Bioshock

[Spijed]

Never played it before and just wondered if it's similar to Tomb Raider with a mix of shoot-em-up and puzzles?

[IndigoLake]

I've played it, albeit ages ago. I don't remember much in the way of puzzles but that could just be my poor memory!

[Spiral]

It's not really an action-adventure like TR. First-person-shooter with more of a focus on story than most other FPS games. There's a hacking mechanic but not much else in the way of puzzles. That said, it's a benchmark in legitimising videogames as an art and has aged very, very well. Pay as much attention as you can to the story and the cassette-recordings littered throughout the world. Very interesting critique of the Ayn Rand-inspired political philosophy that has enveloped much of the western world.

[BurningBeard]

What spiral said. Fantastic game, wonderfully realised world, great writing and gameplay.

[CombatClaret]

Second Spiral's comments. Puzzles no not really, 1st Person as opposed to 3rd.
One of the richest game words you'll ever encounter through character, style and design. No filler as you will often find in AAA titles these days collecting and crafting to unlock achievements (looking at you Ubisoft).
Games like Bioshock, Mass Effect should be considered some of the great story telling of the modern era on a par with film greats like The Godfather or Lord of The Rings.
I'm going to listen to 'Beyond the Sea' now and recall my adventure.

[jedi_master]

Bioshock is quite simply one of the greatest games ever made.

It's quite hard to describe in terms of genre, it is undeniably a first person shooter but the city of Rapture where it takes place is so profoundly well realised that simply saying it is an FPS would be doing it a massive injustice. There are no real puzzle elements as such, it is more a case of exploring this city and finding out what caused it's downfall. I think it came out near enough ten years ago now but it has (as mentioned above) aged very well. I recently finished the remastered version of it on PS4 many years after playing it originally and it had last none of it's impact.

[Sidney1st]

Is it similar to a Fallout 4 style game?

[Spiral]

It is relatively linear so not similar to Fallout's open-world style at all. Not exactly COD campaign mode linear, but linear nevertheless. One could argue that the linearity is necessary to the development of the story. There's a lot of heavy philosophical subtext underneath the face-value, admittedly brilliant, gameplay.

Bioshock 2 and Bioshock: Infinite attempt to deal with different themes from the first, but 2 is widely considered to be a cheap cash-in riding on the success of its predecessor and Infinite, whilst fun, attempts to cram in far too many ideas into one game. It's reported that an entire game's worth of content was cut from Infinite in order to meet the release date and as a result many of the themes, (American exceptionalism, racism, cultism)-themes that seem quite incredible in the first few hours-end up 'resolving' (perhaps 'explored' is a better word) in remarkably ham-fisted fashions. Still very fun, but the first is by far the most complete game.

[KefkaClaret]

It is relatively linear so not similar to Fallout's open-world style at all. Not exactly COD campaign mode linear, but linear nevertheless. One could argue that the linearity is necessary to the development of the story. There's a lot of heavy philosophical subtext underneath the face-value, admittedly brilliant, gameplay.

Would you kindly explain more about it?

[HiroshimaClaret]

I actually thought it was another tedious link to an (Eastern) European midfielder/winger. Need a cup of tea before looking on here!

[Spiral]

There are semi-interconnected 'levels' so to speak whereby you fulfil an objective to progress in the game, and therefore, the story. To use an extremely crude comparison which perhaps doesn't do the game justice; if every single COD campaign level is a bland corridor shooter (which it is), then every 'level' in Bioshock is comparable to a far, FAR bigger, FAR more complex version of a COD multiplayer map (without the multiplayer element, of course), with titbits of story told through collectable cassette-tapes found throughout the world . I'm reluctant to talk too much about the story, for reasons that would become obvious in the final third of the game.

A lot of the above has since become commonplace in videogames because of games like Bioshock and also the Metal Gear series-the best videogame series ever, IMO.

[CombatClaret]

I think to anyone who's played it would you kindly not go too deep for fear of spoiling it for those who others might want to. There's tons of articles and YouTube videos out there If you want to delve deeper but I think playing it is the best way to experience it first.

Spiral: 'Hub levels' are what I've generally heard the kind structure called. They allow space and freedom for exploration and discovery while pushing you forward with an overarching goal.

[Spiral]

Hub level is a perfect description. Never heard the phrase used before.