Product Description

BioShock is a revolution in the shooter genre that will forever change the expectations for the FPS. Going beyond "run and gun corridors," "monster-closet AIs" and static worlds, BioShock creates a living, unique and unpredictable FPS experience. BioShock is the Shooter 2.0.

After your plane crashes into icy uncharted waters, you discover a rusted bathysphere and descend into Rapture, a city hidden beneath the sea. Constructed as an idealistic society for a hand picked group of scientists, artists and industrialists, the idealism is no more. Now the city is littered with corpses, wildly powerful guardians roam the corridors as little girls loot the dead, and genetically mutated citizens ambush you at every turn.

• Take control of your world by hacking mechanical devices, commandeering security turrets and crafting unique items critical to your very survival.
• Upgrade your weapons with ionic gels, explosives and toxins to customize them to the enemy and environment.
• Genetically modify your body through dozens of Plasmid Stations scattered throughout the city, empowering you with fantastic and often grotesque abilities.
• Explore a living world powered by Ecological A.I., where the inhabitants have interesting and consequential relationships with one another that impact your gameplay experience.
• Experience truly next generation graphics that vividly illustrate the forlorn art deco city, highlighted by the most detailed and realistic water effects ever developed in a video game.
• Make meaningful choices and mature decisions, ultimately culminating in the grand question: do you exploit the innocent survivors of Rapture... or save them?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #430 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Take 2
• Released on: 2008-10-17
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
• Format: Unknown format
• Original language: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish
• Dimensions: .33 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
Considered to be one the finest games in the history of interactive entertainment, Bio Shock is a watershed entry into the world of video games. As one of the most lauded franchises of the past decade, Bio Shock introduces gamers into an exciting world filled with fascinating characters, intelligent enemies and complex moral choices that define the foundation of the game world. With its rich story, meticulous attention to visual detail, tense action and infinite replay value, Bio Shock delivers the perfect blend of storytelling and first person action.

These Challenge Rooms are stand-alone levels, each of which presents various puzzles, exploration and combat with the ultimate goal of rescuing a Little Sister in each one. Keep an eye on the PlayStation Store for these amazing new experiences and challenges in Rapture.

Customer Reviews

A gaming masterpiece
I for one, regrettably was slow off the mark in buying Bioshock. Even though I had a demo, which blew me away, other games kept popping up which too priority over it, such as MGS4, Resistance 2 and Killzone 2, so I only bought it last month, a long time after its release - and I had no idea what I was missing!!

Bioshock is an incredible game - its something you experience as well as play. Very few games in the last few years have even come close to this deep, immersive, atmospheric game. Even though at the grass roots, it is fundamentally an FPS, it strives and succeeds to achieve a lot more. The setting itself, the underwater art-deco utopia of Rapture is like nothing I've seen before, yet captures every element of every fantasy film, whilst retaining a very real, and gritty base. The characters themselves (mainly splicers) are themselves victims or casualties of the DNA splicing that makes this world what it has become. But I can't emphasise it enough that the atmosphere is just breathtaking, graphically it is beautiful yet deep and solid, you really feel like you're, but not just because of the graphics, the sound and music is also oustanding a really adds to the tension and feel, all this and I haven;'t even mentioned the gameplay!

The feel and control of the game is solid, the weapons handle with enough bang and fizz, especially when upgraded, the characters move and react so very reaslistically, you also have additional DNA enhanced powers called plamids, which are mainly used offensively to compliment your arsenal and open up genuine creativity and ingenuity as to how you assault each enemy. You are further drawn in by the addictive nature of enhancing your abilities, both physical, engineering and skills - whcih as the game gently but assertively progresses, you will need all the help you can get.

Which bring us to the final point I wanted to cover, the little sisters and their huge, mute, protectors - the big Daddies. Its this partnership itself, that makes this game utterly unique and completely spellbinding - NEVER has a FPS achieved such an emotional pull from its gamer. Their co-dependancy is fascinating, and you will never have seen anything a game before that really invites you to ask questions about your self and the decisions you make - it almost literally makes you accountable - as the little sisters carry the basic element - Adam - which can fuel your powers and make you stronger....but you risk a lot in trying to get to her and then you risk her life if you decide to take it - it really does yank at your heart-strings.

I could literally take days to explain and cover everything that I love and is great about this game. But it is an absolute one-off. I only regret not buying it sooner, it is the most, well concieved, beautifully realised and utterly immersive experience I have ever enjoyed on a console. An absolute masterpiece.

The definitive version?
For the long overdue PS3 release, a new difficulty mode has been added - Survivor - where every bullet counts. Items and cash are also restricted during this mode, adding a new layer of tactics for hardcore players.
There's full trophy support, with slightly more than 360s achievements. Downloadable content is soon to be added. Called `Challenge Rooms', these will present new puzzles and situations in Rapture. Little else is known at present.
Furthermore, the download-only plasmids that were made available after the 360 release are now included as standard. So the mighty `Sonic Boom' is available at the Gatherer's Garden in Neptunes Bounty. Plasmids give the game a freeform approach, tactics are only limited by your imagination. Many powers turn the environments against your enemies, providing genuine choice when approaching a firefight (rather than a tacked on afterthought).

For the 14 months its taken for Bioshock to surface on PS3, this should be the definitive version. Yet the slowdown that cropped up in the 360 version is still present, and occurs often. Load times are as long as 360, and there's a mandatory install process.
The lighting has been subtly improved, and the visual style makes Bioshock hugely immersive. On many occasions I stopped playing and simply admired the surroundings. However, the atmosphere, plot and unique concept make Bioshock really stand out. This quality holds throughout, which is a rare thing.

For those who havent experienced Bioshock, there really is no time like the present. The most original game in some time. And a true masterpiece.

BIOSHOCKINGLY GOOD! (Sorry)
Forgive me for being an arsey, twenty-something gamer, but I have often felt that videogames are not achieving their full potential. Games are not films. We do not need to break away to a cut-scene to develop the story. It can all be achieved in game, as an integral addition to the gameplay. This is what makes Bioshock such a revolutionary piece of software - a shining example of what can be done within a medium that has barely scratched the surface in terms of storytelling.

You play an interloper in an underwater city called Rapture, a once great utopia that has been all but destroyed by and ambrosial substance called ADAM. Its citizens now stalk corridors, rambling obscenities in a desperate search for one more hit. You will have access to ADAM yourself and will be able to instantly transform your own body into a weapon. Ever wanted to shoot hornets from your fingertips? Of course you haven't, but it doesn't stop it from being great fun! Rapture is a damning indictment of what happens when you allow morality to fall. And the game asks the same moral question of you, the player. Do you sacrifice the innocent to save your own skin or do you risk yourself to salvage the remnants of this lost world? Or you could just set everyone on fire; yet another choice this fantastic game allows you make.

You could argue that the game's length pushes the story a little too far, and some of the gameplay tasks seem like unnecessary housework. You can't actually be killed either, which makes the task of gathering health somewhat redundant. I actually found myself bashing every with a wrench because there never really seemed like any reason to use precious ammunition when I could just pop up a second later with the same wrench and finish off anyone I didn't get the first time.

As for the PS3 version: I haven't played the 360 version so I can't comment on any differences, but this version does allow you to download extra content, exclusive to PS3, called the challenge rooms. There are Puzzles and Splicers aplenty and it is a nice addition to an already great title, if a little superficial.

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