BioShock

THE GOOD:
-Tons of customizable weapons
-RPG-style Gene Tonics
-Plasmids let you take control of the elements, among other things
-Fight how you want

THE BAD:
-Hacking gets a wee bit tedious, but even this is a small complaint.

SUMMARY:
Well. Bioshock. What more is there to say? It's one of the best games I have ever played. And one of the most unique, at that.

Bioshock is set in 1960. You are a man named Jack on a flight over the sea. Unfortunately, the plane crashes mysteriously, and you are left wading in the water, the only thing in sight an obelisk of a lighthouse. With nowhere else to turn, you go inside.

Soon after, you learn that what you have entered is what was once beauty. It was great. It was utuopian. It is Rapture, created by the illustrious Andrew Ryan. Where the artist would not fear the sensor. Where the scientist would not by bothered by petty morality. Where the strong would not be inhibited by the weak. Which sounds great in theory. But, like all things grand, it was not meant to last.

Andrew Ryan's paradise went very well for over a century. Countless advances in art and science were achieved, and it seemed that it couldn't be better. Then came the discovery of ADAM, by one Dr. Tenenbaum, who turns out to be a key character in the storyline.

ADAM was great. It lead to even more advances, and eventually became somewhat of a second currency in Rapture. Some wise men, like a mobster known as Fontaine, jumped on the cash wagon and saved the ADAM, increasing his own personal fortune. Even though Fontaine was growing so powerful, Ryan saw no problem with it. After all, personal gain was what Rapture was built for.

Soon, however, Ryan felt somewhat... threatened. Fontaine was slowly taking a firm grip on Rapture, and Ryan did not appreciate it. So, a civil war of sorts errupted, and it brought Rapture down with it.

The advances in ADAM became too much. People used too many genetic upgrades, to the point where they fried their own minds, and became Splicers. Chaos reined over Rapture, and people began killing each other every day. And that's when you arrive.

You are soon to meet up with Atlas, a man trapped inside Rapture, whose only goal is to save his family and escape the depths. Well, you never really meet him, but you converse via a portable radio.

A little while later, you meet with Doctor Tenenbaum, and you learn of the main way of gathering ADAM: Little Sisters, small girls who go through an unknown process that allows them to process ADAM from dead bodies inside their own, by drinking it. Of course, which so much potential in such a small package, they must have ample protection. That's where the Big Daddies come in.

The iconic Big Daddies are the protectors of the Little Sisters. Far superior to any petty Splicer, Big Daddies wear metal diving suits and can become extremely agressive if prevoked. Luckily for you, unless you attack them first, they won't harm you. But, if you want any power at all, you'll have to get the Sisters, which means you have to battle the Daddies.

Of course, what you do after that is up to you. The Little Sisters are Tenenbaum's babies. She wants no harm to come of them. Save them, and she will reward you later on.

But, Atlas needs you to be juiced up with powers to save his family. So, which will it be? Save and get rewarded later on, or Harvest and get the power now? The choice is up to you.

And you have plenty of time to decide. Little Sisters and Big Daddies roam the levels freely, and you can attack them (or just leave them alone) at your own discretion. So, if, perhaps, you want to take a little more time to get ammunition before taking him on, by all means, do so.

Speaking of levels, they're not like your regular FPS levels. Where most FPS levels are straight corridors, the halls of Rapture are all entertwined, and you can transverse them at will, giving it even more of an RPG free roaming feel.

And then, once you do face the Daddy and get the ADAM, (you get some ADAM either way, even if you save the Sister) you're granted another question: What to spend it on? Should you upgrade your health? Your EVE (which is the useable form of ADAM, in the form of an EVE bar similar to magic bars in RPG games)? Should you buy a new plasmid and increase your combat options? Or should you buy other gene tonics and increase little things about yourself, like how fast you move, how powerful you are, how good you are at hacking, and limitless other things.

And yes, I said hacking. In what resembles the game Pipe Dream, you can hack turrets, security cameras, safes, and attack bots with the hacking minigame. This creates even more options for how you take on your enemies, increasing the ammount of things you can do to create a natural defensive perimiter.

There are limitless other things I could go into, but I think I've said enough. Bioshock gets a 5/5 from me, because it is absolutely excellent. Gameplay is top notch, voice acting is solid, and the storyline is amazing, completely drawing you in under the depths. Believe me, once you submerge into Bioshock, you will never want to go above sea level again.