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BioShock

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8.1 User Score:

Universal acclaim

Based on 44 critic reviews
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Based on 957 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: 2K Games

Developer: 2K Boston

Genre(s): First-Person Shooter

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: August 21, 2007

Summary

Going beyond "run and gun corridors," "monster-closet AIs" and static worlds, BioShock creates a living, unique and unpredictable FPS experience. 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? [2K Games]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: System Shock 2

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central GameSpot Guide

Also On The Web: Official Website The Cult of Rapture

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Eurogamer

The hours spent playing this masterpiece were the perfect encapsulation of why videogaming is such a favourite waste of time for so many of us. Thrilling, terrifying, moving, confusing, amusing, compelling, and very very dark. BioShock isn't simply the sign of gaming realising its true cinematic potential, but one where a game straddles so many entertainment art forms so expertly that it's the best demonstration yet how flexible this medium can be. It's no longer just another shooter wrapped up in a pretty game engine, but a story that exists and unfolds inside the most convincing and elaborate and artistic game world ever conceived.

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100

Gamer 2.0

It will challenge you, it will move you, and it will force you to make hard decisions. It is unbelievably immersive and tenaciously inventive. It is a game that sets the bar high for others to follow—for its art direction, narrative, and gameplay.

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100

Game Revolution

Bioshock is that rare game where the plot, environment, and combat are all steps above the normal video game experience. Games at their very best, like this one, can create amazing alternative worlds for us to inhabit, doing those things we can't do in real life. This is one product the free market should be very happy to have.

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100

GameDaily

The first-person shooter's great looking, has an engrossing storyline, a perfect balance of action and exploration and a totally customizable combat system that can be described as nothing less than video game rapture.

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100

Gaming Age

Everyone will play it differently, and have a different experience. Some like myself will find it drenched in tension and atmosphere, having run into many a situation where the poop was scared out of me. Others, like a friend of mine, will claim that its intuitiveness, combative freedom, and creativity puts it above the spiritual predecessor "System Shock 2," and wonder at how convincing the whole affair can be.

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100

GameSpy

[A] few PC quibbles aside, BioShock is a triumph, an absolute masterpiece that needs to be played by anyone with the slightest interest in gaming. It's a high-water mark not just for the FPS genre, but for the hobby in general.

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100

The Onion (A.V. Club)

A technical masterpiece with a story that reaches too far—but Andrew Ryan would have it no other way.

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100

G4 TV

The art direction is outstanding; mixing art deco architecture, classic 1950’s graphic design and tons of great old music from the early jazz era that adds a musty creepiness to the overall atmosphere of the game. It’s definitely not your typical Space Marine fare, and that’s a very good thing.

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100

VideoGamer

It's not just the fact that BioShock is a real looker, or the fact that as a first-person shooter alone it stands up to all of its competitors; it's the thought and craftsmanship that went into realising Rapture, its emotionally-jarring denizens and its compelling and seamless narrative that pushes you willingly forward from chapter-to-chapter.

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100

GameShark

If BioShock ends up being yet another critically acclaimed game that the general public ignores then we’re all wasting our time writing reviews in the first place. Folks, this is just about as good as it gets.

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100

Game Chronicles

BioShock is on the same par as those great classic films that have won awards for years and this one will for the video game industry. The combination of a great story and fantastic gameplay with wonderful scenery has been so well created into an all around well crafted game that it would be a shame to miss out on playing it.

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100

1UP

The truth is, I've never been so emotionally involved in an escort mission before. Games don't normally warrant the kind of discussions I've had about BioShock. This is something special.

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100

GameTap

BioShock is one of the few games that I’ve reviewed in my entire career that I feverishly want to go back through and play again to not only enjoy the dynamics of the gameplay, but also appreciate all of the effort put into a great story and an amazing underwater city named Rapture, which sucks you into its world the second you step through its doors.

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100

Four Fat Chicks

The most amazing thing about Bioshock is that it never comes off as preachy or self-indulgent. For all its many themes, it is, and can be enjoyed as, exactly what Ken Levine has always said it is: a shooter. One of the very cleanest, best-executed shooters ever made.

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Jolt Online Gaming UK

It’s neither perfect nor as revolutionary as some might make out, but it is one of the most progressive, gripping and downright fun games to hit the market in the last decade.

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GamingExcellence

Make no mistake, BioShock is a masterpiece, as pure a gaming experience as exists today.

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IC-Games

Without doubt, BioShock is truly a next-gen masterpiece, more than worthy of your attention. It simply blows everything comparable out of the water and for now we challenge you to find otherwise.

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Game Almighty

Bioshock has got everything that a great triple-A title needs, and it’s got it in spades. Intense combat, amazing and deep story, beautiful graphics, awesome sound – yes please.

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IGN

There is art here, despite what many would say isn't possible with games, from Roger Ebert to game designers like Hideo Kojima... BioShock stands as a monolithic example of the convergence of entertaining gameplay and an irresistibly sinister, engrossing storyline that encompasses a host of multifaceted characters. This is an essential gaming experience.

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netjak

Overall, BioShock is definitely worth a purchase. There simply isn’t a better experience to be had on the PC.

