[durera]

Another new release, and one that may even challenge Gears of War as the Forum's favourite game. Please only vote if you've played enough of the game to comment, but feel free to leave comments at any point on your journey through Rapture.

Please! As a courtesy to others; avoid posting any spoilers in your reviews.

For others trying to avoid spoilers: do not search out what the secret achievements are. I really wish I hadn't!

A 10 should only be given for a landmark game that sets new rules, a 9 for a truly excellent game without flaw, and an average game that does things right but nothing special should get a 5 (not a 7 or 8 like some would have you believe).



Edit: Yes, I know there's another thread asking for ratings out of ten for this game, but that doesn't have the same scale (infact, it has no scale at all) as the other review threads, so can't be used as a fair comparison with the other User Reviews.

Poll option 4 should read "4 (Below Average)". Knew I'd screw up one of these threads -- If a mod can edit the poll option text then please do. I would delete the thread and start again, but I can't do that either

Average score: 8.49
Number of votes: 43
% of 10 votes: 9%
% of votes 9 and above: 70%
% of votes 8 and above: 86%

Date updated: 29 August 2007

[Gary D]

Sorry but i cant rate the game on that scale - a 10 would be without flaw not a 9. i would have given it a 9 because it has some minor annoyances. I would also say that it sets a new bar for the FPS .


Gary

[Munkey Boy]

10 doesn't say flawless for a reason - nothing, especially games, is flawless. The scale is indicative, not literal. 10 would be Genre Defining - as in the best example of a game in that genre, and will be regarded as a classic in years to come.

Sorry, I don't appear to be able to edit polls!

[durera]

Originally Posted by Munkey Boy

10 doesn't say flawless for a reason - nothing, especially games, is flawless. The scale is indicative, not literal. 10 would be Genre Defining - as in the best example of a game in that genre, and will be regarded as a classic in years to come.

Agreed. I really liked the scale on those old review threads. With 5 being average, not 7 for a start. I think it's important to have some way to differentiate between great games and genre-defining, classic games. For me there are only a handful of "10" games in the history of video games and I liked the way the rating system worked to set 9 as the bar for "normal games", leaving 10 as a pedestal for the once in a generation game that came and changed everything -- games like Half Life, Unreal Tournament, Gran Turismo, Sonic the Hedgehog, Final Fantasy VII.

[Geezer]

I have given it a six, its above average (5) but i really dont see what the fuss is about. It does have nice shiny graphics and some of the segments are good but as i have said in other threads its not groundbreaking in any way. I have completed it now BTW

But i find the review scres that games get astounding anyway, i am yet to play any game tha deserves a 10 but magazines etc throw these scores around the whole time. The only games i have played that get a 9 from me would be Resident evil 4 Gamecube (best game ever IMO) and Gears of War for the months and months of multiplayer enjyment it has given me

Bioshock has no online so now that i am finished only got it a few days ago there is nothing more fo me to do with it. That alone makes me wonder how anyone could give it more than 7-10 three days play. Thats it.

Its not worth going back for the rest of the achievements IMO didnt find it that interesting the first time round.

[Jay]

Originally Posted by Geezer

Bioshock has no online so now that i am finished only got it a few days ago there is nothing more fo me to do with it. That alone makes me wonder how anyone could give it more than 7-10 three days play. Thats it.

Its not worth going back for the rest of the achievements IMO didnt find it that interesting the first time round.

Seems to be alot of people that have finished this game in a short space of time, and it's not the type of game that i'd go back to either.

A shooter that tries to glorify itself...hmm make decisions, kill a demon girl or rescue her....Moral decisions alright It's a game, and it's only a button press argghhhhhhh Oh yeah don't forget all the ways to kill people, genre defining for certain.

One things for certain this is the most overrated game ever maybe that would make an interesting poll, to find out how many people think this game is overrated or not.

[Geezer]

Going by the pointers above mine should be a five not six then.

[Geezer]

Originally Posted by my3rdxbox360

Seems to be alot of people that have finished this game in a short space of time, and it's not the type of game that i'd go back to either.

A shooter that tries to glorify itself...hmm make decisions, kill a demon girl or rescue her....Moral decisions alright It's a game, and it's only a button press argghhhhhhh Oh yeah don't forget all the ways to kill people, genre defining for certain.

One things for certain this is the most overrated game ever maybe that would make an interesting poll, to find out how many people think this game is overrated or not.

