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When Jack awakes, Dr. Tennenbaum has already deactivated some of his conditioned responses and assists him in breaking the remaining ones, among them an active one that would have eventually stopped his heart. During the subsequent pursuit of Fontaine, the doctor predicts that the only way to get through the last few obstacles would be to assemble a Big Daddy [[bodysuit]], and follow the rescued Little Sisters through the passageways that only they can open. By the time Jack reaches him, Fontaine has injected himself with vast amounts of ADAM, becoming an inhuman monster. Jack and the Little Sisters are eventually able to subdue Fontaine, when the Little Sisters swarm Fontaine and stab him to death with their ADAM needles. Here the game ends.
When Jack awakes, Dr. Tennenbaum has already deactivated some of his conditioned responses and assists him in breaking the remaining ones, among them an active one that would have eventually stopped his heart. During the subsequent pursuit of Fontaine, the doctor predicts that the only way to get through the last few obstacles would be to assemble a Big Daddy [[bodysuit]], and follow the rescued Little Sisters through the passageways that only they can open. By the time Jack reaches him, Fontaine has injected himself with vast amounts of ADAM, becoming an inhuman monster. Jack and the Little Sisters are eventually able to subdue Fontaine, when the Little Sisters swarm Fontaine and stab him to death with their ADAM needles. Here the game ends.


Two endings are possible depending on how the player interacted with the Little Sisters. If the player only rescued the Little Sisters (thus saving their lives), the ending shows the rescued Sisters returning to the surface and living full lives under Jack's care; it ends on a heartwarming tone, with an elderly Jack surrounded on his deathbed by all of the now-older Little Sisters. However, as the game's walkthrough explains, there is no difference between taking the lives of a few or a lot of the little girls; if the player harvested (and therefore killed) any of the little sisters, the game will end with Jack turning on the Sisters after defeating Fontaine, presumably killing them all and taking their ADAM. Tenenbaum's voice will narrate what occurred, condemning Jack and his actions. At some later point in the same ending, a [[ballistic missile submarine]] comes across the wreckage of the plane, when it is surrounded by bathyspheres containing Splicers. The Splicers will board the submarine, eradicate all on board, and will recover what looks to be nuclear weapons. <ref name="bioshock walkthrough"> <citeweb|url=http://www.gamebanshee.com/bioshock/walkthrough/fontaineslair.php|title=Gamebanshee - game ending|accessmonthday=7 October|accessyear=2007}}</ref>
Two endings are possible depending on how the player interacted with the Little Sisters. If the player only rescued the Little Sisters (thus saving their lives), the ending shows the rescued Sisters returning to the surface and living full lives under Jack's care; it ends on a heartwarming tone, with an elderly Jack surrounded on his deathbed by all of the now-older Little Sisters. However, as the game's walkthrough explains, there is no difference between taking the lives of a few or a lot of the little girls; if the player harvested (and therefore killed) [i]any[/i] of the little sisters, the game will end with Jack turning on the Sisters after defeating Fontaine, presumably killing them all and taking their ADAM. Tenenbaum's voice will narrate what occurred, condemning Jack and his actions. At some later point in the same ending, a [[ballistic missile submarine]] comes across the wreckage of the plane, when it is surrounded by bathyspheres containing Splicers. The Splicers will board the submarine, eradicate all on board, and will recover what looks to be nuclear weapons. <ref name="bioshock walkthrough"> <citeweb|url=http://www.gamebanshee.com/bioshock/walkthrough/fontaineslair.php|title=Gamebanshee - game ending|accessmonthday=7 October|accessyear=2007}}</ref>


==Development==
==Development==

Revision as of 20:42, 20 October 2007

BioShock
File:Bioshockcoverfinalcropped.jpg
Developer(s)2K Boston/2K Australia
Publisher(s)2K Games
EngineUnreal Engine 3
Platform(s)Xbox 360, PC (Windows)[4]
Release
[1]
[1]

[2]
[3]
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single player

BioShock is a first-person shooter[10] video game by 2K Boston/2K Australia (previously Irrational Games),[11] designed by Ken Levine. The game is a PC and Xbox 360 title.[4] It was released on August 21, 2007 in North America and three days later in Europe and Australia.[12]

The game received overwhelmingly positive reviews,[13][14] particularly in mainstream press where its "morality-based" storyline,[15] its immersive powers[16] and its Ayn Rand-inspired dystopian setting[17][18] were all singled out for praise. Following early reviews, the share price of Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of the publisher, increased by 20%.[19] A sequel, while not officially announced, is in early stages of planning, following the high sales and positive reviews.[20]

