- Concept
- Graphics
- Sound
- Playability
- Entertainment
When 2K Marin introduced the world to BioShock back in 2007, they gave game players one of the most inventive games that they had seen in a long time. People took to the game loving everything about it, and when the sequel hit store shelves in 2010 the fans were waiting. It seems that people could not get enough of the game.
Concept
BioShock 1 came out in 2007, and the story line was fantastic. People had not seen or heard of anything like this before. To start out the game has you in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with the sinking, fiery, remains of what was once a plane. Players are then drawn to Rapture, where there are people who have mutated, or as the story line goes have evolved. You will find adorable little children that have genetic modifications that are freakish. These children are known as Little Sisters in the game, and their innocence is supposed to be protected and guarded by beings known as Big Daddy’s. Little Sisters, along with the other mutant beings in Rapture require a substance known as ADAM to survive. ADAM is a biological resource, and the mutants will attempt to kill Little Sisters in order to get some of this valuable commodity.
The player is encouraged to also evolve, or mutate, in order to survive in Rapture. Players are given the choice of being cruel heartless killers, by killing Little Sisters to harvest the ADAM they need after they have mutated, or they can harvest some of the ADAM from the Little Sister, and allow her to live. Very few games give you a moral decision to make such as this one.
In the second game you play as one of the Big Daddy protectors of the Little Sisters and continue the battle against all the evil and mutant beings. The storyline in the first BioShock is much better detailed than the second storyline in BioShock 2, but the story in 2 is still a good one.
We had to give these two games a 5.0 rating for their originality in concept, and their unusual characters, and events.
Graphics
The two BioShock games contain graphics you will enjoy. The design team paid close attention to the visual aspects of the game, and the synchronization between sound and action is almost flawless.
Sound
The sound quality of this set of games prompted us to give the games a 4.5 rating when it comes to sound. Overall, the sound is rather important because many audio cues are given that will warn the player of approaching doom.
Playability
The necessary skills to play these games are not extremely difficult, and almost anyone could catch on to the game play fairly quickly. The problem here is that the game contains a large amount of visual, and audio, content that younger players do not need to be exposed to. There is a sexual overtone, and subject matter to the game, and the blood, and gore is prominent, so playability did not receive as high a score on this game, simply because its target audience is the more mature player.
Entertainment
BioShock 1 & 2 are both very entertaining games to play, with story lines that will keep you interested in continuing in order to discover what the next level holds.
Replay Value
The drawback of these games are the fact that once a player has journeyed through all the levels, they are usually tired of the game, and they do not often replay the entire game. There will always be a certain number of people who do choose to replay the game, and to become expert in mastering all skills in the game. Since you are allowed to make a moral decision on the killing of the Little Sisters you can also replay the game and make the other choice to see how it changes game play, because the decision you make does change the way the game goes. So as far as replay value goes the answer is yes for some, and no for others, you will simply have to make your own decision on that one.
