s time protected games were required to have a label telling us what EXACTLY is required and what EXACTLY they are doing with our computer. It CAN’T be being done right, or I’d be playing the game. The only good thing I can say is that I paid $19 for a lesson in why software companies can’t be trusted.

1 Star Unable to install due to virus
This game contains a virus called “secuROM” that permanently installs itself into your OS and can disable your drives (as it did mine) and should be avoided at all costs. It’s a shame. I played Bioshock on a friends 360 and was blown away. The cool retro 50’s look of the underwater city and the music set over the dark and creepy atmosphere made for a great gaming environment. It has an original and thoughtful story and the endless attack combos and multiple endings gives this game a very high replay value as well. I was very exited to get this for PC as mouse/keyboard is the best set up for a FPS by far. I was crushed when I found it had installed a virus that crippled my virtual drives. Removing secuROM from my system was a lengthy nightmare that involved risky registry editing that can damage your system permanently if not done exactly right.

Bioshock is a great game that contains a virus. Buy the 360 version if you want to play it.

5 stars for a fun game

1 star for infecting my computer with malware.

1 Star DRM needs to be protested
Just as everyone else is saying, the console version for this game was great. When I bought the PC version, I was distressed to learn that I could only install in 3 times. This is not worth your money, we must protest DRM in PC games.

1 Star Still not buying
I was seriously considering buying Bioshock until I read about the people who recently purchased the game and had problems with their computers. It seems that the company has decided to keep the DRM in the game. Why? The game is not current and I’m sure the sales are not too great. Not a wise decision. Sorry, but I am not going to spend my money on a game that may possibly screw up my new computer. If the powers that be finally got rid of DRM they would get hundreds of people willing to buy their game. Until then my money will remain in my pocket.

3 Stars Awesome action, sound and graphics, but at a cost!
This is an incredible game with stunning graphics, sound, and playability. Multiple difficulty levels, ability to save anywhere in the game, a cool story, sets and characters.

However, even though my system met or exceeded all the requirements, I could not play the game when I installed it.

I had onboard sound and a GeForce 7600 GS, but neither of these could handle the game. I upgraded to a SoundBlaster Xtreme Gamer and a GeForce 7950 GT, and now the game screams; but it cost me $300 to get there. Still, it has a memory leak somewhere and locks up randomly. A good idea is to stop every so often and reboot.

It takes FOREVER to load (seriously, like 3 or 4 MINUTES), but once loaded, you can play for a long time before you need to load again.

I know there are people out there who are afraid of SecuROM, but it hasn’t given me any trouble that I know of.

So if you think your PC can handle it, you will most likely enjoy it.

Buy/More Info

Oct 15th, 2008 - Last year, 2K Games released a dark and compelling tale for Xbox 360 and PC owners that was set beneath the sea in the halls of an underwater city known as Rapture.

BioShock

BioShock lets you do the impossible as you explore a mysterious underwater city. When your plane crashes, you discover Rapture – an underwater Utopia torn apart by civil war. Caught between powerful forces and hunted down by genetically modified “splicers” and deadly security systems, you have to come to grips with a deadly, mysterious world filled with powerful technology and fascinating characters. As little girls loot the dead, and biologically mutated citizens ambush you at every turn. Now you’re trapped, caught in the middle of a genetic war that will challenge both your capacity to survive and your moral allegiance to your own humanity. Make meaningful and mature decisions that culminate in the grand question – do you exploit the innocent survivors of Rapture to save yourself – or risk all to become their savior?

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Fun and not frustrating, but also violent and a bit too easy
I enjoyed this game very much. The graphics were unique and the plot was ludicrous but engaging. You could use a wide range of weapons and “superpowers,” which made killing things a bit more novel.

This game is pretty violent, which may or may not be a downside to you, depending on your personality. I didn’t really mind it. However, every time I used nitrogen to freeze a mentally-ill person, then smacked them with a wrench as they whimpered helplessly, thus shattering them into bloody frozen chunks, I thought “This is probably desensitizing me in a way that is not healthy.”

The only real downside (again, to some it may be an upside) was that this game was not really challenging. I am a fairly unskilled gamer: I mostly just run and shoot until the ammo runs out, at which time I switch to the next weapon. Even so, I only died twice during this entire game. Just a note, when you die you reappear at a nearby location and all of the hits you made on enemies are saved; so there is almost no penalty for dying. This makes the game a little too easy, but it sure cut down on frustration and swearing on my part.

Anyway, I would recommend this game highly, because it is fun and not too expensive. However, you can expect to finish it in a week or less.