Set in 1960, the game has the player assume the role of a plane crash survivor named Jack, who must explore the underwater Objectivist-dystopia of Rapture, and survive the mutated beings and mechanical drones within it. The game incorporates elements found in role-playing and survival horror games, and is described by the developers (and Levine)[21] as a "spiritual successor" to their previous titles in the System Shock series.[22]

Gameplay

BioShock is a first-person shooter with role-playing game customization elements, and is similar to System Shock 2. A 14 minute video showing gameplay and some of the AI was released on September 20, 2006.[23]

File:Bioshock-hack.jpg
The hacking mini-game in BioShock, requiring the player to construct a complete pipe system between two points while avoiding obstacles

The player collects weapons, first aid kits, and plasmids that give him special powers—such as telekinesis or electro-bolt—while fighting enemies. The player can choose to use stealth to slip by security cameras and foes, to hack security elements to turn them to his side, or to destroy the security systems using his weapons.[24] Hacking, which is based off the Pipe Dream game concept, can also be used on health and vending machines to gain extra benefits, or on locks and safes to gain access to the locked contents.[25]

The main resources in the game are ADAM, EVE, and money. ADAM is used to purchase new "plasmids", and can be obtained in several ways, most prominently the harvesting of "Little Sisters" after defeating the Little Sister's body guard, the "Big Daddy", a large, heavily armoured, genetically enhanced man wearing a diving suit.[26] EVE (similar to the concept of magic points) is fuel for "active plasmids", and money allows the purchase of items and ammunition, as well as "buying out"—bribing—security elements, such as bots or turrets.[27][28]

To adapt and advance his character, the player can spend ADAM to gain plasmids to give himself new or enhanced abilities. These are grouped under the Combat, Engineering, Active, and Physical trees. The "Active" Plasmids are essentially alternate weapons that run on EVE, and require activation by the player. The other classes of plasmids (referred to as Tonics) are passive abilities that work as long as they are equipped.[29]

Plasmids are versatile, and the player can use them in concert with each other—as well as the environment—to great effect. For example, Telekinesis can be used on all physically-simulated objects; the player can catch and redirect grenades or rockets, hold large objects like corpses as impromptu shields, or use those same objects as projectiles. Other plasmids can be used practically in other senses; for instance, using electro-bolt—an electricity based plasmid—on a body of water electrifies not only the water, but also any creatures or enemies standing in it. An element of choice is present, as not all plasmids can be equipped at once, so the player must decide which plasmids to use, and which to place in storage.[30]

Two Splicers attack a Big Daddy defending a Little Sister, while the player watches.

Most plasmids alter the character's appearance, in keeping with the theme of "sacrificing one's humanity", referenced by Ryan in one of the game's trailers.[31] For instance, the Incinerate ability causes the character's hand to glow red, take on a charred appearance, and radiate flames from the fingers. However, selecting a weapon will revert things back to normal, suggesting that any physical changes conferred are temporary. Higher levels of the same plasmid will cause more prevalent changes; for example, the highest level of Incinerate causes a heavier glow, more severe charring and more prominent flames. All in all, there are over 70 plasmids and tonics.

The player can customize weapons to hold larger magazines or deal more damage at special machines, called "Power To The People" stations, or, more generically, weapon upgrade stations. Each weapon also comes with a selection of three different types of ammunition: normal, anti-personnel, and armor piercing bullets for the earlier weapons found, or more diverse types of ammunition for later weapons, such as the crossbow.[32] There is also a "research camera" in the game that analyzes enemies, granting the player increased damage, plasmids, and other bonuses when enough pictures of them are taken; this is usually only effective against one type of enemy, and the quality of the photograph taken has impacts on the advantages received.[33]

The player can also access several types of vending machines: the "U-Invent", which combines gatherable spare parts into ammunition, tools, etc.; "The Circus Of Value", a regular vending machine, but sells everything from cakes to first aid kits to EVE hypos; the "El Ammo Bandito" is a vending machine that specializes both in normal and specialty ammunition; and other more specialized machines, such as health stations. Most vending machine varieties can be hacked, allowing the player to buy "hack-only" items, and reducing the cost of already available merchandise.[34]

Instead of reloading a saved game state if death occurs, the player simply respawns at the nearest "Vita Chamber".[35]

Plot summary

Characters

Main article: List of BioShock characters

Setting

I am Andrew Ryan and I am here to ask you a question:
Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his own brow?