Exactly, i only really played this three times. So i really dont understand how anyne could give it more than 7 out of 10. Unlike Resident evil 4 whih also had no multiplayer but i have gone back to play loads of times

[durera]

Originally Posted by Geezer

Exactly, i only really played this three times. So i really dont understand how anyne could give it more than 7 out of 10. Unlike Resident evil 4 whih also had no multiplayer but i have gone back to play loads of times

Some people don't consider replayability as an issue. Myself, I'm happy with a game that's amazing just the once as long as it's a great game for the duration, some games just don't lend themselves to replayability. If the story to come keeps me as interested as the story that I've been through so far I'll probably be putting this down as an 8 or 9.

As far as a FPS goes this is looking like it'll be up there with the best (Half Life, Deus Ex, System Shock) for me, but I'm not sure it's quite the revolution in FPS's that it was hyped to be, but then I don't think GoW was the revolution it was proclaimed to be either -- not that takes away anything from either game being fantastic.

[Geezer]

Originally Posted by durera

Some people don't consider replayability as an issue. Myself, I'm happy with a game that's amazing just the once as long as it's a great game for the duration, some games just don't lend themselves to replayability. If the story to come keeps me as interested as the story that I've been through so far I'll probably be putting this down as an 8 or 9.

As far as a FPS goes this is looking like it'll be up there with the best (Half Life, Deus Ex, System Shock) for me, but I'm not sure it's quite the revolution in FPS's that it was hyped to be, but then I don't think GoW was the revolution it was proclaimed to be either -- not that takes away anything from either game being fantastic.

I dont always see replayability as an issue but £40 for a game that i will only ever play three times!! I personally didnt find the story that involving either, i thought Prey was more interesting to be honest. And that also had multiplayer that would have been good if they had sorted the lag issues out.

Gears for me was a complete revolution, played through the normal game three times, being able to do the whole game co-op over live was amazing. And as mentioned the multiplayer i have played almost eveynight for four - five months with the same group of people (now thats value for money) It got to the point that i saw all my other games as worthless as i would turn on y 360 and immediatly have an invite to play gears

I would change my my vote to a five if i could

[durera]

Originally Posted by my3rdxbox360

One things for certain this is the most overrated game ever maybe that would make an interesting poll, to find out how many people think this game is overrated or not.

In a few days when more people have voted here you'll be able to see if everyone agrees with you or not, if it only draws an average rating of 5-7 then I think it'd be fair to say that the forums have spoken and they agree it's overrated!

Even if the average is high, you can get an idea from the number of low scores how many people agree with you that it's overrated.

[featherhall]

I gave it an 8. I think it is a pretty outstanding game, but not as ground breaking as Gears of War to be honest. Still, it is definitely one of the best releases so far on the 360.

[Jay]

I don't think that this game is bad in any way really, I just think rather than bringing new things to the table and re-defining fps, for me it is a bog standard fps that they have tried to mask over with hype and a few different weapons.

What gets me is it is an fps but they try and make out that it is more than a fps hence my comment reagrding bog standard fps.

[CAS FAN]

I went for 9 and it seems that most folk agree so far. I don't think that it does anything which really defines the genre. The plasmids are a good idea but are really just a secondary weapon (although there are some very creative and fun plasmids). It is an exceptional game IMO though and the term "outstanding" certainly fits. The game's strengths are certainly in the story, the setting and the atmosphere created by the game and in those areas it's pretty much second to none. The way that you can combine plasmids and weapons to take enemies down in different ways is great and adds a level of strategy to the combat.

[Gary D]

Originally Posted by Geezer

I dont always see replayability as an issue but £40 for a game that i will only ever play three times!! I personally didnt find the story that involving either, i thought Prey was more interesting to be honest. And that also had multiplayer that would have been good if they had sorted the lag issues out.

Gears for me was a complete revolution, played through the normal game three times, being able to do the whole game co-op over live was amazing. And as mentioned the multiplayer i have played almost eveynight for four - five months with the same group of people (now thats value for money) It got to the point that i saw all my other games as worthless as i would turn on y 360 and immediatly have an invite to play gears

I would change my my vote to a five if i could

I don't think i could ever rate a game on pure cost alone. I've got DVD box sets that i've paid £20 for that i've watched once and have a running time of a couple of 3 hours. So judging it on that level it would have to be value for money.

