This will be my very first review of a video game. I am not going to put this up in the player review section, simply because I hate getting a thumbs down rating. My feelings do mean something.. So here it goes. I'll try my very best to put up an audio review for those lazy ones out there. (Believe me, I'm in the same boat.) Leave me some comments! And please, don't blatantly spoil the game for anybody who hasn't finished it.

BIOSHOCK:

BioShock might be the very first game to prove exactly to me what next gen is really capable of. There have been plenty of other titles that have "wowed" me on the 360 and Wii, but not to the extent of this. What has gone on as a long wait, has ultimately proved to be well worth every dying second of patience. This is the world of Rapture, and it's not letting go of your grubby hands anytime soon.

You start the game off as a presumebly lonely guy, traveling on board an airplane. It crashes in the middle of the ocean, and you are left for bait in the blue depths. You stumble upon a lighthouse, taking a ride right into damnation. What starts out as a simple coastal air ride, turns to be the defining tale of the century. What this game does so well, first and formost, is pulling off its story. I don't think I've seen a single FPS pace you with such care, leaving you, and only you, to figure out what the hell is going on. There are audio diaries scattered throughout this vast city, just waiting for you to press down on the play button. You might be walking down a hallway, catching a glimpse of a body absolutely decimated in the corner, wondering what happened. In a very creepy fashion, you are treated to little snibbits of that person's final moments in this forsaken place, leaving you feeling that much more paranoid than you already were. These cassets aren't meant for a means of trash, though. What the developers have taken their time doing is making each entry play out like short autobiographies. Playing every diary I found, I was never left with a sour taste in my mouth. If you want to learn the most of the current situation, you'll treasure these snibbits to no end. They further the already excellent story, exceeding it in so many ways.
Now what would an immersive experience be with half assed, Resident Evil 1 styl3d voice acting? Luckily, BioShock provides the best of the best. Those who were meant to make you leave a nice surprise in your pants, do their job well. The voiceovers in this game are flawless. Yes, I just said it. Whether you are interacting with these people via in game, or audio diaries, they all have individual personalities. No one is one dimensional, no one butchers a single line spoken.
Audio cues are satisfyingly varied, I noticed. I remember one time walking through a fisher's dock, paying close attention to a dip in the side. While roaming underneath the wooden planks onto the other side of the hallway, I heard voices of incoming splicers above me. I got up and out and turned around to complete bewilderment. Both baddies were crouching over the planks, one spurting to the other that he could have sworn he had seen me. I threw an explosive tank their way, sure, but that attention to detail was overwhelming. I know for sure that you as the player, will whitness something that hardly anybody playing this same game will ever see.
So one of the key elements to the success, immersion, and excitement of BioShock, is its combat. You are first introduced to the game with one "Plasmid", an instant genetic modifyer, which eventually builds you into a rampant machine. This first plasmid is simply a pre-cursor to what you will become as you power up, allowing you to do things such as set enemies on fire, freeze them with ice, throw objects at them with your mind, etc. Those are only a few of course, but you will be pleased with what you can accomplish. I was afraid, watching trailers of developers zip through a horde of enemies before BioShock's launch. How one person can innovate like that on the spot made me dizzy. You get PLENTY of practice, though. Trust me when I say this, you can do what the videos show you. Even though I just completed the game today, I still am trying to find new ways of using the environment around me to dispose of them.

One of the small complaints I do have, is the impact of your fire arms in the second half of the experience. Some of the ammo types feel a bit unbalanced, coming in with as much bang as throwing pebbles. This might be because I only upgraded the weapons I used the most, leaving the whimpy guns in the dust.

Here's the thing. One tiny flaw like that, actually makes the experience that much more rewarding. You can go in, guns blazing, completely forgetting about powering up your character with Tonics and Plasmids, and fall short pretty quickly. Or, you can wise up and use the smallest things to your advantage to triumph. I know I'm emphasizing combat a lot, but hearing people complain about it being lame or uninspiring is unacceptable. I can't tell you how proud if feel knowing that I took down a breathing foe. It never grows old. Due to the Vita-Chambers, you can toy around as much as you want. Some might say that the lack of death penalty really hinders the immersion, but for me, it couldn't be further from the truth. This chamber never distracted me once from the game. It just drove me to deal that much more vengeance on those who had thrown me to the gutter.
For those who are just getting familiar to FPS's, don't be scared to try BioShock out. There is an option to put on an objective arrow, acting as a navigation system to help you out in rough spots. Bundled along with that nudge is a hint system, which I believe is located on the D-Pad. I really believe that they toned down the difficulty a smidge to let everyone experience what Rapture has to offer. I didn't use the hints myself, but left the arrow on for the last third of the game. You can choose to ignore it completely and roam around to other locations. In fact I'd encourage that, for it gives you tons of loot, kits, ammo, etc. This feels like a city, and you aren't restrained to view it in its entirety; and what a gorgeous sight it truly is.

This might be the prettiest title in existence, and I'm playing on a standard definition TV! What makes this game so appealing to the eye, is its core art design. This takes place in the late 50's-early 60's, never letting you forget that. I give the biggest round of applause to the 2K staff for pulling off such superb visuals. Everything doesn't feel like a card board cut-out. Instead, Rapture comes off as the most genuine environment ever seen in a video game. They get the time era down just right. Enemies don't hold much wealth to their outfits, rooms showing their wear and tear. Neon lights glimmer and shine forth signs you'd whitness at an old fashioned movie theater.
The musical score, something that fits with this time period perfectly, will give you goosebumps. When you picture a game like BioShock, you would naturally hear a grainy ochestral tune loop in the background. They take this premise to a whole new dimension, making each track sear into your skin as you helplessly wander around. This level of musical implementation is simply not seen in game today. It is an element that ultimately pieces together everything into such a rich package.

You shouldn't need my advice when it comes to BioShock. I am writing this review because I want everybody to know what potential is shown here. I want everybody to realize that we have a serious contender for game of the year, if not game of a lifetime at our fingertips. Whether or not you feel as if the ending is as anti-climatic as people are making it out to be, is up to you. I did feel strongly about it up until this article. But reflecting on what great memories I've had with BioShock, I've learned that that in itself doesn't ruin the single player campaign for me at all.
When you plop down your money, you are entering greatness. This is the standard, this IS what gaming is all about.

Breakdown:

Presentation: 10

Graphics: 9.7

Sound: 10

Gameplay: 9.8

Replay Value: 9.4

FINAL SCORE: 9.8/10
(not based on average)