No, says the man in Washington. It belongs to the poor.
No, says the man in the Vatican. It belongs to God.
No, says the man in Moscow. It belongs to everyone.

I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something
different. I chose the impossible. I chose…

Rapture.
Andrew Ryan

BioShock takes place during 1960, in Rapture, a fictional underwater dystopian city[30] secretly built in 1946 on the mid-Atlantic seabed, entirely self-sufficient and powered by submarine volcanoes. Constructed by business magnate Andrew Ryan in response to what he saw as increasingly oppressive political and religious authority, Rapture was envisioned as the solution to that problem, and populated by those Ryan believed exemplified the best in humanity; as revealed in an audio log, Ryan wanted to create "Eden", a concept furthered by the resources ADAM and EVE, which are named after the biblical inhabitants of Eden. During the early 1950s, Rapture's population peaked at several thousand, though ranks of elite emerged from the rest, discomforting many.[36]

The discovery of "ADAM," stem cells created from a species of sea slug, by Dr. Bridgette Tennenbaum further upset the social balance. ADAM's prevalence greatly accelerated genetic engineering research, creating a plasmid industry that sold everything from a cure for male pattern baldness to abilities like telekinesis, with non-passive types like the latter requiring a serum, "EVE." In order to improve ADAM yields, the "Little Sisters" were created, young girls with the slug embedded in their bodies. Although initially just ADAM "factories," during the war they were repurposed via mental conditioning to extract ADAM from the dead, and process it within themselves.[37] The "Big Daddies," armed and highly-enhanced humans in diving suits, were simultaneously created to defend the Little Sisters as they worked.[30]

For several years, Rapture was what Ryan originally intended it to be: a paradise of freedom and wealth. But ultimately, the very reason it was created—Ryan's paranoia of various world authorities—caused the city's downfall, and the ideals Ryan had envisaged were corrupted and lost. Strictly forbidding outside contact to keep Rapture a secret, a black market in smuggled goods arose, and former mobster Frank Fontaine came to dominate it. Unlike Ryan, Fontaine wanted more than wealth: he wanted control. And his wealth, combined with his monopoly on Tennenbaum's research, soon gained him enough power and followers to challenge Ryan for control of the city. In late 1958, Ryan lost patience with the conflict, and apparently had Fontaine killed—an action that proved useless. Another figure, Atlas, took Fontaine's place as the leader of his opposition. On New Year's Eve that same year, Atlas and his ADAM-augmented followers started a riot between the lower and upper classes.[38] This sparked a civil war between Ryan and Atlas that eventually spread to all of Rapture, crippling the city. As the war progressed, Ryan began to betray his ideals. The advocate of reason and self-determination began using torture and mind control in his battle with Atlas. Eventually, he became so unreasonable that a number of his supporters began attempting to assassinate him. By the time the player enters Rapture, only the "Splicers," citizens with severe mental and physical problems caused by excessive ADAM use, are left, forever scavenging throughout the city. The remaining non-mutated humans have managed to barricade themselves in the few remaining undamaged areas.[39]

Story

The underwater city of Rapture

The player takes the role of Jack,—the name on the package he holds—a passenger on a plane that crashes over the Atlantic Ocean in 1960,[40] after ordered society in Rapture has collapsed.[41] After surfacing, Jack swims to a nearby lighthouse, finding a bathysphere terminus inside. When he boards it and descends into the ocean, he enters the failed paradise of Rapture.[42] Upon arrival, Atlas assists Jack via radio in making his way to safety, while Ryan, believing Jack to be a government agent, uses Rapture's automated systems and his pheromone-controlled Splicers against Jack. Atlas tells Jack that the only way he can survive is to use the abilities granted by plasmids, and to kill the Little Sisters to extract their ADAM. Hearing Atlas' words, Dr. Tennenbaum intercepts Jack, urging him to save the Little Sisters instead, giving him the means to only kill the embedded slugs while leaving the girls alive; Tennenbaum promises to repay him greatly if he does this.[43] As Jack works his way through the city, he learns, through audio logs, genetically-induced ghostly playbacks of past events, and radio messages, about Rapture's fate and history. Atlas says his wife and child had been hiding on a submarine, and just as they were about to reach their goal, Ryan had it detonated; an enraged Atlas tells Jack that Ryan must die.