1 Star Don’t buy this game.
This is quite possibly the most boring game I’ve ever played. Not to mention it screws with your system and you can only install it three (3) times– *ever*.

3 Stars twisted. creepy. great prospects ruined.
the game looked great. it had all the makings of a 5 star game. that said, it’s too twisted, too gruesome, too sadistic. they could’ve gone in much better directions keeping the same gameplay/campaign style game in tact. if you don’t like scary things, (like i don’t), pass on the game. it’s not worth it. halfway through, i’m done. too creepy.

2 Stars Bioshock smells like it had more than one in the stink
Bioshock is a great game….for about 40 minutes. After that its story gets convoluted and tries to be smarter than it is. And like most things that fall into that hole, it throws in a M Night Shamalayn patented “twist” into the mix, which fails miserably.

This game had promise, it has an interesting mechanic and decent graphics, but the story leaves a lot to be desired and the combat is repetitive and boring.

Its a shame as what I read the original story was going to be, involving cult deprogramers and the like, was scrapped for this horrible stuff.

Download the demo, it will leave a better taste in your mouth and you won’t get to the crap nougat center of this game. And you can avoid all that license protection stuff too. Fun times.

1 Star Paying to rent
Don’t buy this game. Will NOT run without an internet connection. It is one of the many new PC games that installs a very intrusive copy protection scheme on your computer. It is very hard to delete this software from your computer cleanly. The game requires an internet connection even though it is mainly a single player game, so it can check to make sure you are using the software properly.(to the manufacturer liking). Basically you are paying to RENT it.

Buy/More Info

BioShock

BioShock X360

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars postmodernist fantasy and gameplay
i’m a mature gamer who bought a dozen or so videogames along with a new xbox to see how the technology had evolved. (the digital animation in most recent films had piqued my interest.) i opened and started many games but bioshock was the one i played through first. this game has the unique attribute of putting videogaming on the psychoanalyst’s couch: without spoiling the plot twists, i’ll say it basically takes all the “external control” features of traditional “first person” videogames, which are always left unquestioned as narrative premises, and uses them instead to motivate major plot twists — things you must confront explicitly through your role in the game. (control is someone or something who tells you that you are going to do a mission and why, as well as the social control of authority figures, the physical control of built infrastructure and surveillance devices, the threat control of monsters and risks, the ability control of which weapons you have and how you can use them, etc.) most games just pick one version or another of “control” and weave a plot inside that, but bioshock puts you through different versions or pretexts of control that make you question control rather than submit to it. but all that comes up only if you bother to think about it. if not, then the fantasy realm of an underwater city, genetic mutants, children who collect corpse juice, mad scientists and a very retro visual design are entertainment enough. the visual design is very good and the gameplay was flawless, no glitches that i could find. the game is both gory and gruesome and is not for kids. the missions and tasks flow from one to the other in a way that keeps the narrative arc ambiguous and also does not let you anticipate when the “boss battle” will come — at least, not until the game is near the very end. the weapons are quite novel, although the best ones resemble the “gravity gun” and crossbow in half life 2. you are explicitly required to manage them by purchasing abilities or ability slots at vending machines — a sardonic comment on consumer culture. however the game does not end in a way that says “you adopted a role and you perfomed it well as instructed” but rather “you did many things in this game because you were told to, but who are you really?” i found that the most interesting thing about this very interesting, enjoyable and engrossing game is that it opens up many narrative possibilities that the mission oriented first person shooter games have not been able to explore.

5 Stars A Must Buy!
Using an enhanced version of the Unreal Engine 2.5 this game turned out to look great and play even better. You can choose from dozens of ways to eliminate your foes by using plasmids, or just pick up one of the many weapons in the game and blast your away. With so many ways to take out your enemy and multiple story endings, its no wonder you are going to play the story more than once. Even with many great titles still to come, Bioshock has made its mark on the 360, with an unforgettable story and unbelievable graphics. Its just a must buy.

5 Stars Bioshock is a good investment!
Just be warned! If it was a book (instead of a game) it would be a page turner. You’ll get stuck playing when you should be doing something productive.

5 Stars Great game!
At first I was dissapointed in this game, I had just come from playing Call of Duty 4 and was expecting a similar kind of game play. I soon realized that the FPS aspect of this game wasn’t the point. it is the story, and graphics as well as the exciting game play. It is amazing! Don’t go into it expecting it to Halo or you’ll be dissapointed. It has the same creepy aspect to it that the first Resident Evil did. Very well done game, Plus it is basically a steam punk novel brought to life. Awesome. buy it, play it.

5 Stars You HAVE to play this game
This game is fantastic, the story is awesome and it’s very engaging and polished. I would certainly buy it again!!

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