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Cheat Code Central

Some of Bioshock's storytelling techniques are unprecedented and will perhaps set a new standard for storytelling excellence in gaming. It doesn't hurt that Bioshock's great story is framed by incredible visuals and solid controls as well.

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PC Zone UK

Never has the medium been used as a storytelling device in such a beautiful and engaging way, and never have we been drawn so deeply into a gameworld. Long live Rapture. [Oct 2007, p.62]

GamerNode

If you're looking for another run 'n gun game to play while you chug down a few Cokes, you'll probably be better off not picking BioShock up. If you want a good game you can play in the dark, immerse yourself in, and love well-crafted plots and great writing, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't go get BioShock tomorrow morning.

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PC Gamer UK

A dark and astonishing masterpiece...I spend my career, and my gaming life, waiting for a moment when a game just astonishes me, when I can't believe what I'm seeing, what I'm doing. BioShock has five. [Sept 2007, p.66]

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GameTrailers

The atmosphere, the water, the story, the architecture, and the perfectly tuned challenge all come together to create one of the greatest experiences of this generation of consoles. Rapture is awaiting. Bliss is inevitable.

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PC Format

A paragon of single-player, story-driven gaming that outdoes "Deus Ex," "STALKER," and even "HL2." Taste the air, and smell the fear. [Oct 2007, p.52]

GameZone

No gamer should miss out on this one.

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Play Magazine

The first-person shooter is, simply, one of the best games ever made. [Oct 2007, p.86]

2404.org

What Irrational has achieved with the narrative is, quite simply, incredible.

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PC Gamer

Those niggling criticisms aside, Bioshock is one of the best 15-20 hours of gaming nirvana you'll spend this year or any other. [Nov 2007, p.66]

Computer Games Online RO

In the end, even if most of you (myself included) will go out on other adventures, be it exploring a tropical island in a hi-tech nano-suit, duking it out in professional arenas or fighting hordes of aliens on distant planets, Rapture will stay with you long after you will leave it.

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FiringSquad

Yes folks, we have played BioShock and we loved it. The minor flaws in the game's design didn't keep us from having an all night session to get to the end and we think that will be your conclusion as well.

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Digital Entertainment News

It meshes impressive graphics with an inventive gameplay system, and uses them to push an amazing story in a refreshingly unique setting. Unless you faint at the sight of blood or you absolutely despise FPS games, you should consider this game a must buy.

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Just RPG

Without a doubt, BioShock is a shoe-in for hordes of Game of the Year nominations. It’s certainly among my favorite titles of the year, and I highly recommend it to all gamers, whether you’ve got an Xbox 360 or a gaming PC. If you haven’t played it yet, then I suggest you at least go out and give the demo a try.

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Worth Playing

From the superb visual design to the enchanting audio soundtrack, this futuristic period piece is a delight to play and accomplishes a rare feat for a video game: It leaves you with plenty of weighty existential questions to think about.

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The New York Times

While BioShock has an intriguing back story, the game’s episodic, mission-based structure lacks the propulsive momentum of games like "Half-Life" or "Max Payne." The story is better than that of many action games, but BioShock’s gameplay and visuals are so utterly brilliant that it is a shame it fails to reach the same level of greatness in its storytelling.

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AtomicGamer

Otherwise, get updated drivers, play the demo to make sure your system definitely meets the minimum requirements and hold on for the ride - BioShock is definitely worth your gaming dollar if your machine can power it.

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Game Over Online

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.

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Boomtown

The graphics and art direction, the slow unveiling of the story of Rapture’s fall, the sheer creepiness of it all, and the gameplay which, quite often, makes almost every shooter until now seem rather dull in comparison.

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GameSpot

In spite of some technical issues, BioShock creates an amazing world that you'll want to explore and a compelling mystery that slowly comes together as you play.

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DailyGame

You owe it to yourself to experience BioShock, by far one of the most compelling games of 2007.

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GameStar

Bioshock looks fantastic, sounds fantastic, has more vending machines than all other action games put together and dares not to tell the whole story to inspire your own fantasy.

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My Gamer

Overall we were deeply impressed with Bioshock for the PC, but do wish that the developers had made available the toolkit used in its construction - I shiver contemplating what the fan community could make from its art and building resources.