Jack makes his way to Ryan, who in person offers no resistance to Jack's efforts. Instead, he reveals to Jack why he is here: Jack was actually born in Rapture two years ago, genetically modified to mature rapidly; he is Ryan's illegitimate son as a result of an affair with Jasmine Jolene, an exotic dancer.[38] Ryan further informs Jack that he was designed to obey orders when given with specific phrases, then sent to the surface when the war started to put him beyond Ryan's reach. When the war between Atlas and Ryan stalemated, Jack was sent instructions that put him on the airplane with the package. When he opened the package at the appointed time, he found a gun and instructions to hijack and crash the plane next to the lighthouse, enabling him to return to Rapture - as Atlas' cat's-paw. Ryan calmly demonstrates Jack's lack of free will by using the trigger phrase, "Would you kindly...", which Jack realizes Atlas has been using since the beginning. Ryan then orders Jack to kill him, so as to die on his terms. Atlas, now in complete control of the city, reveals himself to be Fontaine. With Ryan dead, Fontaine no longer needs Jack, and leaves him at the mercy of the reactivated security systems. However, Dr. Tennenbaum and her Little Sisters help Jack escape through the vent system, where he falls and loses consciousness.

When Jack awakes, Dr. Tennenbaum has already deactivated some of his conditioned responses and assists him in breaking the remaining ones, among them an active one that would have eventually stopped his heart. During the subsequent pursuit of Fontaine, the doctor predicts that the only way to get through the last few obstacles would be to assemble a Big Daddy bodysuit, and follow the rescued Little Sisters through the passageways that only they can open. By the time Jack reaches him, Fontaine has injected himself with vast amounts of ADAM, becoming an inhuman monster. Jack and the Little Sisters are eventually able to subdue Fontaine, when the Little Sisters swarm Fontaine and stab him to death with their ADAM needles. Here the game ends.

Two endings are possible depending on how the player interacted with the Little Sisters. If the player only rescued the Little Sisters (thus saving their lives), the ending shows the rescued Sisters returning to the surface and living full lives under Jack's care; it ends on a heartwarming tone, with an elderly Jack surrounded on his deathbed by all of the now-older Little Sisters. However, as the game's walkthrough explains, there is no difference between taking the lives of a few or a lot of the little girls; if the player harvested (and therefore killed) [i]any[/i] of the little sisters, the game will end with Jack turning on the Sisters after defeating Fontaine, presumably killing them all and taking their ADAM. Tenenbaum's voice will narrate what occurred, condemning Jack and his actions. At some later point in the same ending, a ballistic missile submarine comes across the wreckage of the plane, when it is surrounded by bathyspheres containing Splicers. The Splicers will board the submarine, eradicate all on board, and will recover what looks to be nuclear weapons. [44]

Development

Official System Requirements[45]
Minimum Recommended
Windows
Operating system Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista
CPU Pentium 4 2.5 GHz (single core)Intel Core 2 Duo Or AMD Athlon 64 X2
Memory 1 GB2 GB
Free space 8 GB of free space
Graphics hardware DirectX 9.0c compliant card with 128 MB RAM (NVIDIA 6600/ATI X1300 or better, excluding ATI X1550), Must support Pixel Shader 3.0DirectX 9.0c compliant card with 512 MB RAM (NVIDIA 7900GT or better) or DirectX 10 compliant card (NVIDIA 8600 or better)
Sound hardware 100% DirectX 9.0c compliant cardSound Blaster X-Fi (Optimized for EAX ADVANCED HD 4.0/5.0 compatible cards)
Network Internet connection required for activation

Original story

Originally, BioShock had a significantly different story compared to that in the released version. In this previous story, the main character was a "cult deprogrammer"—a person charged with rescuing someone from a cult, and mentally and psychologically readjusting that person to a normal life.[46] For example, Ken Levine cites an example of what a cult deprogrammer does where "[There are] people who hired people to [for example] deprogram their daughter who had been in a lesbian relationship. They kidnap her and reprogram her, and it was a really dark person, and that was the [kind of] character that you were."[38] This story would have been more political in nature, with the character hired by a Senator to initiate these actions.[38] While the gameplay with this story was similar to what resulted from the released version of the game, the story underwent changes, consistent with what Levine says was then-Irrational Games' guiding principle of putting game design first.[46]

