Welcome to Rapture, where your sweat is valued, lunatics abound, and little girls suck juice out of the dead... it's glorious!

Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his own brow? That's the question you'll be greeted with as you first enter Rapture, where great ideas and visions were once contemplated, but the very men and women behind those ideas proved to be the end of that city. It's a place that was envisioned to be heaven on earth, but instead it turned into a living hell. And in Bioshock, it'll be your playground, where you'll attempt to uncover the mysteries behind it's downfall, fight for your life against the remaining mentally deranged inhabitants of the city, as well as debate on the moral implications of turning yourself into a larger than life human being. Though not without it's faults, Bioshock is an incredible game that features a fantastically well written and unique storyline that will constantly surprise and probably even challenge your own personal beliefs, as well as a deeply immersive gameworld that's practically begging to be explored.

Petrified ballerinas in a bathroom... only in Rapture.

In Bioshock you play the role of a nameless man (at first, eventually more information about him is revealed), who happens to be the sole survivor of a plane crash in the ocean that coincidentally (or not?) took place near a lighthouse that signals the entrance to the underwater city of Rapture. At first you'll be treated to some spectacular views of Rapture, as well as a brief introduction by Andrew Ryan, the mastermind behind Rapture, but the minute you actually enter the city you'll notice that Rapture has seen better days. It won't be long before your first encounter with a Splicer, the mutated inhabitants of Rapture that have experimented too much with genetic modification and are now mentally insane and ready to kill anyone who steps into their path. What's worst, you won't have anything in the means of self defense so it's now you by yourself stuck in a torn city with lunatics on the lurk.

You will have a guide of sorts however, as some mysterious man named Atlas will contact you via a Radio and attempt to help you get out of the location you're in so that you in return can help him rescue his family. Though at first it doesn't make sense why this man is helping you or how he managed to contact you, everything will be explained later on. In fact, one of the best things (or worst, depending on your point of view) about Bioshock is how the story will unfold little by little. You will encounter numerous audio diaries scattered through the city that will reveal small tidbits about the history of Rapture, its many characters, and the events that unfolded prior to its downfall.

Most of the story will be revealed via audio diaries.

There really is a lot of story to digest here and it can be really easy to miss out on a lot of Rapture's background if you don't dig deep for those diaries. It won't be quite clear what was on everyone's agenda, and you'll have to make the most of Atlas' help, but it will be very clear that morality wasn't much of an issue here and that most everyone's intentions on Rapture weren't exactly pure. Every character in Bioshock is truly memorable and the story is carefully woven so that it manages to keep you in a state of suspense where you simply must know what happens next. And while I'm not going to spoil anything, there's a certain twist in Bioshock that is truly masterful. Though part of that twist can be foreseen, the other part is just shocking and I was honestly in a state of "WTF?" for several moments after it happened. This is one story you won't soon forget.

As you explore Rapture, it will be clear enough that in order to survive, you will have to mutate yourself. In order to do so you'll need to acquire all sorts of plasmid powers and gene tonics. The plasmids will give you supernatural abilities like shooting fire, ice, or electric blasts from your hand, while the tonics will enhance your regular abilities. But to get them you need to gather a substance called Adam. Adam will not just be your currency to obtain plasmids and tonics, but it will also be the source of a moral dilemma. Adam can only be found on the bodies of little girls roaming around the city, affectionately called Little Sisters, who will always be accompanied the big bruising Big Daddy, a genetic freak of a different kind. The Little Sisters themselves can't be dealt with without you killing the Big Daddy first, something that won't be easy. But even more difficult will be the decision to kill the Little Sister so that you can obtain the maximum amount of Adam, or save her and only obtain half of the aforementioned Adam. It's a tough choice where regardless of your decision, there will be good and bad consequences, and will also determine the cutscene you get at the end of the game.

Twisted individuals are the norm in Rapture.

But while genetically enhancing yourself is a priority, you'll also have plenty of conventional means of defense, or in other words, a full arsenal of weapons. Most of the weapons are the standard fare of modern FPS games, but given that the game takes place in the 60s (and Rapture itself was built in the 40s), some of them are of the post WWII era, like the revolver, submachine gun, and shotgun. Others however will sport a rudimentary homemade look, such as the grenade launcher and the chemical thrower, the reason for it being that weapons weren't actually permitted in Rapture and the citizens had to make do with most of their trash to craft more powerful weapons. Also, there will be multiple types of ammo for each weapon, which will vary depending on the weapon, and each type of ammo will prove of particular use during specific situations.