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GameCritics

So BioShock is not a revolutionary game, or even a particularly innovative one; by the time I reached the end, I felt as though I had played a rather standard and predictable first-person shooter.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 957 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Daniel F. gave it a10:
Calling Bioshock, any specific genre, is an insult to this magnificent piece of art. I won't lie, when I bought this game off of Steam for $20, I wanted to hate it. I thought that it was over-hyped, and nothing but a run and gun shooter game. As soon as I hit the New Game button, I realized I was in for something unique. Of the aspects of Bioshock, by far the most awesome, was the story, intricately woven into the fabric of the continuity of the lore. Without giving away any spoilers, I would have to say that Bioshock is without a doubt, the strongest narrative I have ever heard/seen in a video game. The gameplay is equally incredible. Granted, as some of the reviewers have noted, the plasmids are a bit unbalanced.Two of the plasmids, Incinerate and Electric bolt, are almost undefeatable, and one could when the game with nothing but them, however the real enjoyable portion of Bioshock, is freezing an enemy and shattering them to bits, or throwing hives of bees at them, and watching them writhe in pain. The weapons, however are perfectly balanced. An combined the weapons/plasmids system is one of the most efficent combat systems I have seen in an FPS. One thing that annoyed me was the Karma system, which many called an RPG system. The whole conflict with the Little Sisters, while unique just doesn't have the moral implications that it does the first time you do it. By the time that you're harvesting/saving three per level, it becomes routine. Another problem I had with the game was the hacking system. I seemed like a good idea gone terribly wrong. Eventually you do get Auto-hack for some items, but even so, hacking vending machines and safes can be frustrating. Finally I must comment on the graphics. The water effects are incredible, some of the finest yet to grace the platform. Overall, with a pricetag of 20, I wouldn't hesitate to get this game.

Steven H gave it a3:
Baby's first System Shock. Crude, Tim Burtonesque art style that belies the supposed "scary" atmosphere. Generic and pointless upgrades. Lack of challenge. Extremely repetitive gameplay. Endless running. Cliche storyline. At one point in the game you disguise yourself as a "Big Daddy", a genetically altered sentinel that dons an armored diving suit and wields a rivet gun or drill (pictured on the cover). As far as the game is concerned this equates to putting a camera filter on which represents the tunnel vision of the helmet. Despite the fact that your character is the same sweater-wearing beatnik that he always was, and looks like it, everyone treats you like you are wearing the suit. Whenever you die, you are respawned about 100 feet away. You actually have to "delete" some plasmids to make room for new ones - something that doesn't make sense in the context of genetic modification (not to mention the unbelievable powers that are granted thanks to it, unlike System Shock 2's cyborg explanation). This is because the game is just System Shock 2 but dumbed down for consoles with an even less coherent storyline, which is more or less on par with Quake or the first Half-Life, and yet people laud this game for its story. About 10 hours of gameplay and no multiplayer. Very overrated. Worth about $5-$10, perhaps.

Charles S gave it a10:
To call Bioshock a video game is an understatement. Nay, it is an insult. For Bioshock is more than a game, it is an experience. The writing for the storyline in this game is the best that i have ever seen, and i've seen quite a bit. It takes you out of your place of mind throws you down the rabbit hole into the city of Rapture. This is the best movie i have ever seen, because it is more than a video game. The characters have such depth, that it almost feels as if you are playing a memory.

Nick G. gave it a10:
I wanted to try this out when i viewed the positive reviews it has got.When I finished it ,i was not disappointed at all.It has some unique features i have never seen before,all visuals were perfect,as well as the storyline.Also,there weren't any bugs in the game,although some people experienced some...Depends on the PC probably.Anyway,you gotta try this out!

Dalek gave it a10:
BEST GAME EVER. When I tried out the demo it was amazing graphics and I thought hey! this is pretty good except my drivers didn't get past the 2nd map. It crashed when it was loading or my pc restarts itself aka crash. But the story line is good it was fun loads of stuff to do, good and evil. Old music which is nice. Gave me a lovely feeling that game. CANT WAIT TILL BIOSHOCK 2!

GJ Mot gave it a10:
From start to finish Bioshock delivers an epic, defining and innovative realm for gamers. Whether you played sims to doom, you should definatley realise the amazing attention payed to the storyline of the game. I am shocked to read so many negative responses, simply because they didnt understand the story or even finish playing the game!?!? You cannot provide an accurate review if you never played the game from having a crappy computer.... Now back to the good stuff :D The setting is indeed unique and wonderous, something never achieved before except in books. Characters are unforgettable and endless details like the posters, costumes, accents and traits all combine to do one thing, make us want MORE!!! Once more, the art deco is something never done before in the gaming industry and deserves full recognition. I cannot help but rofl everytime I hear the circus of value (vending machine), that thing is gold! "Come back when you get some money buddy" lol lol lol I think we all wish for a bioschock multiplayer...but i guess we'll have to wait for BS2. So for anyone wanting to know a final word of advice, play it from start to finish....THEN review it. For once critics got it right on the money!

Spencer H gave it a10:
Everyone who voted this game as anything under an 8 is a complete idiot. The complaints were "its too buggy" "pipe connecting puzzles suck" Well naive reviewers: YOU DON'T HAVE TO HACK THE MACHINES. Jeez, it is only there to make ammo and other do-hickys cheaper and turn bots on your side, which you can just as easily kill. Unless you are on the hardest difficulty, then you need to hack them, but hey, if you don't want to hack the machines, get ur nubby ass to an easier difficulty and leave the harder stuff to the experienced players with half a brain and some patience. and TOO BUGGY, wow, that is a personal computer issue, I don't get any bugs at all when i play and my computer is a royal piece of s***. But hey, if you didn't like the incredible graphics, amazing and mind warping story line, or the amazing options you have when it comes to taking down all kinds of enemies, you can go F*** yourself, cuz you my friend, are a moron. It takes a brain to appreciate the incredible aspects of this game, so if you don't enjoy Bioshock, go work at McDonalds.

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