Levine also noted that "it was never my intention to do two endings for the game. It sort of came very late and it was something that was requested by somebody up the food chain from me."[47]

Influences

In response to an interview question about what influences impacted the game's story and setting from the gaming website IGN, Levine said, "I have my useless liberal arts degree, so I've read stuff from Ayn Rand and George Orwell, and all the sort of utopian and dystopian writings of the 20th century, which I've found really fascinating."[48]

In regards to artistic influences, Levine told Electronic Gaming Monthly, "As a kid, I was obsessed with 1984 and Logan's Run. I love exploring what happens when good ideas fall apart." One reviewer has also compared BioShock to Orson Welles' 1941 film, Citizen Kane; although the film and game are set on opposite sides of the World War 2 era, they share some symmetry in their themes of lost innocence.[49]

In the realm of current events, Levine has also mentioned an interest in "stem cell research and the moral issues that go around."[50]

Similarities to System Shock series

According to the developers, BioShock is a spiritual successor to the System Shock games, and was developed by former developers of that series. Levine claims his team had been thinking about making another game of that type since System Shock 2.[51] He pointed out many similarities during his narration of a video initially screened for the press at E3 2006.[52] There are several comparable gameplay elements: plasmids serve the same function as "Psionic Abilities" from System Shock 2; the player needs to deal with security cameras, turrets, and drones, and has the ability to hack them; ammunition conservation is stressed as "a key gameplay feature;" and audio recordings serve as the same storytelling device that e-mail logs did.[52] The use of "ghosts"—phantom images that replay tragic incidents in the places they occurred—from System Shock 2 also exist in BioShock,[53] as do modifiable weapons with multiple ammunition types. Additionally, Atlas guides the player along with a radio, much in the same way Janice Polito did in System Shock 2. A focus on play choice and emergent gameplay were other similarities the two games shared.[54]

Engine

BioShock was initially developed using an enhanced Tribes Vengeance engine, the highly modified version of the Unreal Engine 2.5 technology used by previous Irrational titles Tribes: Vengeance, SWAT 4, and SWAT 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate. In an interview at E3 in May 2006, Levine announced a switch to a modified Unreal Engine 3.0. Levine emphasized the enhanced water effects, which he claimed would be very impressive: "We've hired a water programmer and water artist, just for this game, and they're kicking ass and you've never seen water like this."[55] This graphical enhancement has been lauded by critics, with GameSpot saying, "Whether it's standing water on the floor or sea water rushing in after an explosion, it'll blow you away every time you see it."[56] BioShock can utilize Direct3D 10 (DirectX 10) features and content if the player meets the hardware and software requirements,[57] but it will also run on DirectX 9, if these requirements are not met, or if the video options are changed.[58]

While industry rumors suggested that there might be a PlayStation 3 version of BioShock, based on the presence of text referencing the PlayStation 3 in the PC demo's configuration files, Ken Levine has denied that there is any PS3 version in development. The demo is reportedly from an older build of the game, and an exclusive deal has been signed with Microsoft since then, limiting the title to Windows and Xbox 360.[59]

BioShock also uses Havok Physics,[57] an engine that allows for an enhancement of in-game physics, and the integration of ragdoll physics, and allows for more life-like movement by elements of the environment.

Demo

A demo was released on Xbox Live Marketplace on August 12, 2007.[60] The PC demo was officially released on August 20, 2007. Larry Hryb chatted with Ken Levine on his podcast about the BioShock demo.[61] The demo contains the first 45 minutes of the game and includes a beginning cinematic that established a setting and beginning plot lines, and the tutorial phase of the game.[30] The demo also introduced some minor changes such as an extra plasmid and weapon, alongside an earlier security system presence. These were introduced to give players a better idea of the full game. The BioShock demo had outperformed every other demo release on Xbox Live in just nine days and became the fastest demo to reach one million downloads.[62]

Updates

On September 6th, 2007, the Xbox 360 version of BioShock received an update that "improves stability when loading autosaves and overall game stability, corrects audio during title menu loading, and addresses AI behaviours regarding use of health stations." Users will be prompted to download the auto update next time they start the game. The patch, however, has been criticized for introducing several problems to the game, including occasional freezes, bad framerates, and even audio-related issues. The problem seems to be with the game's caching, and is quite easily fixed according to news at Worthplaying. Immediately after the game is started, the player should hold LB and RB until the 2K logo has appeared, thereby clearing the game's cache. This should eliminate any patch-related problem that the player has experienced prior to the fix.[63]