Unfortunately enjoying all this weapons will prove to be tough, because if there's one flaw in Bioshock is the combat. It just never manages to feel right. Part of this has to do with the fact that your weapons need to be upgraded as your progress through the game, which means that at first they will be very weak and it'll be hard to take out multiple Splicers. For instance, at first the shotgun might as well be substituted by a peashooter since it takes multiple close range shots to bring down an enemy. The revolver itself won't be of much help either. To make matters worse, the Splicers move very fast which makes accurate aiming almost impossible. In order to survive during the early stages you need to make smart use of both your plasmids and your weapons. But this is also something of a chore because unlike other recent FPS games (Crysis, F.E.A.R., Call of Duty), Bioshock goes the old school way of allowing you to carry every weapon at the same time. Managing eight weapons as well as switching to plasmids on the fly as you get charged on by splicers is a hectic task. I really think Bioshock could've benefited by limiting the amount of weapons you could carry at once. Though not awful or too detrimental to the experience, the combat really isn't the star of the show.

It appears that empty spot in the wall was reserved for you...

And there's also the issue of the Vita-Chambers. Though their purpose in the game is to make things easier for you, personally I hated them. Every time you die you will respawn at the nearest chamber which means there's no death penalty aside from taking a few steps back to your previous location. But while I appreciate the effort on part of the developers, I just felt the chambers to be detrimental to the experience since they reduced the tension of battles and effectively killed any challenge. I also felt it affected the level of immersion, since it was jarring to only see yourself get resurrected at the chambers and not any of the Splicers. Of course, you can always ignore the chambers and load up a previous save game which is the route I chose to take. To the game's credit, though not explained at first, there is a very rational explanation as to why you're the only one who can use the chambers (I actually found that answer on an FAQ, but it appears to be something that's mentioned in the game).

However the deeper you immerse yourself in Rapture, the easier it'll be to forgive Bioshock's few faults. Rapture is an incredibly absorbing gameworld, where you won't want to miss a single thing. Despite being a broken city, the place just feels alive and you can almost hear the walls cry stories of the tragedies that have taken place here. You'll get to explore most of the city during your main quest, but certain areas require that you stray from the path. Deep exploration is rewarded, since some of the hardest items to find in the game are located in places you won't be forced to go through should you stick to the main objectives. Among this rewards can be audio diaries, hard to get plasmids or gene tonics, rare ammo, or plenty of spare cash. Some of the most bizarre sights will also be found in hidden areas.

This guys apartment (as well as himself) has seen better days.

Money plays an important role in the game since there will be plenty of vending machines scattered everywhere where you can buy health items, ammo, or Eve powerups (whereas Adam allows you to obtain plasmids, Eve functions as the "ammo" for your plasmids). You can even have plenty of fun hacking those vending machines to obtain discounts on the items as well as access to previously unavailable ones. It's also possible to hack gun turrets, cameras, safes, etc. The hacking minigame consists of rearranging a set of circuit tubes to make the charge flow from one point to another. It's a very simple game at first but eventually some tubes will be broken while others will be replaced by alarms that will release attacking bots on you should they be triggered, forcing you to think fast as you rearrange the tubes in a proper way. Strangely, in the latter stages of the game there will be occasions where hacking a certain puzzle will be impossible due to the way the tubes are arranged. It's a relatively minor issue, but it can be frustrating. If hacking puzzles isn't up your alley, you can bypass them with autohacking devices or with money.

Aside from being an incredibly immersive game, Bioshock is a feast for the senses. The art direction behind the design of Rapture is simply astonishing. There's just so much detail in it that you'll want to sometimes just stand back and enjoy the views (as dark and grimmy as they may be). Whether you're in the forests of Arcadia, the casinos and theaters of Fort Frolic, the boiler rooms of Hephaestus, you'll always be treated to something different and spectacular. It also helps that Bioshock is powered by a modified version of the Unreal Engine 3. Though not as cutting edge as other games, the technical aspect of the visuals in Bioshock is without a fault. Ok, maybe you could complain about the bodies of people having a bit of a plastic look, but it's something that actually helps them look creepier.

Would you kindly play this game?

And the sounds of Rapture are even more disturbing and delightful. The voice acting is masterful and it really manages to sell the story. You won't go long in Rapture without hearing deranged Splicers talking to themselves (twisted things nonetheless) or singing (which is even creepier), and there will always be plenty of moans or bizarre sounds emanating from the city to comfort you in. And nothing will be more intimidating than hearing a Big Daddy walking just around the corner.

Though Bioshock doesn't quite nail it when it comes to the shooting aspect, it delivers on all other accounts. Between a deeply immersive gameworld, plenty of character customization options, a terrific and intriguing story, and delightfully twisted characters, Bioshock is a true masterpiece.