Review: BioShock
Aug. 16th, 2012 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missroseroseA note to gamers: if you decide to give BioShock a go for the first time, and prefer the full-on immersive experience? Nothing beats an honest-to-blog lightning storm right overhead with rain and wind furiously beating the house. Seriously, after about half an hour I'd started to lose track which sounds were atmospherics coming from the speakers and which were atmospherics coming from...well, the atmosphere.
Admittedly, it's been five years since I sat and watched Brian play through it. But I'm rather surprised at how much I'm enjoying it, even though I remember the rough outline of the plot. The graphics hold up well, and the sheer attention to detail in the design is enough to make the art geek in me squeal in joy, especially as I've now lived in a town with actual genuine Art Deco architecture. (The first door you go through actually bears a striking similarity to the doors of the Cochise County Courthouse here in Bisbee, which, given that they're featured on the Wikipedia page for Art Deco, may not be coincidental.) The atmosphere is appropriately creepy, with the occasional ballad of the era popping up for that bit of Clockwork Orange-style dissonance. And despite not necessarily being a huge fan of the FPS genre, I've found the gameplay entertaining. (Easy mode seems plenty easy enough for folks like me who mostly want to experience the story without having to throw their controller through the screen in frustration.) The way the various gameplay mechanics blend so well with the environment and story especially seems like something a lot of games could take notes on.
Yeah, yeah, I know, catching up with 2007. But still - if you, like me, tend to go through spurts of gaming, and you haven't played this one yet, it's well worth picking up on your next spurt. Amazing art design aside, there's just something viscerally satisfying about zapping a pool of water full of enemies (or, in the case of watching/hearing/feeling your character jam a gigantic syringe into his arm, just plain visceral).
And that's not even getting into the gut-wrenching story, which I'll leave for all five of you who haven't played this to discover for yourselves. All together, seriously a strong case for "games as art." A++ with cherries on top
Admittedly, it's been five years since I sat and watched Brian play through it. But I'm rather surprised at how much I'm enjoying it, even though I remember the rough outline of the plot. The graphics hold up well, and the sheer attention to detail in the design is enough to make the art geek in me squeal in joy, especially as I've now lived in a town with actual genuine Art Deco architecture. (The first door you go through actually bears a striking similarity to the doors of the Cochise County Courthouse here in Bisbee, which, given that they're featured on the Wikipedia page for Art Deco, may not be coincidental.) The atmosphere is appropriately creepy, with the occasional ballad of the era popping up for that bit of Clockwork Orange-style dissonance. And despite not necessarily being a huge fan of the FPS genre, I've found the gameplay entertaining. (Easy mode seems plenty easy enough for folks like me who mostly want to experience the story without having to throw their controller through the screen in frustration.) The way the various gameplay mechanics blend so well with the environment and story especially seems like something a lot of games could take notes on.
Yeah, yeah, I know, catching up with 2007. But still - if you, like me, tend to go through spurts of gaming, and you haven't played this one yet, it's well worth picking up on your next spurt. Amazing art design aside, there's just something viscerally satisfying about zapping a pool of water full of enemies (or, in the case of watching/hearing/feeling your character jam a gigantic syringe into his arm, just plain visceral).
And that's not even getting into the gut-wrenching story, which I'll leave for all five of you who haven't played this to discover for yourselves. All together, seriously a strong case for "games as art." A++ with cherries on top
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