Reception

Reviews
Publication Score
Xbox 360
1UP.com 10/10[64]
Electronic Gaming Monthly 10/10[65]
Eurogamer 10/10[66]
GameSpot 9/10[67]
Game Informer 10/10[68]
Gametrailers 9.5/10[69]
IGN 9.7/10[39]
Official Xbox Magazine 10/10
PC
PC Gamer UK 95/100[70]
PC Zone 96/100[71]
Compilation review site Aggregate score
Game Rankings Xbox 360: 95% (76 reviews)[13]
PC: 95% (35 reviews)[14]
Metacritic Xbox 360: 96/100 (70 reviews)[72]
PC: 96/100 (38 reviews)[73]

At E3 2006, BioShock was given the "Game of the Show" award from various online gaming sites, including GameSpot,[74] IGN,[75] GameSpy[76] and GameTrailers's Trailer of the Year. BioShock received an award for Best Xbox 360 Game at the 2007 Leipzig Games Convention.[77] As of September 10, 2007, 2K Games has stated that over 1.5 million copies of BioShock have shipped since its release.[78]

The Wall Street Journal reported that, after the overwhelmingly favorable early reviews of the game, shares in Take-Two "soared nearly 20%" in the following week.[19]

Reviews

BioShock has received wide critical acclaim:[79]

Mainstream press reviews have praised the immersive qualities of the game and its political dimension. The Boston Globe described it as "a beautiful, brutal, and disquieting computer game...one of the best in years."[17] and compared the game to Whittaker Chambers' 1957 ripost to Atlas Shrugged, Big Sister is Watching You. Wired also mentioned the Ayn Rand connection in a report on the game which featured a brief interview with Levine.[80] The Chicago Sun-Times review said "I never once thought anyone would be able to create an engaging and entertaining video game around the fiction and philosophy of Ayn Rand, but that is essentially what 2K Games has done...the rare, mature video game that succeeds in making you think while you play."[18]

The Los Angeles Times review reported "Sure, it's fun to play, looks spectacular and is easy to control. But it also does something no other game has done to date: It really makes you feel."[16]. The New York Times reviewer described it as: "intelligent, gorgeous, occasionally frightening...Anchored by its provocative, morality-based story line, sumptuous art direction and superb voice acting, BioShock can also hold its head high among the best games ever made."[15]

At Game Rankings, BioShock holds an average review score of 95.5% for the Xbox 360, making it the highest rated Xbox 360 game released to date, and the 8th highest rated game of all time,[81] and 95.3% for the PC, making it the highest rated PC game released to date, and the 11th highest ranked game of all time.[82] GameSpy praised BioShock's "inescapable atmosphere,"[83] Official Xbox Magazine its "inconceivably great plot" and "stunning soundtrack and audio effects."[84] The gameplay and combat system have been praised for being smooth and open-ended,[68][39] and elements of the graphics, such as the water, were praised for their quality.[43] Overall, reviewers have noted that the combination of the game's elements "straddles so many entertainment art forms so expertly that it's the best demonstration yet how flexible this medium can be. It's no longer just another shooter wrapped up in a pretty game engine, but a story that exists and unfolds inside the most convincing and elaborate and artistic game world ever conceived."[66]

Reviewers did find a few negative issues in BioShock, however. The recovery system involving "Vita Chambers", which revive a defeated player at half-life, but do not alter the enemies' health, makes it possible to wear down enemies through sheer perseverance, and was criticised as one of the biggest flaws in the gameplay.[85] IGN noted that the controls and graphics of the Xbox 360 version are inferior to the PC's, in that switching between weapons or plasmids is easier using the mouse than the radial menu in the Xbox 360 version, as well as the graphics being slightly better with higher resolutions.[39] The game has been touted as a hybrid first person shooter role-playing game, but one or two reviewers found gameplay evolution lacking, both in the protagonist and the challenges he faces.[86][87] Press Start Online stated that BioShock "really could have been so much more, and it’s almost nostalgic to look back on those opening hours and think of what could have been".[88]

Sequels

In response to the game's high sales, Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick revealed in a conference call to analysts that the company now considered the game as part of a franchise.[20] He also speculated on any follow-ups pursuing the same development cycle as Grand Theft Auto, expecting a new entry every two to three years.[89] No sequels have yet been announced, and none of the developers of BioShock have commented on the possibility of sequels.[90]

Technical issues

Overlay of two screenshots, one taken using widescreen settings, and one taken using standard 4:3 settings, demonstrating the differences in the field of view. The red tinted areas are those present in the standard image only.