As for the "prey" issue, as you say "if they had sorted the lag out" - but they didn't did they? i applaud Bioshock for concentrating on the single player and not giving us another half arsed MP game purely because its expected that an FPS will have one. So when you boil it down was it worth prey having an MP game if it was going to be laggy and up playable?

So far for me this has been game of the year, the story has been great and certainly more involving than half the dross out there. ITs the best looking game on the 360 (bar none) Gears looks fantastic but the palette is just do dull for me. Bioshock has stunned me at times its looked so fantastic.

Gary

[crunchman]

I voted 10/10.

The game had me hooked from start to finish and I was completely immersed within it, the graphics and gameplay was great for immersion, but surround sound...can't be bested.

Can't fault the game at all, lasted just long enough not to get repetitive and I can see myself re-playing this weekend for the other ending. I can forsee many more visits to Rapture in the future as I try to complete it on hard.

So this game for me sits next to Zelda:OoT, Mario 64, Half Life 1 + 2 and Castlevania:SOTN


EDIT: Voice acting was great as well, and also all the different strategies you can have for taking down the Big Daddy's and mixing tonics and plasmids. :D

[kasumi]

Gave it a six.

What they did with self-censorship regarding the little sisters is pathetic and I was hoping it would not ruin the atmosphere and general flow of the game, but it does, and in an unfortunate jarring way.

The 'immersion' is totally spoiled when you have your so called choices and actions taken away and on screen prompts appearing telling you what you can and cannot do simply is appalling, especially in a game that was fronted all about you making the choices

[Geezer]

Originally Posted by Gary D

I don't think i could ever rate a game on pure cost alone. I've got DVD box sets that i've paid £20 for that i've watched once and have a running time of a couple of 3 hours. So judging it on that level it would have to be value for money.

As for the "prey" issue, as you say "if they had sorted the lag out" - but they didn't did they? i applaud Bioshock for concentrating on the single player and not giving us another half arsed MP game purely because its expected that an FPS will have one. So when you boil it down was it worth prey having an MP game if it was going to be laggy and up playable?

So far for me this has been game of the year, the story has been great and certainly more involving than half the dross out there. ITs the best looking game on the 360 (bar none) Gears looks fantastic but the palette is just do dull for me. Bioshock has stunned me at times its looked so fantastic.

Gary

I wasnt basing it on cost alone, far from it. I do believe that any game released on a next gen platfom does need to have some sort of multiplayer aspect.

And yes i do think it was worth prey having multiplayer, i had some great multiplayer games on it but some shocking ones too. Bioshock was far too linear for me. Most o the plasmids were essentially pointless i think i only used four or five.

How anyone can give it a ten is beyond me, i can understand some of the nines but ten is crazy. A ten for me would have to be the perfect game which this certainly isnt. I have never played a game i could give a ten too

[Gary D]

Originally Posted by kasumi

Gave it a six.

What they did with self-censorship regarding the little sisters is pathetic and I was hoping it would not ruin the atmosphere and general flow of the game, but it does, and in an unfortunate jarring way.

The 'immersion' is totally spoiled when you have your so called choices and actions taken away and on screen prompts appearing telling you what you can and cannot do simply is appalling, especially in a game that was fronted all about you making the choices

???

[Deputy Dawg UK]

I gave it a 9....IMO the best 360 game yet I'm about half way through and up to now I have been totally hooked. I have thius problem that I have to search everywhere because I'm afraid that I may miss something !!!!!!

[rio1981]

Originally Posted by kevinthekoala

I gave it a 9....IMO the best 360 game yet I'm about half way through and up to now I have been totally hooked. I have thius problem that I have to search everywhere because I'm afraid that I may miss something !!!!!!

And me mate - I've spent hours just searching rooms for diaries, first aid kits and alike, gives a nice bit of respite!

[durera]

9 (Outstanding) I just completed the game for the first time over the weekend and I've already started to play through the game a second time, on hard, to try discover the alternate ending (which I assume there is) for harvesting the Little Sisters instead of saving them.

I loved the story, I reminded me of watching Heroes; at nearly every point in the plot I was eager to find out what would happen next -- this kept me gaming well into the early hours on many occasion I should have been sleeping.

I do think the game was/is a little over hyped as it isn't the genre redefining experience that the media had been pushing on us, but I really didn't expect it to be anyway so wasn't disappointed by this -- I can see where some who bought into the hype would be disappointed though.