Since BioShock was released, several issues have been found, particularly in the PC version.[91]

Through the BioShock demo and release, it was observed that the field of view (FOV) used in widescreen was set such that it appeared that there was less visible display compared to the 4:3 display size,[92] which conflicts with original reports from a developer on how widescreen would have been handled.[93] This was a design choice during development,[94][95] but in a future patch, users will be allowed to alter the FOV value.[96]

BioShock for the PC (both retail and through Steam) utilizes SecuROM copy protection software, and requires internet activation to complete installation. This was reportedly responsible for a cancellation of a midnight release in Australia, due to downtime of the 2K Games servers on August 23, 2007, as the game would be unplayable until they were back up.[97] Through SecuROM, users were originally limited to two activations of the game (i.e. the game could be played by two different user accounts only, or installed on a PC twice). Users found that unless they uninstalled the game prior to reinstallation, they were required to call SecuROM to re-activate the game. In response, 2K Games and SecuROM increased the number of activations to 5 before the user had to call in again. However, as no information had been provided by 2K on the existence of these measures prior to the game going on sale—or on the retail box of the game itself—many remained dissatisfied. 2K countered by developing a special pre-uninstallation utility to refund activation slots to the user.[98] This tool does not address situations where the game has been installed on a PC that uses more than one user account as it only works once per PC, not per user account as does the actual activation mechanism itself.

SecuROM software can trigger virus scanners and malware detectors. This has led to some debate about whether a rootkit was being installed; this was denied by 2K Games.[99][100][101] However, an uninstallation of BioShock does not remove the files installed by SecROM, nor the registry keys used. Furthermore, some of these files are impossible to delete in normal fashion.[102][103][104]

BioShock was also criticized for not supporting Pixel shader 2.0b video cards (such as the Radeon X800/X850), which were considered high-end graphics cards in 2004-2005, and accounted for about 24% of surveyed hardware collected through Valve's Steam platform at the time of BioShock's release. There are current user efforts to create a Pixel shader 2.0-compatible version of the software which have met with some success, but 2K Games has issued no statements regarding possible Pixel shader 2.0 support being added by an official patch.[105][106]

Versions and merchandise

Limited Collector’s edition

On March 29, 2007, Take-Two Interactive responded to a fan-created petition for a special edition. Take-Two stated that they would publish it only if the petition received 5,000 signatures; the number was reached after five hours. Subsequently, a poll on the Cult of Rapture community website was posted where visitors could vote on what they would most like to see in a special edition, and the developers would take this poll into serious consideration.

On April 23, 2007, the Cult of Rapture website confirmed that, within the US and Canada, the Limited Collector's Edition would be sold exclusively from EB Games and GameStop stores.[107] It would include a 6 inch tall Big Daddy figurine (many became damaged from improper packaging, although a replacement scheme for the USA and Canada is in place), a "Making Of" DVD, and a soundtrack CD. The soundtrack CD was reduced to an EP titled "The BioShock EP", and contains three tracks from the game remixed by Moby and Oscar the Punk. The tracks are "Beyond the Sea", "God Bless the Child", and "Wild Little Sisters".[108] The box features a cover graphic designed by a graphic competition winner Adam Meyer.[109]

Art book

On August 13, 2007, "BioShock: Breaking the Mold" was released by 2K Games on their official website. Containing artwork from the game, it is available in both low and high resolution, in PDF format.[110][111] 2K Games stated that a printed version of the art book will be sent to the owners of the collector's edition whose Big Daddy figurines had broken, as compensation for the time it takes to replace them.[112]

Soundtrack

On August 24, 2007, 2K Games released an orchestral score soundtrack on their official homepage. Available in MP3 format, the score—composed by Garry Schyman—contains 12 tracks from the game.[113] The Limited Edition version of the game came with the Rapture EP, a disc of remixes by Moby and Oscar The Punk.[114] The three remixed tracks on the CD include "Beyond the Sea", "God Bless the Child" and "Wild Little Sisters"; the original format of these songs are in the game. In BioShock, the player will encounter phonographs that broadcast music of the 1940s and 1950s. The following is a list of licensed music tracks that can be heard throughout the game, totaling 30.[115]

Soundtrack


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