- The second most atmospheric game on the 360; only bettered by Condemned.
- One of the most interesting & detailed stories I can recall experienceing in a game.
- The graphics, music and sound effects are genuinely top notch. I haven't seen better.
- After the second play through I expect I'll sell the game, I can't see myself going back a third time; but that's not a bad thing as I very rarely return to a single player game at all once I've completed it -- especially so soon after completing it the first time through.

For those complaining of a lack of value for money from a game you can't replay over and over due to a lack of multiplayer I'd point out that it cost me 35UKP and I expect I won't have any trouble getting 20UKP for it second hand ... I can't think of a better way to spend 15 quid!

[magicdave]

9/10 from me.

Presentation, gfx, atmosphere, mood, style etc are all fantastic. It's hard to appreciate just how difficult it is to polish a game to this high a standard. Also, I don't consider myself an audiophile in any shape or form, but I was constantly amazed at how good the sound fx/voice acting/music were.

I struggle to comprehend the mp criticisms. IMO, there are really only 3-4 games in the world that garner enough interest to even consider tacking on a mp component (i'm thinking Halo, GoW, Half Life etc). Financially, it would have been suicide - the game would have been a year late, cost $10m more and the single player experience would inevitably have suffered. And after a few weeks, nobody would be playing it

[ukkev2000]

I would give it nine and a half, or if pushed, a ten.

I think it takes some interesting swerves, pulling in different elements of some other genres, whilst still being a FP adventure game with guns. Hmm, adventure game, makes it sound like Monkey Island

After all, mobs with different aggro levels, clever ammo replenish options (you get the dollar, you choose your loadout), but for me the interesting option that takes it to a different level HAS to be the plasmids and the options this offeres. It's no secret that you can get mobs to protect you - handy. You can get some of the nasty mobs to pick on each other and do you a favour - handy. Hacking - surely the only mini-game ever in a FPS which was fun in it's own right? It works for me.

How about tackling the room sequence where you retrieve the camera? So many ways you can do that, at least three that I can think of, each one fun.

It has the standard FPS ploy of go here and do that to get access to the next bit, that's the way they tell the story and get you to play the role.. for that is what the game is about.. you get to play the lead role in your own peronal movie of Bioshock.

Works for me.

[Raoul_Duke]

The best and funniest review I've seen yet (for almost any game) but be warned:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/arti...ation-BioShock

It Contains Some Spoilers!!!

[magicdave]

Originally Posted by Raoul_Duke

The best and funniest review I've seen yet (for almost any game) but be warned:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/arti...ation-BioShock

It Contains Some Spoilers!!!

lol, brilliant

[shagaboopon]

Awesome review, there opinion on the console war is great too

[CAS FAN]

Originally Posted by Raoul_Duke

The best and funniest review I've seen yet (for almost any game) but be warned:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/arti...ation-BioShock

It Contains Some Spoilers!!!

That is class! Don't agree with most of it (although I can see where they are coming from) but it is very funny.

I also watched the Heavenly Sword one as well and that was also very amusing!

[gingerninja72]

So people are giving this scores as low as a 4 or a 5……I'm speechless. I can't believe people are saying Bioshock is nothing special and whinging about the lack of multiplayer.

The game is an amazing experience, and easily one of the highlights of my 20+ year gaming life. I'm about half way through and it continues to surprise and entertain me. Yes it is a FPS, but everything about is pure next gen and expertly designed. It's the experience as a whole that has impressed me - the graphics, the design, the music, the sound, the acting, the plot, the weapons/plasmids, everything about it screams quality.

9 out of 10 for me, dropping 1 point only because of a few minor flaws. Then again no game is perfect and deserves a 10.

[A Legal Beagle]

Well iam at a bit of a disadvantage to most of you as I dont have the game. I only just managed to play the demo once last night.

However, IMO the demo is jaw droppingly amazing! Graphics, atmosphere, especially in surround. Its also fun. everything about the demo is great. I was gutted when the demo ended

From playing the demo it reminded me somewhat of Condemed, ie graphics, atmosphere and from reading on here,alternate endings.

I had to buy it so i managed to pick up a copy from ebay for less than £29 delivered. There seem to be a few on there presumbably because the game isnt that long and they have completed it. The fact that this game isnt online doesnt bother me in the slightest. IMO, The game is designed for a submersive single player experience so thats what it is

I havent given the game a rating yet and wont do till ive played the full game for longer than the demo.

First impressions, so far so good.

Now where's my game mr postman.....